The Difficulty of Saying "Goodbye" To A Good Friend

“My old black cat, passed away this morning;
She never knew what a hard day was;
Woke up late and danced on tin roofs.
If questioned “why?—answered, “Just because.”
--Ian Anderson, “My Old Black Cat” from the album Rupi’s Dance, 2004.


We are quite saddened today at the passing of our thirteen year-old black cat, Pepto. She was diagnosed with Kidney Failure and after a few days of fluids and IVs, our proud friend did not respond well at all. We simply could not stand to see her suffer.

I remember when she came home with us thirteen years ago; she was certainly Pam’s cat. She nuzzled her and kneaded her neck and purred. She was always spry and always attentive.

She was a rare animal that had a sense of our feelings. When we were upset, she would comfort us. 18 months ago when I had surgery, she made sure to sit in arm’s length of me, for a friendly pet on the brow or because she wanted my touch. I do not think it is ironic that she grew more ill after I returned home from surgery three weeks ago; there is a part of me that believes she sensed my illness and wanted to make sure I was OK.

This cat was so introspective of Pam’s moods and everything about her. She often sat lovingly in Pam’s arms and always had a chirp to announce herself. She would come running to the door to greet Pam and recognized the sound of her car or her keys at the door. When Pam was gone on a trip for ten days two years ago, I remember Pepto wandering around the house, making an almost whining sound, until Pam came home.

She truly loved us.

She did not care much for her “sister” cat, but she accepted her. They would often sit together and share body warmth and groom each other. She could be a "bully" to the other cat, but that was just Pepto’s way. Pepto let visitors and the rest of us know that she was number one.

Her illness was sudden and I suppose, if you are going to lose a pet, you would prefer to lose one suddenly. We tried all we could and the vet today commented that she was starting to go into renal failure. If she had not been euthanized, I honestly think she would not have made it another day or two. She was in pain, she was sick to her stomach, she was losing control of her bladder, and she was miserable. We love her enough to know when to say goodbye. Today we said, “Goodbye.”

As we sat and waited in a waiting room, Pepto HAD to explore it, sniffing and watching. She came and sat on my lap, as was her “thing” with me and then she would explore some more. She hugged with Pam a bit, nuzzled and licked me "goodbye" and then was given sedation.

We were and will be heartbroken for quite a while, but we knew it was the right thing to do.

There is a lesson for me, with two open heart surgeries on my record in the last 18 months. No day is guaranteed and we should live each day to the fullest—like Pepto did. I have also learned that we all matter. Pepto could be more than a bit stand-offish to most folks, but she was a loved and trusted family member to us. She truly mattered. "Goodbye, my good friend."

Have One For Me

“If I get drunk, well, I’ll pass out
On the floor, now Baby…
And you won’t bother me no more.
And if you’re drinking, well you know
That You’re my friend and I say
I think I’ll have myself a beer.”

--Reel Big Fish from “Beer” from the LP Turn The Radio Off, 1993.

Two weeks removed from Heart Surgery and this weekend was the International Beer Festival in Peoria. I missed it, obviously and a beer does not even sound good right now. Still, I love the beverage and I do not mean that cheap Swill that is American, Rice-enhanced, commercially large and annoying, and stuff that people stole when they were in high school. College kids, I understand as I was a connoisseur of Stroh’s (thirty packs for $6.99 twenty years ago; so the excuses abound.

Here, in honor of a International Beer Festival I could not attend (and thanks to the blood thinner) may never attend again, are some beer styles and some handy-dandy suggestions for your quaffing desires.

Batfan63’s Best Beers Guide:

Ales: An ale is a beer made with top fermenting yeast and there are many choices. For an overall ale: Harps. Adnam's Broadside Ale and Fuller's London Pride, as Well as Spitfire were all excellent on tap in the London Pubs!

Types of Ale: Brown: From South England—dark brown, slightly sweeter, lower in alcohol: Try a Bell’s Best Brown or Newcastle on tap—Bells is OK in bottles—New Castles stink in bottles.

