Are We There Yet? 200 Miles Of Hope!

So a few years ago I was "Promoting Global Hair Loss" and this guy started commenting on my posts and donating money for a picture of my cat with a light-up mohawk!   A friend of ours, Mary, said he was a friend from Ohio so I never thought any further.  We kept in touch and he commented on my Nike+ posts when I was trying to get back in shape after my Stem Cell Transplant.  I was running a very small amount at first but then started getting up to three miles at about a 9:20 pace - I was feeling good.

Then he told me he's going for a run.

I went for a run last week - 2.5 miles in my brand new shoes.  My friends kid ran a 5k and got 2nd in his age group.  But none of us went for a run like Eric went for a run.  Eric went Forest Gump style. 

He started on Friday morning and didn't end till Sunday morning. 

"Ah wehnt foh a run"*














I ran with him around 10:30 on Friday night.  When I caught up with him he had been running for 15 hours.  15 hours!  And he was just getting started.  After one loop I met my brother and went to get a beer just utterly amazed that I was going to go home, sleep, wake up, have a full day, go to sleep wake up and meet Eric when he was finishing his run.  Eric ran over 160 miles that weekend and raised a ton of dough.  And he raised all this money to help find a cure for Multiple Myeloma. 

I have Multiple Myeloma and I now know a whole lot of people who also have this disease.  It sucks having this disease but, as I've mentioned in the past, I've got it easy compared to some folks.  Cancer sucks and I believe there are two ways of dealing with it: Ostrich or Eric.  Now Eric doesn't have cancer, but a very dear friend of his died from MM and Eric has gone out of his way, and through many pairs of running shoes, to help raise money to find a cure.  If you talk to Eric he will tell you that we're his motivation.  And though we've said it, he'll never take credit for him being our motivation to keep going.

Think about the last time you had your Jerry Lewis moment - you have to be over 40 or maybe even 45 to get that one.  When was the last time you pulled a telethon type moment, where you did something for 24 hours?  The Jerry Lewis Telethon, when I was growing up, was something you did. Watching the TV all night and all day to see the guests and the stupid stuff that Jerry Lewis did.  That was a great memory and it was hard work, watching TV for almost 24 hours.

Eric is going to be running for over 48 hours - can you imagine?  There are no breaks.  What's worse, at 1am Central Park closes and Eric has to run AROUND, literally AROUND, Central Park till 5am.  That's why I'm running Friday night and running Saturday night and why I let Betsy convince me to buy a REAL pair of running shoes.  I run 3 miles at most.  I'll run 12 that weekend.  Eric has inspired me and given me a reason to post another blog spot to hopefully motivate others to be inspired.   You do what you can but Eric's gone well beyond that.  In fact, to get an idea of how inspired...look at this year's "poster" and my picture of Eric pointing.
 
Eric's pointing at my name...That's a real picture of Eric, or should I say shadow of Eric and the color around him are names, lots of names.  These are all people Eric has run for, communicated with or simply pointed at!  These are all people that inspire him but more importantly have hope because of him!  These are all people with Multiple Myeloma.  And I'm damn proud that my name is up there, right around the left hip!

I've said this in the past - we will find a cure for Multiple Myeloma within my lifetime - of that I am sure. 

The MMRF has done an unbelievable job moving drugs forward and the research is starting to pay off.  But none of that takes place without sponsorship and without donations.  I've done my fair share of fund raising over the last few years but Eric takes this to another level.  Because of what Eric does (and many other events/fundraisers like the Rubino Girls, the Crawfish Guys, the IceCream ScooperBowl) we will find a cure in my lifetime.  My kids won't have to worry about this, I won't have to worry about this, but most important of all, my MOTHER won't have to worry about this!

This is what I call hope - and Eric creates that hope with every step he takes.  And this brings up a great point and a little game.  Remember trying to guess the number of M&M's in the big jar?  Whomever can guess the number of steps Eric will need to take to reach 200 miles, I'll make a $100 donation in your name to Eric's run!  Eric or Tani will be my judge but whomever gets the closest will get due recognition here, on my FB PGHL page and via my Twitter account as well as a $100 donation to Eric's run.  So start counting steps - i can hear it now - "are we there yet?"

For donations: http://bit.ly/200m2acure

Eric's kickoff video link: here

* for full and total transparency, I have no rights whatsoever to the picture from Forest Gump and am not trying to abuse that image for financial gain.  I have cancer, I'm writing a post about this guy that runs alot - that made me think of Tom Hanks!  I think Tom would agree, this is a good reason for using the image so hopefully I won't get in trouble!

My Name is Bill and I Am An e-Books reader

It sounds like I’m joining AA but I find that I am still considered to be a strange lot to a number of people that view reading a book on an iPhone crazy, and reading on a tablet or Kindle fairly deficient.  In 2008 I was diagnosed with a form of cancer called Multiple Myeloma and my mother bought me a Kindle to make it easier to read in the hospital without worrying about finishing a book and needing another.  This is an important part of my post but I’ll revert back to that later.  The hard and paper cover stalwarts talk of the tangibility of a true book, the smell of a library book, the dust from an old book and these are all things that cannot be replicated with an e-book.  And they would be correct.  The first few months I read my kindle I would softly touch my thumb to tongue to turn the page, um, I mean, press the button.  I would laugh at myself in bed doing this, but now I had the experience of reading a book that was always the same size, always the same weight and I always knew how it would feel when I fell asleep and the Kindle hit me in the face.  The difference between Heinlein’s paperback of Starship Troopers and King’s hardback of The Stand is noticeable when balanced precariously upon a pillow as you’re laying down in bed reading.  The Stand is a big hit - literally.

Which brings me back to that “tangibility”.  When I finished a book I would go to Barnes & Noble and search.  I would find things on the end-cap or find books I had wanted to read that were now in hardback sales because they didn’t sell out and were reduced to $9.99 (depending upon the author it could be $4.99 or $14.99 but it was discounted and hit my price point!)  These books were purchased with the understanding that they would 1) hopefully be a good read and 2) I would have room to store them as I NEVER got rid of a book (until I got married, it wasn’t the wife, just sheer lack of space and kids!)  So knowing you were going to read the book and had spent a significant amount of time looking for the book, there were obviously some major pitfalls:

The book stinks - I can honestly say, in my years of reading, “real” books (unlike those accursed fake digital things :) I think I only put down, stopped reading, one book.  I think it was Silmarillion (Tolkein) as it was just too much to take in.  I will also say in my e-book reading days I’ve only put down two and one of them was because I hadn’t realized I had downloaded a free kindle e-book which was basically a soft-porn novel and wasn’t really what I was looking for at the time.  For full disclosure, there have been other, similar novels I did finish! 

The Cost - You weigh a variety of issues when in Barnes & Noble and deciding on your book purchase.  How much crap are you carrying already, how much time do you have to read, but most importantly, how much are you willing to spend being in full realization of the potential for the first point above (it could stink!).  There could be a very legitimate reason why that author/book is on sale.  Or, If you buy 4 books at $7.95 (paperback only guys, and pre-2008 prices) you’re in the almost $40 with tax which, at the time, was potentially 8 Guinness at the pub.  Oh the decisions we must weigh….

