Happy Halloween...

I just realized that my last post "Too many bats..." might have been misconstrued as a Halloween post. But it wasn't, of course. This one is, though.

Jake is figuring out his plans. I'm not sure of the details, but he will be going trick or treating unsupervised for the first time. This is partly due to his demonstrating that he is a responsible 14 year old and partly due to circumstances.

Anyway, Rachel and I are staying home. I'm going to try to put up a few more decorations and cobble some sort of costume together. I don't think I have Elvis Dracula in me tonight, but we'll see.

Anyway - a coworker passed me a link I want to share. You can carve a virtual pumpkin.

Here's mine...

And here's the link to carve your own.

http://www.cubpack81.com/images/carve_pumpkin.swf

Happy Halloween!

Too many bats...

It's over till April. And it's different this time. It's somehow less thrilling, and yet more satisfying. It's like that first one had to happen for this one to happen. And now that this one has happened, I can see three or four more in the next ten or so years. Too many bats.

Good for Mikey! For a few minutes tonight, I was worried we might be seeing A-Rod at 3rd next year.




But if the Giants drop Bonds...Hmmmmmm.

Pumpkin Carving Day...

I can't believe I've never blogged about this before. It all started two Halloweens ago next door at Frank and Marla's. Folks from around the neighborhood all got together to carve pumpkins. Everyone brought all of their tools and pumpkins and we all shared and carved together. We did it again last year at their new place.

And once again this year.



It was great for Rachel to get out of the house for a while for something other than a doctor's appointment or physical therapy. It was a little rough on her, and we only stayed for a couple of hours. She did great for about the first hour, but by the time we were eating, I could tell she was in a lot of pain.


Tony cooked up a big bunch of wings and beer can chicken. And there was pasta and salad and garlic bread. We drank some of Leo's wine and his killer grappa - which is growing on me. It burns, but it is nice meal finisher, and I think I prefer it to dessert wine.


One of the cool things about where we live is sometimes a neighbor will drop by...

...on her horse.

It was a little different this year - fewer pumpkins, but better quality carves.

Jake freehanded a great Jack Skellington. And Rachel used a lemon rinder to make that black cat.

Here's mine...

Go Red Sox. It's 1-0 now. Not enough runs to relax, but they are looking good. And Lowell just led off the 5th with a double. And Drew is up. I'm going to go back and watch with Rachel now. She is medicated and on the Interferential Stimulator.

Human race will 'split into two different species'

This is an interesting theory...

The human race will one day split into two separate species, an attractive, intelligent ruling elite and an underclass of dim-witted, ugly goblin-like creatures, according to a top scientist.

100,000 years into the future, sexual selection could mean that two distinct breeds of human will have developed.

The alarming prediction comes from evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry from the London School of Economics, who says that the human race will have reached its physical peak by the year 3000.

The report claims that after they reach their peak around the year 3000 humans will begin to regress.

Scott and my father-in-law will probably recognize the plot of H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine."

But I don't think this is going to happen. There are too many rich and not so rich people paying to have their appearances altered. So we will end up with women who have had their noses reduced and breasts enlarged attracting men with hair implants and other "male enhancements." So the "bad" genes will carry on.

Besides, the way things are going, we're never going to make it to the year 3,000. We are just smart enough to screw up our own evolution.

What makes me laugh, because I'd rather laugh than cry, is that the internet is probably our greatest cultural creation as a species. And all of those ones and zeros will be gone and there ain't gonna be no Rosetta Pentium. I'd bet you a week's water ration that the Pyramids in Egypt will outlast the internet.

The pyramids and all of that crap we've left floating out in space.

In the end it didn't matter...

...but it sure looked to me like when Taveras was hit on the hand, his hand was over the plate and in the strike zone. He almost got hit again later when he swung and missed and his elbow was over the plate. I'm just saying, it should have been a strike.



Top 1st: Colorado

- W. Taveras hit by pitch

- K. Matsui flied out to deep center

- M. Holliday singled to shallow left, W. Taveras to third, M. Holliday to second on third baseman M. Lowell's throwing error

- T. Helton grounded out to first, W. Taveras scored, M. Holliday to third

- G. Atkins grounded out to third

1 runs, 1 hits, 1 errors

Colorado 1, Boston 0

But whatever. Wish we scored more, but we scored just enough.

