If memory serves, it's been nearly two years since I last posted here. I recall being in a bitter mood after my 40th birthday and saying something that irritated a few people here. I thought I'd just take a couple of weeks off, get my mind right, and see if I wanted to keep visiting here. And then some scary things happened to me.

In early August 2014, I was injured at work when a 6'5, 220 lb. resident had a panic attack and tried to run from room to room. I blocked him, but in the process I suffered a back injury that required six weeks of rest, an injection in my spine, and copious amounts of muscle relaxers in order to ease the pain from a bulging disk that was almost herniated.

Just when I was about ready to resume work, I had my first kidney stone pain. I thought I had passed it when it stopped hurting after a day, only to suffer recurring pain in October. I made a visit to my NP (who is also one of my closest friends) and she had an ultrasound done which showed an 8mm stone lodged. I had an emergency appointment with a Nashville urologist that afternoon and surgery was scheduled for two weeks later. (Yes, I had to wait another two weeks, with hydrocodone and a urethra-dilating medication being my only palliatives.)

During those intervening four months, the different medications combined with forced inactivity caused me to gain nearly 50 lbs. When I was being prepped for surgery (I had to have a tube pushed up me, for those who are more curious than they should be ), the anesthesiologist almost had to stop the anesthesia because my heart/blood pressure rates were borderline dangerous. Not the most encouraging of things to hear, but eventually things calmed down enough for me to have the procedure.

When I was on that operating table, I made a vow to myself that I would do everything in my power, once I recovered, to never be in such a situation again. Starting just after New Year's 2015, I slowly weaned myself off of sodas, greasy foods, and I began exercising regularly again for the first time in three years. There was a weight loss challenge at work that ran from January-early May and during that time, I lost 42 lbs.

The more I worked out, the less time or energy I had for anything online. I stopped regular visits to all forums. Even my blog, which I've run since 2004, went from near-daily postings to maybe 1-3 posts/month. It was slow progress, however, learning how to walk quickly over distances of 3 miles/5 km or more. In March 2015, I could only walk 3.1/5km an hour. No running, as my shins hurt too much then, plus my back still wasn't 100%. But I kept at it and by September, I was able to walk 4 miles/7 km an hour. By this January, I had lost enough weight to begin run training for 5Ks. I ran my first 5K two weeks ago and placed in the upper third. Just finished my second this morning and was able to run a 9 minute mile for the first time in two decades. I have lost nearly 110 lbs./50 kg since January 2015.

I am not sharing this to make myself look good. After all, it's only a partial redressing of some bad decisions and horrid luck. Rather, it's more a convoluted way of saying that it's funny how life can change suddenly and how unexpected fun things can arise out of stressful situations. I am more content with my life than I've been since my 20s. I am lucky to have rediscovered, before it was too late and I had a stroke or heart attack, how much I enjoy running. Sure, it's led to me not being online much or even reading (I think I've only read 4-5 books so far this year), but it's a trade-off I'm more than willing to take.

There is, however, one other thing that I thought I'd share before going silent again. I have a new translation appearing in an upcoming July 2016 anthology, The Big Book of Science Fiction, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. For those of you who are fans of SF short fiction, some (if not all) of the contents of this 750,000 word anthology might be of interest to you, so here's the link to the story listings.

As the Grateful Dead once sang, what a long, strange trip it's been, but for me, it's been ultimately rewarding. Hope all is well with each and every one of you.