The Author and the Series - It’s very easy to get in an author rut.  That can be a good thing as Stephen King and Terry Goodkind kept me involved for many years.  But trying a new author (see first two items above) was a commitment, both price and storage.  You are taking home a piece of the author, their work in hard, tangible form.  What’s worse, you picked up book 2 - what do you do now?!?  You can’t read book 2 till you read book 1, which isn’t available at B&N or wasn’t on sale.  I picked up this book, on sale at B&N, called Manifold: Space by Stephen Baxter and though it was a long story, it was a great read and discussed the physics of space travel and time.  Years later, I got a Kindle e-book named Manifold: Time.  Part way into the book I realized some of this sounded familiar.  I have numerous book cases in my apartment and had to dig through many of those and boxes to find this first book.  Manifold: Space was book 2 where Manifold: Time was book 1 - I didn’t read them in order and wish I had.  It was on my to-do list but I still haven’t purchased the Kindle editions so that I can read them appropriately, in order.  It will stay on my to-do list as there was a plethora of new authors that were giving their books for free a few weeks ago so I’m stocked up for now!  Finding the author you want, and not getting out of that rut; and finding the series, in proper order, made shopping at B&N, or anywhere, a pain.  If you have kids in tow, you were down to two selections at best, along with three read-along books from the second floor at B&N Union Square before you had to get out of there so the kids wouldn’t explode in public!

There are numerous other reasons but the biggest issue I ever had with reading was getting the book you wanted when you wanted it.  I did enjoy the tactile changing of the pages and the smell of an old book that’s been stored for many years.  But folks, I drank the Kool-Aid on the e-book revolution.  I have a good friend of mine, Mike Malone, rugby buddy and PUBLISHED author who came out with his book a few years ago, a lot of which referenced our rugby team.  This is a good friend, but I drank the Kook-Aid so much that I didn’t read his book till it came out for the Kindle and I explained my dilemma to him at that time.  I love the fact that I can read my iPad before bed and then read my iPhone on the subway - just be sure to open the Kindle app prior to getting on the subway so you pick up at the right place.  I would NEVER carry a book to work - I have enough stuff to carry, but now I can read on the go when and where I want.  But let me ask you a question, oh patient reader, and please set the time machine back to a pre-2008 time frame when answering this question.  How many authors are you, or have you, been in touch with?  And I mean this outside of a book signing.  Let’s see by a show of hands, and using the beauty of imagination, imagine a full room with only a few hands, if any, raised.

The Kindle opened my eyes and let me keep my wallet confidently closed, or at least opened no more than a quick smirk.  THEY HAD FREE BOOKS - and not all of them were soft porn!  I mean, FREE BOOKS.  But then I started finding books that were $.99 or $2.99 - that is a significant difference from $7.95 price point I was paying before.  Even the “real” authors, authors who were published by a real publishing company, could be purchased for a reasonable price.  But you know what?  There were some new authors that had really cool stuff.  And you could get into a series and immediately get to the next book with a relatively simple process and “1-click” purchasing.  I would plow through a series about dragons from Naomi Novik or venture down the Spinward Fringe by Ralph LaLonde.  There was a very tame but very well written enigma I also found called the Solar Clipper Tales.  Every book in the series was available as audio book but I had to wait years to get the books on my Kindle (Nathan Lowell).  I was starting to really enjoy finding new authors.  Amazon’s recommendations were unfortunately shyte, but it gave me covers to look at and then reviews to try and understand that would help me find who would be occupying my time for the next few weeks.  It was either Steve Karmazenuk or Evan Currie who became the first author with whom I could trade comments, actually communicate and not feel like a bizarre stalker.  Steve had a great series called Omniverse and then I read Oh Well, Whatever, Never Mind which was so far off his normal track that I loved it.  Talk about getting out of the author rut!  Evan had a few series he was working at the time, both of which grabbed you and at least for one, was a roller coaster journey, cannot put the book down, action packed adventure (Warrior’s Wings - i love Aida!).  I’m not sure if it was their website or Facebook but I was able to touch base with each of them.  That adds a whole new dimension to the reading game.  It takes it to a different level as you can equate with the person and you get to know them in some way or another.  I'm not sure if those of you in the imaginary room would raise your hands now but I know I can.

None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for my mom buying me a Kindle for the hospital. 

And that’s when I met Molly - Molly Fyde was an enigma that introduced me to an author named Hugh Howey.  Although not my favorite story of all time, it roped me in and, similar to a King or Gaiman novel, you became part of the story, you were invested.  I read all of the Molly Fyde series and then picked up Hurricane which took place minutes from my folks house down in South Carolina so you knew the area and could appreciate what was going one.  That was another great story that you would have never found at B&N.  The Plagiarist was a fun find along the lines of a Philip K Dick novel.  But what put me on the true Fan list of Hugh Howey, an eternal lover of “the down deep” was “Wool - The Omnibus”.  Not since The Stand, The Hobbit, and many others, has there been a book that tells a deep story, Orwell’ish in nature, that rivets you completely.  If you’ve not read this story then you need to pick it up, for your e-book app, and read it today!  But that’s not the real purpose of my post.

Hugh has gotten big fame, deservedly so, but most recently he’s also putting the industry on its toes.  It’s not just him as there are plenty of others doing similar things; however, Hugh is the one that I reached out to, via Twitter, and he reached back.  I started reading Sand and he assured me I wasn’t going to be waiting for the next installment (which was a double edged sword as he told me it was the last installment!)  Hugh has been raising awareness for the independent (indie) or self-publishing author.  Of which many of the authors I mentioned above are currently.  Many of which I’ve read and discovered thanks to the immediacy of my Kindle app.  For those of you that have a kindle or similar app and read electronically, you may not be aware of the battle that is currently ensuing that is debating the future of how you will ingest good literature going forward.  Perhaps that’s too over-the-top - but it will definitely impact the cost of how you read books!

I received a check from both Amazon and Apple for the collusion suit where they were both accused of price-fixing and charging us, the reader, too much.  I am thankful for someone finding out and addressing the issue and I got a credit in both my Apple and Amazon accounts.  To that end, I was surprised - books were so much cheaper on the Kindle I could buy them all the time.  And I don’t need to worry about storage!  But here I find they were charging me too much and I got a credit.  That’s fine, I was happy with the price point.  But now there is a specific argument between Amazon and Hachette publishing regarding the pricing of books.  From Hugh, I found out about this and started following his posts and some of the other stories that came out.  The short story is the independent author, who self publishes maintains his rights for his book in perpetuity.  They don’t get paid an advance, they don’t get any marketing effort, they simply publish their book and Amazon gets a cut of the sales.  They don’t get the benefit of a big marketing push or any of the expense that goes with that, and for that reason, the most likely go un-noticed.  The “Published” author gives up their rights for at least a length of time, they may get an advance in payment but that will be eaten up in non-sales that may take place.  There's a hard cost associated with printing books and getting them to the store, the publisher takes that risk but it eats into the author's advance if it doesn't sell.  More importantly, if the book doesn’t sell immediately, the publisher may not do anything more and since it’s not on the shelves, it’s not on your shelf!  I am seriously summarizing this and will hope that others will comment on my post and correct my mistakes but I believe that what I’m outlining is not far from the truth.  In the amazon world you may only have a few sales but if three years from now your book gets popular, people can find it.  In the hard copy world, that's not the case (unless you're in NYC where you can find the still alive, obscure book store!)

