Here we are...

Ballard Swedish. Wife has been here since 10:30 am, yesterday. It turns out that the baby has an infection in the lining and has gone into labor. If the infection spreads to the mother, it would be a very serious thing, possibly resulting in the mother's death. The only way to prevent that is to induce labor. Unfortunately, the baby is only 20 weeks along and doesn't have the proper lung development that could sustain life.

A great deal of consultation was performed between our doctor and a perinatal (sp?) specialist. Though our condition is rare, the consensus is that there is nothing that can be done to save both the baby and the mother.

We stayed overnight, though I went home last night about 11:30 to get some things for today and to get some things to make the dogs comfortable in the car, where they were to stay overnight. I left early this morning for home to get the dogs fed. The wife called and suggested I take them to day care, which I did. I then returned to the hospital.

I expected today's events would transpire quicklyl, but it's just now noon, and they've just give the wife another IV in her other hand, into which they gave her a relaxant and pain medication. So far, there haven't been strong contractions, but I suspect that in the not-too-distant future they will give her something to start them.

They've asked us if we want to see the baby after he's born, if we want to bury him or have him cremated, do we want to see him after he's died. How do you answer any of those questions?

We've had a chaplain come to our room twice now; once yesterday, once this morning. Instead of being supportive, it seems more intrusive and I resent her presence. She says all the cliched things I expect someone of faith to say and it seems insincere to me (whether or not it is, I can't know).

We're in a birthing room where, normally, the occasion would be one of joy, but there's nothing of the sort in this room today. The nurses continue to provide her with water in a bottle that proudly proclaims "Born in Ballard". Maybe, for some, but not for us.

I don't have any timeline for what the rest of the day will look like, but I'm not looking forward to what I expect we'll be experiencing.

Veterans Day 2008

Another Veterans Day has come and gone. More than the religious holidays, the holidays that commemorate our country's history seem more significant to me. We have a lot to be thankful for (ironically, we'll have a day later this month to do just that), and much of that is due to the sacrifices made by millions of U.S. veterans (both living and dead).

I'm not much of a flag-waver, but I appreciate that many young men have died over the course of this country's history. It's sad to think of the futures they never got to live or, in the case of the severely wounded, the futures that didn't turn out like they might have wished or hoped for.

You also have to give a nod to the parents of the boys who went to war and never returned. I can only imagine what their pain must have been like, and hope to never experience that pain for myself.

Kick-Ass Gift!

Picked up the wife from the airport this morning. On the way home we stopped off for breakfast at a place we used to frequent, but haven't been to in years. I was reminded why we don't go out of our way to eat there.

After getting home and lugging the suitcases upstairs (that must be why it's called luggage), the wife was pretty wiped out and went to bed.

She just woke up a few minutes ago. After getting out of bed, she opened up one of her suitcases, and pulled out a smallish, cardboard box and handed it to me.

I had no idea what she might have found that I would like, but I was intrigued. Upon opening it, I found a beautiful Starbucks coffee mug, which is part of the Collector Series line (i.e., go to Italy: get a Rome mug).

We have several of these from other locations, a couple from Hawaii, one from London, and they all have a very similar appearance: white mug with a green design and bold, black lettering. The new mug is an altogether different beast: it's a light cream color, and on one side is a sepia Chinese dragon design, with deep red accents; the other side shows a mountain scene in the same red color with sepia clouds spanning the peaks. The mug's interior is the same deep red color. Not surprisingly, the mug is made in, of all places, China.

This mug is too beautiful to use.

Liar! Cheat! Psst... Hey, can you show me how to do that?

There's a 22-year-old kid out of Illinois who's shot 5 hole-in-ones in the last week. As if that's not strange enough, not one of those has come on a par 3. How does one sink a hole-in-one on a par 4, let alone on a par 5? Either those are the shortest 4s and 5s in the country, or this guy hits like a gorilla.

Regardless, what are the chances that your ball is so well hit that it's on-line for the pin AND has just enough speed/momentum to drop into the cup? Mighty slim, indeed.

The White Man Will Want His Civil Rights...

A recent MSNBC article mentions that in Obama's first press conference, he made a passing reference to his race and described himself as a "mutt". Some say that his off-hand reference to his racial background could indicate that he may take on some of the bigger racial issues that confront America today. There has never been a president more qualified to discuss race than this one. That's a good thing.

Another item mentioned is the reality that, in the not-too-distant future (estimated 2042), the White man will be a minority in this country. For as long as Whites oppressed the blacks (and all other racial minorities), the tide will soon turn. I wonder, then, how much Whites will be bitching about their rights as a minority, and how badly they will wanted to be treated with the dignity and respect they feel they are entitled. My, how the worm has turned...

It stands to reason that with the changes in the racial make up of this country, in that not-too-distant future, many of our politicians will look more like a Barack, a Juan, or Ichiro, than they will that pasty-faced loser, GWB. Good.

While I will be a geezer in 2042 (assuming I live that long), it will be interesting to see if the white minority feels oppressed and, in their righteous indignation, demand to be treated like equal citizens under the law.

We shall see.