India Pale Ale (also known as an IPA): Hoppy beers made that way for the long voyages from England to India so it would stay fermented and fresh. I am a fan of the Two-Brothers Heavy Hops, but Hop Devil is considered the best American.
One. Any British IPA is somewhat less hoppy than the American.

Scotch Ale: Malt Accented ales. I think McEwans is generally considered the best, but I am a fan of (and believe this or not) Sam Adam’s Scotch Ale. I think it is much maltier. I like them.

Bitters: A Well-hopped Ale from England. Best of the lot: Samuel Smith ESB or Fuller’s ESB. Both are great and not as hoppy as an IPA. Great on tap when we were in London.

Bock: German term for a strong beer—bottle fermenting brew. So many choices, but I like Mai Bock.

Cream Ale: Very golden Mild Ale that can be blended with a lager. Boddington’s from England is the best.

Framboise: A lambic(pronounced Lamb-beak) that is raspberry. Lambics are Belgium beers that are wheat beers and taste light, but have a strong kick.

Lager: any Beer made by bottom fermenting. So many beers; take your pick. Start with a basic Sam Adams.

Marzen: Beer brewed in March in Germany, kept cool in caves, and then drawn up in fall. Most Octoberfest beers are considered Marzen’s. My favorite was Schell’s.

Pilsner: Gold colored dry bottom fermenting beer. Pilsner Urquell is the best and for the record—common beers like Budweiser, Miller, and the like are pilsner’s. There is an excellent Pils from New Glaris and to be honest, Goose Island Pils from Chicago is good.

Porters are like Stouts—London style of roasted dark beers that were made cheaply for the common masses (like a porter). Taddycaster Porter is the best.

Steam Beer—a uniquely American made beer made famous by Anchor Steam in San Francisco—no reason to try any other.

Stout—extra dark top fermenting brew made with roasted malt—Sweet Stout is British and Dry Stout is more Irish. The best: well I am partial to Young’s Oatmeal Stout and I love a good Guinness from Ireland. Samuel Smith makes a great stout as does Murphy’s. In America, they have made Coffee Stouts which I hate and I cannot stand Chocolate Stouts.

Trappist: Monks making very strong ales. Chimay is great.

Tripel is a triple bock. My Uncle would give the best as I am not a fan—even too strong for me and causes some of my worst hangovers.

Weisse is a wheat beer. There are so many good ones; and I love a banana, clove taste. Einbecker, Pinkus, Ayinger—Buble Boy, Erdinger, Paulaner (one of the best), Schneider, Franziskanner by Spaten, Kulmbacher, Maisel Kristall-Klar, and Tucher. These are all German. The best American Wheats in my opinion is In-Heat Wheat from Flying Dog, Schell’s, Edel Weisse from Two-Brothers, and New Glaris’s Wheat.

Enjoy and quaff one for me.

On the Metal Edge...

“Head bangers in leather
Sparks fly in the dead of the night
It all comes together
When they shoot out the lights…
5000 watts of power
Its pushing overload
The beast is ready to devour
All the “Metal” they can hold,
Reachin’ overload—
Start to explode
It’s your one-way ticket to midnight
Call it—HEAVY METAL”

--“Heavy Metal" by Sammy Hagar from the Soundtrack To The Film Heavy Metal.


“Hard Rock” and “Heavy Metal” are pretty broad terms. Sometimes I like the guitar and thundering bass sounds with a pounding drum. Call it the Midwest influence from my youth. As displayed here, I have developed a list of some of my favorites as a guide of sorts, and there will be disagreements. For example, I put Cheap Trick on the list, but Cheap Trick is essentially a POWER POP band. I know that, but the songs on the list dip into a hard rock genre—regardless of the band performing them. And as far as “Metal” is concerned, I guess I consider my choices more radio-friendly, classic “Heavy Metal” from the 1970s and 1980s, as opposed to “screaming, churning, death metal.”