The reason I’m posting this? 

I got my Kindle when diagnosed with cancer.  if you’re in the hospital and you finish your book, you can’t just get up and go get a new one.  With the Kindle I could, and I didn’t even need to get up - it was great.  For that I am forever in my mother’s debt (who isn’t, right?)  The funny part here is I’ve handled the cancer quite well.  It’s not gone but I wasn’t in the hospital as long as I expected.  However, let’s set that time machine back to pre-2008 days again and lets make an assumption you’re reading a really good book, first one in the series, and you’re on page 205 of 226 pages, and … you’re in the bathroom.  What do you do when you reach page 226 but aren’t finished- ‘nuff said!  Thanks Mom!

The Kindle, e-books I should say, have revised how I read.  The digital book makes it easy for me to read - everywhere.  The fact that there was collusion and now seems to be additional, similar thoughts, irks me.  If you were an author, you have most likely heard some version of what’s going one.  I’m not an author, I post to my blog sometimes but that doesn’t make me an author.  I’m also guessing that a number of you are readers and not authors.  I’m further guessing you’ve not heard about what’s going on.  So I’m here to stand on my pulpit and give voice to what’s going on.  I’m hoping I can inform the readers and if it helps the authors then so be it.  I like being able to not only find authors but communicate with authors and go wherever I want with their works.  But paying the same price as a hard copy or paperback just doesn’t seem right.  Amazon posted an Orwell quote that I thought was interesting.  With the advent of paperbacks around World War II apparently Orwell was quite concerned, of all people, and he had this quote, "(if) publishers had any sense, they would combine against them and suppress them."  Funny this came from him.  I guess all authors are equal but some authors are more equal than others….

The purpose of my post was to let you, the reader, know.  Investigate, reach out to your author friends, find out what they think.  I’m not a fan of Amazon, I’m not a fan of the publisher, I’m just a fan of reading.  And the digital reading hasn’t affected my abilities - it’s changed them - for the better. 

My name is Bill and i am an e-book reader - and i thank you for reading.


some links:
http://authorearnings.com/
Hugh and “Data Guy” have pulled together some great data and analytics as to the impact of digital on the publishing world.  Great place to start

http://www.hughhowey.com/authors-are-getting-hoodwinked/
a link to one of Hugh’s blog posts that discusses the topic

Author’s I mentioned - hopefully i got the correct web page but it should be a good link nonetheless.  I’m not playing favorites here - there are so many.  I’m also not listing King or Heinlein as I’ll assume most of you have heard of them!

Evan Currie
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Evan-Currie/185566178159935

Steve Karmazenuk
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Steve-Karmazenuk-Author/150693964997844

Ralph Lalonde
http://randolphlalonde.blogspot.com/

Nathan Lowell
http://nathanlowell.com/

Stephen Baxter
http://www.stephen-baxter.com/

Naomi Novik
http://www.naominovik.com/

Michael Malone
http://www.amazon.com/No-Never-More-novel/dp/0985632828

I Guess We Don't Try Harder - Hertz' Downhill Spiral

(spoiler alert - this has nothing to do with my status or with the cancer Multiple Myeloma - this is simply me venting about customer service gone bad!)

I think I may need to, "Try Harder" with a different car rental company.  I've been a Hertz Gold Member for many years.  Unlike other services, such as Dollar (now part of Hertz), Hertz' service was impeccable, the cars were clean,  they were current make/model and were fully functional.  Over the past year and a half this has slid downhill, and I only wish I could say this was happening slowly.  The problem with the picture I'm portraying is that it's only true in a very small section of the world, from a land-mass perspective.  This doesn't happen in Wichita or Indianapolis or Dallas.  The issue I'm facing only occurs in New York City - yes, the Big Apple.  I guess rent had gotten too expensive and with the coming of ZipCar, Hertz was feeling the pressure and started closing their rental locations in the city.

Hertz launched "Hertz On Demand", now known as Hertz 24/7 a few years ago.  This was Hertz' competition for ZipCar.  I first signed up for Hertz On Demand but then didn't use the service for well over a year.  My kids were young and my need for a quick jaunt to anywhere was limited.  When I needed a car it was for a long weekend or a drive to the Outer Banks. 

As my kids have gotten older, the need for a car to get up to Pelham for a rugby game or the Bronx for a basketball game has become more prevalent.   As I started using Hertz 24/7 (as it was now called), it was convenient and if I got the Fiat 500 it was cheaper than taking a taxi one-way.  This was great.  I even put up with the odd change of pickup locations that would occur approximately 30 minutes prior to pick up due to car availability.  I get it, the service is 'fluid' and you go where the car is available.

But then I got this car...

 The picture doesn't need a thousand words.  This was just downright disgusting.

 But they left us a cigarette lighter.  I didn't check to see if it worked.  I wasn't going to touch anything in this car.

 This is where the kids had to sit...and look what they found.

I used the Hertz 24/7 Immediate Assistance button.  I explained the situation but I couldn't get another car, we needed to get to a basketball game.  You know what Hertz gave me?  $25.00 off my rental.

I've had rentals where the driver's seat would only stay reclined fully.  Where the parts of the fender have broken off.  Where the gas card was missing.  All of this I expect from Dollar, but not from Hertz.   And PlatePass is another topic.  When you rent, PlatePass in the car is key in this small land mass known as New York City.  The Lincoln, The Holland, The Midtown tunnels, the RFK (Triboro) Bridge - not only are you paying a ton to get in, you will wait in line forever if you don't have EzPass. 

My last rental we drove to Baltimore - and it was this rental that brought on my rant.  Here in Manhattan they've been shutting down the Hertz locations in the city.  40th East Side closed a few weeks prior to the pictures above being taken.  12th Street and University is no longer listed on their on-line booking site.  To rent from a physical person you need to go to JFK, LGA or EWR.  You can go to a parking lot and talk to a virtual attendant but the parking attendant has to get you the car.  And to prep for your arrival, they print your contract and put it, with the keys, in your car.  Of course the parking lot attendant didn't know that.  So here's what happened for my rental to Baltimore...
1) lot attendant had no idea of my rental or any agreement
2) by the time i used the kiosk with the virtual attendant they found the car
3) they couldn't find the keys to the car parked in front
4) 30 minutes later, after profuse apologies from the agent who happened to be there, I left with my car.
5) arriving at my first toll booth I realized that there is no PlatePass - Jersey Tolls, Delaware Tolls, Maryland Tolls - need I say more?

Returning the car the next day, albeit late, I waited for the lot attendant who told me all is fine and I don't need to do anything else.  The next few days I still hadn't received an invoice and Hertz was hitting my Amex for $100.00 each day.   Finally I got an email with my invoice, at the price I expected. 

