dietsch

You’re running, but nobody’s chasing you!

I’ve been hypertensive since high school. I think it must be a genetic predisposition.

We had a phys-ed requirement, and to avoid organized sports, I decided to take a physical-fitness class. Three days a week we’d run (sometimes running stairs, too), and two days a week, we’d lift weights. The next week, we’d flop that around and lift three days and run on two.

I was about 180 pounds then, at my adult height of 5’11″. If you know me in person, you’d never believe this, but I was rail thin. I was also hypertensive. Best shape I’ve ever been in, but still, my bp was high.

(No one seemed to talk much about BMI back then, but according to the charts, I would have been classified as just barely overweight, even though I was skinnier than Kate Moss’s arm. Which is one reason I pay limited attention to BMI. If it calls you overweight when you’re skinny, then to hell with slavishly following it. I’ll talk more about BMI later.)

I’ve tracked my bp off and on since then. It’s always been high, but I never cared to do anything about it.

Then, right after my son was born in September 2011, my wife and I were at the pharmacy, filling prescriptions for her. We had a wait, so I sat down at one of those bp reading machines. When I saw the numbers, I assumed that the machine was broken or that I needed to go the ER.

I tried hard to keep my thoughts from showing on my face as I sat back down by Jen. I went back to check my bp again. Same results.

I talked to our pediatrician on my son’s next visit. I needed a pertussis vaccine anyway, so I asked for doctor suggestions and she gave me one. About a week after Julian’s birth, I saw the doctor. The numbers were staggering: 170/120.

Ever heard the term hypertensive crisis? Yup, there I was.

I immediately went onto medications. We started talking about exercises I could do, and he advised against running. I specifically asked him about doing a couch-to-5K kind of thing, and he said he didn’t think my knees and ankles could handle supporting my large frame on a run. So I just walked all over the place with Julian, whenever we could.

The meds and exercise helped; I was down to 130/70, which is moderately okay on the systolic, but pretty damn good on the diastolic.

Then we moved back to Brooklyn. I went off my meds for a bit, and I waffled on seeing anyone, but I finally set up an appointment at the same medical practice I used previously. (The doctor wanted to put me on statins for cholesterol, but for some reason hadn’t wanted to medically treat my bp at the time, so it must not have been as dramatically high in 2005 as it was in 2011.)

170/95.

Not CRISIS, but not good either. She adjusted my meds and urged me to lose weight.

Now, about 9 months later, my weight is up from where it was then, and my last two bps were 140/90 and 150/90. Still bad news.

So there’s a new plan in place.

On my new doctor’s advice, I’m running now, three days a week. I got a pair of cross-trainers, a 5K app for my phone, and a new attitude. I need to get this shit under control.

I started Monday, and did my second run this morning. It feels pretty good. Right now, I spend 5 minutes warming up, a minute running, and 90 seconds walking. I repeat the run/walk cycles another 7 times or so and then spend 5 minutes on cool-down. I know my current running pace, about 150 steps per minute. So if the run cycle seems onerous, I count, and as I approach 150, I know it’s almost over.

My dad died when I was 5. Pancreatic cancer. I know what it’s like to grow up without a father.

His brothers are all very large men, not just tall, but … well, fat. Very fat. One of my uncles was over 350 pounds when he died. My body is trending that way unless I intervene.

Cancer, a speeding car, a freak accident. These may still get me, but I’ll be damned if I’m letting heart disease have its way.

Get the lead out

Something new, might not stick with it.

It’s time to start exercising in earnest again. My weight is up, my blood pressure is up, my cholesterol is up. I’m not, thankfully, pre-diabetic, at least not yet. But that might change. The weather is starting to turn gradually toward spring, and with that in mind, I’ve gotten out for long walks lately. I’m going to start posting maps. Why? Well, no one really reads this blog but me, so I’m posting them for my own benefit: to keep myself accountable for taking long walks a few times a week.

A couple of walking workouts from last week:

EDIT: WordPress.com hosting doesn’t support iframes. So much for that.

My ballot, 2012 — Part 2

Continuing the My Ballot project. Previous editions:

• 2012, Part 1
• 2008
• 2006
• 2005
• 2004

As in prior years, I’m doing this mostly for my own benefit, as I hate to enter a polling place with no idea in advance about the less-publicized races. This year, though, I’m also doing it for Julian; I want him to learn what it takes to research elections, issues, and candidates, and I want to model that behavior for him on a regular basis. Of course, this year he won’t have any idea what’s going on, but if I establish a habit of doing this research, it’ll be engrained by the time he’s old enough to pay attention.

