Silence on the Air in Chicago; Wally Phillips Passes Away

I'm almost at a loss for words . . . almost. I'd like to think Wally wouldn't have wanted that. Wally Phillips was the most-listened to radio host during the 1960's, 70's, and 80's -- perhaps ever.

He began his ground-breaking 42-year run at WGN in 1956, when he arrived from WLW-AM in Cincinnati. For 21 years, he was the undisputed king of morning radio, drawing an astonishing half of all listeners at his peak. At the Tribune Co.-owned news/talk powerhouse, Phillips pioneered a new form of radio by engaging his audience through phone interaction and employing his impeccable sense of comedic timing with random drop-ins and sound effects.

At the peak of his popularity as morning star at WGN, Phillips attracted half of all Chicago area radio listeners -- an audience of nearly 1.5 million each day -- making him the most listened-to radio host in the country. "When we say 'WGN Radio is Chicago,' I quickly add that 'Wally Phillips is WGN,'" said Wayne Vriesman, vice president and general manager of the Tribune-owned station. "He is the most creative, humorous and innovative person I have ever met in broadcasting. . . . (with) a lifetime of great radio listening and a public service never equaled in broadcasting."

Wally Phillips gentle, calm, reassuring demeanor made you feel like one of the family, while making you laugh so hard I frequently went to school with cornflakes in my nose.

A year later he was back in Cincinnati at a radio station where he developed his madcap style by messing around with prerecorded interviews. In one instance, on a Doris Day tape, she had answered a question by saying "Yeah, that was half the fun of it." The jock was supposed to ask, "You've been all around, meeting all these different people . . ." Phillips' question was "Doris, I understand there are innuendoes that you and the guys on the bus got just plain drunk, that it was nothing but an orgy from place to place."

The station eventually fired him for inserting a phony item into a news broadcast.

"I wrote, 'All members of infantry company so-and-so report immediately to your draft board,' and I described an insurrection in some phony country. He read it on the air. Hell, they even had the FBI all over the station," Phillips said in an interview published in the Tribune in 1976.

Phillips' delivery occasionally had an edge to it, like the time he tracked down formal-wear mogul Ben Gingiss on a cruise ship on the Pacific Ocean and got him on the phone, saying "We're down here at the store. . . . Where do you keep the fire extinguisher?" More typical was the morning when he started his broadcast by chatting with farm reporter Orion Samuelson about the coming Stomach Rumbling Finals in Stuttgart, Germany.

If you never heard Wally Phillips' Show, you have my sincere condolences. He was an absolute genius. But he was renowned around Chicago for his big heart for kids. Even Bozo the Clown competed against him, to a point.

He also was the first to offer a $ 1 million prize. In his most famous and longest-running promotion, listeners were invited to guess what was inside "Wally's Black Box." No one ever did. The box turned out to contain a note bearing the name of Jean Rogers, a movie heroine Phillips admired.

Marking his 50th year in radio in 1997, Phillips was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Among his legacies at WGN was establishment of the Neediest Kids Fund, for which he raised more than $25 million.

Sources:

The Chicago Sun-Times, The Chicago Tribune, The WGN Radio Archives, and Northwest Indiana Vidette-Times. The Tribune site has video clips, and the WGN Archives have original clips of Wally's Show -- Bonus!

~~JD~~

Why I Moved To Texas, Part III

The AP (via Yahoo! News) confirms what I've known since 2002 (and suspected since the mid-1980's) -- Texas is a GREAT Place to Live! (And my buddy Raven backhandedly agrees HERE:)

4 Texas Cities Among Top 10 in Growth
Thursday March 27, 9:12 am ET; By Paul J. Weber, Associated Press Writer

DALLAS (AP) -- Four Texas metropolitan areas were among the biggest population gainers as Americans continued their trend of moving to the Sun Belt in 2006 and 2007, according to Census Bureau estimates to be released Thursday.

Dallas-Fort Worth added more than 162,000 residents between July 2006 and July 2007, more than any other metro area. Three other Texas areas -- Houston, Austin and San Antonio -- also cracked the top 10.

Of the 50 fastest-growing metro areas, 27 were in the South and 20 were in the West. Two were in the Midwest, one -- Fayetteville, Ark. -- straddles the South and Midwest and none was in the Northeast. Experts credit much of the growth in the South to relatively strong local economies and housing prices that are among the most affordable in the U.S.

"People are running away from unaffordable housing, from the economic slowdown," said Karl Eschbach, a state demographer in Texas. "I would expect Texas to stay at the top of a slowing game."

According to figures compiled by Eschbach, 16 percent of Americans who moved to other states between July 2006 and July 2007 came to Texas, which led the nation for the second straight year in that category. A report earlier this month by Global Insight found that housing prices in the Dallas area were undervalued by as much as 30 percent.

Sales taxes are relatively low. Gas prices are low due to the proximity of refineries in Houston and Gulf drilling rigs, and food costs are kept low with Texas growing more food than it can use. The Rio Grande valley is one of the best citrus and vegetable growing areas in the U.S., and Texas is traditionally one of the largest cattle-producing states, even if you've never seen a John Wayne movie. While immigrants do have an influence in keeping prices low, that's mostly due to their providing competition to union workers, who can't charge their ridiculously high union wages with the competition from immigrants.