What I received today however put me over the edge,
"The vehicle that you recently rented from a Hertz Company (Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty, or Firefly Car Rental) was scheduled to be returned to: (location, etc. with) Date Due: 7/13/2014.

This vehicle is now seriously overdue.
Please do not ignore this letter.

Pursuant to the Terms and Conditions of the Rental Agreement, we hereby demand that our vehicle be immediately returned.....Failure to return our vehicle as instructed may result in the vehicle being reported stolen....Your immediate attention is necessary to prevent the potential revocation of future rental privileges and/or legal action to recover our vehicle."

This letter put me over the edge.  For that reason I've decided to use my blog as a forum and I apologize to those that are here to find out about my disease and how I'm doing.  However, it's my blog and I can write what I want.  If you too have had an issue like this with Hertz, please re-post, re-tweet pass it around. 

Perhaps we can find out if "Hertz Will Try Harder!"

Upate and Lack of Updates!

When you're sick and at the hospital you seem to have plenty of time to sit down and write, and write and write!  When you're not sick, you may still worry but you're not sitting down and writing about nothing!  And now that I'm not currently climbing tall buildings (slowly) I've been focusing on the rest of life: kids, wife and family (I guess work has to fit in there as well). 

I have to do an update regarding my Nike app and the Empire State Building run.

I have to do an update on a friend that went through a tandem and the drugs he was taking (as it's completely different than what I did).

I have to do an update on what really caught me off guard after this year's push up the ESB.

But I also have u12 rugby, baseball, summer camps, vacations and so many other things that I've just not kept up w/ my blog.

Thanks to those of you that are reading and following.  I just got back from the doc today and I am doing great, still no sign of the disease. I know others that aren't doing that well so I'll thank my lucky stars and ask that everyone else put out a good word for those that are really facing the challenge.

Thanks for reading!

bill

More Lagered, My Seventh Pack (DJSG ref!)

Two days from now, at this time, I will be sitting in a bar enjoying a well deserved pint, with my heart rate finally subsiding but the sweat still there.  The Empire State Building Run Up is Wednesday night.  Throughout this entire process I've been commenting mostly on Facebook but I've written a few blog posts that I'm proud of as the nature of what I go through is something I don't think I can really explain.  Everybody calls me an inspiration and thanks me for what I do, and for that I am very appreciative; but there are so many others that are so much more courageous and do so much more that I'm not sure I can compare.  Many of you will tell me shut up - I understand - I will take credit and will accept your thanks.  But I will also remind you that I'm selfish!  What I do directly benefits me!  The money we raise will help me.  The example I set will help me be a better father.  The accolades you guys give me...well...think about it!

But enough with the pity party...I want to recognize some good and some bad as I get ready for Wednesday.  Parts of this may end up being the speech I will give (as you know I can't shut up!)  First on the list - my nurse Kourtney, from Mount Sinai is actually running the race.  Now you might say, ok...but realize that a year ago, I was in hospital, with Kourtney.  This just means that much more to me.  And she found me!  I'm so excited - I will see so many new people but to have someone there that was literally there with me a year ago just puts the icing on the cake!

Second, the not so good.  I mentioned the other day in my #DailyStairs to ask for thoughts and prayers for Matthew.  He's got a very aggressive version of the disease, very aggressive.  I was luck to speak with him and his wife to help talk about options and where to go but for all of you that commented on Facebook his wife and his cousin saw those and it really meant something.  Being able to put that together and help let them know that there are others that want to help if they need it just proves how much good there really is in this world.

Third, my #DailyStairs - in 2001 I had my first trip to Auckland, NZ and one night walked down the main street and found a record shop.  I picked up this DJ mix CD called Lagered, The Sixth Pack.  This two cd set was nothing but upbeat, high energy for over two hours.  I've had this on my mp3, iPod and four versions of iPhones since 2001.  This is an essential part of my run/workout and has helped get me motivated up a whole bunch of stairs.  Well, thanks to Twitter and Facebook I was able to get in touch w/ DJ Sample Gee, Auckland's number one, playing regularly at Sale and also working w/ this really cool outdoor event called Mint!  DJSG created a mix, just for me, called Empire State Of Mind - 39 minutes of continuous 160 odd beats per minute with lots of energy transitions.  Not sure how much it will affect me after 40 flights but it will be definitely turned up once I reach 41 so apologies to those that I don't hear saying, "on your left."

Fourth, my original myeloma buddies, Micky and Lorna :)  The first blog-mates I got in touch with and one of the first with whom I was able to trade illustrative digestive stories.  Mike jumped off a bridge earlier this year to raise money for Myeloma UK.  For those of us with good insurance or in the US you don't always realize how difficult it is to get treatment or meds.  Too many hoops.  As easy as my transplant was, Mike's was a horror story but he's doing well now and still making smarmy comments on my posts while also convincing Facebook that we went to school together in England (i've never lived in England!)

Fifth, Rick Corman.  I have a post already written about him here.  Rick passed in late August after fighting MM for many years.  There's not much I can say about this gentleman - even with this disease, and somewhat withered from his former self, he was a commanding presence.  Commanding but gracious and humble.  I referred to him as a mentor - not sure if that's the right word but he took me on when I got diagnosed, put me in touch (literally that night) with my doctor and helped make me realize that everything you read on the internet is bullshit!  Thank you Rick, my first beer is for you.

Sixth, a small part of my reason for doing this - Bob, Steve and Andy.  I'm a sap for this race as it happened while I was in the hospital.  Bob, Steve and Andy were all directly around the time when I was going through my transplant.  And as I've said many times, these boys have all been through what I've been through.  In Andy's case, twice!  And they're still fighting while I'm in a complete remission.  If I inspire you, take a look at these guys...they inspire me!  There are others: Shells, Amy, Matt, Elizabeth, Nancy, Cynthia, and many more.  Yes I'm the guy making a lot of noise but you guys all do so much as well.  Thank you for keeping me inspired.

Seventh, and a newcomer to this race, Samantha.  I've had the pleasure of working with a few of you that are running the race and raising money: Tim, David, Eric (not running but raised a ton of dough!)  I saw Samantha's post re; running the race and shared her post, saying that I would love some of the cupcakes she had made, especially the orange one that said MMRF.  Luckily, my first MMRF buddy Brooke, saw my comment and corrected my mistake with the comment, "Bill, you must have run up those stairs and into a bar - those are rocks, not cupcakes!"  In all honesty, I had just come home from having two beers after work.  Brooke caught me and called me out!  #EpicFail!  And then Samantha was $130 from her goal of raising $3 per step (that's 3 x 1576 - you do the math) I re-posted and my buddy Brooke came back and said I'll pay $100 for the stone of the Empire State Building.  But she thought it was on my post.  I corrected it, told her to put it to Samantha because I was hitting my now extended goal and bottom line, it was all going to me - to help me fight this miserable disease.  But Sam didn't end there.  When I asked Sam why she was running, who did she know with the disease, her response was, "nobody - I saw the good things being done and wanted to help".  She's doing this all the way from San Diego.  So here's someone that is doing this because it's the right thing - not a selfish reason such as myself AND, ANDDDD...(wait for it).

