So up the putty Rd, and it’s still riddled with holes.

Haven't been back for a couple of years, the bushfire last year that triggered the evacuation warnings might have prompted some sales.

Went up though Monsildale, with a bit of a detour out to Loisavale and back. All up the Monsildale Valley the land owners had been burning, great to see, means we won't be called out to there later in the bushfire season.

Ended up near the old Jimna fire tower, which has seen better days. Climbed it once, but that was about 30 years ago.

I had the old rattler clean, degreased, chains adjusted to perfection, everything spot on preparing for a law abiding, safety conscious and sedate ride around the Sunshine Coast hinterland with like minded people, but it's being run a couple of weeks later than usual. Was trying to stay off dirt, but temptation was too strong.

It will be interesting to see how the Sporty goes in company with bikes with almost twice the power and 3 times the rear suspension travel. The only thing it will have going for it is that 4 speed Sportsters are narrow, you have to lean a long way to drag the forward footpegs.

And shit I'm feeling like it, been a bugga of a few months. In September I got carted off a fire ground in an ambulance with a heat stress incident, the biggest killer of bushfire fighters and lawn bowlers. Was only 36°, and only a back burn, pretty heavy fuel load though. I had the driptorch, lighting the edge, but it was was taking the bloke on the hose following me quite a while to put out the edge of the fire, so we were moving pretty slowly. The drip torch was a bit too full and dribbling burning fuel so I had to hold it over the fire. I was standing with 1 to 2 metre high  flames just in front of my boot toes and soaking up the radiant heat, sweating like a pig. We had covered about 200 metres in 20 minutes, and I had drunk a full bottle of water when I felt myself getting affected and went to sit in the truck air-conditioning. Was leaning against the truck door taking off my jacket when the world faded a bit and I needed full concentration to not piss myself. Apparently I was a bit twitchy which prompted the boss to call the ambulance. A couple of bags of saline later I was OK. I was fully hydrated but drinking enough water to do that had dropped my blood electrolytes to dangerously low levels, dropping my blood pressure.

They kept me in hospital overnight, still in my stinking yellow clothes. The cardiologists got involved, and it's taken 3 months of tests to convince them that there is nothing functionally wrong with the ticker.

Anyway, I get a clearance to go back to active duty, and now I've been hit by some sort of muscle wasting condition. Everything hurts, feels like Bloo's bus has hit me too, and muscle mass is just melting off me. Dunno if I'd be able to ride the 365 kg Vic bagger at the moment. The quacks dunno what I've got, but if they can't figure it out, the fall back position is to load me up on testosterone and 'roids and see what happens.

Can still ride the Sporty at the moment, but might be looking for a Yam T Max sooner than I hoped.

Life sucks sometimes, but so far breathings better than not breathing. Have to see how it goes.

All the best.

And Pauly, they don't think they're related, but as they don't know what's affecting me yet, who knows?

Humbug, that's one of the things that's been mentioned, Friday's blood tests were mostly for a variety of auto immune conditions. I hope that you wife's treatment has stabilised it for her, brought her some relief.

And I don't like steroids myself. I helped run a TAFE sport and fitness department in the mid 90s, dealt with a few people a bit too deep into them. Was on them for a couple of months myself about that time, after a 90s style retinal reattatchment surgery, pre laser, so take the eye out of the socket, wrap a cable tie around it, inject CO2 into the eyeball to push the retina back into place, go in through the back of the eye with a cryogenic probe to stick the retina back with 6 scar tissue spotwelds, sew the cable tie into the muscles that move the eye in the socket. Bloody miraculous, I was blind then I could see.

Anyway, didn't like how I felt after the couple of months of 'roids.

Probably shouldn't haven't have kicked this thread off course, all this might have been better in the Bugga thread.

Well see how it goes, hopefully what I've got can be identified, hopefully that can be treated.

And I might lean heavily into painkillers for next weekends ride.

And Humbug, enjoy it then.