Saturday, December 23, 2006

Christmas Eve Eve

The coolest thing: A little fire is in the fireplace, a chill in the air outside, the unfortunate pitter-patter of raindrops on the porch roof can be heard. Daughter cuddling by the fireplace decides it would be more comfortable to have a pillow and a blanket so she scurries upstairs and then cuddles some more.

Finding that too much time on the floor gets a bit uncomfortable, I retreat back to a couch and my laptop (HI!) as I am ripping some classical music from a bunch of CDs. Upon my next glance over, Daughter (she's 9 years old now) has set Rebecca, her American Girl Bitty Baby, on the hearth so she can enjoy the experience also. For some reason, it has touched me immensely. She's growing up so fast this year, for the first time without her brother at the same school. She's debating about the reality of Santa Claus - all the rotten neighborhood kids insist he's not real - but I think she's still got some doubts about their position on the whole thing. Son claims to be undecided, but he's 12 years old and although he and I haven't discussed it I find it difficult to believe that he still hears the sleigh bells. I think that he knows how much trouble there'd be if he spoils it.

Are we hanging onto their youth too long?

Monday, October 30, 2006

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

And the heck with all you "Fall Festival" revisionist people. BOO!

Sunday, October 29, 2006

A Crossroads?

Updates:

  • Loving the new Dell E1405 DUAL CORE! It rocks, soooooooo much faster than my old e-machines. Plus, it has yet to shut itself down due to overheating. In fact, I don't think I've heard the fan get past a low hum yet.

  • What else? Hmmm....... School this year is difficult for our son. He's at a special 6th-grade-only school that is quite aggressive from a homework perspective. 2-3 hours of it every night, as well as weekend homework. I don't know if I could have done it, and at times he's questioning his decision to apply for this experience, but we know he's better for it. He does too, but it's hard to see him struggle and doubt, especially amid the developing angst of pre-pubescent 6th grade life. Although, today it seems that maybe 6th grade isn't pre-pubescent any more.

  • On the flip-side, our daughter is suddenly flourishing in third grade in many subjects that had been a struggle for her. Even though she misses having her brother at the same school, she gets to enjoy the experience of being a "trusted messenger"; delivering messages from former classmates who continue to attend school there.

  • We're looking at having our kitchen remodeled. The project manager proposed a much grander redo than we had envisioned, clearing and re-doing half of the first floor and $60K at the same time. Um, hello? Like Matisyahu says: Chop 'em down, chop 'em down.......

  • Baseball: Oh, how I wish the Detroit Tigers would've remembered their bats for the World Series. But it was nice to be blessed with the opportunity to attend the final game of the ALCS where they swept the A's.
This guy pretty much sums up the excitement that roared through the stadium after Maggs hit that wondrous home run. It was such an experience, I hope to never forget. Bless you boys, and do it again next year.


So, what's this crossroads thing about?
Well......it's not you, it's me. Throughout our life together, Wifey has had plans for what parenthood and motherhood would be like as our children grew to the teenage years. Her goal was to be able to work less and be home more to have a greater presence in their lives as they navigate the treacherous waters of the Teenage Sea of No Tranquility. Over the past few years she's been able to be home as they get out of school, removing the need for after-school daycare. There's been numerous benefits to this, and it just seems right. The thing is, it's hard to say if it will continue as it has so far. The irony here is that it might be me filling that role.

Over the last seven years, her career has flourished while mine has not. She has been promoted twice, serious promotions nearly doubling her pay. I've been "promoted" once. The new title kind, with a slight pay raise. My five year plan with this company is now at seven and counting, with no change in sight. We've invested heavily in increasing staffing in many supportive functions, but not one additional person has been added to sales and there's been no turnover/dismissals above me. Not one opportunity to advance. For whatever reason, our Leader feels it is not necessary to increase sales staffing. Now there is a new manager that's been brought in from the mother ship, and while not officially credited with being the next Leader, everything seems to be falling in line as though that's the plan. Up to this point we in sales have been insulated from him as we still are directly under the Leader. The new guy, I fear that some of the moves he's made spell doom for me. You see, he's gone outside the company for a number of hires under him. He seems to favor change for change's sake. He's an elitist that feels that those above my level shouldn't interact with those on my level. And he's never been interested in what we do or how we do it. Yet, he's being allowed to make decisions that affect us, and seemingly about us. And now, some changes have been made above me and there's an opening. Good news, right? Except resumes are going to him and not our Leader. So all signs point to the decision being his to make, and if history is indicative of his plans, then he will go outside the company to fill this position regardless of the experience the current staff offers. To add insult to injury, a co-worker left recently, and although the head-count will be maintained the new person will not be doing any of the work that HAD been done by the previous employee. That work will be split between myself and another coworker. I'm not sure who to thank for that plan, but again I feel the outsider has his fingerprints all over it. Who better to make such an uninformed decision?