The sample ballot for my district is now online. Many jurisdictions offer this service, so it’s worth taking some time to find out whether yours does, so that you can review the ballot prior to voting. So, for example, in all my earlier research, I failed to notice that we were electing a Civil Court judge, so reviewing my ballot was important.

Main races this year are the national ones: president (of course), Senate, and House of Representatives. We do have state races this year, for State Senate and Assembly. NYC City Council and NYC mayoral elections are off-year elections; they’ll occur next year, 2013. NYS gubernatorial election is the following year, 2014.

Names are listed in the order they appear on the ballot.

Also, NYS has electoral fusion laws, that allow minor parties to cross-endorse candidates on other party tickets, so where multiple parties have endorsed a single candidate, I’ve also listed the minor parties.

(The idea behind fusion is that if you’re sympathetic with, say, the Conservative party platform, but you don’t want to “waste” a vote on a third-party candidate, you can still vote for Romney. Generally speaking, the Working Families Party nod usually goes for the Democratic candidate and the Conservative for the Republican, but that’s not always the case. Furthermore, on the state and local level, a minor-party endorsement has been known to influence policy.)

President:

• Barack Obama / Joe Biden (Democratic/Working Families; incumbent)
• Mitt Romney / Paul Ryan (Republican/Conservative)
• Jill Stein / Cheri Honkala (Green)
• Peta Lindsay / Yari Osorio (Socialism and Liberation — PSL)
• Gary Johnson / James P. Gray (Libertarian — LBT)
• Virgil Goode / Jim Clymer (Constitution — CST)

Here’s a funny piece of trivia about this race: one candidate — Peta Lindsay — is only 28 years old, and therefore legally unqualified to be president.

U.S. Senate:

• Kirsten Gillebrand (Democratic/Independence/Working Families)
• Wendy Long (Republican/Conservative)
• Colia Clark (Green)
• Chris Edes (Libertarian — LBT)
• John Mangelli (Common Sense Party — CSP)

Representative in Congress, District 9 (parts of Brooklyn; was part of a redistricting effort after the 2010 Census; includes parts of Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Mill Basin, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, and Sheepshead Bay.):

• Yvette Clark (Democratic/Working Families; incumbent, but in the pre-redistricting 11th District, which covered most of the geographical area of the new 9th)
• Daniel Cavanagh (Republican/Conservative)
• Vivia Morgan (Green)

State Senate, District 17:

• Simcha Felder (Democratic/Conservative/Tax Cuts Now)
• David Storobin (Republican)
• Abraham Tischler (School Choice)

We live in what’s considered a Super-Jewish district, consisting of Orthodox populations in Midwood and Boro Park. Even the Democrat in this race is far more conservative, politically and socially, than I’m comfortable with.  Note, too, that the Conservative Party cross-endorsed the Democrat here, not the Republican.

Politics in New York City and State is never a dull topic.

Member of Assembly, District 44:

• James Brennan (Democratic/Working Families)
• Catherine Fox (Republican/Conservative)

Our Assembly race, on the other hand, looks refreshingly secular.

Judges of the Civil Court — County

• Craig Walker (Democratic)
• Ross Brady (Republican/Conservative)
• Robin Garson (Democratic)
• Vincent F. Martusciello (Republican/Conservative)

Supreme Court Justice, District 2 (Kings County)

You’ll see something funny here. Chambers, Kamins, and Miller all carry endorsements from three parties. In New York State, Justice elections are a joke. The candidates are chosen by the two major parties, who then cross-endorse each others’ candidates.

• Cheryl E. Chambers (Democratic/Republican/Conservative)
• Barry M. Kamins (Democratic/Republican/Conservative)
• William Miller (Democratic/Republican/Conservative)
• Arshad Majid (Working Families)
• William A. Gerard (Working Families)

When dumb luck meets beauty

Boogie Day

Finally.

Julian Spencer Dietsch, 8 lbs., born 7:29am.yfrog.com/kg8yrxlj

— Michael Dietsch (@dietsch) September 21, 2011

After 36 hours of labor, baby is.

