Friday's Feast!

Appetizer: When was the last time you were surprised?

I dunno. i startle easily, but real surprise? I think my teenage son made his bed last month without being asked.


Soup: Fill in the blanks: My eyes are ________, but I wish they were __________.

Oh, goodie -- a fill- in- the- blank. I love these.

My eyes are brown, but I wish they weren't bloodshot.
My eyes are blurry in the morning, but I wish they weren't -- period.
My eyes are farsighted, but I wish they were perfect.
My eyes are expressive, but I wish they were less revealing.
My eyes are blind to the human suffering around me, but I wish they were more sympathetic.

Salad: If you were a Beanie Baby, what would you look like and what would your name be?

Bald -- and who would buy one?

Main Course: Name two things you consistently do that you consider to be healthy habits.

I can eat salads all day long, and love it. It's my pig-out food. I had a large Caesar salad for dinner at a pizza place tonight. And I walk 2 or 4 times a week, 20 minutes minimum.

Dessert: What brand of toothpaste are you using these days? Do you like it? Why or why not?

Pretty much everything. I usually use Crest, but when they confiscated my tube of toothpaste on the airline flight last month, I started using whatever what was in the closet -- and, apparently, someone in the house has been toothpaste shopping -- we had half a dozen different (half-used) brands in there. I have no idea of the name of whatever I'm using today -- I just know it's red, white, and blue striped, and almost gone.

~~JD~~

"Alas, Poor Frisky, I Knew Him, Yorick!"

This is an actual tombstone from the Main Street Station cemetery in Moravia, Iowa. It's about 20 feet due east of where we buried my Dad last month. I just had to take this picture, with apologies to Timothy Lee Logan's survivors.

I just can't figure out if they buried the cat with Tim, or how that worked out.

~~JD~~

San Antonio Sunset

The Sun setting in downtown San Antonio last week, with the sunlight reflecting off the high-rises.

And 89 degrees, too, with a brisk breeze bubbling off the Corpus Christi Coastline. Keep all your turning leaves -- this is a painting on God's Canvas.

~~JD~~

Seventeen Years Old Today

And 6'2" tall. But I knew him when.



Happy Birthday Julian, from Dad.

~~JD~~

Friday's Feast!

Appetizer: On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you look forward to your birthday?

Negative the square root of Pi. Can't stand them.

Soup: What is one word you don’t like the sound, spelling, or meaning of?

Don't think there is one. Every word has a root origin, which is just as fascinating as a detective novel to me.

Salad: Do you wear sunglasses when you’re outside? If so, what does your current pair look like?

Constantly -- keeps the eye strain to a minimum when driving -- and I drive a LOT. I have a small oval pair of serengeti drivers I'm wearing currently. The back-ups are wayfarers that make me look like the lost Blues Brother.

Main Course: If you were to write a book, to whom would you dedicate it?

I **am** writing a book. I'll let you know on that one -- most likely my wife.

Dessert: Name a beverage that you enjoy.

Tea is the perfect beverage. It enhances everything's flavor that you drink it with, and the caffeine doesn't make you jumpy like coffee does. I worke in a British Labor Ward in Belgium when I was in the Army for four years, and they beat the taste of coffee out of me there. Tea is the only truly civilized drink, you know.

~~JD~~

Welcome to the Nursing Shortage, Part 99

I worked a double (16 hours) for the patrician Movement Drug Detox Monday, got three hours sleep, then doubled back for 8 more. Then the rat-bastards (who had reserved me for two weeks through Nursefinders) cancelled me Tuesday afternoon.

So I immediately started working full-time at the Dialysis clinic. Worked 14 hours today (Thursday), and I'll work the same Friday and Saturday.

Sunday is a double (16 hours) for an Ortho hospital for Nursefinders.

Thank God I have Monday off. I need the sleep!

I'll catch up this weekend. Must-sleep now . . . !

~~JD~~

Blog Items, for those so Interested

The Blog is three years old as of last week.