As my friend Raven should know, taxes have a LOT to do with this as well. Her own state of New Hampshire was voted the most liveable state by GQ, in no small part due to it's not having a state income tax.

Just like Texas, Rave -- just like Texas. (Heh.)

~~JD~~

Why You Shouldn't Give Easter Candy to An Obsessive-Compulsive Diabetic

(Sigh . . . .)

~~JD~~

Man Declared Dead Feels 'Pretty Good'

Sometimes I can't improve on the title of a post. I've had a couple of these things happen to me in my twenty-some years of nursing, where a patient I was caring for woke up and remembered me talking to them. It's always weird when it happens, and it doesn't happen often -- but it does reaffirm your faith in hope when it does.

I have to admit, my mind is awash with straight lines after reading this article. (I'll try to limit my responses, though . . . ) From the Associated Press via Yahoo News:

Man Declared Dead Feels 'Pretty Good'
Mon Mar 24, 10:09 AM ET

OKLAHOMA CITY - Four months after he was declared brain dead and doctors were about to remove his organs for transplant, Zach Dunlap says he feels "pretty good."

(Like "six beers later" pretty good?)


Dunlap was pronounced dead Nov. 19 at United Regional Healthcare System in Wichita Falls, Texas, after he was injured in an all-terrain vehicle accident. His family approved having his organs harvested.

(Six beers later and an ATV ride and your organs get harvested. Sound like Saturday night in South Texas to me.)

As family members were paying their last respects, he moved his foot and hand. He reacted to a pocketknife scraped across his foot and to pressure applied under a fingernail. After 48 days in the hospital, he was allowed to return home, where he continues to work on his recovery.

(Ah, don't we all.)

"I feel pretty good. but it's just hard ... just ain't got the patience," Dunlap told NBC. Dunlap, 21, of Frederick, said he has no recollection of the crash. "I remember a little bit that was about an hour before the accident happened. But then about six hours before that, I remember," he said. Dunlap said one thing he does remember is hearing the doctors pronounce him dead. "I'm glad I couldn't get up and do what I wanted to do," he said.

(A Monty Python moment flashes across my brain. "No, I'm not!")

Asked if he would have wanted to get up and shake them and say he's alive, Dunlap responded: "Probably would have been a broken window that went out."

(Or broken up a Doctor and put him out!)

His father, Doug, said he saw the results of the brain scan. "There was no activity at all, no blood flow at all."

(And . . . that was different from every other day . . . how, exactly?)

"Just makes me thankful, makes me thankful that they didn't give up," he said. "Only the good die young, so I didn't go."

And on that note . . . . . .



~~JD~~

I've Always Wondered Where The Easter Bunny Gets His Chocolate

A sad little note that dashes all my preconceptions about the Easter Bunny. From today's Gary Post-Tribune

Thieves Steal Trailer, 20 Tons of Chocolate
March 25, 2008; BY STAN MADDUX Post-Tribune correspondent

MICHIGAN CITY -- Police are looking for a thief with a huge sweet tooth after someone stole a semitrailer carrying more than 20 tons of Hershey's products.

LaPorte County Police Chief of Detectives John Boyd said he isn't sure if there's a black market for that much chocolate or exactly what the thieves will do with 41,000 pounds of it.

"I don't have any idea," said Boyd.

Daryl Rey, 58, said he picked up the load near St. Louis and then Saturday morning left the trailer outside Gas City truck stop on U.S. 421 just south of Michigan City. The Michigan City-area man returned less than 24 hours later to drive the load to a warehouse in Wisconsin and the 53-foot-long trailer was missing.

He believes professionals were at work because the hidden satellite tracking device was removed from the trailer. Apparently, the device was thrown into a nearby pond, he said.

Despite the cargo being insured, Rey's wife, Patricia, said her husband is taking the loss hard. "He's really bummed out," she said.

My other suspect would be New orleans mayor Ray Nagin; famous for his "Chocolate City."

~~JD~~

Friday Afternoon, Good Friday Commute Home

~~JD~~

The Reason For The Season

Luke 23: The Crucifixion


26 As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' 30 Then they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!" '[d] 31For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."[ And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."

36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself." 38 There was a written notice above him, which read:|sc THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."

42Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[" 43Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Jesus' Death

44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.
47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man."

More Information:

Max Lucado's Website: Grest Place to Start Reading about God's Love.

K-Love Radio: Listen to the sounds of Christian Encouragement.

Does God Exist?: Former right-hand to Madalyn Murray O'Hair, now a vociferous Chistian advocate.

Friday's Feast!

Appetizer: Given the choice, would you prefer to live in the country or in the city?

Oh, the city, definitely. I've always wanted to live in a big city. If I could figure out a way around the parking problem, I'd move into downtown San Antonio in a heartbeat.

span style="font-weight:bold;">Soup: Who is the cutest kid you know?

My son Julian looked exactly like the Pinocchio character in the Disney cartoon at 18 months old. That's pretty cute. Oddly enough, he has a cat that looks a LOT like Pinocchio's cat, too.

Salad: Fill in the blank: I couldn’t believe it when I heard . . .