I have tried to avoid “classic rock” without a complete success, as I consider Queen more classic rock than anything; but again, the songs by the groups have a “hard rock/heavy metal” flair or sound to them. Thus they were chosen on my list.

In compiling this list, I must admit, PUNK is easier to find and rate—much easier. I was tempted to put Sweet, T. Rex, Iggy Pop and The Ramones here, but they more easily fall in the genre of Glam or Punk. I will do a glam list one day.

So when I convalesce and I want to have my brain cells remain active, I give you my list of some “Hard Rock and Heavy Metal-ish” songs that will fit on TWO CD’s. Enjoy.


In alphabetical order:

“For Those About To Rock” by AC/DC
“Draw The Line” by Aerosmith
“Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath” by Black Sabbath
“Astronomy” by Blue Oyster Cult
“Ain’t That A Shame” by Cheap Trick
“School’s Out” by Alice Cooper
“Child In Time” by Deep Purple
“Rocket” by Def Leppard
“Last In Line” by Ronnie James Dio
“Every Generation Has Its Own Disease” by Fury In The Slaughterhouse
“Paradise City” by Guns ‘N’ Roses
“Run For The Hills” by Iron Maiden
“Breaking The Law” by Judas Priest
“Detroit Rock City” by Kiss
“Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin
“Iris” by Live
“A Kiss Is A Terrible Thing To Waste” by Meatloaf
“Enter The Sandman” by Metallica
“Razzamanazz” by Nazareth
“Wango Tango” by Ted Nugent
“Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne
“Stone Cold Crazy” by Queen
“Limelight” by Rush
“Still Loving You” by The Scorpions
“Skweeze Me; Pleeze Me” by Slade
“Vasoline” by Stone Temple Pilots
“Kryptonite” by Three Doors Down
“Light’s Out” by UFO
“Everybody Wants Some” by Van Halen
“La Grange” by ZZ Top

List some of your favorites as well. I should include a Ratt or Motley Crue or Poison song, I suppose—but I really am not as fond as “PUREBRED HAIR BANDS” of the 1980s. Black Sabbath would kick the crap out of them, any day of the week.

Poise those fingers to look like a dog (This is Spinal Tap reference) and “shout it out loud.”

What to do???

“Yeah, Well I say what I mean;
I say what comes to mind,
I never get around to things
I live a straight-straight line.

You know me, I’m acting dumb;
You know the scene, very humdrum
Boredom, Boredom.”

--The Buzzcocks, “Boredom,” 1980

OK, I am officially BORED. I can walk over two blocks with little effort, I have watched football games on VHS and DVD. I have watched Batman cartoons and JLA, but I am NOT watching daytime television—it is wretched—even on DISH. I have ordered BROADBAND (about bloody time) for the Internet connection as I am looking for a kinder faster internet.

I have some muscle strain/pain/discomfort in my chest where they cut the bones and sinews (heh heh heh heh). To be expected. I take Darvoset which brings some comfort to the sore spot.

I am making my own food, Pam has gone back to work, and I am doing dishes and light cleaning. I am reading more as I can concentrate, and I am doing more at an accelerated rate compared to the last time. The red mark on my eye is fading and I lost over twelve pounds. My color, as everyone says, is good—I can never tell. I have no fevers, my voice is coming back slowly, and I am no longer hacking up green pieces of phlegm.

I meet with the Doctor on Thursday, and I assume I will be given clearance to drive. I may just drive around town for a couple of hours.

And now, the boredom has set in. I may be refined and in top shape when I go back to work in the fall, but I may run the thirty-five miles to work to check the muscles and to relieve the boredom.

I pick about six or so CDs to play during the day around the house. Yesterday was Cheap Trick’s first; Rockers ‘N’ Ballads by The Scorpions, ELO’s Best of; Staring At The Sea by the Cure; Just Push Play by Aerosmith; and Punk and Disorderly—A Punk Import Compilation CD.

