Skookum Maru

[ron ll]

Thought I spied Skookum Maru at the guest dock this morning. But it’s Topaz. Thought maybe you were healing at record speed. Hope you are anyway.

[cstevens]

Thought I spied Skookum Maru at the guest dock this morning. But it’s Topaz. Thought maybe you were healing at record speed. Hope you are anyway.

I think I'm doing ok. I walked half a mile at a normal pace this morning. I have three more weeks of mobility restrictions before I can do things like drive a car or pilot Skookum Maru though. But I might need to get down there an have a look at Topaz if she sticks around for a bit. I haven't ever seen her up close.

[ron ll]

She’s gone. Didn’t see her leave.

oops. Belay that. Just saw her heading north through the marina.

[_QB_]

Oh, I could give up meat and eggs without missing them much, but I would be very sad to never eat salmon again.

Salmon has lots of those nice Omega-3's. Good for you.

And I have given up most dairy products already but I still enjoy yogurt (non-fat) and a few other things, like the 2% milk in my Americano, although it's a poor substitute for half and half.

It seems that cholesterol intake doesn't affect serum cholesterol directly, and even there absolute amounts aren't as important as the total cholesterol to HDL ratio. The occasional half-and-half in your flat white might not be bad at all. That said, here we've been using a "barista blend" oat milk for a while and it's actually quite good.

But it is true that the daily half and half in my coffee and a taste for cream sauces and ice cream (along with some questionable genetics) nearly did me in. I had been making major dietary changes even before even before the bypass surgery so I wouldn't rule out going full vegan. But it's going to be a process. I'm still coming to terms with the idea that I might never have cassoulet again. Or eggs Benedict. Sigh.

Cassoulet has legumes! But no more Cafe Besalu pastries, that is serious... Let's see what we can do.

The process of turning high-quality cardiovascular health research to official guidelines is slow and imperfect, and so what most cardiologists advise can lag what really ought to be best practices; but of course on the other hand you don't want to just be following the latest fad. If you're interested to dig into recent work, I'll ask Kim to put together some references and email you.

[cstevens]

no more Cafe Besalu pastries

And no more ice cream. Which, honestly, has been easier to give up than I expected. Something about being alive is a huge incentive on these things. There is an entire world of fantastic food out there that does not depend on butter and cream and I aim to enjoy it all. Steamed vegetables in a lemon tahini sauce? Sign me up! Chickpeas in all possible preparations? Yes please. There is nothing wrong with a marinara sauce and I might make allowances for a good semolina pasta on occasion, although we regularly have brown rice pasta instead. I am not missing a thing. Although I'm not sure I'm quite ready to give up cheese completely. Moderation in all things is important after all. No need to go to extremes in eliminating cheese. There must be some limits.

[BBSebens]

I'm not really sure Rick? All the bandages are off and I have a huge incision that was glued together but I have no idea how they stitched up the bony parts. Probably better if I don't think about that too much. They had me on a table, butterflied like a spatchcocked turkey, and with my heart stopped for several hours. I'm grateful beyond words for the medical skill that made that happen and then was able to glue me back together and start me up again, but I'm just going to file all that info under "things that happened" and move on.

Potentially more info than you want, but having worked in the field, I'll add some insight. Typically the sternum is wired together, with careful attention paid to the wire ends. The wires typically are left in place; occasionally they may be removed if they are causing a problem.

It's amazing what they can do through a relatively small hole in your chest. The scars are also much cleaner less obvious than they were not so many years ago.

As for diet, the cardiologists I worked with were fond of the Mediterranean Diet.


If your cardiology program offers Cardiac Rehab, absolutely do it. It has a major positive effect on long term outcomes.

[neil.henderson]

I reckon it's how we respond to these life/heath events that makes us resilient/tough - you have done very well and have pulled through which is great for you and your familiy. My wife had a very close call a few years ago which scared the bejabers out of me. Keep in touch with your body and slow down when the amber light goes on! That's what I do nowadays because I have a neurological condition which definitely sets the lights flashing when I try to be stupid enough to ignore it - often slow is good though :-)
I had 2 MG's in my day - reckon the BGT was the best though I did hanker after the MGC (3 litre straight 6).

