there's always a monster

wow! those killings in norway .... what an unbelieveably sad thing. most of them were young people who had their whole lives ahead of them.

and what a monster breivik is. from what little i've read, i've concluded he must be a spoiled, insecure, egocentric, deranged creep. he wanted to get people's attention and warn them about islam. i guess i haven't found the part where it explains how killing a bunch of norwegians helps his cause.

but did you see the most he can be sentenced for is 21 years?! appalling! and yes i read that they can extend it every five years by five years, but good grief. the whole thing just makes you shake your head and wonder 'what in the world'.

look out, look out, look.... *splat!* and items suddenly quadruplicate....

the picture at the beginning of this article is pretty amazing -- so much junk we have left in space to fly around our world! good grief -- will we NEVER learn??!!!

deadly quiet

if you were asked where the most toxic place in america was, what would you say? i would probably decide it was somewhere around niagra falls. or anyplace two or more republicans were meeting.

it appears the most toxic place is the state of my birth -- oklahoma! picher, oklahoma to be exact, way up in the northeastrn corner. and the toxicity is from mining lead and zinc, and the chat piles and dust that was left behind.

i went to google maps and was surprised to see white globs all around the town when i looked at the satellite version. and i was amazed to see that i could get right down on the streets with the little man. i mean ... picher. there are some bigger places that i can't use the little man on. wonders will never cease.

the article is an interesting mix of nostalgia, rebellion, and gumption. the bit about the BIA is disgusting, but that's par for the course. at any rate, i invite you to sit a spell and read.

a split-second difference

i think the death of the young luge athlete is sad. here you are, doing this sport that your dad and uncle have done and taught you about, that you have prepared for, and because of one miscalculation, or a poorly engineered run, or those low walls, while in sight of the finish line, your life is suddenly cut short.

i watched the video. i don't consider myself one of those people who has to slow down and look at a gruesome accident, but i am one of those people who needs to know what happened. and how it happened. and what caused it. so i watched the video. and would have watched it in slow motion but the capability wasn't there. it wasn't bloody. it was curious. he was too high, then was tossed to the other side, then swooped off the edge and his trajectory led him to connect with a steel support beam. something flew off to the right, and his faceplate bounced back onto and down the track. he hit that beam really hard. it looked like he probably connected from his neck to his tailbone, probably shattering those bones, and his internal organs, at that speed, probably ruptured. i don't know medical stuff. but it helps me, having a mental image of what happened.

don't ask me why; i've always needed to know.

youtube has apparently pulled their videos of it. i'm not sure i agree with that philosophy. the video isn't grisly, bloody, scary, dirty, or any negative. it's just real and it's sad. the video on nbc's olympics site is still there. and the new york times had a good presentation of what happened.

this isn't hollywood or tv or made-up. life is fragile...use it wisely.

he was there ....

and then he wasn't.

one of our officers was killed on his way to work last week. he was riding a big motorcycle, but i don't know any details. it's always a shock to lose someone you know, even if you don't know them very well.


Kerry Gallager was a really nice guy. i had only talked to him a couple of times (there are more than 300 people who work there), but he was pleasant and helpful and had a quick smile. he was only 45 and in great shape, so it seemed like Death should have been calling on someone else.

so sad.

coincidental events

My Older Son and daughter-in-law had an unusual experience earlier this week. she had emergency surgery for an ectopic pregnancy. they didn't even know she was pregnant until the morning of the surgery. she'd been having some bleeding, then started feeling a lot of pain. after seeing several doctors, they admitted her, and decided to do the surgery that afternoon.

she lost about 5 liters of blood (it had collected in her abdominal area), but they got the situation under control and she came home the next day. her mom went over to stay and help out.

the grandaughter's first birthday party is sunday (the birthday is really monday) and dau-in-law still wanted to have it, so we're heading down tomorrow. it will be fun and if dau-in-law needs to rest that won't be a problem.

the grandaughter is getting big and is into everything. she's a smart little puppy and i expect that won't change. they're going to need to be on their toes to keep up with her.

since they hadn't realized about the pregnancy, it wasn't traumatic to lose the baby. a friend told me that the same time dau-in-law was having her experience, my friend's son and girlfriend (who was 5 months along) lost their baby. s and r were very upset about it and since the baby was beyond 20 weeks old, a funeral service needed to be involved. they handled the whole thing in a very spiritual way which i loved hearing about. s is a very sensitive young man and i figure he will work through the experience just fine. i haven't met r, but i'm sure she's a lovely person -- a perfect complement to a wonderful young man. it just wasn't their time yet.

and the universe marches on.

gentle reassurance

imagine this: you're a parent. a responsible person with a responsible job and you're trying to be a good parent but there's no instruction manual. things aren't perfect and at some point you and your wife divorce with the twins (a boy and a girl) going to live with the ex-. you get re-married and things go well with your job, but the boy can't stay out of trouble. over the years the boy is in-and-out of juvie. the girl is killed in a bad car accident. you continue to do well at work and are well-liked. one day you show up at work and your son's picture is on the bulletin board as being wanted by the police for murder. there are witnesses to the confrontation, the fight, the stabbing.

this happened to a friend of mine last week. he hasn't been back to work for a week and the kid is on the lam. everyone feels for this guy but what do we say when he comes back to work? i don't want to pretend things aren't the way they are -- the elephant in the living room thing. i hate preaching, moralizing, platitudes, but i'm just not quite sure what to say.

another note

a post-funeral note from my oldest younger brother ...