Today, I feel a bit more Heavy Metalish—blame it on the Scorpions as I really enjoy the “Still Loving You” song. Maybe some AC/DC or some Judas Priest will blast out the stereo.

I am cognizant enough to start watching movies. Last night I watched Spellbound on IFC (Independent Film Channel); a documentary about these kids at the national spelling finals. It was a riot. If you have not seen it, do so. I think it either was up for or won an Academy Award.

Pam will watch American (My Brain Is Now) “Idle” tonight. Too bad I cannot have booze; also maybe I can pop an extra Darvoset.

And if it seems like I am whining; relax, I am not. I would rather be bored and recovering well than anything else in the world. The alternative is creepy and quiet.

And why am I writing any of this down—well, you see, I just “killed” twenty minutes.

Next post, my music instruction guides continue as I give you my best of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Music. What I consider Metal and what the experts and kids today consider metal are different, so I throw in the caveat of “hard rock.”

Until then, be nice and don’t be bored.

God Save The Queen

“When I hear that rock and roll
It gets down to my soul
When it's real rock and roll
Oh rock and roll

We're gonna rock it.......tonight

(We want some prime jive)
(We want some prime jive)...
We're gonna rock it tonight
(We want some prime jive)...
C'mon honey
(We want some prime jive)
We're rocking tonight
C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon
We're rocking tonight
C'mon honey we're rocking tonight”
--Roger Taylor of Queen “Prime Jive” from the album The Game, 1980.

Pam watched American Idol last week and even while on drugs, I wanted to cry. I was cognizant enough to watch these STUPID kids brutalize Queen songs.

Look, Fox, you want these losers to mess around with boy band hogwash and little ditties, fine and dandy. I honestly could not care less who covers Brittany Spears or Whitney Houston songs—go for it.

But leave the Rock Icons alone.

I cannot believe Brian May and Roger Taylor agreed to “comment” on the performers—sales on the tour must be sluggish. At least John Deacon has class enough to stay away. Wait…what is that noise I hear…wait…oh its Freddy Mercury rolling over in his grave.

You will notice if you watched this show (and for those who did not GOOD FOR YOU!) that Simon says nothing positive. Why? Because when in London, we noticed that the Brits have a certain fondness for Queen. No one before or since has been like them; whether you hate them or not.

Some of the American “Idols” claimed to never hear Queen songs. Idiots. Then, they nailed a kid for doing Innuendo (A #1 hit in the UK) because it was obscure. Oh please, just because the American market is moronic, don’t nail the kid for picking a song in his range, as opposed to this loser jumping around like a drunken uncle at a bad funeral in his “revved-up” version of Crazy Little Thing Called Love. My God—this was torture.

If they do Beatle songs, I will personally find a way to stop the signal from Fox and prevent it. Boycott American Idol—anyone who thinks Paula Abdul is a fit judge of anything other than scotch and rye and laying on her back is kidding. Randy the once fat guy, had tummy tuck, got fat again loser has no right to comment—he cannot even talk; I swear I have no idea what this man says “Yo Dog I was not digging it, you know.” No, I do not know. If a person says, “that sucks” on this dumbass show, everyone one of those kids would be correct in assuming the comment was in reference to him or her. And that cocky Simon Limey Loser has no sense of a decent song, even if it reached up and bit him on the ass.

This show has shades of Pat Boone doing Be Bop A Lula or Tutti Fruiti.

So why did I watch it—it comes with the ring, folks, and the inability to go upstairs right now.

The TRUE Chicago Bears of 1985!

“Memories may be beautiful and yet
What’s too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget”

"The Way We Were" recorded by Barbera Streisand.