Man these guys are good.



Notice anything odd about those portraits. Odd in the "One of these things, is not like the other/Can you see it? Do you know?" and so on. Maybe he was sick on picture day?

Also, this could be the last time we see Curt pitch at Fenway. Thank you, sir, for all you have done for us.

A thousand words?

Nah. Here's some pictures and just a few words:

Here's that breakfast. It wasn't even a very big milkshake. When I find the receipt tomorrow, I'll post the actual retail price. So far it's Joseph and Theodore vying for the final showcase show down. Who will be the next contestant on The Price Is...Too Much!


The place was gorgeous...





Here's me and Master Chef Hugh McCauley.

It was his signature small batch barbecue sauce that broke.

Here's a car that I'm hoping somebody can tell me the make and model of...

It was very hot and humid, even at night...


That was me and Mark Bush. See, the humidity fogged up the camera lens. This is inside...

It was an expensive shot, but it's not every night the Red Sox win the ALCS. It was great to run in to him. We had some great conversation. Conversations? Oh, and he dropped what I think is a pretty witty story about a man who was so concerned about losing his synesthesia that he couldn't even hear himself stink. He's got this sense of humor that Paul would love if they ever met.

Here's the various and sundry chotchkey that I had to cram in to my suitcase.


Here's what TSA did to my backpack. I'm filing a claim. I'll let you know what comes of it. And since Southwest said it was TSA's fault, and TSA said it was Southwest's fault, I'll probably file a claim with them, too.

Here's what the inside of my backpack looked like. And speaking of synesthesia, I think you can almost imagine the smell just by looking at this. It's mustard based, rather than tomato based. It was a long stinky drive home.

And now that I've blogged it all out, I think I can let go of my frustration.

And here's the mark left by whatever hit my windshield. I've had three people say it was a bird.

And here's the sun setting on Houston as we took off in our substitute plane. This one flew fine. It's kind of a neat thing that I've only experienced a couple of times. Taking off as the sun is setting makes for a very long and beautiful sunset.

And finally, and this is fantastic news, while I was away, Rachel found my lucky project rock in the couch. It's been missing for months. And I looked everywhere. Even where she ended up finding it. She spilled a box of Whoppers in the couch and came across it while digging them out. I think maybe the rock wanted to be found and magically caused the Whoppers to spill. Or maybe not. The important thing is it is back. So, you know, I am confident things are going to get better.

I got this thing at the Discovery Channel store in Northbrook Illinois while working at Discover Card. That was almost ten years ago. I think Bill Walters was with me. I got it because it looked like the Voicetek (now Aspect) Generations (now I don't know what, but not Generations) logo. Projects always go better when I have it on me or on my desk. It has even been known to make jacked up servers mysteriously start working again. So I know my WPS project is going to get back on track.

Way too much to do to be blogging...

...nevertheless, I blog.

OK, so yesterday's traumas, minor and major, are fading. And I don't want to sound like a whiny little bi... boy, a naughty little boy. So here you go...

1. Frustrating trying to cram everything in to available luggage.
2. Realizing too late that barbecue sauce is a prohibited item.
3. Having to check my backpack.
4. Having to go through security again.
5. Realizing and dwelling on the erosion of civil liberties (queueing up, taking off my shoes, presenting travel papers, etc.)
6. Thinking about the frog in the boiling water versus the frog in the cool water where the temperature is raised gradually, and identifying with the latter frog.
7. Arrive at airport an hour and a half before my flight and still end up in boarding group 'C'.
8. Watching this group of people running late get rushed to the front of the security line and then holding up everybody because they were so laden with jewelry and such.
9. Stuck in last row with lady wider than she was tall next to me. I know I'm big, but she spilled over the seats to the right and to the left.
10. Hydraulic failure I mentioned yesterday.
11. The heat and humidity in the plane with no power.
12. Deplane.
13. Replane, but cattle call because they handed out emergency boarding passes in no particular order.
14. Worried about making my connecting flight in Houston.
15. Lots of turbulence.
16. Captain Kangaroo triple bounced the landing in Houston.
17. Seeing the state of my luggage thanks to TSA's incompetence. They disassembled my backpack and sent it on it's way to get tangled up in the automated equipment. Broke my barbecue sauce. Roughly opened and badly repackaged gifts.
18. Southwest pointed the finger at TSA
19. TSA pointed the finger at Southwest
20. Finally get to the car and have to drive home tow hours reaking of barbecue sauce
21. Missed the end of the Red Sox game
22. Mellow out less than a mile from home when something hit my windshield. Perhaps a bird because there are no cracks.

