Good Luck, Chris!

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Whoever said there were no more frontiers hasn't looked over the horizon lately

Speed...

So I was was rollin' along Jetton Road on my handcycle recently when I spotted a bold little turtle trying to make his way across 4 lanes of traffic. Every time a car passed, he stopped suddenly, retreated a bit into his shell, sat still and waited before carrying on again. Poor little scared guy!

All I could envision as I approached was the sight of a texting driver crushing him without ever knowing what happened.

When I saw this happen again and again, I decided to do something. I alerted a few drivers and motioned for them to slow, stop and block the road. They saw what was happening. When it was safe, I rolled out toward the middle, turned the little guy around and watched his four little legs carry him right back to the safety of the grassy embankment where he began his journey.

With crisis averted, we all shared a smile and a friendly wave before heading off to wherever it was that we were rushing in the first place.

And I don't think any of us were upset with the unexpected delay.

Sometimes it helps to be as slow as a turtle...

Bye.

You don't have an excuse, do you?

If you know me even just a little, you'll agree that I'm not one who is big on excuses. Here's another dude who agrees. Props to the Nike folks for once again helping us find the motivation to "Just Do It."


Bye.

What I have learned (ver. 5.0)

From old school rap music, boyeee...

When I was a little bay boy my Momma gave me a brand new toy...two turntables and a mic and I learned to rock like Dolomite.

I make dough but don’t call me dough-boy!

It takes two to make everything all right; it takes two to make it out of sight…

Been hit with a few shells but I don’t walk with a limp.

Wake up, it's important that you know that no one on Earth is promised tomorrow. If you love someone you should say it often!

She likes my tone, my cologne and the way I roll…

Our freedom of speech is freedom or death; we got to fight the powers that be…

Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps…

I live my life by the code of the funk.

I’m funky, I’m spunky and I like my oatmeal lumpy.

Give me a soft subtle mix and if ain't broke then don't try to fix it.

Now who’s the real dookie, meanin’ who’s really the sh**?

Roll with the punches is what I tell to people when things don’t go to well. When you go for the gold and you come back empty, when the ups are few and the downs are plenty…

Hypothetical, political, lyrical, miracle whip, just like butter, my rhymes are legit…

A Special thanks to Newcleus, Ice Cube, 50 Cent, MC Lyte, Snoop Dogg, Public Enemy, Coolio, Digital Underground, Rob Base, Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Notorious B.I.G., Young MC.

Word.

Bye.

on success...

To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Bye.

So I dropped my shoe today...

Don’t think dropping a shoe makes for a decent blog entry? Think again…

After what seemed like an entire dreary season of rain and powerful storms (read: one week), the sun finally appeared in the sky today. Being the type who needs a ton of natural Vitamin D in my day, I chose to spend my lunch hour reclined on the deck, shirtless, with book in hand.

I hopped down onto the chaise (thanks, gravity), pulled my legs into the reclined position and reached down to remove my shoes and socks (yep, my feet are wicked white and need the sun, too). All was going as planned until one shoe decided to head off on a walkabout. It squirmed from my clutches, bounced over the rail and off the deck and settled into the grass below. Thanks, wandering shoe.

Most of the able-bodied world would simply reach down and grab it (or jump off the deck or climb down the three stairs or …). For me, the three foot vertical distance between me and my left shoe might as well have been the difference between the parking lot and the summit of a Colorado fourteener.

No worries at that point…I shrugged it off, enjoyed the sun, finished the book and nearly dozed off in Vitamin D bliss.

When I realized it was time to get up and go back to working for The Man, I processed what getting the shoe back onto my foot would entail. And then it got interesting.

To unite me and my shoe for an exciting afternoon of “under desk sitting,” I had to successfully develop and execute a long and complicated process of related and successive events. I had to make and complete a plan. I needed more time. I had to expend unplanned Friday afternoon energy.

So I climbed back in the chair, lifted both my covered and barefoot feet onto the foot tray, repositioned myself properly, took off the brakes, rolled from one deck to another, moved around the house, coasted down a ramp onto the grass, turned left, made my way around the house into the backyard, passed by a couple of well-watered perennial gardens, trekked across the lawn, bent over and grabbed my shoe. Success. 4 minutes and 35 seconds from start to reunification.

I put on the shoe, turned 180 degrees and reversed the process.

Since it was Friday afternoon, I didn’t miss much when I finally arrived back at my desk fifteen minutes late.

When you are in a wheelchair, you have to stay flexible, you have to expect the unexpected, you have to roll with the punches and absorb the bounces and falls. And you have to appreciate the unplanned left shoe walkabouts. It’s just the necessary way of life. Inches become miles and keeping it together means rolling outside the box.

I had a great afternoon when all was said and done. I justified a few extra minutes in the sun and squeezed in a bit of off-road wheeling.

The yard looks awesome, too.

Thanks, wandering shoe!

Bye.