The funeral was very nice, and well attended. We had lots of flowers, and your's were by far the most beautiful, and the biggest. Those people at Oak Creek are good. I read Kristopher's poem and it choked me up. The minister was impressed by how evocative so few words could be. So was I.

just a note

a post-funeral note from my youngest brother ...

Sorry I didn't update you on Friday, it went fine. The flowers you guys sent were beautiful and arrived on time, I will send you a picture of them but I got busy and forgot to get the pic from the camera to my laptop Friday evening. The funeral was attended by family, some people dad had known over the years, and people we work with. I believe the left-over coffee and lemonade was pitched, but we have frozen the remaining cookies for when you guys can make it to Lincoln. We look forward to seeing you when you can make it to town.

my Dad

The passing of an icon ...

February 9, 1924 ~ May 30, 2007

He loved and was loved.

my Dad

Dad was moved out of the hospital today. my brother B sent me a note this evening bringing me sadly up-to-date:

We moved Dad to Tabitha today. Yesterday his Dr. said he wouldn't move him unless he seemed pretty strong. This morning another Dr. said he seemed so strong they might move him by van. I went to see him this morning late and he seemed comatose. Someone from Tabitha later told me she insisted he be moved by ambulance. When he got to Tabitha they said he will not last the night. So, we all gathered to say goodby, as he breathed on, and I thought, he'll still be here tomorrow night. We are all the 5 blind men trying to describe the elephant. He goes through stages during the day. In the early part he opens his eyes and talks, seems coherent, but makes no sense. Later he just sleeps and breathes. He is not suffering, he is just leaving slowly, because he has great strength, and loves life.

my dad

i got this note from one of my brothers this evening:

Today I checked Dad into the emergency ward of St. Elizabeth with pneumonia. He developed a respiratory infection a couple days ago, I asked this morning if he had pneumonia and was told no. About an hour later they called to say his lungs seemed to be filling up, they had him on oxygen, and they wanted me to ok sending him to the hospital. I did, they did, and then I wondered if I should have. This is tricky business. His wishes were not to have his life prolonged beyond a certian level of quality, as you know. I believe we have discussed this sufficiently, and my feeling is that we see it the same way. Still some decisions have to be made, and after seeing him at the hospital I feel I did the right thing by saying yes. He still may not survive this, but they can do more for his comfort at the hospital than at the home. I'll keep you posted.

losing someone just sucks.

the latest on Bumpah

"The latest news on Dad is that he seems to have had a mild stroke. He has lost some control on the left side of his face, and leans to that side. Clearly he is in the terminal stage of his disease. This is such a strange way to lose someone. It is like he has been gone for some time, but some part is still here. Maybe I can understand how Hamlet felt when he was haunted by dreams of his fathers ghost. No, he was crazy, I'm not. Thank goodness I don't have that mother/uncle problem. They are taking good care of Dad at Ashland. They are very upbeat, cheerful people, and I can tell that he likes them."

how not to be

courtney love -- what can a person say ... it amazes me she is still around. talk about self-destructive ... this gal has MAJOR problems and i really feel for her daughter.

and come to think of it, britney seems to be heading in that same direction. i feel bad about britney -- i think she's a sweet kid who is hurting soooooo much that she may do herself in before she finds help.

i wonder why i don't feel any sympathy for courtney?

good grief!

i was happily listening to my favorite music station -- http://groovera.com/ -- when i noticed a new blurb on their home page. it seems the evil republicans have once again come up with an absurd plan to make more money, this time at the expense of music.

"... music royalty rates were recently determined by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) which, if enacted, would certainly silence most or all of my favorite online listening services. For most webcasters, this royalty rate represents more than 100% of their total revenues ... the CRB rate decision is retroactive to January 1, 2006 ..."

for the full story, go here. if you would like to sign a petition stating that you disagree with the rule, go here.

the money-grubbers in this country totally disgust me.

count your blessings

two high school kids raced their cars down the guide-meridian in bellingham at 8am today reaching speeds around 80-100 mph on the busy 45 mph street. a truck coming from the other direction didn't see their high rate of speed and started a turn into the costco shopping mall area before being smashed by one of the cars. the impact flipped the pickup into the air before it crashed down on its roof. the truck passenger was killed; the driver was hospitalized. the car which hit the truck caught on fire, severely burning the teen who was pulled from his burning vehicle by onlookers. he is in critical condition in seattle. the other teen fled the scene but later in the day turned himself in to police. (story and pictures.)

sooooo sad for everyone. all it takes is an instant of wrongness and everything goes to hell.

and he's off...

in just 2 hours MWYS will be off on his trans-continent trip. our drive down to seatac to take him to his departure plane on friday went smoothly. we said our quick good-byes, then tried to find our way to a small dress shop just south of the airport. haha, the roads didn't do what i thought they would, but we found the place without any trouble only to see that benson's dress shop was out of business. how sad. i bought my mother-of-the-groom dress there when MOS got married 2 years ago. i wonder if the owner died. she was an older lady who worked in the shop and did all the marking for the alterations, including getting on her knees to measure hems, and she had to be in her late 80's.

after that we whisked over to yea's wok for a quick bite. very unfortunately, MWYS didn't get a chance to eat at yea's on this trip. yea's wok is the BEST place to eat chinese food in seattle, or washington state, or the west coast for that matter. go there. enjoy yourself. coal creek village shopping center on the safeway (northwest) corner of the intersection in newcastle, 425.644.5546.