Strokes Suck

It was early Wednesday morning on September 4th when my father in-law George called at 6am. I was getting prepared to attend my grandmothers wake and funeral. I would be a paul bearer.

" Hi Joe. Its George. I have a problem. She fell out of bed and can't move or talk."
"What does her face look like?"
"She can't move her right side."
"George, she's having a stroke. Hang up call 911. Right now. Call 911."

I beat the second ambulance to their house, about 15 minutes from our own.  With that I found myself helping two of the EMT's carrying Irene out of the house on a burrito style back board.

My in-laws and wife immigrated from Hungary in 1980.  With only three suitcases of clothing and my 3-year old wife in their little car, they traveled to Austria and never returned.  Thee ended up in Maine and in 1996 bought a small two bay garage with one gasoline pump in a rural town, G&G Gas and Repair.  American Dream and all, right?

As time went by and the cost of fuel went up, the cost of health insurance went up faster (with reducing benefits and increasing deductibles), a decision had to be made. Continue paying $2,000.00 per month ($1,000 each) for the health insurance (more than 60% of their annual income) or drop it altogether and seek alternatives methods for health.  What would you have done?

At 59 and seemingly fairly healthy, no one knew.

The stroke had been very serious and her carotid artery is full occluded.  They would not attempt surgery to unblock it as the risk of another stroke were too great.

Now at the hospital Irene has since been stabilized and transferred to a rehabilitation clinic. Although they have been US citizens for 30 years a language barrier still exists.  Since she had no speech or movement on her whole right side rehab includes physical, occupational and speech therapies.  Progress is being made but this is going to be a long slow recovery.  We have no idea how much ability will return. We remain hopeful.

My wife has been doing most of the communication with the hospital and state health care agency (Maine Care).  She has also taken responsibility of managing the business finances. She spends about 10-20 hours per week on this.  We also hired a family lawyer to assist us with the Maine Care application.

I am now leaving my regular job at 3:30 pm and going to the garage for a couple-few of hours per night to pump gas so that George can work on the cars.

The response from the local citizens has been overwhelmingly positive and helpful.  From people bringing food, (George can rebuild a transmission, but can't cook rice) to monetary donations and they even organized a benefit supper (October 12th). Several of the more trusted folks are working the pumps for lunch hour or filling in for a weekend shifts so that George can visit Irene at the hospital down in Portland.

With all of that help we are sure that the medical bills and probable modifications to their house will out weigh anything incoming.

We have started an on-line donation campaign at Give Forward.

Damn. That was steep.

I got my self out for a bike ride today. It was so beautiful out, my F. Moser (Falcor) was asking me  for a good challenge. So, I decided that the crux of todays ride would be the climb out of Hallowell.  As I approached the area I decided that a smaller side road would be interesting and different.  I was right. 

I took a left on to Central Street and immediately started up the first lift at 8,9,10%  grade for a few hundred feet of road. It flattened out to 7-8% for the next few hundred road  feet.  The second lift 10-11...skip over 12 to 13%, again for a few hundred more feet. Another flat section (7%) then an increase to 9% with a final kick that was fucking crazy. it looked like a wall. 16-18, 20% percent grade for about 300 feet.  The total climb length is about 1 mile.

I pedaled slow and hard. I've never grunted during a climb before, but I did today.  Pushing down hard with every stroke while pulling on the handlebars with my arms. I REFUSED TO WALK.

The following 20 miles was comparatively easy.  I am looking forward to bringing some unwitting soul up this hill someday soon.

*note* i wrote this back in June 2010 and forgot about it. So im posting what i had written at that time.

Makin' Music

On Friday morning I disappeared deep into the winter Maine woods.  The black cast iron woodstove was cranking out warm dry heat when I arrived at 10.  The band members had been there a day earlier, setting up the makeshift studio. A studio we would not leave from for three days.  

 The computer program and motu were running properly.  The song list was laid out, all the practicing, practiced.  The goal was simple.  Lay down clean tracks for eight songs.