Whatever, like I said, I probably forgot six or eight things. But hey, at least I'm not stuck at Qualcomm stadium and my house isn't threatened by a forest fire, right?

Home now. Trying to get unstuck from some bad moments...

I'm wide awake well after midnight.

You are not going to believe the day I had when I get around to writing it up. I had a premonition about it, too.

Here's just one thing - we pushed back from the gate at FLL and were headed for take off when on the runway, the plane comes to an abrupt stop. Like brakes were slammed and every head on the plane snapped forward. And I should know because I was in boarding group C and in the very last row of seats that don't even recline. It was that sort of day.

And we sat there for a couple of minutes, that seemed like half an hour. And the pilot came on the loudspeaker to announce that one of the hydraulic systems failed. It spewed hydraulic fluid all over the runway. So we had to wait and then get towed back to the gate to get on another plane.

I couldn't help but think about the might have beens here. What if this happened at 30,000 feet? What if it happened in that no man's land of too high to crash and too low to glide? Or what if it happened when we were halfway down the runway and accelerating. I might have been on the news. And not in a good way.

And then a few dozen other annoying and awful things happened.

And I am home now. And, of course, I'm amped up from the drive. I was all mellowed out - Hotel Yorba came on the iPod as I turned on to 29 from Butts Canyon Road. And it ended. And then THUMP! something hit my car. I thought it hit the roof, but it looks like it hit the windshield. No damage that I can see, but it's dark out. We'll see in the morning.

Or whenever I wake up if I can find a way to fall asleep. It might take some Jaggermeister and a boring book.

I was going to post a video for Joe. I didn't get any of the RC Boat racing, but thought he would settle for the young female contortionist in the plastic ball dancing on the pool. But it's 91 Meg, so I'm going to have to find some way to shrink it down.

But here's a screen grab...

Rachel usually does her yoga on the outside of the ball.

See Joe - way in the back there, you can see an RC Boat. Oh. Yeah. I mean...Yeah, that's it, I was shooting the boat races and this big plastic ball kept getting in the way.

And here's me in front of a classic Chevy truck I think Frank and Marla will dig. This is at Ragtops Auto Museum last night.

Oh, and I didn't get to see it, but I finished up with TSA just in time to catch the post game wrap up describing the Red Sox rout of the Rockies.

So despite the adversity and near death experiences, I am managing to end on some high notes.

Good night.

One for the road...

So it's all wrapped up. I am pretty much all packed, I just have to find a few places for a few things. I'll get a picture up of the various and sundry items I managed to cram in to my luggage.

This morning I woke up and realized the oddest thing. I went to the gift shop, you know to pick up a couple of gifts. And it was the first time since I arrived and checked in that I have needed my wallet. While here, most of your needs are taken care of. And a 18%"gratuity" is figured in to not only every transaction from the bar to the spa, but there is a daily $18 per day "gratuity fee" worked in to your hotel bill. So you are not supposed to tip people for schlepping bags or opening doors or cleaning your room or anything.

I realized this is the closest I will ever get to knowing what it feels like to be fabulously wealthy.

I wonder how this came about. I mean, did rich people have tip anxiety? Did rich people suffer from guilt over not tipping? Does the house take a cut of all of these gratuity fees? Does the woman who cleans my room receive her fair share of the gratuity fee? Does she receive as much as the attractive and well dressed concierge who summons the cleaning woman to my room when I ask?