Among the greatest purchases I have ever made was from eBay when I bought THE COMPLETE 1985 SEASON OF THE CHICAGO BEARS on DVD. Every play—every single play on 29 DVDs! It is a treasure-trove of fun. It includes all 1985 REGULAR SEASON Games; PLAYOFF GAME vs. The New York Giants; DIVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP vs. The Los Angeles Rams, and SUPER BOWL XX vs. The New England Patriots. There is only one game I will not watch—some Monday night affair against the Miami Dolphins.

Having relived them in the nervous nights before and the sub-conscious nights after heart surgery, I have watched them all, with the exception of the Super Bowl, which I have previously seen twelve times, but I will watch again. Having noted that—there are some criticisms.

I am surprised we did not think of this in college when watching the Bears games (which is where I was in 1985) but if you want some drunken fun, you have to drink an ounce of beer everytime Johnny Morris makes a mistake or something irrelevant. If doing this, you will be BOMBED by the third quarter. He was simply a lousy broadcaster. Now Bear fans, relax, I know; I never would have said that before viewing these games, but there is a very valid reason why he was taken off the CBS schedule.

Johnny makes comments like “Here comes the Refrigerator Man” in reference to Perry. He says “That was Wilbur Marshall on the tackle—he has been everywhere…as you see in the replay, Marshall…oh…wait…that was Singletary, sorry…it was Singletary, but that’s not to take away that Marshall has had some good moments this game,” followed by repeating the same sentence and correction shortly later. He “objectively” refers to the Bears as “We” and “Us” for example “We scored pretty quickly there…” or “they tried to get by us…” Imagine a Packer fan watching when Morris says "we" or "us" in reference to the Bears. Johnny also interrupts Tim Ryan (who does a more than decent job) when Ryan talks to add an irrelevant point: (Ryan) The Packers have them lined up in a two back” (Johnny shouts as he interrupts) “That’s the 46 Defense!” followed by Ryan “uh…as I was saying a two back set for the Packers.” I am a homer, but come on.

He also starts each sentence with a drawn out “Allright….” or “Okay…” (which kind of has an “h” sound employed at the beginning or something similar like they just woke him up. He also runs about six sentences together often, makes points that are wrong as the replay shows and continues to think his initial reaction is right (Ex: “Bears were drawn off sides, as we look at replay—well….that angle does not show it, but "we" were drawn off by the guard moving” even though the replay clearly shows the guard has not moved at all), and calls many players “happy young man” (Example: Tampa Wide Out “is a happy young man as not only did he just catch a twelve yard pass, but he and his wife just gave birth to a new baby, Gerrard. Baby Gerrard is a boy.”) I swear to you, in the second Buc game, this was said.

Yeesh—if one can sit through Morris, it is great, but he is truly a distraction. The Ryan/Morris team was replaced towards the end of the season because the Bears were hot and a top market draw and their last few games were also on NBC. The NBC crew took over two or three games and then Pat Summeral and John Madden took over the CBS games. Thank God. They were also on Monday or Thursday Night football three times that year. Dallas, Atlanta, and the Jets were Madden games (I think the last Lions game was a Ryan/Morris game) and the Colts and another were NBC.

HOkaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy (for all you Johnny Morris fans)…

What I have learned as I watched these games is the best player on that team really was Richard Dent. He did just about everything that season. He was strong and formidable in his position and had 17 sacks. Unbelievable. Otis Wilson (who signed my Bear History Book) was equally incredible and often unheralded as a great linebacker. That man was half of the reason the “46” worked because he had the speed and strength to not only blitz well, but to cover when showing a blitz. Watch the games, Wilson was more than a factor. Offensively, and this may be taken wrong, but Walter was slowing a bit and finally had a great line to play behind as Jay Hilgenberg was a genius and Jimbo Covert was probably the best offensive lineman on the roster. I have watched these games and have only seen one penalty against Covert—singularly—one. Hilgenberg—three but I do not count some of the roughing stuff. Walter was a force, do not misunderstand, he was a fantastic player during this season, and it was during this time his actions as a runner, a blocker, a passing outlet, a passer, and a decoy enabled them to win more games than almost any other team. What I also learned was McMahon was "average" at best as he threw a lot of wretched balls that McKinnon had to come back to; Kenny Margerum was a bust from an injury the season before, and Willie "STONE HANDS" Gault (as my college roomate Keith referred to him) was a threat only half of the time because he dropped McMahon's best passes. I also learned that LA Mike Richardson was not as bad as I once thought he was, and Gary Fencik was dominant as the leading hitter and second leading cheap shot artist--Marshall clearly earning that prize. The defense was incredible, even by today's standards.