Last weekend I went over the 400 post mark. (This is post #404, for those keeping count.)

The first year I started this blog (September 25th, 2004 -- from September to December for the year) I had a total of 41 posts for the entire year. Last Month (our anniversary) I had 42 post for the entire month.

Who knew I could yap so much!

~~JD~~

Ariane's Doing Much Better Now, Thanks!

We go the results of the Biopsy back from when Ariane had her surgery the end of August. She was kind of putting off making the follow-up appointment because, well, cancer runs in her family (Runs, hell! more like a gallop!) and she was worried about those results.

Fortunately, they were good. It was cancer, but it was still localized, and they got it all. She'll need frequent checkups every four months for a while to be sure, but otherwise we're very happy with this news.

Thank you to everyone who prayed and wished us well.

~~JD~~

Cubs Clinch; Mets Wither and Die

The Chicago Cubs have Won their division, and will be in the playoffs.


Meanwhile, The New York Mets have suffered a humiliating defeat, blowing a 7-game division lead going into September.


After 38 years of listening to every damned sports commentator in the world tell the Cubs to "get over" the mets stealing the division title from my beloved Cubbies, all I have to say is:


Welcome to 1969, you bastards.

Nothing personal. How do you like me now?

~~JD~~

Friday's Feast: September 28th, 2007

Appetizer: How are you today?

How am I What??? How am I getting to work?-- Driving. How am I eating breakfast -- with a spoon. How am I feeling -- with my fingertips, of course. Be specific.

Soup: Name 3 television shows you watch on a regular basis.

Anything that starts with the letters "CSI" or that's on the Discovery Channels. I truly may be Gil Grissom in real life without the encyclopedic knowledge of bugs.

Salad: What’s the scariest weather situation you’ve experienced?

Watching Hurricane Katrina sit just off the coast before it hit New Orleans two years ago. The storm was so big we could sit here and watch the cloud wall rotate all the way here in San Antone.

Main Course: If you could wake up tomorrow morning in another country, where would you want to be?

Sitting at the Carlsberg Bar about three blocks south of De Brouckere plaza in Brussell, Belgium with a sandwich and a nice, cold Elephant beer; watching the tourists go by. Brussells is where I met my wife, and my in-laws still live there. I plan to do that again real sooon in the near future, too.

Dessert: What do you usually wear to sleep?

It's 5:30 am; I'm wearing it now! Grey sweatpants, T-shirt, and flip-flops. Invariably, day-in-day-out.

~~JD~~

There's a Light at the End of This Tunnel

It just really hit me this morning when I woke up and popped out of bed for the first time in two months. I was actually happy to see the day come. The dark, soft, damp blanket of depression had finally lifted.

Depression?????

Yeah, depression.

Shoot, what do I have to be depressed about? Oh I dunno -- my cats died from poisoned cat food; both my cars required over a thousand dollars in repairs in two weeks time; I'm a thousand dollars in debt from my trip to Iowa last month, somebody assaulted my wife and spiked her tires at work . . .

. . . and my Dad died.

Damn.

I'm not sure when it started exactly, but some time around the middle to end of August I started to feel it; right around the time Dad was dying and I couldn't really do much about it but watch long-distance. When he died, i just kind of shut off for a while and let the world go by while I processed and grieved.

Apparently my grief process involves Italian Chianti and Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. Well, could be worse, I s'pose.

But there's a light at the end of the tunnel. I got hired for a Dialysis position last week (I've wanted to get back into Dialysis for three years) for almost $20.00 an hour as a Supervisor. The Detox place I used to work at offered me a job again -- at a substantial pay raise.

But there's a light at the end of the tunnel. You just gotta keep holdin' on, like Third Day says. Great Tune, too.




~~JD~~

Jeff Ake Still Missing in Iraq

Full Disclosure Notice: The Laporte Missionary Bible Church is a church plant of the Liberty Bible church, where we used to worship in Northwest Indiana. I used to worship the next pew over from the Ake family for all I know. After the invasion of Iraq I applied to work as a civilian contractor in Iraq, just like Jeff -- which is when I found out I was diabetic. "There but for the grace of God, go I."

