Flattened

Working from home today - things are slow so I decided to update the blog this afternoon. I started up the street this morning with G, on the way to school, and the car didn't feel right...G says, "I think your tire is flat!" Silently, I agreed. Back into the driveway and yes indeed, the right front tire is pancaked. Luckily, L was also working from home, so I grabbed her car and off we went. Brought the car into the local tire store and found a fair sized screw was buried in the tread. The good news was the tire was still under warranty, and there was no major damage, so the tire was patched for no charge. Since my morning consisted of 2 conference calls, I decided I could just as well participate from home. I love making executive decisions!

Been busy doing some weekly maintenance, so the OT is picking up again. The job itself looks good through the end of May, then we'll need some time to break down the servers in the datacenter, package them and ship them back to our corporate masters. What looked like a 6-12 month contract will turn into a year and a half...if I can swing it to remain there until the Disney World trip in late July, I'll be a happy sysadmin.

Things go well otherwise - I was lucky enough to see the first Winwood/Clapton show at Madison Square garden two weeks ago. Great show...I downloaded the second show and it's been in my cat stereo ever since. Two old pros enjoying one another's abilities, and the combination was surprisingly greater than the great talents involved. Too bad the shows were one-offs...I'd love to see them again. As it is, I'll have to settle for Tom Petty/Winwood in June, and I'll check tomorrow to see how expensive Clapton/Robert Randolph tickets will be for the Tweeter Center.

My mom continues to improve - she does outpatient therapy for her wrist and elbow. Still no idea when she'll return to work...her wrist is still quite sore and lacks range of motion. My dad's Alzheimer's progresses...I try to call and talk to him twice a week, but he laks the ability to initiate conversations, so I have to take the lead and ask questions, etc.

More to come, and it won't take six weeks this time.

Medical updates

The good, nay, great news is my mom getting released from the rehabilitation center this past Tuesday. She's home and very happy. At first we thought she would need surgery on her wrist to put a plate in, but another specialist decided against it.

I wound up driving home Monday morning...the snow forecast for Sunday night never materialized, but it poured rain, and the weather radar showed sleet/snow in CT, and I decided to sacrifice the day's pay and drive home in the morning. The heavy snow line fell between New Haven and Hartford on Rte. 91, and I made it back without any problems.

On the downside, I came down with a pretty bad chest cold on Friday. It's been a quiet weekend - I'm drained. I do have to work tomorrow, but will probably split the day between the datacenter and home.

The quiet before the storm

I'm writing from my parents' home this morning. Came down yesterday to visit my mom in the rehabilitation center and to stay with my dad while my brother works. All is quiet for now, but things will get busy once everyone is up.

I'm happy to report my mother is doing much better. She can walk around unassisted and has a lot more range of motion in the arm that has the broken wrist. She's going in for more X-rays Tuesday, so we're hoping we'll have an idea on when she's coming home. Took my dad to visit her yesterday, then came home and had some pizza and watched the football games.

My brother should get out of work @ 10:30 or so, then it will a decision on whether I can out run the snowstorm back up to Boston. We shall see.

Happy New Year

My first post of 2008....here's hoping this year is one of prosperity and happiness for us all.

Spent the weekend down in Jersey visiting the family. My mom is doing better at the rehab facility...she looks much better and the swelling in her fingers is just about gone. Her arms are still in splints, so she can only move them at shoulder level. She's scheduled for another round of X-rays in 2 weeks, then we'll have a better idea on how she's healing.

Spent a lot of time with my dad...he was in good spirits, but he has problems when he's away from the house for very long, particularly in the evening. He's in good health, but it's heartbreaking to watch him fail mentally.

We all had a great dinner at a Portuguese restaurant Sunday night...Tero's on Ridge Rd in Lyndhurst. Met up with some friends there, along with L and G, and drank sangria and ate a lot of food.

Drove back yesterday and planning on watching some football and relaxing.

Easy To Slip

It's so easy to slip
It's so easy to fall
And let your memory drift
And do nothin' at all
All the love that you missed
All the people that you can't recall
Do they really exist at all

- Lowell George


It's early on Boxing Day...trying to sort out everything that has been going on during the past week. As I mentioned yesterday, my mom fell at work last week and fractured her left wrist and right arm. She's in a rehab facility that just opened up....told it's beautiful, but there's only five patients in there so far. She's facing six weeks of physical rehab, then will probably miss more time on disability. Spoke to her very briefly yesterday - my brother had her cellphone as she can't hold anything, and started crying while we talked. Broke my heart - it's difficult to be hospitalized during the holidays. We'll be down over the weekend to visit her.

The family is scrambling to make sure my dad is taken care of - at this stage of his Alzheimer's, he can't be left alone. So my sisters, brother, nieces and nephews take turns staying with him. I took him back home last Saturday after visiting my mom and stayed with him for awhile. It was getting late in the day, and he usually gets more disoriented in the late afternoon/early evening (believe this phenomenon is called "sundowning")...he started asking me where I lived and where I was born. I didn't know how I'd react when he didn't recognize/remember me, but I knew the day would come, so I just reminded him I was his son. He's coping so far, but I know he misses my mom terribly.

Christmas was pretty low-key. We had dinner Monday night and exchanged gifts afterwards. G. got Guitar Hero 3 and was rocking that Monday night and yesterday. We hit 7:30 Mass yesterday and went to Sake on Rte. 1 for a traditional Japanese dinner. :-)

Also got called at 10:30pm Christmas Eve on a mail relay server that was non-responsive. I wound up driving up to the datacenter and getting it back online - it's OT and makes up for the time I missed for the half-day I took on Christmas Eve.

Need to finish up some shopping and get ready for the trip to see my family this weekend...then things will settle down.

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas. I hope Santa brought you everything on your list.

Please take a second to keep my parents in your prayers/positive thoughts/good mojo. My mom fell at work last Tuesday and fractured her left wrist and right elbow. She's in a rehabilitation facility and can't use her arms due to swelling and soft casts being on them. My dad is trying to deal with the fact that she'll be away for six weeks while she heals up.

Thanks and God's blessings on us all.

A quiet but productive weekend

Get most of my daughter's Christmas shopping done? Check.

Install some needed weatherstripping on the drafty backdoor to the house? Check.

Cook a very tasty red beans and rice dinner for the family today? Check.

Get sufficient rest to get over this cold I've had for a week? Check.

Find time to hit the holiday wine tasting at Ourglass with L, and have some Layer Cake Shiraz last night? Check.


It's all good. :-)