One year ago today

We didn’t have much of a view in the ACU; the window looked out over a parking lot, a power plant, and a freeway, and then if you squinted you could kinda sorta make out the waterfront beyond the freeway. Still, when the sun came up, I needed a picture:

After all, I thought we were about to meet our new team member.

The hospital was supposed to have awakened us very early that Tuesday morning to move Jen into L&D. But the overnight was boom time, with more deliveries than normal, and L&D was backed up for a while, so we sat tight. Jen had had a fitful night of sleep, so she was exhausted the next morning. (Again, I’ll link to her story, since it’s … well … her story.)

Jen wanted to labor without drugs, and you’ll need to read her post to see her rationale for that. I can’t imagine how that felt, but judging from the looks of pain on her face, I have perhaps a mild idea.

Tuesday stretched out into a very long day of waiting and, for Jen, hurting. At least until she finally got the epidural and could get some rest. By this point, rest was something she seriously needed. Jen’s parents were downstairs in the waiting room most of the day, so I popped down periodically to keep them up to date.

The hospital had an Au Bon Pain in the lobby, and I ate so damn much Au Bon Pain that week that I haven’t really been able to go back to one in the year since.

I had a book of crossword puzzles, but it mostly stayed untouched. Jen talked in her post about the music we brought along, and honestly, I think that’s what really got us through the day, more than anything else but Jen’s epidural.

Bedding for me in L&D was a recliner armchair that stretched fully out into a flat bed. But every time I’d roll over or shift position, it would sink down in the middle, back into chair shape, so it was a little awkward. I wasn’t complaining, though; I wasn’t the one in labor.

One year ago tonight

We had dinner at Julian’s, en route to the hospital:

It was only sort of a coincidence. In early afternoon of the 19th, last year, we went in for what turned out to be Jen’s last prenatal appointment. Jen’s amniotic fluid was low, they told us; for that and other reasons, her OB team scheduled Jen for a nonelective induction.

Things turned crazy at this point. We were told that Jen would go in very early Tuesday morning, at 5 or 6. So we continued prepping the dinner we had in mind: chicken soup. I had a pot of stock on the stovetop. Meanwhile, Jen and her mom were working with a box of tomatoes we’d brought home, prepping them for roasting and then freezing.

Then the call, you’re coming in tonight. In fact, there were two calls, one from the OB’s office and one from the hospital. Confusion! The hospital called my cell, and I picked up and when they asked for Jen, I handed the phone to her. While she talked to the hospital, the OB’s called Jen’s phone, and I picked up, and they asked to talk to Jen, who was still talking to the hospital.

So! You need to come in tonight, but be sure to eat first because we’re not sure when you’ll eat again. PANIC! Nothing’s open in Providence on Mondays. Really. Unless you go with a chain, it’s just a night off.

Except, wait a minute, let me check the web, I have a hunch…

Julian’s! “Dinner: 5-11pm every night”

We had already chosen our son’s name at this point, but we hadn’t made it public yet. So Jen’s parents didn’t know.

I whispered to Jen, “I know where to eat. Julian’s.” She grabbed my arm, and we held each other for a minute, and she smiled, and we both teared up, and she said, “Perfect.”

We ate, I had beer, she didn’t, and Jen’s parents enjoyed the meal but didn’t have a whiff of why we were there. I mean, the best reason we were there was, They’re awesome and they’re open. The connection to our kid was just a bonus.

We went to the hospital, and settled in for the night, in the antenatal care unit. I took a vanity shot, just for my records, thinking it was the night before my son’s birth:

And here’s a shot of us just hanging out, watching TV.

Jen has more up, on the link I posted above (LINK), about the birth and the circumstances. But one year ago right at this minute, we were watching some show on TV that I can’t even remember.

I think. Or we might have been trying to sleep. I had a small sofa that flattened comfortably into a small bed. Jen didn’t have it quite so easy.

The other night dear, while I lay sleeping

I dreamed I held you in my arms

Two years ago tonight, we said goodbye to one of our dearest, sweetest friends. She was in such bad shape at the end, she could barely hold herself up. Watching this tiny cat bravely face her end and still have little mews of encouragement for us …

We felt such anguish that night that we never imagined feeling joy again.

When I was young, my mother had the horrible responsibility of having to put down two beloved dogs. I never knew how much of her own pain she shielded her children from.