I couldn’t believe it when I heard the Space Shuttle crashed.

I couldn’t believe it when I heard my wife say "I Do."

I couldn’t believe it when I heard my newborn son cry for the first time.

I couldn’t believe it when I heard my father was dying.

I couldn’t believe it when I heard the Lord call me home.

Main Course: If you could star in a commercial for one of your favorite products, which one would you want to advertise?

Actually, I did one make a couple of commercials for the local radio station when I owned my limousine business. Celebrity most definitely has it's drawbacks in that respect.

Dessert: What type(s) of vitamins and/or supplements do you take on a regular basis?

I take two multivitamins every morning, based on the idea that most studies obout "Recommended Daily Requirements" were based on studies of people who were starving to death -- and most multivitamins have just enough nutrients to keep you alive.

So I double them up.

I also take 2000 mg of Vitamin C every morning, and haven't had a cold or flu since 1996. Also I take 1200mg of Chostro-condroitin for my knees; and four fish oil tablets for my cholesterol.
That's about it. Happy Easter EveryBunny!

~~JD~~

New Blog Alert!

I discovered a new blog today at Digital Doorway. Keith is a Registered Nurse who (like myself) practices mindfulness mediation and nursing (of course.) I'm adding him to my daily reads, so give him a look.

An interesting post here called The nurse as Ogre should interest those of us in Health Care. Take a peek and leave Keith some feedback.

~~JD~~

South Texas Rainstorm Meets West Texas Duststorm

I haven't seen anything like this since Desert Storm.

As I drove home last night I began to see small, light spatters of rain on the windshield that dried quickly and left what I thought was heavy, yellow pollen on the windows.

For most of the night the sky was strongly yellow-tinged, even in the streetlight's glow, which was more than eerie, to say the least. However, as WOAI-TV Reports, it wasn't just me; it was everybody in the greater San Antonio area feeling eerie. (Follow the link for a video, too):

There were reports of the muddy rain in Boerne and New Braunfels too. Storm Tracker 4 Meteorologist Jennifer Broome explains that the heavy winds Tuesday kicked the dust and dirt thousands of feet into the atmosphere. The dust simply combined with the rain as it fell resulting in the ‘muddy rain.’

Basically it's a Texas dust storm meets a rain storm. It's unusual here but dirty rain and even brown snow happen on a fairly regular basis for West Texas and the Panhandle. San Antonio car washes should be extremely busy Wednesday.

"Busy" my butt -- they were so jammed-packed, it was impossible to get within a block of any car wash in San Antonio for most of today. As you can see from this picture of our car, it's pretty dirty today. The kicker for me is that (of course) I just washed the car last week.

Dammit.

Another thing that wouldn't happen to me in Northwest Indiana, for certain.

~~JD~~

Health Provider Predicts Big Loss; Unions Blame Everyone Else

The Boston Globe reports that all is not rosy in the people's socialist commonwealth of Massachusetts. A new law there requires all hospitals to render care to the uninsured, but only reimburses 70% of the costs.

The result, as you might guess, is diasastrous; or as the Cheif Administrative officer of one hospital put it, "This would be catastrophic."

Health provider predicts big loss
Hospital alliance cites impact of reform law; Could cut 300 jobs, suffer $25m shortfall
By Jeffrey Krasner, Globe Staff / March 17, 2008

Health Alliance, a key part of the Boston area's healthcare network, is facing a potentially "catastrophic" loss this year and is looking to eliminate up to 300 jobs, or about 9 percent of its workforce, in an effort to stabilize finances. The alliance, which includes Cambridge Hospital, Somerville Hospital, and Whidden Hospital in Everett, says it is being hit hard by the state's new healthcare reform law, which has left it responsible for providing free care for those without insurance while reducing the hospitals' compensation for such services.

Before healthcare reform took effect last year, Keefe said, Cambridge Health Alliance was reimbursed by the state for the full cost of providing services to the uninsured. Under the new system, "we only get 60 to 70 percent," he said. The reduction is particularly significant for the alliance because its hospitals serve a high percentage of uninsured patients. Despite the state's efforts to enroll all low-income residents in free or subsidized insurance programs, many still do not have coverage.

Keefe said the hospital was especially bruised in its second fiscal quarter, which ended Dec. 31, when the new payment system for uninsured patients took effect. Government payments for free care to the uninsured fell by nearly $14 million compared with the previous quarter, he said.

At the same time, the number of patients admitted to the alliance's hospitals dropped by about 3 percent, while patients kept overnight for observation - a category for which insurance companies do not pay as well - grew by 48 percent. Additionally, the number of walk-in patients, which do not generate as much revenue as inpatients, also grew substantially in the six months that ended Dec. 31, Keefe said.

During a department meeting last month, the chief administrative officer of the health system's physicians' group predicted a potential loss of $25 million to $35 million for the year. "This would be catastrophic," Dave Porell told members of the Department of Psychiatry, according to the approved minutes of the meeting, which were obtained by the Globe.

Prediction: This will get far, far worse before it gets beter. Some chains will actually begin to pull out of Massachussetts before the legislature repeals or severely amends the act. And, of cousre, the lefties will blame the "evil corporations" for not funding healthcare for the poor.