Best games of the season: Bears 44--Dallas 0; Bears 36--Atlanta 0; Both Vikings games; Second Lions game—the Marshall hit on Joe Ferguson was a thing of beauty; the Giants and Rams and Patriots post-season games. Worst games—Miami and the second Bucs game.

And this may surprise you, but The Bears played some weaker teams very closely: The Bucs, The Colts, even to a degree the Jets. And the San Francisco game was much closer than you may have remembered; much closer.

So, here are some 1985 Chicago Bears Trivia for you and let’s see how your memory serves you—Answers follow immediately. For those who play, let me know your score in the comments. Ready--here you go (by the way, I would have failed this had I not watched these games--those Stroh's thirty packs in college affected my memory):

1.) Who ran back the majority of punt returns?
2.) Name the starting Offensive line at the beginning of the season
3.) Name the starting Defensive line at the beginning of the season
4.) True or false, Perry was a special teams player?
5.) Name the wide receiver who had the most yards AFTER the catch.
6.) True or False Jim McMahon came off the bench and threw three touchdown passes in a row against the Vikings.
7.) Tight end Tim Wrightman and Offensive Guard Tom Thayer share what in common?
8.) True or False: Now Coach Jeff Fisher was a member of the Bears Coaching staff in 1985.
9.) What back-up player had a safety in each of the two games he played?
10.)Why did Dave Duerson and Wilbur Marshall and get an opportunity to play?

Answers: 1—Ken Taylor Rookie Defensive back, he was replaced by Keith Ortego by the end of the season.2—Covert, Bortz, Hilgenburg, Becker, Van Horne—Thayer replaced Becker after the third week when Becker was injured. 3—McMichael, Hampton, Hartenstein, and Dent—Perry replaced Hartenstein as the starter but not until the ninth game. 4—True he ran down the ball carriers on punts and kickoffs. 5—Dennis McKinnon—not Willie Gault. McKinnon was probably the true most valuable player in the offense. 6—False, he threw three touchdown passes, the first two were touchdown passes, but the third was after two series. 7—Both played more games than any other player that season as they were also players of the recently defunct USFL—in fact, Wrightman was the first player ever drafted in the USFL. 8—False, he was a defensive back, but never played a down as he was injured all season from a pre-season game and on sidelines, you can see him standing next to Buddy signaling in plays. 9—Henry Waeschter—he was Steve McMichael’s back-up on the defensive line—he got one in the second Lion’s game when McMichael was rested for knee problem and one in the Super Bowl when the game was well in hand--in fact that safety was the last two points scored by the Bears. 10—Duerson played for Todd Bell and Marshall played for Al Harris; Bell and Harris were Pro-Bowlers who sat out the year for contract issues--Harris came back as a Defensive lineman and not sure how many games Bell came back and played for--both lost the momentum that they once had; proven football is a team sport and not to screw with Ditka! I hope you had fun!

A New Lease On Life

“Countin’ out the days,
That don't help to ease the days away.
The price you pay;
Homesick again”
“Homesick Again” by Nazareth from the album Close Enough To Rock and Roll, 1975.

How has everyone been? What is new with you? Me, oh I have a slight tale to tell…

Well Surgery is over, and I survived it all—in fact I am doing very well as of today as I am home. The surgeons and cardiologists replaced the valve with a new valve that may be able to function without the dreaded Coumadin medicine that does not play well with other medications.