It does give me an interesting insight in to what it must be like to be rich. You pay for your own expensive tastes and leave the needs of the less fortunate in the hands of someone else, assuming (incorrectly) that it all works out fair for everybody.

I don't know where all of these thoughts came from, I just woke up with them in my head.

Anyway, I gotta go so I don't end up in boarding group C. It's back to reality for me right quick.

Thanks again to everyone who helped out taking care of things around my house while I was here.

Rachel and Jake, I love you and I'll see you toight.

Today winds down...

I had a great nap.

OK, I'm kidding. I did end up going. It was a bit of a drag getting there. The first poorly managed event I've seen at this conference. There was a lot of confusion about when the buses were supposed to leave. 6:00 or 6:30. And as we were leaving at 6:30, some of the other event participants were just returning from golf and a couple of others. Then they took a scenic route that, while pretty along the coast, took almost an hour.

Interesting thing - the road we took is pretty analogous to driving the 1 in California. The key difference being the road in California is windy and treacherous and this road is flat and relatively straight. And you are just 50 feet or so from the ocean. I mentioned this observation to Mark who commented that it had to do with the continental plates and whatnot.

The museum was pretty cool. I sort of wish I had brought my Canon, but on the other hand, it is bulky and expensive and I'd much rather have something bad happen to our trusty little Kodak. And I think it did OK. We'll see when I get home.

Again, fantastic giveaways. You had to get there early to get one, but they had these Thunderbirds and Pink Ladies jackets that cracked me up...



And they also had these Elvis wigs and Elvis sunglasses with fake sideburns dangling from the frames. And scarfs for the ladies.

There were some cool cars - old Vettes, old Jags, a beautiful brown convertible Mustang and a really clean old Chevy truck (Late 50's?)



The food was burgers, fries and hot dogs. The staff was all in 50's garb. It was cool. Oh, and they had fantastic appetizers. My favorite was roasted pistachio coated smoked Gouda. I pretty much had appetizers for dinner because I was still pretty full from the late afternoon meal at Hugh's.

I also felt like I was back on top of my game today as far as meeting people goes. It's funny - it is really a skill to be able to engage strangers in conversation, and if you don't use it, it atrophies. But it's like falling off a bicycle; you never forget how to do it.

Like that gratuitous semicolon?

And I'm going to see if I can upload a little video...



Looks like that worked. Maybe I'll reprise my Elvis Dracula this Halloween.

So I'm going to go pack now. I am not sure where I am going to fit all of the cool stuff I got. Oh, I forgot to mention that at the cooking class, we got a logo apron and a really nice wooden "cookbook stand" with a Nuance logo on it. Honestly, some things might not make the cut. Like the sombreros. Rachel and Laurie said I should just wear the sombrero on the plane. But if I can't get it in the suitcase, it's staying.

Today so far...

Let me start out by saying I am tired. The three hour time change is always rough on me. But this time it is compounded by odd sleeping hours in general. I am seriously considering blowing off dinner and sleeping. And dinner is at an Antique Car museum, so I really want to go and take some pictures for my father-in-law and come home with stories about all of the outrageous cars I saw. So I am highly motivated to go, but also just exhausted. I'm about 60/40 in favor of going right now.

The morning was spent in sessions and the afternoon was the fun networking event. We ended up taking a cooking class at Hugh's Catering, and not the Florida Culinary Institute. I'm not sure what happened. Anyway, we got instruction from Master Chef Hugh McCauley. Real nice guy. And I bet within a few years, we'll be seeing him on The Food Network. He taught us how to make gazpacho, which I'll probably never make because Rachel hates tomatoes. We also learned how to make stuffed chicken breast. I learned a couple of neat things - I used to pound mine flat. Instead, you can butterfly a breast. You brown it a bit and also do a few cuts so that it folds nicer. That was cool. I also learned a neat trick I plan to try at home. Most things I cook start with olive oil and garlic. He keeps a sealed container of olive oil and garlic so when it's time to cook, you already have chpped garlic and oil. Pretty neat.

I also asked him to give some tips on prepping food, specifically chopping technique. He taught me to hold the knife in the middle and to always keep the blade in contact with the cutting surface while using your free hand to push the material towards the blade. It took a little getting used to, but once I got a rhythm going, it was very easy to do.