Once I was settled in and gone through an orientation period with the recording program we were ready to go. But first, WHISKEY SHOTS!  rock-n-roll, right?

 So began my three days in a dark room, listening to music with headphones as sound engineer of North Bridge. 

Graffiti: Its Art.

This morning I walked past the Asylum in Portland and saw that the graffiti art was changed recently on the rear wall. This is a great example of graffiti art. It is uniform in its theme, mood and color. Stephen King should be proud of this one. A nice portriat of him, the clown of It, the cat of Pet Cemetary and a bloody Carrie are all represented. I couldn't get Carrie in the shot, no light.

Have a nice day.

Usless Commuting Statistics and a Friendly Challenge

Commuted into work by bike today. The typical route from Yarmouth to Portland via Middle Road. The weather was perfect and I felt good.  

My statistics in this morning were: 

• 14.14 miles
• 0:46:12 (hr:min:sec)
• 18.3 mph average speed.

The whole trip right through the stats are the usual. Today however there was a plot twist during this otherwise normal bike commute.  

I was just starting off from a traffic light (yes Ma, I stop at traffic lights) in the last 0.3 mile or so on Preble Street, when a guy on a white single speed in road racing style clothes buzzed past me.  I immediately stood, pumped to get up to speed and shouted 'CHALLENGE'.  He was staying just ahead of me as we were traveling at 27 mph on flat road.  Too high of a speed for me to sprint and overtake him. 

Then for the first time I really understood and felt how & why being behind a leader gives you the tactical advantage.  I could see he was on a single speed bike. I could see his pedal strokes and that he was working hard to stay ahead. I could see him looking back to check form.  I also knew that the road was about to pitch up and he would surely loose some momentum and slow.  

He did, and by the time we hit the next traffic light, I had him.  

Before the light turned and we went our separate ways I said something like 'Have a nice day or that was fun.'   Whatever I said it started off the day with a great little friendly sprint challenge.

Thanks to the dude on the white single speed with the flavor-saver goatee.

F. Moser buildup continued.

The previous posts to this story are HERE and HERE. 
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Today I had my 3oclock appointment at Port City Bikes  (FB) with Peter and Percy to start the build up of my Moser Leader AX.  I had learned that the frame has taken a special spot on the wall for protection and perhaps admiration.  Regardless today it came down and Percy and I added parts while Peter order some additional items for it.  

Added today were: 

•  2007 Campagnolo Record bottom bracket. 
• 07' Campy Record crank. 53-39 with 11-23 in the rear.
• 07' Campy Record rear deraileur
• 07' Campy Chorus breaks
• 07' Campy Record hubs were placed into the dropouts. The rims are due to arrive.
• 10' Ritchey WCS seat post

It was a great experience again building up a bike from the frame. I had done it as a kid to get my 1986 RL Osborn General Pro, which I still have in my shed, 24 year later. I'm thinking the Moser will be around that long too and spending the money to build is will be worth it.

And hanging out in the shop cleaning parts and shootin' the shit about bikes, movies and with customers was pretty relaxing and a great way to skip work for two hours.  I am really looking forward now to seeing the remainder of the parts to come in.

Juggling Skills: The Flaming Torch

I went for a walk today and came across this guy juggling flaming torches.




I love walking Portland. You never know what interesting thing you will see.

On the Road

I pulled on to I-95 at 5:30am driving north.  The oranges, purples, pinks and blues started to brighten in the pre-dawn sky as the sun rose.  Near Benton, in a field on the right, four deer were feeding in a cut hayfield.  Their breath visible in the cold morning air. 

After nearly 4 hours I arrived at the job site and the task of removing gasoline contaminated soil began.  At 4 pm the sky was dark again, the work day done and 930 yards of soil had been removed.

Based on the number of service vehicles and trucks in the parking lot, my hotel choice was a popular one among others working in the same area.  At 5:15pm I was unpacked and it was time for a shit, shower and shave before heading out into the cold dark to track down some dinner in this small eastern Maine border town.