So, if the gods don't smile upon me as I interview for the newly opened position above me, I will have quite a mess on my hands trying to keep up with the huge burden of 50% more work to do when I already work until 7 or later many days during the six-month span I call the "busy season."

Contrast this with the reality that Wifey's doing quite well, loves her job, and they love her. She makes quite a bit more than I do, travels far less than I do, and overall just seems to be in a much better position-- even if things didn't work out for her at her current employer. She has a tremendous network of contacts both locally and nationally, while mine are spread about the nation. As our roots are here in Michigan- and here is where we want to be- it seems that again she's in the better position professionally.

As I struggle to work out the path that I'm on, the idea of me taking the role of parent-at-home crossed my mind recently. The traditionalist in me scoffed, but I did mention it to Wifey. And she said "I'd support that 100%" or something to that extent. I was floored. Did I open Pandora's box?

I think psychologically I have quite a bridge to cross before I could do it. We both come from what I deem "conventional" families: two parents, with Dad being the major bread-winner although both of our mothers were employed outside the home. Doing this would therefore be quite "unconventional". Why is it that "stay at home mom" sounds right, but "stay at home dad" does not? It's difficult to overcome the feeling of being a "failure" for not being the bread-winner (so I guess that makes me a sexist,) and I have my doubts about my abilities to be a good househusband. Although I can hold my own in the kitchen, Wifey has far superior skillz in that area. This would mean quite a change in our standard of living, and our finances would need to be much more strictly managed. Maybe I'm just making excuses in order to avoid it. A man I once worked for told me long ago that being a housewife (thus, running a home) is the toughest job on Earth, and I believe that to be true. Needless to say, I am quite conflicted about taking the role of homemaker.

It's natural to fear the unknown, to fear change. And boy, would this be a heckuva lot of both.


Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Out of commission

Ouch!

For Sale: 4 year-old laptop. Overheats. Soon-to-be reformatted hard drive. Make offer.

Lesson learned about backing up files.

New Dell on order (sorry Apple, I just couldn't do it.)

PEACE!!!!~~

E.T.A.: BTW, it's 86 degrees outside right now. Melting...... (Really enjoying The New Pornographers' tunes right now though)

Thursday, July 13, 2006

HNT - Resistance is futile

Everybody else is doing it, why not me? Yup, it's that incredibly hot internet beefcake trend: HNT. Otherwise known as fun with vacation photos.



From goofy to just plain weird. At first I thought this was just a wild looking cloud formation, but it's really one cloud's shadow on a cloud above it (it was almost sunset, hence the really odd lighting angle.)



Man, if this doesn't get you thinking back to college and things you might have smelled or inhaled (Thanks Clinton.)

Peace out, man~

Thursday, June 22, 2006

The Ending I Never Expected

Tonight closes another chapter in the story that is life in our neighborhood.

A few months ago I helped move our next door neighbor into a care facility where he could be near his son who suffers from Cerebral Palsy and no longer concerned about what if he were to fall again at home. At that time, one of his other sons was still living in the house; a matter which was surely going to be complex to resolve for the eldest son who has power of attorney and was intent on getting things minimized. The situation developed as expected early-on; with offers of arranging and providing other housing for his brother ultimately refused there was then an eviction notice, cable turned off, etc.