So I spent the afternoon doing a few of my favorite things - cooking, eating, talking, listening, and drinking wine. It wassn't as macho as golf, skeet shooting, deep sea fishing, or extreme cart racing, but it's where I wanted to be and I'm glad I did it.

Te next post will either be about the great nap I had or the auto museum.

Good day today...

I overslept and missed breakfast. But that's OK, as I'm not that big on breakfast, and there was plenty of stuff to snack on. And coffee.

Last night, I put in this CD they gave away at dinner while I ironed some shirts. This morning, when my alarm went off, instead of buzzing, it played the CD. And the CD was 60 minutes of soothing instrumentals.

Anyway, I was glad I ironed my shirts yesterday as it enabled me to get out the door and down to the conference pretty quickly. I attended some good sessions, and I ran in to Felix who introduced me to the guy I needed to meet. So there's one item on my to do list. I still have to meet with him and get some support, and I think it will happen. Well begun is half done and all.

Anyway - I really didn't understand where I am exactly, so I Google-mapped it. Here you go...

I'm a long way from home. And I'm looking forward to getting tings done and getting home and getting back to work. Laurie took over taking care of Rachel today. So she and Jake are in good hands. And Rachel has a crafting partner. I spoke to them all tonight and it sounds like they are having fun.

Tonight, dinner was on some boats. Yachts, I guess? Three big ones. I got lucky and got on the one with a band. And for dinner, there was roast beef, and it was served with a fantastic sauce I never would have thought of - olive oil based with a bit of vinegar, salt, and pepper, red pepper flakes, cillantro, parsley, garlic, and onions. It almost look like pesto. And it was awesome.

Lots of meat chotchkey and giveaways. Light up margarita glasses and flashing plastic ice cubes. I intend to bring them home and invent some sort of cocktail called "A Seizure." I am open to suggestions for ingredients. I also got a couple of sombreros, thos nifty flip-flops, and a stuffed kangaroo.

Tomorrow afternoon is the group outing activity. I ended up picking the cooking class at the Florida Culinary Institute. That should be cool. Rumor has it we will learn to make desserts. And aside from my Triple Chocolate Disaster cookies and Jamie Oliver's Chocolate Pot, I don't know much about making desserts. So it should be cool.

Night night.

Wow!

OK - so yeah, the Red Sox are in the World Series. I'm a little hoarse. And a little snockered. But safe in my room with the door locked.

And that's great. And I probably don't have any reason to complain. But Cal lost yesterday, and the Raiders today. And England lost yesterday.

Nevermind. I should just embrace this and be thankful the AL won the All Star game.

So I saw and did some amazing things tonight. What I did and what I saw are sort of related.

What I saw was two incredibly young (remember I'm feeling old) and flexible women "dancing" inside of a large plastic ball while the ball floated in the pool. What I did was drive some radio controlled boats (which, honestly, Rachel, we will soon own - way cooler than the stupid helicopters). And I sort of "accidentally" hopped over the pool noodles and in to the plastic ball.

Oh, and I got a bucnh of light up ice cubes for the Tiki Bar. You'll have to see them to believe them.

Same with the whole girls in the plastic balls thing. I will post video when I get home. But basically, these girls allowed themselves to be enclosed in these giant platic balls with 25 minutes of oxygen and performed while floating in the pool. I shot video, but I didn't find a Target today, so I will have to post the videos once I get home to my various and sundry cables.

Unless...

Also, I finally found a couple of familiar faces. Mark Bush is here. So is Felix Gofman. Oh, and Doug Sharp. Still, the ratio of people I know to people I don't is, um, not so great.

Anyway, dinner was amazing. Quite a buffet. Thewy had a carving station with Prime Rib and also Turkey. And potatoes similar to the ones I made a while back, but with garlic and goat cheese.

And they had one of the coolest activities I've ver seen - second only to the whole driving a real NASCAR thing a few years ago. I wish Rachel was here. It was crafting nirvana. It was this whole "design and build your own thongs.

Don't get too excited -I'm talking footwear, and not what the girls in the plastic bubble were wearing.