Today (Sunday, September 23rd) is Day 895 of Jeff Ake's captivity.

From the Northwest Indiana Times today:

Jeff Ake Still Missing in Iraq

Sunday, September 23, 2007 12:15 AM CDT -- BY KRYSTIN E. KASAK

LaPORTE | Two and a half years ago, the town of LaPorte decorated every tree it could find with red, white and blue ribbon. The small community rallied to support the family of a local businessman who was abducted in Iraq. Businesses posted signs that read, "Pray for Jeff Ake," and "Come Home Safe, Jeff."

Today, few remnants have survived to remind people of what happened -- of what is still happening.

LaPorte resident Jeffrey Ake was seized from a water treatment plant outside of Baghdad on April 11, 2005. The father of four hasn't been seen since he was shown being held at gunpoint on a video two days after his disappearance. No new information has been discovered since shortly after his kidnapping. "We just don't have any new information on the case," said FBI Special Agent Wendy Osborne of the bureau's Indianapolis office.

One of the few reminders in town come from LaPorte Mayor Leigh Morris. Morris still begins each meeting of the City Council and the Board of Public Works with a prayer for Ake. His office also includes cards that keep track of how many days Ake has been held captive in Iraq. "I just don't want the community to forget Jeff," Morris said.

Despite putting their house up for sale a few weeks after her husband's disappearance, Liliana Ake is still living in LaPorte. Morris, a friend of the Ake family, said he sees Liliana Ake regularly at Rotary Club meetings and throughout the town. In addition to the emotional hardships Liliana Ake has faced, however, the family has also gone through troubling times financially. The formerly successful family business her husband started went bankrupt last year. Liliana has also not been able to tap into her husband's benefits since no one knows what happened to him.

In January of this year, the Ake family church, LaPorte Missionary, set up a fund to help Liliana and her children stay in the family's ranch-style brick home off Pine Lake. Like many other residents in LaPorte, LaPorte Missionary Pastor Carl Galloway declined to comment about the situation. "Unless Lily wants to talk to you, I can't," Galloway said.

Earlier this year, Liliana Ake got her Realtor's license and went to work with a local firm. Her attorney, Mark Phillips, said her situation hasn't changed much over the two years. "Every day is still a struggle," Phillips said. "Her circumstances are still the same -- she wakes up wondering, 'Will there be news today?' 'Will it be good news? Will it be bad news?' She continues to pray with her children and her mother whom she is caring for."

Phillips also said that Liliana is very thankful for the help her family has received -- from both the community and Jeff's family."I still have hope that he is alive," Morris said. "Probably the most recent encouragement was when the Christian Science Monitor writer was released [from being held hostage in Iraq] last year. Her father spoke about others who needed to be released from captivity and he included Jeff Ake. Absent of any other information, I took that to be a positive indicator of the situation and will continue to hope for more."

Friday's Feast!

Appetizer: What is your favorite type of art?

Cartoons. Graphic imagery. Line art. Woodcuts. Simple, but elegant -- the people's art.

Soup: When was the last time you got a free lunch (or breakfast or dinner)? Who paid for it?

On the day of my Dad's funeral -- we found $40 he had squirreled away in a book, so he treated us posthumously to dinner.

Salad: On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how emotional are you?

2. I'm emotional like Mister Spock. Emotion is overrated. I think Soap Operas are the great destroyer of American culture.

Main Course: Approximately how long do you spend each day responding to emails?

Thirty minutes or more. I have something like 4 or 5 e-mail accounts; plus I check my wife's, too.

Dessert: To what temperature do you usually set your home’s thermostat?

It doesn't matter. I never get hot or cold. I sleep without blankets or covers. If I had my druthers, it's be 60 degrees (F) year-round, but I don't, so I don't worry about it.