A second notice was given and things were seemingly progressing along, and reports from Knowledgeable, Concerned Neighbor that he was going to move out. It was never clear to me as to "when" that would take place, just that it was considered certain and cooperative. That was a relief to me, as we were not alone in our concern over having him nearby. He seemed out of touch, his stories were difficult to believe, and we didn't care for the abusive way he interacted with his parents (Although, I must admit that in the time since his father moved out, he has been exceedingly nice whenever I saw him outside speaking with his father. Even one time letting me know that a piece of trim from our vinyl fence keeps falling off...) It seemed as though he wanted to stay, as if tripping over himself to be kind would somehow negate the need for his fathers affairs to be tidied up.

Fast forward to this evening, it's Wednesday night, which means it's golf night. I've been inside about 15 minutes and my cell phone rings with a call from home. It's a bit boisterous inside and I can hear my wife, but it's hard to tell if my signal is breaking up, her voice is breaking up, or I'm hearing things. Once outside, it's clear that there's a problem and I need to get home.

She was with Knowledgeable, Concerned Neighbor (whose husband ALSO wasn't home, I feel so bad!) Evidently today was to be move-out day, and his friend who was going to help with the move was unable to reach him all day. His father called our neighbor and asked her to help him check on things; she in turn called Wifey to see if she would help also. Wifey thought it best if the police were brought in as well, so once his father arrived they discussed this with him and he agreed. Thankfully, the officer went in alone and was the one to find him. The indications are that he ended his own life.

It is saddening on many fronts: that the father has to experience this at his age, that he has to experience it at all, that- once again- all the unknowns that stack up and lead one to think the dark thoughts successfully weaved their way through his life to become a web of despair he could no longer sweep away, and that it happened next to my home and my children.

Wifey did a good job of sheltering the kids, but my daughter is such a curious thing I worry about what she may have caught sight of. Did she see the father? Did she see the officer? Did she see the concern in their eyes? Did she see the growing number of neighbors and friends arriving to console the father? How will I ever know? You can't just ask about it, that would bring attention to it- and she's so brilliant.

I'm troubled too at how the officer found him. Evidently he was prone to sleeping in a recliner, but he was found lying on the couch, covered head-to-toe with a blanket. It helps if I think that he didn't want his father to see him that way, but the tormenting thought is that even in such despair there is that moment of compassion and lucidity as to cover himself as he seemingly drifted off.

A very weird thing is that they can't find his keys or his wallet, and his car is locked in the garage.

There will be many things the family will have to deal with- his elder brother is blaming himself for this, his son came and shared tears with grandpa tonight. The aftermath will surely be long lived, and I pray that they all get the support, understanding and love that they need to cope with what has happened.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Holy Jayzus, where have I been?

Honestly, the plain old, filthy truth is that I've been right here, but wallowing in self-pity at how busy I feel.

Maybe it's not busy, rather more like tired. The kind of tired that makes you want to sleep as soon as you get home. Depression? No, can't be. What do I have to be so depressed about? EXACTLY! So, it's not depression. One of the gifts of ADHD is that you're terrible at recall. So don't ask me to make a list of what it is that's had me so busy.

A bit of travel (OK, ONE trip to Charlotte, NC.) Spring soccer. Spring concert. Spring-klers. Yup, putting that total sign of surrender to forty-something in my lawn, a full-blown home-grown-homeowner-special sprinkler system. I'm too much of a cheapie to pay full price, so a friend helped me pull the lines and I've been playing "Digger" for two weeks. The good thing is all I have left to do at this point is wire to all the valves and then she's fully auto-magic.

The same friend (Life Long, at that) has been working on finishing his basement, so I've put some time in over there.

Wouldn't change any of it for ther world. . .

Monday, May 01, 2006

Word of the day: adduce

For those fans of Dooce's blog, I offer today's insightful (if not humorous) Word of the Day from the fine folks at Merriam-Webster:

 

The Word of the Day for May 1 is:

adduce \uh-DOOSS\ verb

: to offer as example, reason, or proof in discussion or analysis

Example sentence:

"Leon has made some pretty strong accusations here tonight," said Tim, "but he has adduced no convincing evidence in support of them."

Did you know?

We won't lead you astray over the history of "adduce"; it is one of a plethora of familiar words that trace to the Latin root "ducere," which means "to lead." Perhaps we can induce you to deduce a few other "ducere" offspring if we offer a few hints about them. One is another term for kidnapping, one's a title for a British royal, and one's a process of abridging or consolidating something. Give up? They are "abduct," "duke," and "reduce," respectively. There are also many others, including "induce," which means "to persuade" or "to bring about."

