Anyone for tennis?

Table tennis, that is. I have just joined the Cincinnati Table Tennis Club. That's right, I now play some ping-pong for fun. Of course, it's not particularly fun to play 7 or 8 matches against different people and get slaughtered each and every time. But on the other hand, I'll surely improve someday, if I keep playing with them, right? Plus, I have all these great excuses for being so bad: I haven't played much in almost 10 years, I have a new paddle (one I'm not used to, see?), I recently had a foot operation and am only now recovering enough to get out and get some exercise, I'm a phd student and therefore not particularly athletic, etc. Well, they tried to go easy on me, even the 65-year-old with Parkinson's (I'm not kidding!), but they all beat me badly. They also kept encouraging me to come back, hoping I wouldn't be discouraged by all the violent beatings I took--guess they don't know about grad school these days. So I'll be coming back, maybe once or twice a week, and who knows, maybe I'll start being able to compete with some of them--once I get used to this new paddle, and feel more confident on my new foot bone, and start training my old muscles to do what they used to do...in other words, once my excuses will no longer make up for the missing components in my game.

I have to go get ready to teach my class now, then I'll spend the entire afternoon trying to finish off another book on my dissertation list. Should be a fun day. Or at least a productive one!

"Completely Healed"

That's what the surgeon's colleague says. That's what the x-rays clearly show. So why don't they want me playing soccer any time soon? Because they're doctors, I guess. These guys don't want anyone ever to enjoy anything. Fortunately, they have recommended that I start a walking/elliptical program, and then gradually move into some easy running. I have yet another visit a month from now, where they'll probably tell me that I'll need another 8-12 weeks before I can really do anything interesting on my foot, so in the meanwhile, I'll be doing a lot of around sitting. That's the latest on the foot. Surely there's more interesting news somewhere else on some other topic...