Hat Tip: And Rightly So!

Friday Afternoon,San Antonio Spring Day

It's been a long, cool winter in San Antonio; which is to say 50's during the day, low 40's to high 30's at night. Periodic rains keep everthing cool and moderately damp, and that's more or less how it's been all winter.

Until today.

When I went to work at 4:00am this morning it was mid-50's and damp outside from another night's sporadic rains. When I came out at 5:30 pm it was bright and sunny, with one of those beautiful south Texas wispy clouded skies that makes you just wish you could gaze into those light, wispy pieces of heaven forever without going blind -- like ice cream for your tired old retinas. The parking garage was still cool, like it had been in the morning, but as I drove down towards the exit I began to feel it.

Warmth. Heat. Warm, luxuriant heat like rich, velvety chocolate pudding that flowed velvety over my outsretched arm from the car window and curled back upon itself, stirring the hair on my arms in an almost senuous manner. San Antonio summer heat has no humidity like most people recognize it. The low (20%) humidity doesn't feel soggy and damp like the Chicagoland summers of my youth; it's liberating, invigorating, and energizing. Even with 98 degrees outside it felt wonderful.

I grinned like a chimpanzee. I rolled all four windows down and sang Biily Joel songs at the top of my lungs all the way to the gas station. The low humidity wicked away any persperation and kept me cool and dry as the hair on my arms did a hula dance in the car's slipstream.

I love this place.

~~JD~~

Friday's Feast!

Appetizer: On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 as highest), how much do you like your own handwriting?

I wouldn't know -- I can't READ my own handwriting. That's why I print.

Soup: Do you prefer baths or showers?

I grew up in a house without a working shower, but I take showers almost exclusively now, and have since I entered the Army many years ago. I can't remember the last time I had a bath.

Salad: What was the last bad movie you watched?

Hard to say -- so many of them are bad anymore; as Harlan Ellison likes to say, "90% of everything is crap." Probably Air Force One on TBS last weekend; but the last one I paid to see was the Love Bug remake with Lindsay Lohan last year.

Main Course: Name something you are addicted to and describe how it affects your life.

Ice cream and chocolate. I'm jonesing right now, actually. There's a reason we call Dairy Queens "Texas Stop Signs."


Dessert: Which instrument is your favorite to listen to?

Violin. I enjoy all instruments, but I love violins. Mu son plays the violin but will never let me listen to him practice, much to my dismay. (sigh)

~~JD~~

Saturday Night Santa Rosa Hospital

~~JD~~

Friday's Feast!

Appetizer: If you could be any current celebrity for one whole week, who would you want to be?

Jerry Springer. I'd spend the week apologizing for my television show to everyone who's ever been on it; fire all my staff; and retire to a desert island where I could never bother anyone again. My second choice is of similar mind; Bozo the Clown!

Soup: On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how much do you enjoy talking on the phone?

The square root of negative 2. I will let the damned thing ring for hours rather than answer a telephone. I have to force myself to answer it at work. It's almost always someone I didn't really want to talk to.

Salad: Name a charitable organization to which you have donated (or would like to).

My church, of course. The Marine Corps Scholarship fund gives college scholarships to the children of fallen Marines.

Main Course: What is a food you like so much you could eat it every single day for a month?

Sherbet. My wife's quiche. Mint chocolate chip ice cream. Chocolate Mousse.

Dessert: Have you or anyone in your family had the flu this year?

Nope. My son had a bad cold in December, but we all dose up on Vitamin C and use ZICAM nasal spray at the first sign of the sniffles -- works like a charm every time.

~~JD~~

Thursday Morning; "Cool rain today with temps in the 50's, No Chance of Accumulation"

"The best camera is the one you have in your hand at the time." Quoted by Marcus Henderson Wilder.

~~JD~~

Pardon Me While I Geek Out Just A Bit . . .

For those of you out there who do NOT read comic books, just skip this post. There are plenty of other posts to read where I won't geek out over a silly little comic book -- just scroll down. I promise. G'wan -- shoo, shoo!

They gone?

Okay, good.

Blue Beetle #24 from DC comics may be the best comic book you'll read this year. I don't care if you've been reading this one or not; you need to go get it now.

It'd got humor, action, pathos, suspense, relatability -- and the best payoff of any comic book buildup I've read in a long, looonnng time. Not to mention one-liners that are so fast and so furious you miss half of the the first read-through.

I've read this book five times in the last four days -- it's that good. Plus it's written by two relative unknowns -- that right there is reason enough to support the book.

Go. Buy. Read already!

~~JD~~

Book Excerpt 1: "Logbase Thornton"

To everyone who's been wanting me to write that book for the last eighteen years -- here's a taste.


Prologue

All across the Middle East, the world watched and held it’s collective breath. Not just from the televised image of a British schoolchild being held hostage by Saddam Hussein who defiantly reared back his hand to slap the megalomaniac dictator; but also from the spectacle of the world’s fifth-largest and first-largest armies staring each other down across the sands of the Sahra al Hijarah and the Neutral Zone. The winds of the winter sandstorms whistled cold through the huddled troops of the Allied nations. Americans, Saudis, Kuwaiti Free Forces, Egyptians, Jordanians, British, and French Foreign Legionnaires encamped next to one another, staring northward to the largest and most formidable fighting force in the Arab world, although we didn’t know at the time the reputation was undeserved.