~~JD~~

Politics and Nursing

I get occasional e-mails from Jerry Lucas at Male Nurse Magazine. "Male Nurse Magazine" is an online magazine that deals with nursing issues from the perspectives of male nurses.

They also have a small selection of 19 videos on Youtube (HERE) where Jerry and others discuss topics of the day. This video is about the difference between a nurse and a politician.



If you liked that, check out the other Youtube Videos as well.

~~JD~~

An Unsolicited Testimonial for Priceline.com

As long as I'm in the mood to praise those where praise is due . . .

When we heard my father had died, we immediately began planning for how I could get up there for the funeral. Of course, it's nineteen hours in a car (fourteen without stops), so that's a pretty hard row to hoe. We priced airline flights, but they wanted $750.00 to Des Moines Iowa round trip. The best price was $420.00 round trip to Omaha Nebraska, four hours by car. I checked into 'Bereavement Fares" where you can get a discount for going home for a funeral, and they were only going to cut the airfare by 10% for any carrier. Plus I'd need a car to get from Des Moines (or Omaha) to Centerville, which are about $50-75 a day rental.

So the lovely and gracious Ariane says to me, "Why don't you try that
Priceline.com website? You like William Shatner!" (Like that's any way to judge a travel website, right?)

So I thought, What the hell-- it's gonna cost me anyway. Might as well give it a try." So I thought, if I could get the Omaha price (about $400.00) to /Des Moines, that would work great. So I went to the website and set up my bid. Word of caution to anyone trying this: Priceline doesn't play around. When you bid on a flight, they want your credit card number up front -- no window shopping!

So I set up a $400.00 bid, and I started to hear William Shatner calling me a "namby-pamby" and a "wussy." (If you've ever seen their TV commercials, you know the one I'm referencing. If not, you can watch their commercials HERE -- Look for the one title "Tough Love".) So I decided to try lower -- what could happen? If they reject my bid, I'll just try again, right?

So I bid $300.00 to Des Moines . . . . and they took it!

Wow!

Then a little pop-up box comes up, asking if I wanted a hotel and a rental car with that. You bet your damned petunias I did -- so I clicked "Yes" and got a $14.00 a day Rental Car, too.

Wow again!

So, yeah, I'd use Priceline again. I'd even strongly recommend trying them if you know you've got to go somewhere.

What have you got to lose?

~~JD~~

An Unsolicited Testimonial to Wal-Mart

So I woke up yesterday to take the lovely and gracious Ariane to work -- and the car won't start. The battery just "click-click-clicks" past the solenoid, unable to raise a charge to start the car.

Dammit!

I had just replaced the alternator three weeks earlier, so I knew it wasn't that. These new Ford alternators have the voltage regulator built into them now, so it's not that, either. The battery terminals were cleaned and lubed when I got the alternator, so that's out, too.

So it's pretty much gotta be the battery, which I bought in January 2006. Well, with all the heat in South Texas, a battery's only good for a year or two anyway. We parted company with our last battery almost two years to the day we got the car, so it's something I was thinking of anyway. So I got a jump from Wonder-Boy and headed over to Wal-mart for another $38.00 (installed) battery.

I got there and told the lady I needed a battery, and she's explaining the warrantee (24 months), and I said, "Really? I just bought this one here 19 months ago!" She asks my phone number, then looks it up.

Then she frowns. Bingo!

She looks up the battery -- they might have it in stock -- and asks me if I want the anti-corrosion coating on the battery terminals. (It's an extra $2.00, but who wouldn't?) She gives me a shop ticket, and tells me it'll be a half hour. I wander across the store to window shop and get breakfast at the in-store McDonald's (which is very bad for me -- but sacrifices must be made.)

Forty-five minutes later I walk back to the service bays and they're just finishing up. They actually had to have another Wal-Mart across town bring them the right battery, but it's been installed and tested and it's terminals coated with anti-corrosive.