She went and painted a stone, with the Empire State Building, just for me, based upon the empire state building in the video I shot celebrating my one year anniversary (which was photobombed by my cat!)  This is just so sweet, and means so much to me!

Now, as happens in anything else you write, when thanking people, you'll forget someone (Mom, you mean the world to me but you didn't make the cut).  If I forgot you I'll claim chemo brain so remind me and I'll make it in the next post.  But I'll ask you now, how "inspiring" am I?  How much of an example am I when compared to these people.  These people inspire me.  People ask me, as I've said before, why are you doing this...I'm doing it because I can.  I can and so many others can't.  I can and so many others ARE, because its the right thing, because it's a good cause and because we're going to find a cure!

This disease will move to chronic in my lifetime!  That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Thanks for reading


(This story has not been proofed in any way, except for the 40 proof glass of grappa drunk while writing it!)

One Year Re-Birthday!

The following video talks about my one year re-birthday. So many things going on in social media I'm forgetting to updates blog!

Http://bit.ly/pghl1yr

Enjoy!

Bill

#WWAE a WeekWithoutAnElevator!

This week is #WWAE - please spread the word!

Http://bit.ly/pghlwwae

To donate: http://bit.ly/pghlESBRU

An Amazing Day!

Today was an amazing day!

I've been writing my blog since I first got diagnosed in 2008.  And a lot of you have actually spent time reading my blog and, for that, I'm grateful.  I write the blog to get things off my chest.  I write the blog so I don't have to explain things to my mother.  I write the blog because it makes me feel like I'm doing something.  But I write the blog because sometimes you just need to put it out there.  And when you do it in a blog you don't have to argue your point...it's your point and that's all there is to it.

Now, as for "what I do" - it's simple - I live.  For those that have read YIDWID you understand that I Do What I Do because I can.  I have cancer, I have a disease and that disease is incurable.

And that sucks!

But that's sort of like saying I have hair - yeah, I know, this really doesn't make sense right now but wait for it...hopefully this will be clearer (and for full transparency, this is NOT a grappa fueled diatribe!)  Everyone has hair - some more than others, some fine, some thick, some curly, some straight.  Everyone has hair but not everyone's hair is the same.

I have cancer, I have a disease, it's called Multiple Myeloma - but not everyone's Multiple Myeloma is the same.  Some have heavy chain, some have light chain, some get bloodworm, some get 24 hour urine tests, some take Revlimid, some take Polalidimide (sp?).

SOME GET REMISSION AND SOME (TOO MANY) DON'T.

I do this because I CAN!

A number of you think I'm doing something special, but I'm doing this because I don't have to go to the hospital twice a week.  I don't have to take drugs that wipe me out and leave me without energy.  There are so many things that I don't have to do it's really easy to do what I'm doing now.

Today I got so many messages, telling me how I'm inspiring people.  Listening to these messages a bunch of these people have their own diseases to fight...you inspire me!  Now with my #DailyStairs I'm also getting to know a lot of people that are fighting the fight or have lost the fight.  For me, I"m running a bunch of stairs and tweeting and fbooking!  That's not fighting!  Today I got a flurry of donations, in addition to all these comments.  I'm not trying to be humble but I really appreciate all your comments - they really help to keep me going.  I also really appreciate all your donations - they are going to help me find a way to get this disease out of the "incurable" category in my lifetime!  At some point this disease is going to come back at me, and I'll be back on the drugs, trying to motivate myself but I guarantee there will be someone else out there helping to "promote global hair loss" and fight this disease.  With all of you behind me I have no worries!

As I said, Today Was An Amazing Day!  Thank you!

a Week Without An Elevator

I've taken this off my doc on Scribd here.  Please feel free to re-send, re-post, re-tweet, re-whatever it takes to get the word out.  I just realized I hadn't put anything on my blog regarding this.  As most of you have probably figured out, I'm running the Empire State Building on the one year anniversary of my stem cell transplant.   To help promote the event and help me raise money for the cause I'm going to be a bit crazy and have a Week Without An Elevator (#WWAE).  My building has 29 floors and I'm saying I will go to any meeting and NOT take the elevator up.  Also, I'm trying to encourage anyone else in Manhattan, Chicago, Hong Kong, wherever we have tall buildings to join me and take a Week Without An Elevator.  Please pass this along and help me raise funds for The MMRF.  Donate here: www.bit.ly/pghlESBRU

cheers...Bill
(follow my training at #DailyStairs)

 A Week Without An Elevator

–

 January 27-31

In preparation for the Empire State Building Run Up on February 5th, we will have a week at work

where we don’t use the elevator to go up. Bill McHugh is running the race this

 year in celebration of

his one-year anniversary of a stem cell transplant to fight the incurable cancer Multiple Myeloma.

Bill has been tracking his training using his Nike+ iPhone app so that he can get cheers from his

friends and keep himself motivated. And everyone can track his progress.

What if everyone in Manhattan used an app to track his or her steps that week? How many people

can we get counting their steps? How many times can we walk the Empire State Building in a single

week? How much money can we raise for The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation?

The Empire State Building Run Up is an iconic event pairing an exercise in endurance with one of the

world’s architectural treasures. But above all, this Event gives a lucky few the ability to raise money

to fight an incurable cancer, Multiple Myeloma. Multiple Myeloma is one of those diseases for which

there is no cure, but The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation is working to combat that

diagnosis; and their efforts are leading the way in cancer research.

The idea for a Week Without An Elevator (#WWAE) came from Bill McHugh when he was looking for

a way to celebrate his one-

year anniversary. At last year’s ESBRU, Bill was in hospital

, on day 4 after

his stem cell transplant. As he was thinking about how to celebrate this anniversary he realized

what better way to prove his health, his Complete Remission, than by running up the same building

King Kong climbed! Where this offers Bill a way to prove his health and raise money for The MMRF,

how do we raise awareness and money

for the event? That’s where WWAE comes in.

Our goal is to get as many people as possible to take the week and walk up the steps, GoVertical as

they call it, to raise awareness for this disease. Use whatever app or device you have to help us track

that success. We can create a community of people using their fitness apps to track their lack of

elevator use. Bill is going to do this that week at his office. There are 29 floors and Bill will only use

the elevator to go down. He expects to be late to a few meetings and expects to be quite out of breath

–

 which is better than being in the hospital any day of the week!

As mentioned above, the brainchild for a WWAE is Bill McHugh. I am Bill McHugh. I was diagnosed

in October of 2008 via a standard, annual

doctor’s visit 

 and the accompanying blood tests. In 2009 I

went through my four rounds of chemo and harvested my stem cells. In 2013 I had my stem cell

transplant and as of Fall 2013 I am in a complete remission and happy to be there! My efforts with

ESBRU are not just for me but for everyone else out there fighting this disease and specifically those

that can’t be as physical about it.

That is the story as it stands today. For more details about Bill and his efforts fighting this disease

please check his blog. To keep track of his efforts climbing a lot of stairs, follow him on twitter. For

details on ESBRU, check out The MMRF.