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Once a month, like it or not

So, you've all been busy I see. Good.

Me too. Sorry there's been no updates here, I comment more than I update. Is that like saying "I like to watch" ? b/c that's not what I mean. Maybe it's a perfectionism thing, if I'm just commenting here and there, who cares? (Except for the poor folks whose blogs I'm littering all over.) It's just that there are so many spectacular blogs out there and I feel that mine is just a bit more like a diary sometimes. I don't have a lot of web skillz, but I am a good student and could figure out a lot. If only I had the time. Plus I'm too cheap to sign up for a Typepad account so I can give my blog a catchy web address. Meh.

Whazzup? Lessee, last month Annie turned 40, I hope. Who's she? A girl I went to school with for grades 1-12. I don't know why, but I can always remember her birthday (March 7). I never really had a crush on her. Maybe it's an Oedipus complex derivative. Her mom was one of my favorite teachers in Junior High. She didn't take shit from anybody.

Last month I also turned 40. Huzzah. Birthdays don't seem fun anymore. At least not this year. Wifey had my birthday 4 days early on a weekend because The Boy and I were headed out West to go skiing later that week and it would probably be too hectic.

Man, was she ever right.

Wifey's father had a quintuple bypass two days before we left. He needed an annual checkup, and part of the process is an *ahem* "internal exam". Well, at his age, before they give you that special treatment they want to make sure you're tough enough so they also give you a stress test to make sure your ticker is up to shnuff. He failed that, so they wanted to do a heart cath. They did that on Tuesday, and said "You're not leaving, you're having an emergency bypass tomorrow morning. Make things right with your maker." You can imagine the alarms that type of situation sets off. Wifey left early that next morning, so how to get The Girl to her after school let out for Spring Break? Thankfully, her friend was headed in that direction so that part worked out.

Grampsy did well at first, got released from the hospital after 4 days when it was expected that he'd be in for a week. Three days later there were numerous complications so he's back in, but making some progress. But here's the kicker: in 2 days nearly her entire family (ours included) leaves for Ireland. On a trip that Grampsy requested two years ago. In honor of their 50th wedding anniversary this year.

He can't go.

In the night before the bypass, he and Nana talked and decided that we all should still make the trip without them. I say "Bully!" but since I'm outside "the circle of trust" so-to-speak I can't really voice an opinion. It just doesn't make sense to me to take the trip; it was his idea, his wish, to go in the first place. He should go, so the trip should be postponed. Plus, I fear that things will take a turn for the worse while we're all over there as some of the complications point to congestive heart failure. Since we went to Colorado, The Boy has not had a chance to visit Grampsy yet, and I'd hate to have the worst happen without him having a chance to see him just one more time as The Girl got to see him since she was there with Wifey. What to do?

So, Colorado was fun. Nebraska was great on the way out, it was dark the whole time we were driving through so there was no wind. Payback was on the way back, of course. But the wind was slightly at the tail so it was manageable. The weather while we were there was nice, maybe a bit too warm and slushy at the base but we can deal with that. We got a bit of snow on Tuesday, but the real stuff greeted us on the morning we left to return:



Is it difficult to see why I didn't want to come back? SERENITY NOW!

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

G-zus! Hello, from R. Van Winkle

Just haven't been up to it, folks. For more than a month now, I've just had too much to do 'round here. So, today's gonna be a bit of a jumble. Here goes:


Sad news: Bob- Man, I wish you the best and all the goodness this world can muster. It seems shallow to only be able to say Godspeed to your lovely wife as she has passed onto that next journey already. You're one of those fine folks I hope to bump into someday as I walk life's path.

C is for sux: Bob's Mary, Sharon's Joe, Bart's Lois, Bill's Lois, Wifey's co-worker, Jodes brother, Kari's friend, all afflicted and it troubles me so. Nothing makes you feel more helpless than watching this disease march along. And today Dana Reeve leaves behind a 13 year old after losing her battle with lung cancer. She didn't even smoke, how the hell is that?