The men of the Iraqi Army that stared back across the desert at us were not all soldiers. Most of them had been plucked off street corners and deposited in the desert wastes without uniforms, food, water, or (more importantly) even weapons. One was simply a USC theatre student home for Christmas Break less than a week before the Iraqi police had drafted him and plunked him into an infantry unit still wearing his USC sweatshirt.

And still more soldiers were pouring into the northeast quarter of Saudi Arabia as the plan to invade and recapture Kuwait built to it’s inescapable conclusion. Planes from Germany, Britian, France, and the other Allies continued to land hourly and discharge their cargoes of men and materiels to support the invasion effort.



The stars burned cold and hard and bright that evening. The temperature was hovering around 10 degrees Fahrenheit in the dead of the January night, and everything the eye could see was covered in sheets of clear, bright, slippery ice from the freezing rain that had pounded Central Missouri earlier in the day. Weathermen had been unanimous that the freezing drizzle wouldn't cross south of the Interstate 44 boundary that frequently divided weather systems in Missouri, but they'd been unanimously wrong, and as soon as the sun had begun to dip lower in the afternoon sky the sub-freezing temperatures had caused the drizzle to overlay everything with thick sheets of cold, hard ice. This particular soldier was fairly sure that the ice was covering his heart as well.

He'd never remotely felt anything like this before. His emotions raged, conflicted within him. He watched the Ford Taurus pull slowly away from the Battalion parking lot, blacker than any emotion he could name, and felt another part of his heart rip in two. Inside his wife and infant son were returning home to their house in Waynesville to wait for his return. His wife was a resident alien here; he'd taught her to drive only six months ago, and she'd learned to keep the books and do the budget just this month. The baby was not even three months old, and he had wondered at the time if he'd even be here when his son was born. Leaving this newest member of his family; this tiny life that depended so heavily on him, was perhaps the worst of all.

He couldn't think about that right now. He already felt the hot tears stinging his cheeks as he watched the car crawl down the icy streets towards Waynesville and their little home twelve miles away. The heaviness in his chest was a dead thing, without life, cold, and empty.

He was a soldier, and he had a duty to his country, his friends, and his family. He'd realized when he'd joined the service thirteen years earlier that he might have to go into a war zone some day, but he'd managed to avoid Nicaragua, Grenada, and Panama, and figured it wouldn't ever happen to him.

And now it was happening.

The idea of desertion flitted across his mind, and he just as quickly dismissed it. He supposed he could disappear into Canada, or go to his grandfather on the reservation--they'd never find him back in the wild parts there. Shoot--the military didn't even actively look for deserters anymore, and he sure as hell did not want to go to Saudi Arabia into a shooting war.

No, dammit--he didn't even give the idea any more than a passing dismissal. He was a soldier, and had a duty to his friends who were going. He didn't have to like it; just go, and do his duty. He stared up at the cold stars in the brutally cold skies and drew deep, bone-chilling breaths to help stay the sobs he felt welling up out of him. He turned and carefully picked his way across the icy-slick parking lot in his hard rubber-soled jungle boots. Designed for maximum comfort and traction in the soft, wet, hot places of the earth, they were little comfort and downright dangerous in the subfreezing cold and held little hope against the glasslike ice covered ground. Even though the soldier had grown up in Chicago area winters he still fell twice working his way back to the Battalion classroom where the Hospital had gathered for deployment.

The 30 mph winds tore through his lightweight jungle fatigue uniform like it wasn't even there. The cold was comforting, helping him to concentrate on keeping warm instead of the other matters pressing in on his consciousness. He glanced over against the outside wall of the building and saw other members of his Company likewise huddled. Some solemnly smoked cigarettes, the orange light playing relief against their pained expressions. Some wept openly. At least one pair huddled together in open embrace--a pair of married soldiers being deployed together, but to different areas. They reassured each other they would see each other again, oblivious to the others nearby who wrestled with their own private weights-of-the-world on their shoulders.

A muffled sob sounded from his right from another soldier wrestling with his own mortality. Jack turned away, slightly embarrassed at his eavesdropping. He took a tentative, careful step in the jungle boots, trying desperately not to fall and break a leg or hip on the ice that was everywhere. He decided he didn't care one damn bit for deploying to another third-world country and leaving his family behind in the dead of winter. Not one damned bit.

And, if he had his 'druthers, he never would again.

(Copyright JD Long 2008; not to be used without permission.)

Friday's Feast!

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Appetizer: Who was the last person you hugged?

My wife. We do that a lot.

Soup: Share a beauty or grooming trick or tip with us.

Shave your head. You'll never have a bedhead or a bad hair day agin.

Salad: What does the color yellow make you think of?

Safety. And Custard. And perhaps really safe custard.

Main Course: If you were to make your living as a photographer, what subject would your pictures revolve around?

Trees, or the moon. Animals and people don't stay put long enough; which is a pretty good sociological commentary on our society.

Dessert: What was the longest book you ever read?