To stop the leak, they had to install an arterial graft in the aorta root and the aorta itself. Then, from my understanding as it was explained and please realize I was on drugs, the graft is attached to the wall of the heart making it impossible to leak. The surgery on Wednesday took nine hours to perform because they tried to fix it first and then attach a different valve with some leakage still apparently occurring. So it was a bit more taxing on the body and the like, and obviously took more time.

On Thursday I was given a new baseline echocardiogram which measures thickness and leaks and tons of other things in the heart and mine is now functioning perfectly normally. Not only that, the day before surgery, I had a Cardiac Cath that checked the arteries for blockage and according to the cardiologist (and I quote) “I hope mine (arteries and chambers) are as large as yours.” The echo on Thursday was called (and, again I quote) “perfect” and “beautiful” from two separate doctors.

So here’s to a new lease on life.

I’ll raise a glass if I am ever off of Coumadin forever—and with the new Onyx valve (not sure on the spelling on that one), that could day could be a very real possibility. The new valve was designed by an engineer who also designed the St. Jude valve and the ATS (my previous one) valve—so the success rate has improved and improved. I was also told that this would be the last surgery that they can see happening. I will take that for what it is worth and hope and pray they are correct.

I would like to thank the following folks for their aid, if they can handle it being broadcasted across the web—no need to give last names: My lovely wife Pamela who was, as always, a positive force and beautiful partner to travel this life with. You can all be jealous because I have the perfect woman for me. I would also like to thank my parents Dean and Lois for being here and showing their concern and support. They traveled at the last minute from Florida to be here. As Mom said, “We were there for the first one; we will be there for the next one.” I would also like to thank my sister Karen who also was there on Thursday and showed support by making me laugh as she cheered when they allowed me to walk outside the room. She also led comforting words and took a day off work to support the family. I would also like to thank my brother Mark and his wife Mary for making the trip, even though Mark had a throat infection and did not come into the room. Still they waved and cheered and took days to support when Mark HAD to be feeling uncomfortable. They also gave me some cool Batman gifts and delivered a wretched comic joke from the guys at Acme. I also greatly thank and appreciate the efforts of my brother-in-law Jeff who is an ER Doctor and came from Indiana to help Pam and I. Jeff often explained medical procedures and helped calm me. I highly recommend having a personal physician. Anyway, Jeff spent four days with us and helped settle me in and was there as they explained the diagnosis and procedures to Pamela. Jeff is a true brother and kindred spirit who I admire more and more each day. I think he also helped explain things to my family and even helped diagnose Mark’s throat problems and my father’s newly acquired gout. I also thank my good friend, fellow educator, and partner in crime Milt for being there to support Pamela and me when the diagnosis was given and to spread the news to my fellow faculty members and friends and the students of my district. Milt is invaluable and I wish I can help him in a similar fashion some day (not for the same reason folks—no one wants heart surgery) as he conveyed news and squelched rumors and the like. He also helped my student teacher and my sub by reminding the kids that I expect their cooperation while I am away.

Tons of folks, many who may be reading this, have sent cards and letters, emails and the like. I appreciate hearing from all and I thank you. I will catch up as time goes by, I promise, I am just still a bit “loopy” as of now and still adjusting to the effects. I also thank the district for allowing me the time off to have this corrected.

Milt, my parents, my sister, my wife, and all have said my color looks good and my attitude improved since the last one. Maybe the experts are correct “let the doctors do the job and you will have less to fight.” I have tried to be positive about this, although I admit some shortcomings in that area privately with a few folks as nerves did get to me to a more than slight degree.

I am taking rehab slowly for a while and I will be back to action as soon as I can be. I want to visit my graduating Seniors as I love this current class; and I want to be there for the retirement presentation to our retired teachers because I will truly miss each of the three. We are losing some excellent educators this year. I hope to see you all soon. And for the rest who stumbled across this for other reasons, I promise to write something more cognitive and clever next week. Check in then.