Uncomfortable: Our wonderful neighbor was able to move into a care facility this past weekend, the same facility where his 60 year old son is. Last summer, when his wife was dying, he had tried to get her into the same facility but the disease was much too swift. After things settled down last fall and he was able to think about it, he decided to put his name on the list for the next available unit. I think it was a good move, the last few years have been quite a rough road for him and it shows in his step and demeanor. The uncomfortable in this situation is helping move him to this facility while another son (that seems to be quite troubled mentally) is still living in his house. The eldest son has been very helpful in organizing his finances and taking care of all the legal issues, but there has been some, well, "tension" in the conversations he's had with the occupant son. I didn't know what to expect, but wanted to be there to try and make the process move as swiftly as possible and limit any confrontations if I could. It went wonderfully smooth, thank God. The next hurdle was to be today- Eldest son was to have Occupant son served with an eviction notice. A sad, but necessary step needed to tidy up the loose-ends in Dad's estate, and one that will hopefully get this guy moving towards helping himself. I have no information on how that went, and wonder if I will be able to get to sleep tonight.

Listening to: Doves, Surfjan Stevens (not bad, when you finally get to listening to it), The GO! Team, Cary Brothers, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, Weezer, Gorillaz

Wondering: If my Spartans will be able to put a complete game together sometime soon. Madness, I tell you!

Longing for: Colorado. Copper Mountain has had H-f'n-UGE amounts of snow this year. Please don't let it melt until Tax reckoning day.

Surprised by: CRASH taking best picture. I could care less, really. I haven't seen any of the candidates, don't care for the politics (yes, that means YOU, Mr. Clooney), but given all the blathering hype centered on the cowpokes I was simply surprised. Kudos to Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana, especially McMurtry. I enjoyed watching one of his earlier works this weekend (Lonesome Dove), it gets me every time. Although, when you think about it, there are many similarities between Tommy Lee Jones' Woodrow Call and Heath Ledger's Ennis Del Mar. (At least based on the clips I've seen for Brokeback.) The slow, deliberate way of speaking. Almost grimacing. You've come a long way, cowboy.

Loathing: I haven't started our taxes yet. 'Nuff said. Also, this is the busy time at work, and I am SOOOO sick of customers, SAP, etc. I'm buried by piles of automated data and it's my job to find that needle. It just doesn't get any easier, every year more and more are moving to it and we have no system to adapt. Lovely.

Loving: Neigbor's son lives near a Hershey employee. Brought Orange-Chocolate Kit-Kats and Strawberries & Cream Hershey bars that are being test-marketed somewhere in the U.S. of A. You have no idea how delish those were. If you see them, buy them. You won't be disappointed.

Missing: Bloggers that have disappeared. Shandie (Not lost, she just moved! Thanks JL-)Teri, Tiffany, Storm. And also the two sisters (one's husband was in the military) and their mother - all fell silent on July 14, 2005. Gary who went to live in a cabin in the Cascades last summer. All were good reads, I miss them and especially for the 3 in the military family I wish them well.

Reading: NOT ENOUGH!

Really liking: My Capital One freebie: BOSE Tri-port headphones. Can't wear 'em in public, but incredibly rich sound.


Sick in Atlanta is no way to go through life, son.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Memorable Media Moment

Another installment of my "Stupidity in Media" theme, today courtesy of CBS. I'm watching "Sunday Morning", as I am wont to do on a Sunday morning. It's nearing the end of the broadcast and a commercial blitz is on when it's pierced by a spot of self-serving hype:


Millions of teens post information on MySpace.com,
but predators are out there too, and the danger is real.

Monday, see why more people are watching CBS Evening News with Bob Schieffer.



Now, that does truly talk about a serious issue, one which I don't mean to ridicule in any way whatsoever. It's not that I have a problem with that message at all, because there are all sorts of creeps out there that parents should be aware of, like this guy for example. Now there's a real winner to write home to Mom about, and at this point one can only wonder how the poor girl happened to meet him. I'm sure he didn't set out to kill her, maybe her death resulted from his panic after he killed the cop. The only thing for sure at this point is that she's no longer among the living, and that is sad.

