Thursday, September 25, 2008

Angels Come to Comfort You

The coming and going of another birthday is always a chance to get a little morbid about one's existence on this rock, but I've always been pretty good at avoiding such navel-gazing. But last night something else altogether unexpected and unwanted definitely gave me pause. I went to hockey, running a little late because Deb had a meeting that went long. I actually made pretty good time, suited up and headed out to the ice. As I was walking by the opposing team bench, I noticed one of the guys looked like he was in pretty rough shape. He had his helmet off and his face looked red. Somebody told me he fell as he was getting on the ice and hit his head, so I thought he might have a concussion. We start playing and about 15-20 minutes later, I notice an ambulance pull up and EMTs come inside. Sure enough, the guy had a stroke. He lost feeling on the left side of his body and was slurring his words, but he was lucid enough to talk to the EMTs. They took him out on a stretcher and off to Salem Hospital. We didn't find out the stroke diagnosis until after the skate, so we played on, wondering how he was doing. Afterward, the shock started setting in. The guy's only 35. Granted, he was kinda pudgy, but he was a decent hockey player. Come to find out he had high blood pressure and hadn't been taking his meds. He was transferred to Mass General and right now the doctors are still trying to determine how much damage was done. All we can do is hope for the best. I don't know him that well, but that doesn't change the fact that this is pretty shocking. It's been really tough on a lot of the other guys, who have known him for years. Hopefully he can beat the odds and come out okay on the other side.

In much, much cheerier news, my morning routine has changed once again now that Hannah's taking the bus to school. I had fully expected and was happy to driver her to school every day, but pickup was difficult for my mother-in-law, who has to go to work in the afternoons. At first, Hannah was dead-set against it, but when she found out one of her best friends was taking the bus, she was sold. So far, so good. Of course, it means I need to have her ready a little earlier so we can be out on the corner by 7:15, but it's not that much harder. Lily and I go out there with her (that should be fun in the dead of winter) and then come back in for a few minutes until I leave for work.

We're heading down to NJ this weekend for a combined birthday bash for my nephews. Looks like the weather's going to be pretty soggy, but that won't keep the kids from having a blast. At some point, I need a squeeze a long run in of 15-18 miles, too.

Market fluctuation:
  • Holy crap, the economy's in a tailspin. Looks like McCain's using it as an excuse to bail on a debate and take some credit for leading the charge to resolve the situation. The whole $700 billion bailout just sounds like a bad idea to me.
  • Hiyoooooo! Looks like Ed McMahon has found a new way to pay off his mounting debt: Making like Kool Moe Dee. Sorry Ed, I gots to stick with the real thing.
  • Federal judge to RIAA: Suck it!
  • Damn, looks like TV series killer Ted McGinley was unable to prevail against "Dancing With The Stars." Or was he?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The debates may not happen. I hope they do, between Obama and Bob Barr at least.
The ball is still in Mccain’s court. The Bush administration, along with Mccain are dragging their feet just so they miss the debates and subvert Obama’s growing authority, and Barack Obama is going to look bad as the only person there at Ol Miss. while Mccain is still “hard at work” on the negotiations. This is nothing more than political posturing by Mccain at our expense.


http://leadershiporpoliticalploy.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

The sky is falling!! The sky is falling!!!
Truth is: Bush, Mccain, and Rove couldn’t have planned this any better. They want another Great Depression, so they can have every-able-body citizen as a footsoldier in their mind-melting war.
NO! We can wait four more months, when Barack Obama walks into the Whitehouse on January 20, 2009. Confidence in the American consumer will be IMMEDIATE, because we will all know that George W. Bush will NO LONGER BE IN CONTROL OF OUR COUNTRY, AND IT WILL BE OUT OF MCCAIN’S REACH!

Kimberly @ kimberussell.com said...

Yeah...it's pretty darn soggy in NJ at this point. I can usually see the Philly skyline from my apartment but today the clouds have blocked it all.

I was sad to see Ted McGinley go. I think he had a little bit of promise. I'm a "Dancing" fan, but if it were cancelled after this (McGinley's) season, I wouldn't be able to stop laughing.

Anonymous said...

Talk about elite and stuck-up. McCain appeared to feel as though this black man shouldn't even be running for president let alone looking at him. Hey, he feels that all Obama can do for him is shine his shoes. In the South years ago a black man had to look down at his feet when a Caucasian person walked by. McCain seems to be living in the past. He was very cold and condescending. You would think that he would not act like that since he has a child living in one of his houses who is even darker than Obama! But she is not African-American and she is probably considered more as a "pet" who was rescued by the McCain family.

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