ESBRU

–

 Feb 5, 2013

http://themmrf.org/govertical

PGHL Blog

–

http://Bit.ly/pghlblog

Twitter - @PromotingGHL

Fbook -

http://bit.ly/PGHLfbook 

#DailyStairs #PGHL #ESBRU

The Stories We Tell and the Meaning They Carry

Tonight I had the opportunity to meet up with a number of people that will be doing the Empire State Building Race (ESBRU) with me in February.  For those of you that are avid readers of my blog you've heard my speech, "the story that I tell" and I'll apologize if I repeat it.  Bottom line, for the next 30 days I'm going to be asking all of you for money to fight this miserable disease.  I asked you last year and I'm asking you again this year.  I'd like to say I'm sorry but....I'm not....I have cancer, and I don't want it anymore and in my eyes, TheMMRF is helping to get rid of it (or at least the nasty part).  For that reason I'm asking for money.

But then, I need to remember, that there are others out there.  The aren't as lucky as me or they have that extra gene or depletion or whatever - they're still fighting.  I feel like a wimp because I'm not fighting.  For that...I'M FIGHTING!

There's a 72 year old lady running this race...(and here's the selfless plug) that owns Ellen's Stardust Diner (home of the singing wait staff) who is running this race...she already runs 60 stories!  I'm going to get my arse kicked!  (here's the plug - check out Ellen's page at http://www.ellensstardustdiner.com).  But I'm OK w/ that as Ellen's 60 year old friend has Multiple Myeloma and she's doing this for her friend...Good On Ya Ellen!  Now we need to coordinate a FlashMobBrunch at Ellens!  60 mimosas please!

Then there's another gent who's father just went through an SCT and just surpassed day 100 and is now allowed to have wine and some vegetables.  Yes, this is the stuff they forget to tell you...when you go through an SCT you lose most of your ability (if not all) to handle bacteria so some things are off the market for you.  His father is finally coming around and now the son has this crazy idea of running up a building.  The $2,500 minimum donation raised number was daunting to him...he will do it because 1) HE CAN and 2) it's his dad.  He's raised about $20k so far...so much for that 2,500....

And Sally, who has run this race twice, and will be starting with the original "wave" of runners (who maul each other in the first 20 fee of walk way to be the first to the stair and 'unencumbered' when it comes to getting up those stairs.  She's racing with her daughter and they are betting who can raise the most money based upon who the donators think will finish first.  More importantly, her late husband, and her twin children and her daughter that is running the race have a different version of cancer that they've been fighting and continue to fight now...amazing!

And then there are the two ladies that are running (or maybe it's just one) and one of them has a mother who has breast cancer....  Not Multiple Myeloma, breast cancer.  But she wants to do something and her mother doesn't want to talk about it and TheMMRF had this event...

The stories go on - for me...well, there are a few.  Bob went through his transplant days after me, literally.  Bob's a rugby fan and though he's an England supporter I was there with him!  Bob's back on medication.  Steve, went in a few weeks later, again for the same issue.  Steve's wife offered to pick up my prescription one day (she's in Long Island, I'm in Manhattan...talk about making me look lazy!) but Steve's back on medication.  Andy, he's had a beyotch of a time getting through this disease.  He's a trooper though and he's plugging away at it.  He's been through his second transplant (and he started a few months after mine).  There are others in various phases: Shells in the UK going for another transplant, Matt on the West Coast fighting a different version of the disease, Mike back in the UK jumping off bridges to fight this disease, Amy who's just doing well and helping others realize it's ok!  There are others as well and I apologize for not including all of you but I'm into my next glass of grappa before bedtime.  For all of you, I do this race.  And for me (yes, totally selfish).  I'm in a full remission and I'm in a position to do this...so let's rock this race!  And finally, for Brad, who's on day 5 or so right now - brother, keep up the fight as you always do...be BRADSTRONG!

Thanks for reading, now I need your support - follow me, tweet me, post me, but more importantly, find others to DONATE TO ME!  We're changing this disease from incurable to chronic in my lifetime!!!  Let's make this change - tell me your story!

Thanks...Bill

aka rugbyhubby
aka promoting global hair loss
http://bit.ly/pghlESBRU

My European Contingent!

Hoss, originally from Iceland, now in Switzerland, is running with me during the Empire State Building Run Up (#ESBRU).  He doesn't have access to a large building with stairs - but he has something better!  Watch this video as it's truly amazing where he's running.  I am jealous!
http://bit.ly/hossesbru

Unfortunately I can't embed the video as YouTube won't recognize the link and I don't 'own' the video.  Bottom line, Hoss will run a meter up the mountain for every dollar raised!  And he's doing this in the snow!

Go show him your support!

Bill

Christmas starts with C(h)R!

As I'm the only one up at this moment I"ll take a few minutes to say thanks.  Last year at this time I was very busy Promoting Global Hair Loss but in the back of my mind the fact that I was a month away from a stem cell transplant was always nagging and scaring me.  Now flash forward a year and I am in a complete remission (CR) and my numbers are normal and I'm not taking any meds* and I'm in better shape than I have been since High School (and I'd almost challenge that!)

For all this I'm thankful.  For my kids, as crazy as they may make me, I'm thankful.  For my wife, who puts up with me and my no-med chemo brain ways, I'm utterly thankful.  For my family, who may be dysfunctional in our own special way, are still fun, I'm thankful.  For my friends and extended family for all they do to help, support and motivate me, I'm thankful.  For my new "social media" friends, fighting this same miserable disease, I'm thankful as you motivate me more than any of you know.

But right now, that pot of coffee that just finished, and the big PILE of presents under the tree - for that I'm thankful!  Bring on Christmas - WTH are the kids???

Merry Christmas everyone!

Bill

@PromotingGHL
#PGHL
http://bit.ly/pghlESBRU

* note - I am taking acyclovir to prevent against shingles as I will be getting a whole new set of inoculations sometime after my one-year anniversary of the sct.  cheers...b

It's A Bit Tougher In Year Two

Last year I was heading for the hospital, for a rather significant procedure and my efforts raising money for The MMRF were rather simple.  I just kept talking about shaving heads and a bunch of people came through for me.  We raised $60,000.00 for The MMRF and I had a stem cell transplant.  I didn't know what to do this year and as I was running, and feeling good, I decided I could do this crazy thing and run up the empire state building.

But the difficult thing here is asking all of you that came through for me last time to come through for me again.  I started to realize this year that there are a whole lot of charities out there asking for donations.  I realized this year that I can only go so far personally, there are charities that I have donated to in the past that I've had to cut back or not donate at all.  And I realize a lot of you face the same challenge.  I am not doubting my commitment to the charity, rather, how I phrase my request to you this time.  It's sort of like being a kid, you don't think about a lot of stuff.  Now I've grown up and I'm realizing the request I'm making of you - financially - is, or potentially could be, taxing on your charitable giving limit.

