HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEARS EVE!

Photo: Courtesy of AP

Workers in New York's Times Square are putting the final touches on the Crystal Ball!

One of the final orders of business for me this weekend was to place the finishing touches on a biography article for Airways magazine that I had been attempting to accomplish for the past few years. The rest of my weekend was filled with running errands and of course, getting my time in on the recumbent bike (11.47 miles each night). Physical therapy on my shoulder resumes Monday night and I am eager to find out when I can return to full workouts with weight lifting and other activities that I miss terribly. It's hard to explain this. But there is a camaraderie of sorts, a sense of "family" that each of us has developed this past year in a Sports Physical Therapy setting. I've met some of the most amazing people who would have you think that they lead "ordinary" lives. Nothing could be further from the truth! After you begin visiting with my friends and colleagues alike in PT, you discover quickly that these are people who are leading "extraordinary" lives! One of my buddies, for example, met the late Steve McQueen and Paul Newman as a fellow race car driver in the 1970's and recalled chatting up the racing business with both men. Another friend (who no longer attends PT) once played bass guitar in a California band that opened for The Rolling Stones a few times during the 1960's. Beyond this, we encourage each other with sincerity, because as a person "on the outside looking in"--so to speak--we have witnessed just how much progress we've made with our goals.

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Otherwise, after breakfast out at a small cafe where the staff and I have grown comfortable calling each other by first-name and otherwise exchange jokes and "shooting the breeze", I carried out an annual tradition of purchasing a fresh "At A Glance" Calendar book for 2009. Are you thrilled with this sizzling excitement of my weekend so far? Filling in contact sheets and important upcoming events. Oh, I could go on but then, why put you asleep? Other events beckon...

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For one thing, workers in New York's Times Square are putting the finishing touches on the always dazzling Waterford Crystal ball that will drop to signal the start of the New Year. But wait! This time the ball will be permanently perched year-round as a tourist attraction. Can you imagine 2,668 Waterford Crystal triangles assembled to mount the ball on the roof of One Times Square? I've always loved architecture. And because of the massive sphere's weight and size, engineers had to build an entire new roof structure and reinforce the steel columns going down to the 16th floor. Also, the mast is specially made and taller than the one used in years past. The plan is to test the ball on December 30th, and then light it the following day. After New Years Eve, the ball will be raised midway up the mast on January 6th, where it will remain static until the next New Years Eve celebration. I hope you will enjoy it with me.

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This has been an amazing year of positive changes for me. I am very happy in my new home state of Arizona; I am in the best physical shape of my life, and things are only getting better; we are making some wonderful new changes to my full website, and if all goes as planned, I hope to become a home owner in 2009. Also, we have some exciting new Guests who will be appearing on my feature, "THE INTERVIEW" straight ahead and so much more awaits us! In the meantime, while the repair shop continues to hover over my Laptop PC: May all of your dreams come true in the New Year! God Bless and I'll see ya real soon!

Michael