The Olympics

I figure its time to write about the Olympics since its what's on everyone's mind. We have the basic questions of how does Michael Phelps win all those races - and not sink to the bottom of the pool after eating 12,000 calories a day? (I heard a quote on the radio yesterday that all he does in Beijing is eat, sleep, and swim.) Then there is the ever controversial question of the age of the Chinese women's gymnastic teams - they really don't look 16. And what is with that really weird bandage/brace on the shoulder of the US woman's volleyball player? Its a bunch of weird black straps.

What I really want to know is where do all these sports come from? I know some sports, such as ping pong are just not that big here in the US, but I bet if I really wanted I could watch them regularly on some obscure cable channel. I don't think the US is in medal contention there. (Okay Forrest Gump played ping pong but that was Hollywood, a/k/a not real.) But synchronized swimming you do hear about occasionally but synchronized diving? Who knew the US had a team that was in medal contention? Rhythmic gymnastics is another one you just don't hear about, as well as badminton (its a sport played in people's back yards when they are sick of volley ball). I know there are other sports that are part of the Olympics that I can't even think of this early in the day.

Another question I have is why China for the Olympics? Was this meant to be their chance to show the world they are a modern country? They have some of the worst pollution I have seen - you can see the haze in the air on TV. They bulldozed neighborhoods to build Olympic facilities and (this is my favorite - think of it as a giant bandaid) they built 8' walls to hide businesses and homes so no one could see the poverty and real life on the streets of Beijing. We also won't even talk about the human rights, Three Gorges Dam, Tibet/Dalai Lama, Tiannamen Square, and the one child policy that has made wife stealing a modern crime. Okay, I am sure every city that has hosted the Olympics in recent years has been guilty of leveling neighborhoods to create space for the Olympic village but I wonder how generous the relocation packages were in Beijing? Anyhow it is a nice change in television coverage for two weeks this summer.

Anyhow, today is another day in my boring life. Here's a surprise. I will go for a walk and work from home and then am meeting a friend. How exciting! I am even getting my nails done.

Yesterday, I did go outside and garden for an hour in the sunshine. We had a sunny day for the first time in weeks. Today is cloudy and gloomy again but they promise Sunday will be nice again. Also, I went to the radiation oncologist for a follow up yesterday. She said, other than the fact that I amazingly had another bad mammogram in June (we already went that round on the roller coaster of life) and I have a follow up with the medical oncologist in October and the surgeon in December, that she doesn't need to see me again until March as everything else is normal, or healing normally. All the random pains I get are a normal part of the healing process for some lucky people. Red skin from radiation still is normal. Blah, blah, blah, blah. But why can't you get a clean mammogram? Grrr!!!!