So my challenge is two-fold.  First, pulling the heart strings, just so, to illicit a response resultant in the opening of your checkbook and a donation to The MMRF.  Second, is to provide enough of a value for your donation so that you deem this to be credible and worthy.  I am breaking this down in a much too black and white manner, and there are too many shades of grey to take this lightly.  Some of you make donations as you're close friends of mine.  Some take a further step and make a significant donation because you can.  Some of you make a donation, similar to what I do for those requests that come throughout the year, that are what you can do and you do it for me but you also realize you have to do it for a few others.  I am thankful, equally, for all of you.  Obviously, where you can make a big donation I am overly grateful and appreciate how much closer that brings me to a cure.  For those that are close friends, you know my feelings.  We've been through a lot, good and bad, and some, worse and bad - but we've been through it.  And I appreciate your support.  For those that include me in the list of charities you support each year I really appreciate that effort.  And I want to find a way to help you realize that appreciation.  I want you to feel like the charitable investment has an association and import that carries meaning with you.

Each of you have a reason for supporting a charity or charities.  I support or have supported our school foundation, the archdiocese of New York, the American Cancer Society, the Dana Farber Institute and, one of my favorites, Make A Wish.  My job is to convince you of the need to support my charity and the benefit that charity brings.  There are a few charities that will actually outline what percentage of your donation makes it to the charity.  What I've found with The MMRF is a group that is thinking well outside of the box when it comes to addressing a disease that is currently considered incurable.  Their concept of no silos, data that is shared by all and results that benefit all that share, it just makes sense.

But past all of this, I have this disease.  I have this disease that is incurable and I have The MMRF that is watching my back.  More importantly, I have you - all of you - watching my back.  I still feel uncomfortable asking you for your support, again, this year.  But i'm going to have to ask for it.  The money we raise will make a difference.  I expect, and predict, that my disease will become "chronic" in my lifetime.

The difference between incurable and chronic is massive - and I apologize but you can't understand what that means till you think about how you talk to your 9 year old about that thing you have.  

For that reason, among many others, I'm going to do my best to actually run up the Empire State Building.  And I'm going to ask you, AGAIN, to donate to my cause.

Thank you in advance, thank you always,

Bill
aka Promoting Global Hair Loss
@PromotingGHL
http://bit.ly/pghlESBRU

And so it all begins...again!

Last year at this time I was preparing to head into hospital for my stem cell transplant.  I wasn't worried but it was a big procedure with lots of side issues.  I'm now in a complete remission and aside from this most recent bout with a chest cold, feeling phenomenal.  I am very lucky.  Two friends I know here in the States are back in the saddle again, one back in treatment and another finishing a second stem cell transplant.  I have two friends in the UK, both in treatment, one getting ready for a transplant and a third that is so crazy from chemo he's bungee jumping off bridges in Scotland.  As I come upon my one year anniversary I am thankful for my personal status but also thankful that I can continue what I started last year -

Promoting Global Hair Loss!

Some people may not understand my little inside joke but I lost my hair last February, for the second time.  Rather than being ashamed, I was bald and I was proud!  I wore stupid hats, took lots of pictures, had parties all around the world and shaved 21 heads at my event here in New York City.  More importantly, I raised over $60,000.00 to help fight this miserable disease!  For that I thank all of you that supported and contributed to my effort.  For that, I also apologize as I'm coming back to ask for your help once again!

A few months ago I thought about how good a position I was in and what I was going to do on my one year anniversary.  I already shaved my head and couldn't ask Chris and Craig, Craigles, Harry and all the others around the globe that took down their locks for my cause.   That's when I called The MMRF with another one of my, wait for it, hair-brained (!) schemes: I'll run up the Empire State Building!

Yes, I said, "RUN UP THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING".

Three years ago, when I first heard about this race I said these people are crazy.  I still agree, their crazy - it's just I'm one of them this time.  I'm still Promoting Global Hair Loss with fellow runners representing Europe and Asia:  Hosskuldur (Icelandic, living in Switzerland) and Christian (Aussie, now in the States).  I'll have another post regarding training but you can follow me on my Nike+ app and via twitter and Facebook.  I'll have more later but for now, here are the relevant links.  Also, please read my post just prior to this for a little detail as to why I do this.

What can you do?  DONATE - help me kick this cancer's @ss - for me, and for a number of friends of mine that are going through chemo, transplants or just the day to day mess that is dealing with this disease.  We've made great strides and The MMRF has helped us get there.  I'm going to make big strides up the ESB and I'm going to do it with your help!  Thank you in advance!

Empire State Building Run Up (ESBRU) donation board: http://bit.ly/pghlESBRU
Twitter: @PromotingGHL
Facebook: http://bit.ly/PGHLfbook
my first video: http://bit.ly/ESBRUvid

Why Do I Do It and What Can You Do?

I have an incurable cancer called Multiple Myeloma.  For those of you reading or following my blog you've known this.  For those of you following my escapades "Promoting Global Hair Loss" you are also aware.  I've gotten so many messages from so many of you I wanted to explain why I do it and, in return, explain how you might be able to help.

I got this message on my Facebook page the other day:
"Dear Bill .... This is exactly what I have been looking for and can't tell you how much it is already helping me. I accept my diagnosis but am having trouble dealing with "what happens next". You have given me a very good tool to bring to the fight. Thank you so much. "

I originally created my blog so that my mother could read my updates, re-read my updates, talk to her friends, re-read my updates and then come to me with questions.  That was my original purpose, and it worked (somewhat -  sorry Mom!)  There's another purpose here and it's completely selfish in nature.  I do it for me - so I can spew forth the thoughts from my brain, digest them, and keep myself on track and motivated.  However, throughout the years I've gotten messages like the one above that make me realize the value my personal thoughts and comments bring to others.  This is an unintended, knock-on effect that makes me feel great - again, selfish benefits!

Many will tell me to be quiet, that what I do is important to others and it helps motivate others.  For that I am grateful, just realize the benefit I gain here as well, my pat on the back and my 10 minutes of fame!  But it also reminds me to push forward.  If what I do can help someone else with the disease to stay hopeful, or more in control, then I've served a higher purpose.  If that also helps me tweak the heart string, more importantly, the purse string, that's even better!  I truly believe The MMRF is making the strides necessary to move this disease from mortal to chronic and, at some point, curable.  But we need to remember (me personally, I need to remember) how well off we are.  I am in a complete remission.  Kathy Giusti (founder of The MMRF) wrote a poignant piece in her blog reminding us others aren't that lucky, that we're just not there yet.  You can read it here (Nov 18, 2013 post).  Other friends I know are doing well but are having to take next steps, whether that be treatment or another stem cell transplant, they have to take next steps - and I don't.  I'm thankful but I also feel guilty in some respects.

I know I shouldn't, but I do - and that is why I do what I do - because I can.

I'm taking steps, LOTS OF THEM.  I've come to know the paint on the 10th floor stair well, the bobby pin that's been on the 6th floor stairs for 2 weeks now, the floors where the fire hose wrench is hanging and floors where the wrench is on top of the hose.  I'm doing these stairs in preparation for my one year anniversary of my stem cell transplant.