The Stand, by Stephen King. I tried War and Peace, but Dostoyevsky makes me sleepy. And Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind really lacks something without Clark Gable.

Click HERE for previous Friday's Feasts!

~~JD~~

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chaaaanges!

I've been experimenting a bit; a phrase which should bring abject terror to anyone who knows me personally.

A bit of background; I work Dialysis three days a week (usually Monday / Wednesday / Friday, and alternate Saturdays). I also manage to squeeze in a shift or two a week at Nursefinders when I can; although the Dialysis schedule makes that difficult. But with Ariane full time at Nursing School, it's become more important for me to pick up as much as I can.

Hence, my lack of posting lately. Time is at a premium. I promise to try harder.

So, I came up with a way to maximize my work hours while keeping my days off. But first, a story from my youth. When i was about, Oh, say approximately 10 or 12 years old my mother worked as a Nurse's Aide at Whispering Pines Nursing Home in Valparaiso IN. During the summer we always wanted to go to the lake, but my mom had to work. One day I suggested that she work night shift, and we could go to the lake during the day when she got off.

"When would I sleep?," my mother asked?

Well, I never did come up with a satisfactory answer to that part; but the idea stayed perched in the back of my mind, waiting for just such an opportunity as this one.

So when I was trying to figure out how to maximize my time with Nursefinders while continuing to work my Dialysis job, that old story popped up in the back of my mind; and the first question that came to mind was, of course, "When would I sleep?" Well, let's see -- I only work three days a week (14 plus hours a day -- but only three days a week) so working alternate days would give me up to four days to work for Nursefinders. Ofcourse, that means I lose my days off, too.

So . . . how about if I just work around the clock those three days I work at the Dialysis clinic? Work 3am to 6pm for the Clinic, and 7pm to 7am for Nursefinders? That way, I still keep my days off (which I can take naps through, and still get plenty of rest that night for the next day).

Much to my surprise, it worked very well. I would do my Dialysis shift; then toddle over to some hospital for a night shift; then nap on the couch till noon; then run my errands, clean the house, or do the laundry, as needed.

So I was getting ready for work the next day last Tuesday night, and after packing mylunch for the next day i took some clean clothes upstairs and put them away. After setting the alarm for 3am I was on my way downstairs and had just taken that first step down when i felt something in my right knee go "POP!"

Pain. Sheer, grey, electric walls of blinding pain. I passed out, fortunately.

I woke up an indeterminite amount of time later lying on my back in the upstairs hallway with a bump on the bak of my head. I started to sit up --

. . . and started crying like a little girl. My right knee was twice the size of my left, and I was sure I'd broken something. We went to the Hospital Emergency Room and got x-rays; fortunately it wasn't broken, but it was severely sprained. The inside of my knee looks like a prune it's so purple. My orthopedist has me scheduled for an MRI tomorrow (Friday), but he thinks it;s most likely a severe sprain.

And he's got me on "no-weight-bearing" crutches, which has really screwed up the Nursefinders thing. For some reason most supervisors have a problem with a nurse showing up on crutches. No, I don't know why . . .

The good news is I've found a TON of time to work on my book this week. Expect an excerpt later this week.

~~JD~~

Friday's Feast!

Appetizer: Have you ever played a practical joke on anyone? If so, what did you do and who was your victim?

I got pretty drunk one night in 1982 and wrote my own obituary; then mailed it into the Army Times. It was pretty funny at the time; but it wasn't funny when they canceled my credit cards and froze my bank account. I was six omnths getting that mess fixed up.

Soup: What do your salt and pepper shakers look like?

They don't. We stopped using free salt years ago (and thereby, pepper as well) years ago and lost about 20 pounds each.

Salad: Where is the next place you plan to visit (on vacation or business)?

We're actually seriously considering San Diego this year; just because we've never been. After that, of course, it's the Virgin Islands some time in the next 10 years. I might never come home if I love it enough.

Main Course: What kind of lotion or cream do you use to keep your hands from getting too dry?

Whatever my wife buys. Vaseline Intensive Care seems to be the current favorite. We're nurses, so we go through a lot of it.

Dessert: Make up a dessert, tell us its ingredients, and give it a name.

I don't do desserts. I cook; not bake. And why in the world would I want to make something up when there's a whole perfectly good website right HERE full of luscious recipes like this magnificent Blueberry Pie.

Alton Brown is my hero. Really.

(Click HERE for previous Friday's Feasts!)

~~JD~~

I'm Here. just Busy . . .

The internet crashed here last week, so I've had only limited Internet access for the last 10 days.

Plus I'm working 40+ hours a week with the Dialysis clinic, and (potentially) 48 hours this week with Nursefinders.

And I broke my leg; just to keep it interesting.

I promise a very . . . Interesting post when i get a minute. Plus: videos of my Uncle Howard!

~~JD~~

Monkey-Boy on the Move

I can not keep up with my son anymore. He officially travels more than I do; and after fifteen years in the service, that's saying something.