After a burger and some beers I returned to my room to check email and send notes back to the office. The free wi-fi signal offered by the hotel was weak so I found my self sitting near the door with the laptop propped up on the sink.  The bleak florescent lighting and asylum white walls, all reflecting in the sink mirror, cast a depressing aurora. 

I quickly finished my work and moved into bed;  5:30am would come fast, lucky for me the bedside alarm clock was already set for the right wake up time and tomorrow was Friday.

Maine: We'll Let You Smoke Pot, Just Don't be Gay

One result from the election this past Tuesday is that 53% of Mainers are homophoes. I think a lot of things about this:  it sends a sad message, people are so disturbed by the gay sex part of the issue that they are overlooking the intent, marriage is the proof of commitment that two people love each other. The people who were for overturning the law that out legislatures passed to legalize gay marriage are frightened. Afraid of what? I’m not sure...that their kids will be taught about gay marriage in school, who the fuck is taught about marriage in school?; i certainly was not, were you?

And there is another point, why do we have Legislatures making and passing (or not) laws, if every time one goes through, it gets kicked back to the citizens for a re-vote? We could save a ton of money and time in this State if we axed the whole legislature system and turned every decision to the citizens for voting...*whatever*.

This whole post could become rantish, boring and get TLDR so Ill shorten this up and come at this from another angle. I think we missed a good opportunity to increase sections of the economy. The wedding planners, cake makers, function halls, suit rentals, wedding dresses....all that money spent in/on weddings will never be spent....travel accommodations, all of it. I'd venture to say millions per year in this state. Bye Bye. Then you have the divorce lawyers....they would likely have more work too.  I'm gonna guess this marriage issue will be back.

Now, the other vote issue that came up is the 59% of Mainers supported the medical marijuana proposal to expand availability...basically to create dispensaries.  Hummm...we'll let you smoke pot, but just don't be gay.   What a world.

Video Blog October 20, 2009

Well, when your on a roll...keep rolling.

Summer Blow Outs

Two weeks ago my friend "Ranger" won a writing contest and 50 pounds of lobster as the prize. A kid friendly group celebration at Winslow Park in Freeport to consume said crustaceans was held. I think I had two bugs and picked though 4 extra bodies.

The this past weekend celebrates the the boys first journey around the sun. That was a quick year. The family gathered like it hasn't in many many years on Saturday. It was bigger than our wedding. Then on the following Sunday Grandpa-G said a local lobster man stopped by and dropped off some more lobsters at no charge. So on Sunday we cooked up 24 lobsters and 20 crabs...with only three eaters. I got through 6 and then shelled 15 into a bowl for lobster rolls and other recipes. Three full pounds of lobster meat. I ended up putting two pounds into the freezer. TWO POUNDS! The third pound will be used for the lobby rolls. Yumm!

I ended up bringing three lob's and 4 crabs over to the Ranger to share the wealth. Its gonna be a hella shellfish week.

I love Maine.

Little Boy Jew Come Blow Your Horn

I couldn't resist the post title. It fits too perfectly, and the number one rule to get your story read, is have a catchy title.

Sitting in the park today, soaking up the sun I watched as two men wearing some traditional style Jewish clothing were handing out free honey, blowing a shofar (ram's horn) and as I learned publicizing the coming new year -Rosh Hashana.

It turns out that Rabbi Akiva Herzfield of the Congregation Shaarey Tphiloh in Portland is inviting everyone to attend the free service at 4:30pm on Saturday the 19th. this year

"Now is the time to reach out and remind people of their Jewish roots, and to invite them to greet the New Year" -as the good Rabbi is quoted in the September 12, 2009 Portland Daily Sun.

Herzfield and 'David' were also handing out free 4-ounce jars of kosher honey while promoting their new year services.  The honey is made in Portland. The honey is very tasty and you can get more info and even purchase some at OVERLAND HONEY.com.

outting

Last weekend Wife and I attended the wedding of an old friend of mine. It was significant because, well not only the wedding, but that it would be the first night that we would leave LilGuns over night with his Grandparents.

