Author Archives: Al

Guns and Cars Both Kill People. And Yet…

Posted on February 15, 2022 by Al

Headline: Sandy Hook Parents win settlement in lawsuits against Remington Arms. One reader commented: “This means that every automobile manufacturer in the U. S. is liable for all the injuries and deaths they “cause.”” My response: Cars are not designed … Continue reading →

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Valentine’s Day, 2022

Posted on February 14, 2022 by Al

Two years now since the first warnings of a novel coronavirus. We saw a plummeting stock market, runs on toilet paper and Lysol, canceled plane trips and the first US deaths. In March, 2020, I decided I would not go … Continue reading →

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How I Met Your Mother

Posted on January 3, 2022 by Al

Squinting at her name badge, I asked, “GN. What’s that?” Six months into my internship, I’d seen hundreds of students – medical, nursing, anesthesia – parade through 5L, the cramped labor and delivery ward at LA County Hospital. She smiled. … Continue reading →

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Zwift Racing: Alternative to Structured Workouts

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Al

I discovered the value of structured high intensity cycling workouts about five years into my triathlon career. Prior to that, I did not know what “work” was – I simply went out and commuted by bike, went for rides on … Continue reading →

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WEEK SIX, HIM Training

Posted on October 19, 2021 by Al

With the shorter, colder days and loss of outdoor mountain rides, I’ve looked for a substitute on Zwift to build the same sort of cycling strength. Last three weekends, I’ve used several races/rides, all of which were in the range … Continue reading →

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Love Poems

Posted on October 18, 2021 by Al

I’ve entered two of my poems from the late 1960s into online contests. I tweaked them a little from the originals I found in Nov 2019 in a storage box. LET’S NOT DEMAND SO MUCH OF EVERY SINGLE MOMENT Let’s … Continue reading →

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The Middle of the Night – Complete

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Al

Vasser sat at the front desk, feeding another chart, sheet by sheet, onto the patient’s green plastic ID card in the beige stamping tool. “Whoosh – clomp – ca-chunk. Whoosh – clomp – ca-chunk.”  Vasser’s left hand melded with the handle … Continue reading →

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The Middle of the Night: Venice Stories, Chapter 2

Posted on October 7, 2021 by Al

Vasser sat at the front desk, feeding another chart, sheet by sheet, onto the patient’s green plastic ID card in the beige stamping tool. “Whoosh – clomp – ca-chunk. Whoosh – clomp – ca-chunk.”  Vasser’s left hand melded with the handle … Continue reading →

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The Middle of the Night: Chapter 2-ii

Posted on October 5, 2021 by Al

I picked the nursing sheets out of the chart, tapped them on the desk to even the corners, and kept them close to my chest while Cheryl blinked twice. Grayer appeared from the hall leading to the labor rooms, officiously … Continue reading →

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The Middle of the Night: Venice Stories 2 – i

Posted on October 2, 2021 by Al

Vasser sat at the front desk, feeding another chart, sheet by sheet, onto the patient’s green plastic ID card in the beige stamping tool. “Whoosh – clomp – ca-chunk. Whoosh – clomp – ca-chunk.”  Vasser’s left hand melded with the handle … Continue reading →

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