They didn't have any big enough for Jake, but I made a pair for me, and for dear Rachel to wear to Physical Therapy...

I am not sure where it happened, but the 'L' in "Rachel" fell off somewhere between dinner and the Red Sox winning. I still get Great Hubby points, right? OK, what if I throw in the stuffed Kangaroo?

Got to go iron a shirt for tomorrow and get some sleep.

On the ground, safe and sound...

Long day of travel. Southwest has an interesting definition of "Non-stop flight." As long as you stay on the plane, it's "Non-stop." So we landed in Houston to let some folks off and other folks on during my "non-stop" flight to Ft. Lauderdale.

Then a cab ride to Boca Raton, which I think is Spanish for "Rat's mouth." $80 cab ride.

I checked in, turned on the TV and called Rachel, who said, "Poopopo, are you so excited they hit a grand slam?" So I tuned in with the Sox up 4-1. I changed clothes and headed down to the bar with my Red Sox hat on.

So the last time I was at a Nuance conference, I knew more people than I didn't know. And CommTech was an event sponsor. And Cuz was there with me. I hobnobbed with the CEO and talked about the Sharks.

Since then, I joined Adapt, and Speechworks bought Nuance, took their name, and have pretty much killed the Nuance product. A lot of the talented folks I knew from California are now working for Google and a few other companies. So even though this is a "Nuance" conference, it doesn't feel like it.

Anyway, Speechworks is based outside of Boston, and I thought, here's a great way to break the ice and meet some new people. But so far, they are a "cliquey" group. Also, I met three people who all joined the company within the last couple of months. I haven't seen anyone yet from Menlo Park. So I had one cocktail, watched a couple of innings, and then headed up to my room to order some dinner.

I flew all day and ate only a Southwest snack pack and some peanuts. So I ordered a Cobb Salad, Pizza, and a milkshake. Guess how much that cost here at the Boca Raton Resort and Club. Seriously, take a guess. Don't forget the 18% gratuity and $4.00 delivery charge. I'll post the actual amount in a future post. And just like The Price Is Right, closest without going over wins.

I also got my football picks in, but I ran through it in a hurry and I am not very confident. There's always upsets, and I only picked two.

Apparently Longshore got picked off and Cal managed to lose to UCLA today. Inconceivable and I'm going to pretend it didn't happen.

Fortunately, I can stay up for a couple of hours and let my dinner digest. And I have to iron some shirts. Nothing till Noon tomorrow. And Noon is a meeting for "authorized partners only" that I am going to have to BS my way in to since CommTech's partner status is in question, Adapt isn't a partner, and nobody from Interactive Intelligence is here. They are all in Arizona at their partner conference, along with a crew from Adapt.

From 2:00-5:00, there's a class on "Nuance 9, " which is more like Speechworks 9, and I need to learn that. And there's some welcome dinner tomorrow night from 7:00-9:00. I predict attendance will be light as the Sox will be on in game 7.

That's it for now. I will do my best to get some pictures up, but I can't seem to find my funky USB cable and my Adapt laptop doesn't have an SD card slot. If I can spot a Target or something nearby, I may go out and buy one.

Family Movie Night...

It was the best in a long time. Tonight it was Transformers.



You know, more than meets the eye and all. I remember sort of wanting Transformers, but not getting them. I think the reasoning was it was just a fad, and you can't have everything, and besides, I had Star Wars Action Figures. Plus, Bob Kishi had all of these crazy Japanese robots that I bet would be worth a ton of money on eBay today.

Anyway, good movie. But it made me feel old. Here's how - I usually go right from family movie night to the Internet Movie Database to read about whatever we just watched. I check the trivia, and see what else the actors have been in and such. Now here's the thing - there's the hot high school chick lead, who you know is older than high school age. Then there's the kid's Mom. And as a guy, of course, you sort of imagine yourself wooing the hot female lead. It's not just me, right? Anyway...

Hot high school chick:


Kid's Mom (in the middle there):


The Mom was born in 1961. The hot chick?

1986!!