I'm expecting a partial rebate on he cost of the battery, like Sears used to do with the Diehard batteries. Since I had about 25% battery life expected still, I'd be really happy with a 25% discount. Guess what my total cost for the battery with installation and anti-corrosive coating was?

Two dollars. They only charged me for the coating.

I am so damned happy I could spit. I LOVE Wal-Mart!

~~JD~~

Great Moments In Nursing, part MXVIIII

Offered with only the comment that somehow, it doesn't surprise me. Considering the rampant liberalism in the Nursing profession, this is the inevitable result of the Free Love Generation 40 years on.

Nurse Charged with Sex with 16 Year Old Boy

Jonesboro, AR - A nurse at the Consolidated Youth Services is accused of having sex with a 16 year old boy.

Laura Elizabeth Newberry, age 32, faces 1 count of first degree sexual assault. Court documents state Newberry has sex with the juvenile in an empty CYS classroom on July sixth. Newberry posted a $1,500 bond Tuesday and has been released from custody. If convicted, she could face 10 to 40 years in prison.

Ten to Forty years? I'll believe THAT when I see it; especially in Clinton-Land!

Hat Tip: Interested Participant

Friday's Feast! -- September 14th, 2007

Appetizer: When was the last time you visited a hospital?

Pretty much daily -- I'm a nurse. I never go to hospitals when I'm off duty though -- I hate hospitals.

Soup: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how ambitious are you?

Three. I'm ambitious for the safety and welfare of my family. Beyond that, I'm content.

Salad: Make a sentence using the letters of a body part. (Example: (mouth) My other ukelele tings healthily.)

Okay, you asked for it.

Under very unusual limitations, a friendly rattlesnake evinces no unusual laughter unless molested.

(Uvula, Frenulum. They're in your mouth. Look them up!)

Main Course: If you were to start a club, what would the subject matter be, and what would you name it?

The Curious George Fan Club. Nothing beats somethin' from the Oven like Hot Monkey Lovin'. (And what's that frog doing behind you, George?)

Dessert: What color is the carpet/flooring in your home?

Tan or beige; take your pick. We rent, though -- does that count? If my wife had her way, we'd have nothing but wood floors and Florentine Tiles -- someday, I guess.

~~JD~~

I Hate It When I'm Right . . . .

Humberto graduated to Hurricane Status overnight (literally!) and came ashore with 80+ knot winds this morning.

Lovely!

Well, Alabama / Georgia / Mississippi could use the rain, I'm sure.

See why I keep a case of bottled water in the car this time of year? Yesterday morning when we were talking about this it was just a Tropical Depression, let alone a full-fledge Hurricane . . .

~~JD~~

A Puzzle Left Unfinished . . . .

I mentioned this last week; but it's continuing to weigh on my mind. My Dad used to love to do jigsaw puzzles, and this is the one he was working on when he died. My father's life; a puzzle left unfinished.

It's not like we were particularly close or anything. I think we liked each other generally, but we were both disappointed by each other at different parts of our lives. I was never the sports star he wanted me to be, and he was never quite the father I wanted and wished for.

And then as we're clearing the apartment, I find a "U.S. Army" ballcap in his bedroom that was obviously worn a lot. It's a small tribute to my sister and I as Army veterans, and I don't know how to feel about that. (Dad was Air Force.) It must have taken some effort to find that ballcap -- Southern Iowa wasn't a hotbed of military stores.

Yet he wore that cap frequently. Something else I didn't know about my father.

I didn't even know he had been sick until I talked to my mom in August. I'd tried to call him several times and he didn't pick up. Probably didn't want to worry me; or just didn't want to be seen like that, maybe. Who wants to be remembered weak, in pain, and wearing a diaper? Yet he really seemed happy to see us, especially his grandson Julian.

That may have been the happiest I ever saw him, actually. Who wants to be alone at the end, anyway?

A lot of things left unsaid, though, and just because that's the kind of man he was. Those are the things that still bother me, though, because that's the kind of man I am.

Things left unsaid. Puzzles left undone.

I hugged my son tonight.

~~JD~~