ⁱJune 29, 2025

Dear TeamToddTBI,

Naturally, I completed virtual flights: “https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bjaWPRknRQbmLyAeczeUX9t-_AVM0ihY/view?usp=sharing” I used the word “naturally” intentionally as I make use of the exponential decay in the resistance of my bike’s rear wheel to translate its rotational velocity to a joystick throttle position. The inverse the exponential function is, the natural log. Evidently, I am still nerdy. I had two bad landings this week.

I saw a dermatologist this week. She spoke of having a Pelotan bike that was relatively unused and thought she might be interested completing virtual flights from her recumbent bike. I am an introvert until the subject turns to bikes and flight simulators. I enjoy sharing the mental and physical feat of integrating [another nerdy pun] a bike trainer with a flight simulator. Admittedly, Peloton offers human encouragement: “Good job!”, “Pedal harder!”, “Feel your legs burn!” and I only offer the anguish from cross-winds during final approach.

On Tuesday, I got my teeth cleaned at the dentist. His receptionist regularly uses a rowing machine. I am fairly certain that her physical exercise could be translated into throttle position as well.

I purchased a new pair of walking shoes this week. I will wait (three or four weeks) until the shoes are modified before wearing them.

Also, this week, the ophthalmologist I see regularly informed the DMV that I could pass the vision test, required to be a licensed driver, and did not need to drive to a DMV office for their verification to renew my driver’s license. Could I legally drive to the DMV office if my eyesight was 20/40 or worse?

I am over fifty: increased dialogue about health care providers is expected.

I was good in church and made my own Bisquick pancakes this morning.

I am still coding to allow a player to split his hand in my quirky blackjack game.

St. Luigi, thank you for your intercession.

Hello, TEAMTODD! Thank you for staying with us. It was a VERY BUSY week with appointments for Todd. WHEW!!! Ray Chen, R n J Sports, took the usual 2 hours with Todd fitting him for new shoes. YES! 2 hours! Ray is WONDERFUL! VERY knowledgeable .

Next stop, will beAbility Prosthetics, July 7, an appointment with Curtis who will take a look at the new shoes from R n J and suggest some modifications. Those modifications will be done in a diagram and we will then take the shoes and the diagram to the VERY EFFICIENT and KNOWLEDGEABLE shoe cobbler who will make the magic happen.

Ability Prosthetics is no longer in Rockville. Curtis works in the Hagerstown office BUT he remembered Todd and will meet us in Frederick, MD. BUT! The 3 of them, Ray Chen, Curtis and Allen(Rockville, Nick’s Shoe Repair) all work together very well to provide Todd with a good walking shoe for his left foot. We are grateful for their collaboration. Todd’s caregivers have been hand picked and bless them for staying with us.

Todd made some new friends this week during a dermatology appointment. Todd’s PCP suggested Todd see a dermatologist because of some questionable moles. I asked around and got great recommendations for Dr. Bourelley. Usually, one has to wait 3 months as a new patient. BUT! Wonder of wonders! There was a cancellation and and Dr. Bourelly saw Todd this week.

I understand why she is very popular. She tuned into Todd immediately and they had a great conversation other than skin problems and moles.  Dr. Bourelley’s staff was very welcoming and accommodating.

Todd also had an appointment to have his teeth cleaned on Tuesday… By Thursday, Todd came to me in the afternoon and said, “I don’t know about you, BUT, I am totally whipped out by all of this extra stuff and appointments.” MY FEELINGS, EXACTLY!!!!

Libby will be home on Thursday for a long weekend. We always look forward to her visits.

Again, Thank you for your prayers, good wishes and good works. They are working….

i

 June 22, 2025

Dear TeamToddTBI,

I completed virtual flights: “https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-znFh45EehGVXN3t4aXBKrQEAyIGvONq/view?usp=drive_link” A feat is not immediately obvious: On Friday, I could not find an airport that was at least an hour away so I completed a short flight from KWDG to KEND and longer flight from KEND to KTQK. Two good landings in one day!

I am still programming a means for a blackjack player to split hands “https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eJksgEvztIwfB61yrisaL_S2icu04C0I/view?usp=drive_link” I am not patient enough to wait for split opportunities to randomly occur – I stack the deck within the program.

My favorite sister was here for a long weekend.

HRH gifted me with some bouncing sumo wrestlers: “https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ypfY3eODbO4EdBGW7bqs-aWrHnELMNlG/view?usp=sharing” I am not sure that the figures will placate me during the sport overlap that occurs between the Tour de France and the July Grand Sumo Basho. Nor will the bouncing figures spare me from the frustration of not being physically qualified for sumo: I can not grow a top knot.

Carlo Acutis, Pray for us.

St. Luigi, Pray for us.

Hello, TeamTodd,

Another week for the Toddster, business as usual. Todd looks for ways to helpful around the house. It is a challenge for me BUT I must learn to let go.

This week the goal is to make an appointment for Todd to visit a dermatologist. (Recommended to do so by his PCP) Todd is fair skinned and has “interesting” moles to watch out for.

Whew! TBI has a “silver lining”. If Todd did not have that horrible catastrophe 11 years ago, he would not be connected to a PCP on a regular basis to watch out for other problems Todd may be susceptible to because of family history, ie, prostate cancer, skin cancer.