So, where exactly is my problem with this commercial from CBS Evening News? Well, let's just say it's got to do with a little thing called "presentation". You know- that part of a message which impacts upon its ability to be delivered effectively. In this case, as the narration proceeds it's accompanied by a myriad of images: fingers typing on a keyboard; "myspace.com" appearing letter-by-letter in a browser's address bar; the phrase "THE DANGER IS REAL" appearing in all-caps and bold, drifting slowly upward on the screen; and then- as the last sentence pours forth, urging you to tune-in Monday night- a slow-motion image of the smiling host of CBS Evening News appears.

It's a common thing in the industry to use such an image, for some reason newscasters can't be taken seriously unless they smile in slow-motion. The problem is, Bob Schieffer has a weird, Howdy Doody marionette-esque quality to his smile, and well- IMHO, it just affected the message in such a negative way. Here, you judge for yourself:



See what I mean?

Now to be fair to Old Bob, his eyes weren't closed for the entire slow-motion clip of that unfortunate grin forming on his face. Rather, as I moved frame-by-frame through the clip on my DVR I spied that one frame that seemed to only enhance my position that this unfortunate grin on the face of the host took away from the message. I mean, look at it, age hasn't been too good to Bob. He almost looks like a giant tortoise with that neck of his. And I'm sorry- but that grin just looks euphoric to me, and rather than think of serious news about a serious issue I could only laugh because it just looked like they put some sort of twisted pedophile up on the screen.

Ewww-

Monday, January 23, 2006

I LOVE THE 80s




To copy His Greatness,(aka Humorist Mike) I post today for your viewing pleasure a relic from my past. Back in tha' day when I was in college (hint: it's before the 90s) there was a local artist/pseudo-activist named Mark Heckman who created a series of sometimes humorous billboards promoting this cause or that. Often they were regarding serious issues like medical waste dumping, the result of which would wash-up on the nearby shores of Big Blue.

As this picture indicates, he's not really promoting a cause other than himself on this particular example. But OH MY! how ironic the choices he made must seem given today's history. The times, they really are a-changin'. . . .
(My apologies for the grainy, historic look to this picture. It was taken with a disk camera [Anybody remember those?] The film is about the size of a candy dot, so by the time you blow it up to viewable size you're at about a gazillion times magnification.)

========================================================

Folks, it's going to be another quiet week from Jim (go ahead, enjoy the silence!) Got some travelling to do, hopefully it goes better than LAST week (NWA, get yer sh!t together RIGHT NOW!) Peace all, and maybe some prosperity too.

Toodles-

Saturday, January 14, 2006

There's possibly a chance. Maybe.

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Reading Erin's latest post tonight reminded me of the fun I had watching the weatherman on the local station just this evening. I really like the guy, he's pretty steady-eddy even when he's delivering news of the apocalypse from the 'Storm Center'. Sometimes I just get tired of all the BREAKING NEWS! SHOCKING! garbage all the time (good band, Garbage.) Back to tonight- he's rolling out the 5 day shortcast and I swear he says "perhaps" about 6 or 8 times in a span of just seconds. SECONDS, I TELL YOU! I think he's finally cracked under the pressure of not being able to tell what the heck's going to happen tomorrow, or in the next 10 minutes for that matter (it's a Michigan thing,) so he's peppering his weathercasts with words of doubt to allow him to weasel his percentages higher. (See, Erin? Percentages.) I wonder if he's like Jim Carrey's part in Dumb&Dumber- you know, "So you're tellin' me there's a chance." THAT kind of optimism.

To help my boy out, I hereby offer a brief list of CYA lingo in the hopes that he can more effectively cover his tracks:

  • maybe
  • mayhap
  • perchance
  • debatable
  • doubtful
  • indefinite
  • arguable
  • questionable
  • borderline
  • chancy
  • clouded (oh, the double-entendre)
  • doubtful
  • dubious
  • inconclusive
  • hazy
  • misty
  • cloudy
  • unsettled
  • unstable
  • FANTASTICAL! (for those really special storms)
Good night all. Or maybe not.

Friday, January 13, 2006

Good Ol' Sol

It is truly amazing what a sunny day can do to knock S.A.D. back a few steps. It's freaking unbelievable what a sunny day that's 50 degrees can do. I can't even imagine how weird that must make the wonderful folks in places like San Diego and Key West feel to hear someone excited about 50 degrees. Probably about as weird as I felt one time down in Orlando when I sat on a bench in front of our hotel reading the paper, enjoying the 8a.m. sunshine in a t-shirt and jeans, when I looked over and noticed the valet shivvering in a buttoned-up shearling jacket and knit skully. Ferreal!

