A Drone Pulled a Wakeboarder—What Else Can Drones Do?
A giant drone pulled a wakeboarder through a German city. Here’s what the build reveals about rescue, farming, medicine, fire safety, and science.
Colin Michaels
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Personal recovery notes, emergency planning resources, and practical lessons from open-heart surgery recovery.
Personal recovery notes, emergency planning resources, and practical lessons from open-heart surgery recovery.
A giant drone pulled a wakeboarder through a German city. Here’s what the build reveals about rescue, farming, medicine, fire safety, and science.
I believe I have eight cardiac rehab sessions left, the porch is finished, the house is settling down, and major website improvements are now live.
A patient’s story, the numbers behind America’s access and price problem, and six measurable questions worth asking.
A personal weekly recovery update after open-heart valve surgery, endocarditis treatment, and learning how to heal with patience and humor.
Recovery Update #7: Returning to Work After Open Heart Surgery
A personal reflection on major surgery, family support, health insurance, medical advocacy, living wills, and why every adult should prepare for a medical emergency before one happens.
A practical explanation of health insurance terms including deductibles, copays, coinsurance, out-of-pocket maximums, networks, HMOs, PPOs, HSAs, and what to ask before surgery.
A heartfelt personal reflection on nurses, hospital recovery, patient vulnerability, compassion, dignity, and the quiet care that often goes unnoticed.
A weekly recovery update after open-heart surgery: arm exercises at cardiac rehab, full-time work, twice-daily walks, more energy, therapy-cat support from Gretchen, drone goals, and 257 lbs.
A practical medical emergency checklist covering health insurance, emergency contacts, advance directives, healthcare surrogates, powers of attorney, wills, medication lists, employer benefits, and emergency savings.
A practical Florida medical planning guide covering advance directives, health care surrogate forms, living wills, durable powers of attorney, revocable trusts, and what to organize before a crisis.
A personal reflection on Dr. Rahul Aggarwal’s Nutrition Detour presentation and how food, whole ingredients, and heart-healthy habits are becoming part of recovery after open-heart surgery.
A personal reflection on fear, confidence, recovery, and learning to trust yourself again after major heart surgery.
A personal reflection on cardiac rehab, rebuilding strength after open-heart surgery, and learning that safe movement is a critical part of recovery.
A weekly recovery update covering cardiac rehab, work, sleep improvements, flying drones again, Father's Day reflections, weight maintenance, and the ongoing journey back to normal life after open-heart surgery.
Recovery has a way of forcing you to look back honestly. Sometimes the choices that felt right at the time turn out to be wrong later, but admitting that truth is where growth begins.
A quieter recovery week is still progress. Cardiac rehab continues, work is steady, the shoulder is improving, and my new RC Rock Crawler Jeep brought some much-needed fun back into the routine.
I missed last week’s update, but things are moving in the right direction. Pain is starting to ease in some areas, sleep is still a struggle, work and cardiac rehab are becoming routine, and the website continues to evolve.
A plain-English guide to five useful ChatGPT scheduled tasks for reminders, family planning, bills, job searches, small business check-ins, and monitoring.
Learn how to download Google Maps for offline driving before a trip, when it helps most, and which traffic, transit, walking, and cycling features you lose.
Use this summer heat safety checklist to plan outings, check on vulnerable family members, prevent hot-car mistakes, and know when to call 911.
See how I’d use one ChatGPT Project to organize a family trip, keep files and chats together, reduce repeated context, and find the next action.
A two-week life and recovery update on cardiac rehab, returning to work, website automation, a family road trip, a porch project, and new music.
Scan paper documents into PDFs with iPhone Notes, name them clearly, search the scans later, and start reducing paper clutter one useful page at a time.
A plain-English DOT guide to airline refunds after canceled or significantly changed flights, with timing rules, a credit checklist, and request template.
A weekly recovery update from a three-day road trip with Mom to Pennsylvania, including car soreness, better mobility, family time, and life on the farm.
Use Gemini to narrow flight and hotel choices, compare trip trade-offs, protect private details, and verify the exact itinerary before booking.
Build a one-page personal health record with medicines, allergies, emergency contacts, surgeries, test dates, and a simple secure storage routine.
Use AI to organize houseplants, map sunlight, plan garden beds, build local planting calendars, and check plant problems without trusting guesses.
After a three-day drive home from Pennsylvania, I returned to work, cardiac rehab, regular workouts, and a porch project that is nearly finished.
Returning to Pine Glades Natural Area after heart surgery, walking an entire trail with my mom, and realizing how much progress can happen in just two weeks.
The finish line is finally coming into view: my last antibiotic dose is scheduled for Sunday, my PICC line is hopefully coming out Tuesday, and I’m officially done with water pills and potassium supplements now that the swelling is gone. The healing process is still doing its dramatic little post...
The story of how a seemingly simple staph infection turned into infective endocarditis, emergency heart valve surgery, and a second chance at life.
A patient-perspective organizer for practical details that become hard to find when appointments, recovery limits, and paperwork all collide.