We enjoyed Libby’s visit this weekend. It is always a good time of good eats and good conversation and positive support all the way around.

Thank you all for staying with us on this journey. Your continued interest is VERY supportive. Todd keeps on keeping on knowing someone, many, care and continue to cheer him on.

 June 15, 2025

Dear TeamToddTBI,

Happy Father’s Day, Dad.

I completed virtual flights this week: “https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o1W2nCdhI_jZ4lEGHO5xakxS4zPsSVcq/view?usp=sharing” For me, the virtual flights are simply fun. Except for when I am trying not to sweat or cross winds are present during landing. I feel for those that mindlessly exercise.

The Tour de Suisse starts today. I made contact with a high school class mate who now lives in Switzerland. Last year, Sekhar walked to the bike race from his home . I also tempted him with my scheme for controlling FlightGear’s throttle with a bicycle. He appreciated the concept but felt the financial costs were too high. Perhaps he did not appreciate that the Pi 5 can be used for more than flying bikes.

I will confess to regularly breaking the posted speed limit on my bike when I lived in Lausen. That was during my normal ride from Sissach to Olten and back.

I earned four more hours towards PE license renewal by completing a course on AC circuits. I recall from my days as electrical leader on the VT Solar Car Team: With AC, in the US, you get 60 chances to break the circuit every second; with DC you have to muster the strength to break the circuit yourself.

I strive to do about an hour of programming with the blackjack game I am working on.. I am still working on a means for a player to split hands.

I was good in church. Yesterday afternoon, HRH and I prepared a breakfast casserole for Father’s Day Breakfast. I will enjoy the leftovers the rest of the week. Life is good on Ash Court.

Carlo Acutis, Pray for us.

St. Luigi, Pray for us. 

 June 8, 2025

Dear TeamToddTBI,

Happy birthday to Bill Thewes, grandson of Ridge Tool’s founder AND major supporter of my recovery from Day 1. My recovery continues because of my “still” affiliation with Ridge Tool and the prayers of so many, especially those of Bill Thewes.

Naturally, (pun intended: I use the assumption that the trainer’s resistance conforms to an exponential function) I completed virtual flights. “https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PBCrsTHjEfAUfUfT1_bHHBzAlWLsoUgG/view?usp=sharing” I breezed [is that also a pun also?] through Mexican and US customs when I completed the flight from MMRX to KLRD. I write about my quirky trainer usage a lot. I would like to know that more than one person has found using a trainer like I do rewarding. To me, exercise is mindless activity repeated in order to obtain a goal. I have fun.

I made progress on my blackjack game. The game now determines if the dealer has a blackjack and if any of the seven plays have a blackjack. Next week, I will develop a scheme so a player can split his hand.

We went to Mass on Saturday night. I was good so waffles were made for me Sunday morning.

Carlo Acutis, Pray for us.

Hello, TEAMTODD! Thank you for staying with us. I have not connected with you for the last 2 weeks. Sundays have been busy and Todd has wanted to post at his usual hour.

Last week, Sunday evening, we celebrated Gabriel Wu, graduating from Harvard with a BS AND MS degree. AND! We celebrated Daniel Wu’s graduation from Blair HS. Daniel is off to MIT… It was a GREAT party. We were honored and enjoyed celebrating the occasions with their families.

Todd continues on his journey to recovery. I am amazed and GRATEFUL for Todd’s upbeat attitude! This week, Todd wrote to someone at NIH who was involved with a study Todd did way back.. Neuro Drive, early days of recovery. Todd had all the names and buzz words. Todd wants to share his bike/plane in much the same manor, they did rehab driving. I was quite taken with Todd’s explanation and his very technical explanation. Todd is STILL that VERY PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER he was called to be at age 10 years!!!

I am, and you, must be grateful for Todd’s continuing recovery. Todd’s recovery continues because of your prayers, your good works and your continued support and interest. I hope you find many opportunities to share Todd’s success with others you may encounter. I find many opportunities to share Todd’s story with others. I hope they never lock me up because I am a menace with an enthusiastic message.

Thank you all for staying with us, with your continued prayers and support in many ways.

St. Luigi, Pray for us.

 June 1, 2025

Dear TeamToddTBI,

My virtual flights for the week: “https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q5oz_TIkEbFT2rgp7gZLHFwIpgr-smEr/view?usp=drive_link” I attempted a short flight from 11R to KGYB; I did not record a good landing. Saturday, I breezed through virtual customs after a virtual landing in Mexico.

I think I may start a major revision to my blackjack game . I suspect the source of the problem was using too much dynamic memory, leading to program crashes. I think the root cause is my resistance to system updates. Comment you have had a better computing experience with Windows after a mandatory update. Each time Windows 10 went through a mandated update it was slower – only in my opinion. That led to Windows 11. In any case, I have learned about pointers, heaps, and dynamic memory.

I got my hairS cut on Wednesday.

I passed a class on heat exchangers; I earned three more hours of continuing education good for renewing my Ohio PE license. I maintain the license in case my disability income is disrupted .

Carlo Acutis, Pray for us.