Regards Neil

[cstevens]

Potentially more info than you want, but having worked in the field, I'll add some insight. Typically the sternum is wired together, with careful attention paid to the wire ends. The wires typically are left in place; occasionally they may be removed if they are causing a problem.

It's amazing what they can do through a relatively small hole in your chest. The scars are also much cleaner less obvious than they were not so many years ago.

As for diet, the cardiologists I worked with were fond of the Mediterranean Diet.


If your cardiology program offers Cardiac Rehab, absolutely do it. It has a major positive effect on long term outcomes.

Yep, cardiac rehab is next but I can't get into the program until the end of May. In the meantime I'm walking as much as possible. I'm up to a mile twice a day at a regular walking pace, and plan to start exercising moderately on the stationary cycle and rowing machine once my movement restrictions are lifted, which will be in a couple of weeks. But my main goal is to start rowing on the water again, hopefully by June or so.

I reckon it's how we respond to these life/heath events that makes us resilient/tough - you have done very well and have pulled through which is great for you and your familiy. My wife had a very close call a few years ago which scared the bejabers out of me. Keep in touch with your body and slow down when the amber light goes on! That's what I do nowadays because I have a neurological condition which definitely sets the lights flashing when I try to be stupid enough to ignore it - often slow is good though :-)
I had 2 MG's in my day - reckon the BGT was the best though I did hanker after the MGC (3 litre straight 6).

Regards Neil

Thanks Neil. Recalibrating my sense of what is an appropriate level of effort for exercise has been one of the harder things to deal with for sure. I'm trying to be patient. As for MGBs and MGCs... I love the MGC although I've never driven one. It has a bad rep but my understanding is that all of its flaws can be addressed with suspension tuning, and the engines can be massaged to make them into fine touring cars. For me the only downside is that here in the US they only came with the US market padded dash and I am really not a fan. The original steel dash is one of the best features of the MGB. But maybe if I found a European-delivery LHD car with the metal dash like this one...

https://www.classic-trader.com/uk/ca...gt/1969/329169

[Andrew Donald]

Chris, I wish you well on your your recovery, remember the tortoise and hare. I too like my ice cream maybe I should take a leaf outta your book but……..

all the best
Andrew

[cstevens]

Chris, I wish you well on your your recovery, remember the tortoise and hare. I too like my ice cream maybe I should take a leaf outta your book but……..

all the best
Andrew

Thanks Andrew. The ice cream was only half of the problem for me. I expect the real issue was the dodgy genetics. Not everyone who eats ice cream will have coronary artery disease in their fifties. But I should have paid more attention to the combination of my somewhat high cholesterol, which I've known about for a few years, and my maternal grandfather, who died of a heart attack at just about exactly my age.

I walked two and a half miles today, three weeks post-op. It's not fun or comfortable, but I'm calling that a good day.

[hawkeye54]

Keep at it, Chris - a medium speed / effort pace will get you there. As an aside, I was once talking to my primary care physician, and mentioned that I was clocking 17,000 to 22,000 steps per day ( working at the 'big-box' store ) - I got the instant dash of ' ice cold water' to the ego when she responded "yes, but they are not aerobic"

[Slacko]

I've never owned, but driven 2 MGB GT's in the past.
A regular steel bumper one for a 10 minute test after tuning it, and a V8 on a few long journeys.
They were fun but a bit agricultural in the mechanical department.
I grew up riding in a Sunbeam Alpine, so always preferred them.
I learnt to drive in a Fiat 124 Sport, so my head was turned to the Italian stuff early as well.
One of the cars I had early on was a Honda S600, which made the English stuff appear pretty pedestrian.
9500 rpm, and amazing handling.
A mate had a Jensen Healey. Now that was a different kettle of fish to drive! Wow.

It sounds like you are well on the road to recovery with the effort you are putting into getting mobile again.

