Dog Days of Summer
In Austin, Dogs Days are characterized by a month without rain, multiple consecutive days of three digit high temperatures and nighttime lows in the high 80's. Humidity is very low, grass is brown (is there any other color) and inside temperatures of cars approach those of a kiln. This year is different. August has been a good ten degrees cooler. We have had rain, lots of rain. Grass is actually green. Things have been much different this year. For Carolle and me, August has been full of good days, family visits coupled with a number of adjustments to our daily routines. We started the month with Deb and James' visit. This was James' first extended visit to Texas. Naturally we had to help him experience the "Big Daddy" ribs at County Line. We had a lot of fun and thoroughly enjoyed meeting James. As always, it was a special treat for me to visit with Deb. I certainly wish I could do that more often. Just a few weeks later, Dan and Jen drove down. They were able to stay 8 days. As usual it was great fun to see Jen and especially good to visit with Dan. This was Dan's third visit this year. To make the visit more special, we got to celebrate Dan's wrapping up his Mechanical Engineering degree. Convocation takes place on October 23. While this started out to be a brief summary of August, I have taken so long to finish, that it now encompasses the first two weeks of September. I suppose this is good since it brings more news. Natacha and her friend Karli also drove down from Thunder Bay. In fact they left just two days ago. A good visit, although I am afraid I was more of a "bump on a log" than usual. Nat brought along pictures of her new house in Thunder Bay. It is quite nice. Nat and Karli have made great choices decorating and setting up. Sadly they have done nothing to eradicate the snow in Thunder Bay. Dan accepted an offer of employment with a firm in Guelph. He starts in two days. He is happy with the job and more so to have found one so quickly. What can I say; he is almost as good looking as his Dad, so it follows they would want to hire him. Carolle has been incredibly busy with the Day Care. Then she gets home only to deal with a grumpy "Norman Thayer" (see "On Golden Pond"). She needs more support from me. Carolle manages to get some time away from the Day Care, especially when the kids visit. It seems though that whenever she does, multiple staff call in or just leave for myriad bizarre reasons. Then Carolle must scramble to get coverage for the day. It never ends. I talk about family, but we are blessed with a group of Texas friends, that go way out of their way to care and help us. Tim and Jeanine are constantly helping out, expressing warm and appreciated sentiments along with "gifts". Tim must have used up the company budget in free meals for us. Plus, he frequently drops off fresh Tres Leches cake (my favorite). He has a knack for hitting just the perfect time. Jeanine makes the world's best Vichyssoise and has given us gallons of it - literally. None is wasted. Jesse and Shannon are a godsend for Carolle at the Day Care. They are good friends. Jesse is waiting to assist Carolle's sister Michelle with her next pool lesson. (Welcome to Texas Michelle) Erasmos and Marylou have done so much for us that we would be hard pressed to thank them adequately. Denis and Jane are always there for us. There are so many more I should mention. Please excuse my omissions here. Then, of course, there are all our friends that have chosen to live in the Ice Age. That would be any place north of the Texas Oklahoma border. We hear from many of you, including some real "groaners"via email from Al. Ruth and Sonny keep in regular touch, then pass on information to most everyone else in Markham and surrounding area. We very much appreciate that. It is always a treat for me to chat with Ruth. I look forward to every opportunity that arises. I must admit, that Ruth tries so hard, but I make difficult for us to connect. Thanks to all of you for your kind thoughts. For me, well Carolle and I met with the nutritionist several weeks ago. He assembled a regimen of dietary supplements collected from a variety of interesting plants, strange animal parts and several unique extraterrestrial beings. It was very supportive to learn from him that some of these supplements have been tested only on horses, so far. According to him, the horse population has declined. I believe we have made good progress though with rebuilding my digestive tract. Aside from a strong desire for hay, I find I am able to deal with regular foods again. As for the rest, I do not notice any effect. Perhaps it is too early to assess. A few weeks ago now, I began to feel quite poorly. I am back to no appetite, no matter how long since I ate. I fill up quickly when I do eat. Drenching sweats, perpetually cold, easily fatigued and extremely tired have become commonplace again. The bleeding has resumed. I am losing muscle mass and fat, but have gained some fifteen pounds. Why the weight gain? I look like I am eight month pregnant. My abdominal cavity is so full of fluid, that I am now bloated and distended to a very uncomfortable degree. So, I meet with a new Gastroenterologist this week. He will determine how, if, etc to drain the fluid. We will also discuss the whole bleeding issue. Hmmmm, it is almost like starting this cycle al over again. Despite the above, I do have many pretty damn good days. Yesterday, I was more productive that in recent weeks. I felt good and had a huge craving for a very rare steak. So Carolle and I trundled off to the local Texas Land and Cattle. A salad and filet was simply the best RX. Most evenings I am in bed asleep by 6:30 to 7:00. Usually I'll sleep through until the next day. Weekends typically find me sleeping twenty out of twenty-four hours. This does not do much for spending time with Carolle. Work is going well. We are rolling out two new networks. They will be integrated into the main Austin network. So, we have several routers and a firewall (all CISCO, pardon the ad) to program and re-configure. This will keep us busy. I hired a new IT Specialist for our department. Already he looks to be a real asset and a good hire. Due to some internal changes, I have taken over the company insurance, Workers Comp, General Liability, EPA, Vehicle and Fleet, D&O, everything excluding Health Insurance. It is a bit hectic, but a lot of fun learning all the little anomalies. All the folks at work continue to be incredibly supportive and helpful. These people are nothing less than the very best group of human beings with which one could ever hope to be associated. Individually the are amazing, collectively the are a burning light of support and concern. I am very fortunate to know and work with them. Well, enough rambling for now. After meeting with the GI guy, I'll post more on that part of the story.

 

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