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?

This Ain't No Picnic

Well, we're just about into September, which is a month I quite enjoy. The weather is still rather beautiful around here. Unlike last weekend, I was able to get a good long run in yesterday. Headed out a little after 6:30 and ran 20 miles in cloudy, drizzly weather. Just as I wrapped it up, the sun started coming out. It was nice to get that out of the way, especially before things started warming up.



No big plans for the long weekend. Things will get crazy the next few weeks as the girls go back to school, albeit in new schools: Hannah will be going to first grade in a new elementary school (because the old one closed) on Wednesday and Lily will start her final year of preschool in Beverly (previously she went in Malden). The girls are looking forward to their new adventures, but I'm sure they're a little nervous, too.



Assorted talking points:

• It was a crazy week for politics. The Democrats made a big splash at their convention, but then on Friday, McCain announced a running mate choice seemingly out of left field: Alaska governor Sarah Palin. I actually had heard of her, having read some posts on Gawker about her relative hotness as a governor. So his potential VP has less than two years' in office as a governor, and before that, her sole political experience was as a mayor of a small Alaskan town. WTF? I guess there goes his arguments about Obama not having enough experience. Hey, you've got to give her credit for accomplishing what she has, but does that qualify her to be a heartbeat away from the presidency? At 72, McCain would be the oldest man to be elected president, and he isn't exactly in the best of health. It seems like a calculated move to attract women voters, especially those disaffected Hillary supporters who are still pissed off about Obama getting the nomination. Of course, she's a pretty hard core conservative evangelical, which is playing well to that demographic. Who cares if she has no experience, she's anti-abortion and pro-gun. Should be an interesting campaign, especially if there's a VP debate between Palin and Joe Biden; he actually could come off looking like a jerk if he totally embarrasses her. As for Palin, nobody can say she doesn't know her sports, as evidenced by this 1988 clip from her days as a big-haired sportscaster.
• Looks like New Orleans is about to get slammed again, this time by Hurricane Gustav. Mayor Ray Nagin has ordered residents to evacuate. Here's hoping the storm misses the city. Those folks have been through enough.

Land of the Freak

T-minus two days until vacation. I've been working feverishly to get all my work done before Friday, so I won't have to finish anything while we're down in NJ. I've been down that road before, and it ain't fun.

So I'm leaving for work Monday morning and I notice that the right rear tire on the Maxima is a little low. I swing by the Hess station because the air is free there, but the stupid machine is out of order. No big deal; I decided to fill it up on the way home. Of course, I get out of work at 5 and the damn tire is flat. A veteran of countless tire changes, I spent about 20 minutes jacking the car up and unscrewing the nuts on the tire, but I couldn't pull the tire off. It had rusted onto the wheel. A guy who works at one of the other businesses in our building came out to help me, but he couldn't get the tire off, either. Finally another guy who works for our building's landlord came out with a big mallet and gave it a couple of good whacks and off came the tire. I put the donut on and drove home. Tuesday morning, I went to a nearby garage to drop off the car to have the tire repaired or replaced, but the mechanic couldn't find a leak. He inflated the tire, I put it back on, and off I went to work.

Deb and I went out to dinner last night to celebrate our 8th anniversary (which was actually last Monday). It was a good time, although the old couple next to us were so loud it was hard to have a conversation.

Tonight, Hannah is away at her very first sleepover at a friend's house. Lily didn't react to this well at first, but she's dealing better now. I just put her to bed, so we'll see how often she comes down to visit.

Counting down the hours:

• Proclaimed as the top choice as John McCain's VP, Louisiana governor (and fellow brown dude) Bobby Jindal says he won't take the job if asked. Interesting. He says he wants to stick with the job he has, which is cool. Although it's interesting that despite his relative lack of experience (he's 37), a lot of conservatives are touting him as a viable VP candidate. Apparently, he's more conservative than McCain.
• This is unbelievable: This moron in Rhode Island was arrested after crashing his car into an electronic billboard and blew a .491 on the Breathalyzer! Considering the legal limit is .08, experts say the guy is lucky to be alive. One expert estimated that the guy would have had to have 24 drinks over six hours to hit that level. If you're in the vicinity of a .5 blood-alcohol count, you're either unconscious or near death. Something tells me he'll be out doing it again in the near future.
• This is one of the funniest blogs I've read in some time: Cake Wrecks. It features professionally decorated cakes that have been messed up in some way. Hilarious stuff.