[cstevens]

Keep at it, Chris - a medium speed / effort pace will get you there. As an aside, I was once talking to my primary care physician, and mentioned that I was clocking 17,000 to 22,000 steps per day ( working at the 'big-box' store ) - I got the instant dash of ' ice cold water' to the ego when she responded "yes, but they are not aerobic"

Ouch, yeah that's the thing isn't it? It only counts if it's making you work a little. The instructions for post-op exercise are to keep it in the "moderate" range so I'm doing that for now, with a HR around 60%-65% of max. Not quite aerobic, or at the bottom end of the range. But I'm in no rush. There will be plenty of time to push things later.

I've never owned, but driven 2 MGB GT's in the past.
A regular steel bumper one for a 10 minute test after tuning it, and a V8 on a few long journeys.
They were fun but a bit agricultural in the mechanical department.
I grew up riding in a Sunbeam Alpine, so always preferred them.
I learnt to drive in a Fiat 124 Sport, so my head was turned to the Italian stuff early as well.
One of the cars I had early on was a Honda S600, which made the English stuff appear pretty pedestrian.
9500 rpm, and amazing handling.
A mate had a Jensen Healey. Now that was a different kettle of fish to drive! Wow.

It sounds like you are well on the road to recovery with the effort you are putting into getting mobile again.

"Agricultural" is a fair description, but sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, yes? It won't provide the magic of an Alfa Romeo DOHC engine or the handling sophistication of a Lotus Elan, but I enjoyed driving the MGB as much as any other car I've experienced. No one aspect stands out but it's nicely balanced. The steering is tight and immediate. The gearbox action is direct, with no sloppiness. The engine has enough power to make a twisty road enjoyable and a straight one a reasonable proposition. An overdrive would be nice to have but overall it's a car that I will look forward to driving every time.

The S600 on the other hand, that's a car I've never driven but would love to. There was one that used to park near my high school in Baltimore when I was a kid. It seemed so much more exotic than the MGs and Fiats that I was daydreaming about. But such rarities were well out of reach. I ended up buying a sketchy Fiat 850 Spider as my first car. I had great fun throwing it around the back roads of Baltimore County until it died from rust and electrical problems.

[cstevens]

Continuing the car-related thread drift for a bit longer, my friend Reggie S. and I left at seven am for the train to Vancouver to get the MGB yesterday.



After four hours of watching the rain-drenched scenery we pulled into the station in Vancouver, and made our way though customs. We were picking up the car from Octagon Motor Group, the shop that had done the inspection. I also had them address some maintenance needs - motor mounts, brake hoses and so on - while it was there so it would be ready for the trip back to Seattle. A short Uber ride from the train station took us to an anonymous storefront in a light industrial neighborhood of Vancouver.

The facade was unpromising but the inner workshop area was a treat, from the beautiful silver series 1 E-type to the Morgan on the lift and assorted other examples of British sporting machinery taking up the rest of the space.





We could have spend hours just looking around but we had a long day ahead so we made our way out the back where the MGB waited for us, next to a lovely, understated Rolls Royce Silver Spirit of early 80s vintage.



A bit of choke and a turn of the key and the MG started on the button. Soon we were navigating through Vancouver, heading to meet with the seller to complete the transaction and then make our way back to the border.



Reggie did all of the driving as I am still under a do not drive restriction post-op and he enjoyed every minute of it. Like most 1960s cars, an MGB is not powerful compared to any modern car. A Prius will see it off at any stop light drag race. But power isn't everything and the little MG easily kept up with traffic.

At this point my phone died so I have no more photos, but the rest of the day went more smoothly than I had anticipated. The import process at the border took an hour or so but the Border Patrol staff were pleasant, helpful and efficient. We spent the time chatting with them about the car and various experiences with old MGs. In the end it was a painless process. They did a cursory inspection of the car, I paid a small import duty, picked up our orange release slip, and we drove out of the checkpoint and headed home to Seattle.

