Life and other stuff

Not what she had planned

2011-03-04T08:12:00.005-05:00

Life throws a curve at you every now and then, and one was thrown in my daughter's life yesterday. After complaining of abdominal pain the past two days, a trip to the doctor's office yesterday resulted in an appendectomy. Shown here prior to the surgery, she wasn't quite so cheerful afterwards.

Fortunately, she had no complications and it wasn't ruptured, but this throws a real monkey wrench into her plans. Due to the circumstances involved, laproscopy wasn't an option, so she gets to sport a nice incision and scar for the rest of her life.

In the next week she had to finish a routine for her skating show, get ready for the start of track practice, and prepare for a major test at school. Not to mention having a full work schedule for this weekend. Guess things don't always go as planned.

Prom time?

2011-01-23T15:12:00.003-05:00

Ahh, it's that time of year when young teenage girls beg their parents to spend far more than they should on a dress for the prom. Even though it's many months away, you can't plan too early on what to wear. Judging from the one my younger daughter has selected, styles have changed some...

Her date and current boyfriend is going to have to wear a white tux with a pink cumberbund. My thought was that he could pretty much wear any color tux and they'd match.

Goodbye Buddy

2010-10-02T11:30:00.003-04:00

This morning I had to say goodbye to Buddy, who's been a part of our family for 10 years. He became suddenly ill 3 days ago and got rapidly worse. Some sort of auto-immune hemocratic disease, apparently common to spaniels, that causes the body to start rejecting the red blood cells. Severly weakened by jaundice, he stopped responding to the treatments and we made the difficult decision to end his suffering.

4 days ago he was his usual, hyperactive self, bouncing off the back deck and tussling with his brother. This morning, my daughter and I held him as he struggled just to stand. I held his head as he passed. I'm sorry, Buddy.

Change is good!

2010-08-08T09:32:00.002-04:00

So, for the first time in 24 years, I bought a new vehicle. I've always bought late model used since my '87 Nissan pickup blew the motor shortly after the warranty expired. After 5 years and 110k miles with my trusty Dodge Durango (originally purchased with 30k miles, so was up to 140k, a long life in my neck of the woods), it was time for something new. Since I sold my moderately heavy boat recently, I was free to get something that didn't require being able to tow 5,000 lbs. This lead me to go a little "hog wild", so to speak :-)>.

I've always liked Jeeps, their rugged looks and durability, but hated the bumpy nature of the short-wheel base on the highway (which, unfortunately, is where the majority of my driving is done). Enter the 4 door version introduced in 2007. This longer wheel base is much smoother, but still retains the off-road capabilties. Of course I went with the rag top and 6-speed stick, as the former was appealing, and the latter just makes sense to anyone that goes off-road.

As to buying new, well the price point was what made the difference. In pricing out used models with 30-40k miles on them, the savings was less than $1,000. That's not much, so I made the decision to just buy new for once. Now I can't wait to go south again.

RIP Pudgie

2010-05-22T19:53:00.005-04:00

Today we lost our oldest pet, Pudgie, at the age of 14. He led an uncomplicated life, even for a cat: never outdoors, never sick, and the dominate male pet in the house (even the dogs gave way to him). Part Mainecoon, part barn cat, he's been with us since he was 8 weeks old (even then he was chunky, hence the name). Pudgie loved being the center of attention, seeked out those willing to scratch him and tolerating virtually any indignity imposed on him by little children.

Pudgie recently lost a third of his body weight, became anemic and dehydrated. The vet ruled out the normal "geriatric cat issues" such as parasites, kidney disease, and diabetes, but was unable to figure out what exactly was going on. This morning he was listless and wheezing, and apparently had a seizure before collapsing and passing on quickly. My daughter, Kelly, witnessed his final moments, something I'm sure will stick with her for many years.

About time...

2009-10-06T22:30:00.002-04:00

Ok, so I'm a crappy blogger that doesn't update too often. So what's been going on lately?

My most recent "adventure" was my participation with the celebration surrounding the Battle of Plattsburgh that occurred in September, 1814. As a bit of background for the uninitiated, this was the last time a foreign power launched an incursion on American soil. The War of 1812 in the history books centers mainly around the incidents at Baltimore, Washington, and New Orleans, but the records actually show that those were diversions. The british's true intent was to invade the US along through Lake Champlain in northern NY. Unfortunately for them, they ran into some stalwart locals on land, and were outwitted on the lake, and the entire invasion force (which greatly outnumber the US troops) was turned back. This annual event is a week long celebration of this relatively unknown victory. It's funny how time obscures history.

The good side of ice

2008-03-09T17:33:00.004-04:00

What week it's been. Last Sunday was spent skiing the heavy powder with my daughter Kelly (at right) at Jay Peak , where I wrecked more often than usual (once due to her) pushing hard to hammer through the heavy powder and glades. Just an awesome day. Then Thursday I skied the ice on Whiteface mountain in Lake Placid. Scary stuff it was due to an icy storm the day before, but when the sun came out in the afternoon, it softened up a lot and was almost like spring conditions.

This weekend was Kelly's ice skating show, for which I edited the program music. The image here is just prior to her group's "James Bond" number. This is her third year there, and she's progressed quite well from never having been on the ice before. A combination of natural athleticism and 5 years of gymnastics training allowed her to progress from "newbie" into the lower advanced levels in short order.

Volleyball star

2007-12-16T11:02:00.001-05:00

My older daughter, Tessa, hits a kill shot right between the opponents. As a junior on the varsity squad, she's becoming quite the all around player. This image made page 3 of the Sunday sports section of the local paper.

Something different

2007-11-07T22:05:00.000-05:00

My mother runs a rehab center for injured birds in North Carolina. She does this mainly on a shoestring budget and her own time. This morning I recieved this from her:

"Yesterday, I had the distinct privilege of releasing this gorgeous osprey in a very special place. The Sunny Pt Army Depot is more than 18,000 acres of mostly deserted land. They found this bird October 5th weighing 1.6 lbs and too weak to fly. He was 3 miles from the nearest water and they only eat fish. On Nov. 5th, he weighed 3.6 lbs and was catching fish in a kiddie pool. Now he has 22 acres of a shallow water and bass filled lake to hunt in and several local ospreys to join. That felt good!"

What an awesome image.....

Time to go fishing

2007-05-02T06:07:00.000-04:00

It's spring around here, and like many others I like to go fishing. I don't do it as often as I used to, but it's still something that I look forward to. Catching them isn't as important as it used to be, just being there still is - perhaps more.

So, I will be spending some time tracking down the ever-elusive brookie for the next week or so, and might have a few beers in the process (chances are pretty good that I'll probably have more of the latter than the former). I think what I'm really chasing is the peace and quiet, and time away from the hectic pace of daily life.

Irony and law enforcement.

2007-04-23T20:30:00.000-04:00

Don't you find it ironic that the very people that are sworn to uphold and enforce the laws are the ones that most frequently violate them?

I watch every morning on my way to work, which is located near a trooper barracks, as the investigators and off-duty officers go flying by me on their way in while my cruise is set to 69 (favorite number you know). I make note of their vehicle makes and models, because if they ever cause an accident due to their reckless endangerment, I want to be prepared to stand in front of the judge and establish a pattern of behavior.

I mean, why are they in such a rush? Is work that great? Funny that I will get a ticket if I push it over 70, but none of their fellow officers or supervisors will. Yet they are causing more risk than I ever would, as half the time you never see them coming until they're on your bumper.

Better late than never

2007-04-20T06:14:00.000-04:00

Soooo, here we go with my thoughts on life, the universe, and everything.