Which is, of course, the year I graduated from high school. When I told this to my young wife Rachel, she said, "Creepy." I am closer in age to the Mom than to the hot chick in movies now. When did that happen? I mean, the gray I understand, the hair loss, I am coming to terms with. And I've always had a belly.

But this...this is tough.

Anyway, let's see - To date, we have driven over 1,650 miles directly related to Rachel's accident. This has taken Tyrannosaurus Reg over the 50,000 mile mark - through the VW warranty and on in to the extended warranty I purchased. So Eva, my baby is in your hands now. I mean Marla. This mileage log started on 9/6 when I left the house for the accident scene, then to Redbud, then home then WalMart for prescriptions, then Napa for urgent care and so on right through today, and as far as we can see in to the future right now.

OK, today's trip was back to Napa to see a surgeon. And while it is really a beautiful drive, and the leaves are changing, and we did see an amazing sight or two (like this whole orchard with piles of different colored leaves under each tree that looked sort of like God was cleaning his paint brushes), we are getting sick of it.

Today we met with Dr. Huffman, a orthopedic surgeon who was great. He checked out Rachel's X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans and then examined her. He recommended against surgery saying there's a less than 60% success rate. He suggested we get a TENS unit (the cool thing we got yesterday), see a neurologist (already scheduled), and possibly a urologist. He also said that he wants her to start doing Physical Therapy exercises to strengthen her back again. So that is something of a good sign. He also said it's possible that the pain meds might be responsible for her bladder problems. Hopefully our trusty EMSI-4250 Interferential Simtulator will help control the pain and we can back off the meds and see if that problem goes away. The bad thing is he said it is going to be a long, slow, painful process of recovery. He said her already distressed muscles, ligaments, and tendons were severely aggravated by the trauma of the accident. Well, Duh. Anyway, he wants to see her again in four weeks.

I just noticed I say "We" a lot when talking about the ramifications of Rachel's accident. A lot of times I mean she and I. And other times, she and I and Jake. And a lot of you who read this have helped in a lot of ways. So it's a big "We." But in the end, no matter what we all go through to help her, she, my dear wife, my special Rachel, is the one going through it. We're just helping her along. I haven't mentioned in a while how proud of her I am. She is doing everything she can to get better. And she has bad days, of course, but she maintains a positive attitude that is amazing to me. And I love her lots and tons. I don't think I would be able to keep it together the way she has having already gone through something like this once and knowing what stands between her and feeling well again. Baby I'm amazed.

I am flying to a conference tomorrow. I have spent the afternoon and evening either pretending I am not going anywhere, or trying to make myself feel better by saying to myself, "Hooray! I'm going to Florida!" I think I've mentioned my mild agoraphobia in some previous posts. This time it is nothing like Trinidad and Tobago. But it's still there. It got a lot better once I got everything worked out as far as family and friends taking care of Rachel and Jake while I'm gone. And it's a short trip. And it's for a speech recognition conference that is pretty critical for me to attend if I'm going to stay in this business. I have a lot to learn and accomplish. Wish me luck.

Now I have to go pack and get some sleep.

The next post will be from another time zone. And hopefully it will be something positive about the Red Sox.

Quick One...

OK, first, I am really bummed out. That ClusterMap on the right is all messed up. It started over from scratch on my anniversary date. So the blips from Virginia, Chicago, Hawaii, and more important to me, Trinidad and Tobago, are all gone. Hawaii will come back as soon as Ron checks in. But the rest, I fear, are lost forever. I used to really enjoy looking at that map and looking at the coast of Venezuela and going, "Oh yeah, I was there."

Also, I added a new link to Elise's Blog. If you dig Paris, check out the month of August.

Rachel's doing OK today. She had Physical Therapy yesterday, so I imagine she's going to be feeling that once her meds wear off. We are trying to get her doctor to agree to letting her start exercising. And we are also hoping to get a home interferential stimulator. It's the thing that brings her the most relief without meds. And she hates the meds. Although they do make funny movies, and even bad SNL sketches funnier.

Anyway, the thing has these patches with electric leads that stimulate your muscles.
And it looks like something one might plug one's guitar in to - right down to the 9V square battery. But it packs a punch and you can plug it in. Makes me a little nervous, but Eddy promised to show us how to use it. And it seems to help. We tried it out on one of our recent visits.