Julian just got back from Chicago last weekend represnting San Antonio at the National Model United Nations conference. I've mentioned that before HERE. He's been doing it for the last couple of years, and eventually got good enough at it that he was selected to represent San Antonio at the University of Chicago. He flew into Chicago during a snowstorm and immediately started teaching the Texas kids how to make proper snowballs -- which they promptly creamed the Florida delegates with! Sunday afternoon on their personal time (during another small blizzard) and lead a group of 20 kids up State Street on the CTA to the Oriental Theatre, where they all saw "Wicked". (Apparently there were tickets waiting for the delegates to see the afternoon matinée, but transportation was canceled due to the snow. Julian found out and organized a group that went anyway.)

Tomorrow Julian's High School junior class leaves for Alabama. They're touring prominent locations of the Civil Rights movement and doing presentations along the way. It's a five-day trip. (Why didn't my High School have field trips like that?)

And we just learned today; Julian has been one of twelve kids selected in the U.S. to be exchange students this summer to China. The trips are spojnsored by the Chinese club he's been taking lessons with in his spare time the last three years.

China! No, really!

I can NOT keep up with this kid!

~~JD~~

Faux-Friday's Feast!

(Friday's Feast website has suffered a catastrophic meltdown of the database. However, Bethany at "Bethany's Paradise" has stepped up to save the day.)

What are some of your favorite websites?

I have a huge list of websites I visit regularly on the lower left side of my blog (scroll down to see). But as far as daily visitors, Yahoo! is my homepage and has an awesome set of tools to help me find my feet in the morning. The Drudge Report is always good for my morning news fix, and Comics.com satisfies my comics cravings very nicely, starting with Arlo & Janis. Also I'm a huge space junkie, so Space.com is just awesome for that. My preferred political site is run by the lovely and gracious syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin. I visit these sites every-single-day -- and sometimes more frequently.

If you had boy/girl twins today, what would you name them?

This is kind of a sore subject with me (said the man whose name is "Long John.") "Cute" names often stigmatize kids and leave them with horrific memories -- I can only imagine what it would do to twins to be named something "cute" like Billy and Jilly; or Mike & Ike; or (god forbid) Pete and Repeat. My aunt Mary Jayne showed remarkable restraint and wisdom (which is why she's my favorite aunt) naming her twins Barbara and Susan -- likewise my cousin Bob with Monica and Melissa.

My Aunt Marilyn (when she was pregnant with my cousin John) told people if she had twins they would be named Tennessee Gideon and Ernestine Alabaster. I'm forever grateful her son Jonathon was a singleton -- although I'm fairly sure she was kidding . . .

What was your favorite grade in elementary school? Did you have a favorite teacher?

My fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Phillips, played bridge with my grandmother (also a teacher) once a month -- so I lived my whole fourth grade year in terror she'd tell her something. That was pretty bad, but my next year (Fifth Grade) was when Mrs. Cook read us "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien. We were all enraptured, and it started both a lifelong love of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and reading generally in me.

What types of punishment did your parents use while you were growing up? Which were most effective on you?

My mother and father were divorced before I was 5 years old; and mom didn't believe in physical punishment (with me at least -- I was taller and bigger than her anyway) so she was a master of guilt. I think I'd rather she had beaten me.

Can you parallel park? Did you have to parallel park for your driving exam?

I can; I did (in a snowstorm, no less); and I try to parallel park at least every six months to keep in practice. I can and have parallel parked a limousine before on a side street near Wrigley Field in Chicago (in three parking places) to save on parking costs.

~~JD~~

Tales From The Nursing Shortage; Part VIII

Star Trek says that "Revenge is a dish best served Cold," but I think it's more like "The best Revenge is Living Well."

One of the places I work has a State Monitor because the previous administration pretty much ran the place nearly into the ground. As part of their agreement with the State, they are paying an independent "expert" RN to drive down from Dallas and observe anything we do and be a "Resource Person" when we have questions.

With this RN, it's more like completely ignore anyone is not an RN themselves; and God forbid one of the lowly males has a question. I asked her a question one time and after she was done rolling her eyes and making dismissive noises, she berated me publicly for five minutes and followed me around the rest of the day, commenting on everything I did and savaging my work. And that's fine -- she has her opinion, and I have mine (which is almost always backed up by state regulations or Department of Health procedures, as she quickly found out.) But I don't complain, I keep my head down, and I do my work.

So one of the things she got all over me for was re-using a single-dose vial. This is one of the things that's different in Dialysis from regular Nursing. When we give medications, they're almost always IV push. One of these is Epogen, a synthetic hormone to make red blood cells so the patients don't get anemic. (Just one of the many things the kidneys of a Dialysis patient used to do for them, but don't anymore.) Your average patient receives between 2,000 and 10,000 units of Epogen every treatment (that means three times a week.) Epogen costs about roughly $1.15 per unit.

So these patients are receiving anywhere from $2100.00 and $11,000.00 in medications per treatment. So if you think we're about to throw away a single dose vial with thousands of dollars of unused medications in it, you're out of your mind. The CDC agrees, and has given Dialysis clinics a 4-hour window to re-use a single-dose vial.

So this State Monitor came over and told our Administration that "Single-dose means Single-Dose -- we don't re-enter vials!" and they bought into it. I didn't disagree -- I'm just the temp, why make waves? I did bring it to my supervisor's attention at the time, and he told me to just follow her directives and they would double-check on the regulation.