Today was one of those days that, no matter how much stress is building at work, all was right in the world thanks to our good friend the sun. Even the gloomy December statistics I heard today couldn't dampen nature's enthusiasm: Less than 10% of possible sunshine, 18 days without one minute of sunshine, and we've had 50 straight days with measurable precipitation. That last one is a record-breaker; the old record was only 35 consecutive days.

I'm starting to give some serious thought to a career change and becoming a shrink, there has GOT to be some serious money being spent on couch sessions around here. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Peace.

And sunshine!

Monday, January 09, 2006

The Magic Number is 15

Numbers are great. Just ask my son, who can tell you that a quadrangle is a polygon with 4 sides, and has many varieties: rectangle, rhombus, square, parallelogram and trapezoid. G-ZUS! I can't believe they're teaching this shtuff to 5th graders nowadays. But all props to the fine concerned folks over at his elementary school, they're truly a great group.

When I was a kid, for some reason I always got #13. No matter how much I told myself that 13 isn't a cursed number, I plainly SUCKED at basketball. So if you think 13 is just another number, change your errant ways and avoid all things 13. And take a look at the elevator panel the next time you're at a hi-rise hotel.

Magic Johnson is one of those cool dudes I really would like to meet. 32 is a number I will forever associate with His Greatness. Man, my Spartans were awesome back then. They didn't look anything like that today.

Today, we finally saw the sun after 15 days without a single second of sunshine. 15 days people! Living this close to Big Blue, we come to appreciate the moderating effects of all that holy water during the summertime, but in the winter we really have to pay some bills. We were getting some giant snow until just before Christmas and then someone turned up the heat and all that stopped. I have to apologize to Jason and Beth for blaming all our melting snow on their Christmas trip to Nebraska, I was out of my mind. Strangely, the wind calmed and clouds just kept coming. Sadly, I was looking forward to another day of Cloudcuckooland as this would be day #16, tying or breaking the record depending on who you ask. I'm a firm believer in SAD, and it was painfully obvious as I was psychotically gleeful in the bright moments following old Sol's re-emergence. I was clinging to the hope of another 24 hours without sunshine so I could participate in a record-breaking event, and I could look back over the years and recall how I was there that day, January 8th, 2006, when many were convinced there really is no God.

The hits just keep on comin'

So yesterday was my family's Christmas thing, and it started surreal enough. After driving almost 2 hours in freezing rain leftovers, unpacking all the goodies from our car, parking it and finally getting my butt inside, I made the rounds exchanging pleasantries with the 20 or so members who were already there. Nearly finished with my loop I spy my dad at the end of the drive , one foot in the road, waving to a fire truck to turn into our driveway.

"Odd," methinks. "Why is a firetruck pulling into the drive?" I ask. Well, the answer was my Uncle had fainted. As the paramedics were tending to him he went down again and they could barely find a pulse. An ambulance came and they struggled with the gurney as he was in the kitchen at the table. The good thing was one of my brothers is a P.A. and was taking good care of him til the help arrived, and also knew quite a bit of his medical info. I'm not sure if this was because of a close relationship with my Uncle, or if this was a result of other negatives in my cousin's family recently, but I don't really care.

The crazy thing is just over a week ago, one of his sons had some pain in his chest and went to the hospital; they found 5 blockages and operated on him the very next morning. My brother said to me a few days ago that he told each member of their family to get some tests done as this type of heart issue is genetic- my uncle's first heart-attack came at the age of 32. He's had 2 or 3, and at least 2 heart surgeries. The scary thing is one of his siblings has already had the tests after speaking with my brother, (he won't tell me what the results were, but he's also sworn me to secrecy that I even know the cousin had the test at all.) I hope for the best, but at the same time I'm a bit uneasy with the serious undertones of the secrecy. With luck, maybe the risks can be greatly reduced through diet, exercise, and our good friend chemistry.

Uncle is feeling much better, but will probably need to have a pacemaker. Thankfully, everyone was able to keep the kids distracted; I would hate for them to have had a strong memory of a bad thing happening at Christmas.

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