As Mark Twain once said, “The reports of my death have been grossly exaggerated.” My regular readers might well be wondering if reports of my death have been correct. It has been so hectic the last couple of weeks that I haven’t even THOUGHT of what to write in my blog let alone have the time to actually do it. Let me explain.
As I reported a week or so ago, our family has been going through the trauma of moving my 88 year old mum out of her home and into a nursing home. She’s old and frail but still in full possession of her faculties but the problem is that she has been falling a lot at home, the last one resulting in a broken hip. Doctors are convinced that the only way to keep her safe is to have her in a facility where she can be more closely supervised and where she can have assistance when she is moving around.
Mum has lived in her little rented 2 bedroom house for 45 years, alone, so you can imagine what a drama it has been trying to take the things that she needs to the nursing home with her and then deciding what to do with the accumulation of a near-50 year stay in the one house as well. It hasn’t been easy. The good news is that, with her now having been “in care” for three weeks, she seems to be adapting to the dramatically different lifestyle far better than what I would have thought. She’s still not happy but she’s eating well (something she was not doing at home), she’s socialising with the other residents (something that she hasn’t had to do for decades) and she’s recovering well for the surgery to pin her hip (not bad for an 88 year old.)
So all the signs are good and, yesterday afternoon, she joined us in a picnic lunch under the pergola at the home where we ate and chatted and she joined in enthusiastically. I am 100% certain that this was the right course to take and I think that, in time, she will realise it too.
On to other things. News in this morning that Jack Miller broke his tibia this morning in a trials bike training accident and will miss at least this weekend’s MotoGp meeting at Motegi. Given that he doesn’t have access to the budget of the other rider who broke his leg recently, his recovery may take a little longer.
Speaking of Rossi, his performance at Aragon was nothing short of amazing given he was only 21 days out from a double break. Qualifying on the front row beggars belief but it was no surprise that he faded back to 5th in the heat of battle in the race. While he himself admitted that this break was nowhere near as severe as those he suffered in 2010, you can’t take anything away from his performance.
Having said that, however, he again contrived, as he always does, to make the race meeting all about him and, in doing so, took the attention away again from Marquez’s performance in qualifying in 5th and winning the race in imperious style. It must be very frustrating for the other riders to regularly do better than Rossi only to have their efforts belittled by the press who only seem to be able to concentrate on every word Rossi says and every little thing he does. The consolation, of course, is that Marquez CAN win the title where Rossi is now, at best, a mathematical chance. Of course that won’t stop the Valeban from doing their usual, “If only” performance. 🙂
I had the pleasure of attending the 5th round of the MotoStars championship at my local go-kart track last weekend. I shouldn’t be surprised but I am at the astonishing performances of these sub-teen kids. There are several names racing in this series that you will hear mentioned on the wider stage in years to come, you can take that to the bank.
Finland’s Mika Kallio will again wildcard for KTM at Motegi. Sage heads around the paddock are already noting that he must be the team’s choice as a full time ride for 2018 at the expense of the under-performing Bradley Smith. KTM have done wonders in their first full season, it might be just the right time for the popular Finn to be in the right place.
As noted above, my riding has been practically non-existent in the last few weeks with nearly as much time being spent at mum’s place as at home but I did manage to squeeze in a “mentoring” ride with a young friend on Friday. A cruise through the southern highlands along with my brother with frequent stops for observations and instructions, it was a very pleasant morning indeed. Thank heavens Spring has finally sprung.
Well, that’s about it for today. Again, my apologies for neglecting my job, I’ll try to be better, I promise.
Oh, and I’m not a fan of Facebook philosophy, but I do believe that the sentiments expressed in the picture at the top are pretty spot on.