The Empire State Building Run Up (ESBRU) is on 5 February, 2014 and The MMRF is the primary charity benefitting from this event.   Last year, when this race was taking place, I was day 4 of my stem cell transplant.  Today I am in complete remission with no trace of the disease.  On my one year anniversary I will do my best to RUN up those stairs in the Empire State Building, because I CAN -  and so many others can't!  I may walk the last bit but I know I will make it - and I will be asking you, and yours, for donations - that will be coming up soon enough.  But this brings me to my next segment: What Can You Do?

The Corporate Run-Up Challenge - Get In. Give Back!  
The MMRF has a number of corporations joining in this Corporate Run-Up Challenge: Goldman Sachs, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Millennium, PWC, Google and many more.  But not enough - please pass this along to your friends, colleagues, or anyone that wants to put in a team of three to race ESBRU and raise money for The MMRF.  Some groups have put in two teams, one for the 'race' and one for the 'raising'.  Please pass along my blog and my Fbook post linked to this blog and help me get teams signed up for ESBRU now.  I offer myself to any team that is signed up for the Corporate Run-Up Challenge to help get the word out and raise funds for The MMRF - just let me know or reach out to The MMRF and let them know.  To sign up your team simply go to TheMMRF.org/GoVertical

Something a little less physical please - and in my neighborhood!
So maybe you aren't as crazy as me and don't feel like stressing your gluts, quads and knees with thousands of stairs per week, we can work on something different for you then!  Do you have a neighborhood watering hole?  Can you host a guest bartender night?  Be my guest bartender - if you do it in the City, I will try and join you.  If not in the City, I can try and join you via internet but I would love to join!  This is much easier than last year - nobody has to shave their head!  Just get a bunch of friends out for drinks and raise a few dollars for The MMRF - I can work with you on how to process the donation.

Afraid of your friends when they've been to the local watering hole?
Or do you have kids and want to get them involved?  I'm happy to help add my name to any bake sale, walk or jump rope contest that you want to do to help raise funds.  You'll see on my PGHL Facebook page the pancakes my brother made last year for my "hair today, gone tomorrow" logo!  What about "hair today, gone tomorrow" cupcakes?  Whatever you want to do, I want to help.  I will start fundraising in the very near future so would love your input, your help and of course, your money for The MMRF!

I'm stepping off my soap box for now.  Thanks for reading, thanks for sharing!

(n.b., "@1=1576 -- at one year, I will be climbing 1576 steps! :)

PGHL goes ESBRU!

I'm going vertical!  We're going to get teams together to raise money for The MMRF by going vertical - UP to where King Kong hangs out!  The Empire State Building Run Up is February 5th 2014 - that will be my one year anniversary of my stem cell transplant.

If you want to raise money and run the Empire State Building, let me know!

@1=1576!!!

My video!

@1

Just A Mile To Go!

Last night I was running with a gentleman who has truly impressed me!  Eric is in Central Park running  - now granted, a large number of people run in Central Park daily.  Eric, however, has been running since Friday morning (and it's currently Saturday evening).  He's over 130 miles run thus far, and all to raise money for The MMRF to help find a cure for Multiple Myeloma!  I haven't even seen how much he's raised but last night he was just shy of $70,000.00.

Inspiring!

Katie Couric came by, Amy Freeze (ABC7 NYC) ran two loops (12miles) with him doing an interview 'on the run'.  I ran with Eric last night, starting around 10pm.  He had been running 16 hours around the time we finished.  I ran for about an hour.  At 1am he had to exit the park (it was closed) and he had to run AROUND the park - CPS to Fifth to 110th to Columbus to CPS - that's longer than the 6.1 mile loops.

Bottom line, this guy is impressive - and he's doing it all to fight MM.  If you can make a donation it helps to motivate and move him along.  He's got one more night to get through and will finish at 8am tomorrow (Sunday morning).  I'm going out to watch him finish - let's make sure he finishes by meeting his goal!

Please feel free to pass this along, share it on Facebook/Twitter/Tumbler or whatever other social media is your social media of choice!

My finish last night:

Eric's page on The MMRF:
http://TheMMRF.org/48hours

Eric's page on Facebook:
Just A Mile To Go

Eric's page:
http://www.justamiletogo.com

Over $60,000 for The MMRF!

Thank you to everyone - we've been "Promoting Global Hair Loss" to fight Multiple Myeloma and we just surpassed $60,000.00 raised for The MMRF!  This will conclude this goal for Promoting Global Hair Loss but as I've surpassed my half-year anniversary of my stem cell transplant wait till you see what I have planned for the one-year anniversary!

Details soon....

A Big Help and Truly Great Man...

In 2008 I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma.  At that moment, as first documented in this blog, the family network kicked in as we tried to figure out what this disease was in addition to how and where to get treated.  My father spent my entire life working at CSX and through that connection I was given the phone number for a gentleman with the same disease as me.  I'll never forget the night I called - I had stayed late at work so that I didn't have to make the call at home.

The phone rang, was answered, and I got my first chance to talk with Rick Corman.  He was very clear to point out that he had time to talk but he was also enjoying a great plate of barbecue and hoped I didn't mind if he continued to enjoy as we talked.  I didn't know what to ask, what to talk about, what to say and it didn't matter.  Rick had a way of making it all easy....

"I bet there's a whole lot going through your head right now. (chew, chew, swallow)  What are you thinking about all this?"

From there we just talked.  He explained how he got diagnosed, he explained what he's going through and he helped me think through what I was doing and what I should do next.  He had his opinions (and he wasn't afraid to let you know them) but he wanted my thoughts as well.  A few months later he was in New York and asked if we could meet up.  I was still wary about talking about my disease and wary about who to talk with but Rick was just a normal, every day kind of guy would made things...simple.  He also talked to me about what he does to raise money and the drugs he's been taking - and how the drugs he took (Thalidomide) helped design the drugs I've been taking (Revlimid).

Rick put me in touch with Dr R at DFCI.  I was going to say 'helped me get in touch with...' but that wouldn't be right.  He gave me Dr R's mobile, said call him right now, tell him Rick said to call and then call me back.  Seriously....  That was Rick.  And at some point I felt like I was taking advantage of him, calling him and taking up his time when he had his own "thing" to deal with.  I should have known better, especially after having one of my father's friends reprimand me for not calling him.  "Rick wants to know how you're doing..."

I guess part of what I do - with this blog, with my Promoting Global Hair Loss, with just trying to help out all started because of Rick.

Last Friday I went on vacation w/ the kids and another family.  Rick passed away the day we left.  My parents thoughtfully didn't say anything while we were there and the obit my mother had sent was lost in the email cloud.  I happened upon the news story today and read the obit tonight.  Like a photograph, the obit, or any story about Rick, is only two dimensional - and anyone will tell you Rick was 3D - all the time!   If there's any doubt, read this article about Rick from Forbes.

Rick - thank you for everything you did - for me, my family and for everyone else you've helped enjoy an easier and healthier life.   Here is a link to the obit for those that would like to read more about this wonderful gentleman!
http://www.kentucky.com/2013/08/23/2782221/railroad-entrepreneur-rj-corman.html