The drive from the border to Seattle is around two hours on the highway. With a just-purchased car that had not been driven much in years we took it easy, keeping it to 60 in the slow lane. But the MG never missed a beat and we pulled up to the house just at seven pm. A long twelve-hour day that I'm going to pay for today I'm sure, but it was a successful trip.

[Liberty53]

Awesome Addition!

You've always had good taste

Luckily I was tearing around Portland in my MG midget when I met my wife, How could she resist

-Derek

[Garret]

Congrats! The happiest day in a British car owners life is...

[Hugh MacD]

Sounds like a great day, Chris When I was racing I always enjoyed going through Customs...usually at Sumas on the way to Westwood. They unfailingly returned courtesy in kind...and the flip side was greeted with vengeful efficiency.

[hawkeye54]

Ahhh, chrome bumpers, Rudge knock-off wheels, retracting antenna . . . and the exact same color / interior as my old Fiat 850 Spider, as well ! Enjoy the rehab, Chris - yours and the car's



Rick

[cstevens]

Awesome Addition!

You've always had good taste

Luckily I was tearing around Portland in my MG midget when I met my wife, How could she resist

-Derek

Congrats! The happiest day in a British car owners life is...

Sounds like a great day, Chris When I was racing I always enjoyed going through Customs...usually at Sumas on the way to Westwood. They unfailingly returned courtesy in kind...and the flip side was greeted with vengeful efficiency.

Ahhh, chrome bumpers, Rudge knock-off wheels, retracting antenna . . . and the exact same color / interior as my old Fiat 850 Spider, as well ! Enjoy the rehab, Chris - yours and the car's



Rick

Thanks everyone! I'm looking forward to driving and pottering about with the MG. Just a couple more weeks until I can drive and lift more than 10 pounds again. Hugh, I envy you the experience of racing at Westwood. It had closed by the time I started racing so I never had a chance to get up there. It looked like a fun course though.

[neil.henderson]

Excellent - think I would have bought that lovely Morgan. Glad to hear all went well. Enjoy the MG - name? (Henrietta?).

regards Neil

[cstevens]

Excellent - think I would have bought that lovely Morgan. Glad to hear all went well. Enjoy the MG - name? (Henrietta?).

regards Neil

The Morgan was a great looking car, and the E-Type was stunning in silver on red, but neither would really do as a daily driver and to take the kid to school. The MGB GT is the right car for me right now. Although I'd love to have a Morgan someday. There is one around town in British racing green with black wire wheels. Just stunning.

As for the name, good question. After working through a few options we have landed on "Jack" as a good name for a modest British car with ambitions beyond its humble origins. There are so many great Jacks from the British Isles. Jack Tar, Jack-be-Nimble, Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack and Jill... Jack is the unlikely hero of every story. He has pluck, ingenuity and wit instead of power and speed. Seems fitting to me.

Tory and Dash took Jack to the shop this afternoon, where he will be out of the weather until I'm recovered enough to give him a good clean and polish.





They both agreed that he's a lot of fun to drive - and ride in.

[_QB_]

Very handsome car, Chris. I take back almost everything I said re coupes vs. roadsters. I would like to hear how she sounds, winding up through the gears, when you are able to record a video...

The front disc brakes on that Morgan looked way out of place, but I guess it's an acceptable mod in those circles?

morgandisk.jpg

[cstevens]

Very handsome car, Chris. I take back almost everything I said re coupes vs. roadsters. I would like to hear how she sounds, winding up through the gears, when you are able to record a video...

The front disc brakes on that Morgan looked way out of place, but I guess it's an acceptable mod in those circles?

Different strokes and all that Paul, no? It's a good thing that there are coupes for those that like 'em, and convertibles for those that don't. Also sedans for the foolish people who are satisfied with a mere trunk, and wagons for those sagacious folk who can recognize a truly useful vehicle. Not to mention pickup trucks for the people with more chores than friends.

As for the Morgan, I had to check. Turns out that they have had front discs since 1968. They still have ash-framed bodies though. Modern only goes so far.

I do aim to get a proper MGB driving video at some point but it will be a few weeks.