Now here it is six weeks later, and the Vice-Presidents from Corporate were asking about our medications procedures, so they all walked over to my station. One of them asked about dating and timing the bottles when they are opened, and I told them I did, except for the single-dose vials which are thrown out.

"You throw out the single-dose vials?"

"Well, yes, the State Monitor told us to." And I recounted the conversation to them. You should have seen their faces go white as they calculated the amount of money lost in the last six weeks by this idiot Monitor. (Fortunately for them, I had continued to re-use the Epogen vials, so we were only losing about a $1,000.00 a month, instead of tens of thousands a day!)

So they've started an investigation into this State Monitor to see what other "inaccuracies" she might have told the staff as well.

Heh. Life is sweet. Sometimes you just have to wait for it.

~~JD~~

Friday's Feast!

Appetizer:
What is your favorite kind of cereal?

Frosted Flakes, but they are surprisingly bad for my diabetes. Raisin Bran is a close second, though, but it's astonishing how much sugar they cram into these cereals! So I'm learning to love Cheerios all over again.

Soup: When was the last time you purchased something for your home, what was it, and in which room did it go?

We just moved two weeks ago, so there was a lot of housecleaning and new furniture involved. We got a new couch and coffee table for the living room; a new TV (the other one was 10 years old and ungodly-heavy!); and two papasan chairs for the study. They're great for reading.

Salad: What is the funniest commercial you’ve ever seen?

I couldn't tell you. It was hilarious; but it was so funny, I still don't remember what they were advertising.

Main Course: Make up a name for a company by using a spice and an animal (example: Cinnamon Monkey).

Eeeew! It sounds like we're going to eat them; and all I can think of is "Candied Kitten." Eeeeww!

Dessert: Fill in the blank: I haven’t ______ since ______.

Oh boy; here we go. I wondered when we'd get back to the fill- in- the- blanks.

I haven’t danced since day before yesterday.
I haven’t sang since this morning.
I haven’t had ice cream since I can't remember when.
I haven’t washed my hands since three minutes ago (I'm a nurse, and I'm at work).
I haven’t had a good long walk since I sprained my knee last week.

Click HERE for previous Friday's Feasts!

~~JD~~

Friday's Feast!

Appetizer: How many times per day do you usually laugh?

I solemnly vow to laugh at three impossible things each day before breakfast. We are all responsible for our own attitudes; and no one will make us happy like we, ourselves, can. As a Christian, I follow the Buddhist belief that Jesus was called "the laughing prophet" -- can't you just hear him peal with laughter when the apostles forbid the children to come to him?

Soup: What do your sunglasses look like?

Like John Lennon's. My alternate pair are a pair of Wayfarers like the Blues Brothers wore. Hard to go wrong with the classics.

Salad: You win a free trip to anywhere on your continent, but you have to travel by train. Where do you go?

Past the Grand Canyon; the Utah badlands; the painted deserts. Alternates would be the Black hulls of South Dakota or the Trans-Canadian railway. Gimmme them wide-open spaces.

Main Course: Name one thing you consider a great quality about living in your town/city.

The history. The Fiesta celebrating the Battle of San Jacinto for Texas independence in 1826. The 600-year-old Missions dotting the South Side. The Alamo itself. The World's Fair grounds. The multiple military bases (my own father trained at Lackland AFB, and I went to training at Fort Sam Houston.) It's overwhelming sometimes, this city called San Antonio.

Dessert: If the sky could be another color, what color do you think would look best?

Pink, oddly enough. The delicate pinks of an early spring morning are wonderful, dotted with wispy tufts of clouds.

But then again, there's a lot to be said for Chartreuse.

~~JD~~

Friday's Feast!

Appetizer: What is your favorite beverage?

I don't drink much soda any more with my diabetes; but there is a LOT to be said for a nice, warm Dr. Pepper. Good for what ails you, as we say in Texas. The beverage I drink most frequently is Tea. The caffeine in tea is moderated by the tannic acid which smooths out the caffeine spikes; lasts longer and makes you less jittery.

If I'm really feeling luxurious, there is nothing in the world to compare to a Chai Tea Latte from Starbucks -- the pinnacle of beverage evolution for the planet.

Soup: Name 3 things that are on your computer desk at home or work.

I don't have a computer desk. We switched to laptops two years ago. I have it perched on my knees right now in the living room scanning the news channels for information. That makes me my own computer desk, so to speak; so three things on me would be shoes, socks and underwear, Thank God!

Sorry; no webcam.

Salad: On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how honest do you think you are?

9.7 It's too hard to keep track of your lies, really. I'd be a Ten, but there are still little children in the world; and there's that whole Santa Claus/Easter Bunny thing to consider.

Main Course: If you could change the name of one city in the world, what would you rename it and why?

Istanbul Turkey. I'd rename it "Constantinople" again -- much prettier and historical name.

Dessert: What stresses you out? What calms you down?
Very little stresses me out, actually. Mostly, it's just people. Relaxation is where you find it. There's a beautiful little passage in "The Last Samurai" where Ken Wantanabe and Tom Cruise's characters are discussing beauty and perfection. I'm watching the sunrise creep into the treetops of the oak saplings here, and that seems perfect to me right now.

"They are all . . . perfect."

~~JD~~