We have a video of Kali’s last night; it’s hard to watch, not just because of any emotional reason, but because it’s just dark. Lights off, music on; we were trying to comfort Kali, and ourselves, the night before we took her, finally, fatally, to the vet.

Tonight, we decided to give this song another layer of meaning, one that I hope will celebrate Kali and Julian both. I feel deeply sad that they never met, these two beautiful, clever creatures that we love so much. Julian is walking now, as you’ll see in these clips, and Jen and I are both convinced that Kali and Dubby both would have totally adored this little stumbler.

Julian is already deeply, deeply in love with Junie and Kirby, and one day, he’s going to have to say good-bye to them. That day, I’ll be in my mother’s shoes, teaching a young child how to deal with grief and pain. That might be the hardest thing I’ll ever have to do.

The other night dear, while I lay sleeping

I dreamed I held you in my arms

Two years ago tonight, we said goodbye to one of our dearest, sweetest friends. She was in such bad shape at the end, she could barely hold herself up. Watching this tiny cat bravely face her end and still have little mews of encouragement for us …

We felt such anguish that night that we never imagined feeling joy again.

When I was young, my mother had the horrible responsibility of having to put down two beloved dogs. I never knew how much of her own pain she shielded her children from.

We have a video of Kali’s last night; it’s hard to watch, not just because of any emotional reason, but because it’s just dark. Lights off, music on; we were trying to comfort Kali, and ourselves, the night before we took her, finally, fatally, to the vet.

Tonight, we decided to give this song another layer of meaning, one that I hope will celebrate Kali and Julian both. I feel deeply sad that they never met, these two beautiful, clever creatures that we love so much. Julian is walking now, as you’ll see in these clips, and Jen and I are both convinced that Kali and Dubby both would have totally adored this little stumbler.

Julian is already deeply, deeply in love with Junie and Kirby, and one day, he’s going to have to say good-bye to them. That day, I’ll be in my mother’s shoes, teaching a young child how to deal with grief and pain. That might be the hardest thing I’ll ever have to do.

My Ballot, 2012 — Part 1

Years ago, in this blog, I started a project in which I researched which candidates would show up on my ballot in a pending election. I think it’s time to get back into this — namely, because now I have a son, and I want him to eventually be able to sort through his election options and make informed decisions. I especially hate entering a voting booth and seeing names I’ve never heard of, running for seats I didn’t know were up for grabs. It’s easy to form an opinion on Obama/Romney. What about [         /         ]?

The first time I did this was 2004. I did it again in 2005, 2006, and 2008, but not since. It’s a good time now to commit myself to doing this for every election.

I currently live in the following New York political districts:

Election: 028
Assembly: 44
Congress: 09
Council: 44
Civil Court: 06
Senatorial: 17

The first thing going is a primary, on September 13. I’ve applied to register to vote, but I don’t think I’ll be registered in time. No matter. The only election at stake in this primary, in my district, is for State Senate, for district 17.

District 17 is interesting. David Storobin is a Republican running for the seat. He was elected in a special election, March 20, 2012, to fill the District 27 seat, vacated when the Democrat Carl Kruger resigned. Kruger was investigated by the FBI and charged with corruption. Meanwhile, the State of New York redistricted, following the 2010 census. So Storobin is now running in District 17, not 27.

Here are my options:

Democratic Party

1. Simcha Felder
2. Abraham Tischler

Conservative Party

1. David Storobin
2. Write-in.

That’s it. The incumbent is a Republican, David Storobin, who’s also running on the Conservative ticket. (That’s the way things work in NYS; I haven’t quite figured it all out yet.) Working Families, Independence, or Green tickets.

I’m registered Democratic, which in NYS means that I can only vote in Democratic primaries. So assuming I get my card in time, I need to decide between Felder and Tischler. Neither of them have much information out on the Web, so I may sit this one out anyway.

The real noise is in November, of course.

UPDATE: Sifting through the list of independent parties who petitioned to have candidates on the November ballot, I see this:

SCP — School Choice
Abraham Tischler

TCN — Tax Cuts Now
Simcha Felder

Pretty easy to parse this out. School Choice Party’s website is here. Tax Cuts Now, meanwhile, is a new party line, and Felder’s its first candidate. These guys may be Democrats, but they seem relatively conservative to me. I don’t think it matters who wins this one.