The Red Sox are prolonging my agony or my ecstasy depending on how it all shakes out. I do hope they make it back to Fenway at least.

Work is crazy busy - and I have a Conference next week. I've got family and neighbors lined up to stay with Rachel and get her to physical therapy while I'm gone. So between busy work, Rachel, and my mild agoraphobia aggravated by a pending trip to Boca Raton, I am pretty stressed out.

But I am getting a massage today at 3:30, and I am trying to work through the agoraphobia by allowing myself to experience it fully.

I know, sounds like a bunch of hippie crap.

Odd coinkydink...

Rachel's Physical Therapist, Eddy at Quail Run, drives the same make and model car...


...as the woman who hit her and hurt her and wrecked the last couple and next few months of our lives.


Different year, but same make and model.

Is that ironic? I'm going to have to ask Alanis Morissette the next time I see her.

Wait a minute - now that I think about it, the woman who hit Rachel looks sort of like...

Nevermind - if it was her, she would have better insurance.

Well, shoot...Aw Applesauce!

Cleveland 7, Boston 3

Down, but not out. I mean, we were down 3-0 against the Yankees in '04. Gotta go watch Fever Pitch again.

Incidentally - and I'm not just saying this because they are beating my beloved Red Sox - but how do they still get away with that logo? I mean, they banned the Tomahawk Chop, didn't they? But this persists? A red faced caricature of a race slaughtered by white men from...well, Boston.

And other places.

Recent Events...

Family related. Sorry for the string of "BUMMER" posts.

Paul and Lauren came up last weekend. We had simple sandwiches Friday night. And I made an Indian Feast on Saturday. Didn't take any pictures of the food, but it was yummy and enjoyed by all. Made something of an allou mutter (peas and potatoes) with curry, Curried Chicken, Vegetables in an Indian tomato based sauce (from Trader Joe's), Saffron Basmatti rice, all served on Trader Joe's Naan.

Friday night we took it easy.

Saturday, we started the day with hot tubs - it's hard to tell whose back is worse off, Rachel's or Paul's. I think Paul wins the pain competition because he is off pain meds for an upcoming epidural.

We then watched England vs. France in a Rugby World Cup semi-final match. The announcers were Irish and kept knocking England saying they didn't deserve to be there. That would be like Glenn knocking Cleveland or Boston saying the same thing. Nobody beat them, and they made it to the semi-final, so how exactly can you support the statement that they don't deserve it?

The match was riveting. Much more fun to watch than Cricket. We picked the rules up quick and really got in to it.

Here's Paul saying, "Come on Johnny! Come ON JOHNNY!!!"
It got tense late in the match with France up 9-8.
But in the end, England prevailed on a penalty and a beautiful drop kick.

And the residents and guests at The Hotel Yorba rejoiced.

The ladies crafted...


And I watched Cal and then The Red Sox...

You might have noticed that we have done a little redecorating downstairs. That 40 year old couch we got from Nana just doesn't cut it for comfort, as cool as it looks. With the bad backs and such, we have found that the most comfortable furniture for Rachel (and Paul) is either our patio furniture that reclines, or the Aeron chair we got from Laurie. It is function over form, at least until Rachel recovers.

Anyway, the Cal loss was a gut shot, and the Red Sox loss was a boot to the head. I fell asleep on the couch.
And then my wife and sister-in-law took great pleasure in tormenting me while I slept and snored.

I guess I am a fan without a ghost of a chance or something. I don't know what they were thinking. But I do know how loud they were giggling.

And despite two sofa beds and multiple air mattresses, our guests preferred this for sleeping arrangements...

The couch that is uncomfortable to sit on is actually quite nice to sleep on. And Lauren wanted to sleep next to Paul. So she took the cot. Probably for the best considering her "jimmy legs." But whatever, at The Hotel Yorba, our guests come first.

I know I was really down about the sports and such. But it was a very fun and relaxing weekend.

I want to wrap up with a shout out to my new English MySpace Friend...


http://www.myspace.com/temporarily_unconscious