We picked up my brothers lady in Cape E. and got to the Portland Club at just before 5. the last guests to arrive...of course. After shooting the shit with my bud's, many of who were in the wedding party, we were told to take our seats by someone.
The entrance of the wedding party began and before you knew it they bride and groom are walking out. Ten minutes start to finish. Let the reception begin!
The three of us went right back outside to the car where I had a few beers waiting in the car trunk. Hey, there is no need to buy 6 moderate quality 4$ beers when I got 6 good quality on ice right out side. The ladies each had a Sam Adams, I had two NewCastles. My brother came out and a few others. They shared some Crown Royal whiskey. Now, primed up we can go back in and have dinner.
The bride/groom first dance was a fun choreographed thing. Best one I ever saw...Something along the lines of THIS.
And the food was good. So, with that hurdle crossed there was nothing to do but feed wife a shot of tequila and dance and smoke a cigar.

stuff and stuff

It cant be just me. I mean its gotta be generally understood. The busier one gets the less time for blogging.

I got a few minutes here, so Ill send out an update. I know my family reads my blog for status updates, download pics, and generally see what I/We are up to.
Last week, with the comment of Bruce running through my head, I took down the pic of LG in the air. Mainly to just avoid a shit storm that should never have to begin. It was a preemptive move.
So. last week i got to play the part of deck hand and take a client out on the bosses boat. The last post was from my cell phone. The pic to the left is a better pic looking up from the marina dock in Freeport.
And I managed to get a second 19" monitor at work. Edits reports in PDF was a real bitch, flipping back and forth between programs and scrambling up paper printed copies...ugh. most of that should end now. It's only been two days but I love it so far. I'd love to have a 'war room' type of set up. touch screens all over the place. surrounded by incoming data. reviewing, monitoring and reporting. sending out invoices. it'd be madness. but anyway, here is a pic of that.

Two thoughts for today. One. Fuck North Korea. Jailing those two women reports for 12 years!? My plan. set up a meeting with the heads of state in Pingpong N.K. get all the top Korean guys there. Mock up the shit out of the US arrival and summit talks. Then just as they are all gathered up. drop 4 MOABs, and wipe out the government.
Then follow up with supply crates of food and water for the citizens.

Second. A group of people in the Portland area are complaining about what has been touted as the single best public health venture ever, flouride in public water supplies. They are up in arms about 1 (ONE) part per million. They are clearly not balancing the greater good. It is shortsighted thinking and I completely disagree. And thats all Im gonna say about that.

Hump Day Stroll

Portland can be a damn interesting city. Not only did I walk through the Wednesday Farmers Market, complete with artists and musicians, I was asked for spare change by too many.

But, However *shaking finger* I did come across some new graffiti art and the PETA fruits were out against exotic animal skins.
My temptation to go grab a couple of hot dogs and shoot the shit with the pretty tarts handing out flyers was short lived. I had hot dogs yesterday.

Breakfast sunday

Breakfast time.
Time to update the photo and post I sent from my cell phone on Sunday morning.
Wife, LG and I, along with Uncle, Grandpa and Great-Grandma all went out for breakfast on Sunday morning to a place we just discovered about 10 minutes away in the neighboring town of Richmond.
The Railway Cafe serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Last week Wife and I tried out their lunch. I had a steak and cheese sub, she has a big ass burger with fries. The food was great and inexpensive. A good sign was all the white hair in the place. Old people and truckers....two things to look for as a measure of food quality and cost.
So we went back for breakfast. I had a bacon, broccoli and cheese omelet. Yum. with homefries.
i dont remember what else we had on the table but it was all very good. The wait staff was really nice and because it is in a small town we didn't have to wait to sit down. Unlike going to the IHOP in Augusta....
The building it self appears to be a former train station. The big clues are the name of the place and the railroad tracks right next to it. They owners tap into that for the feel and decoration of the place. Nice. Quaint.
This is our new breakfast place for sure.

Day Trippin'

Plans can change quickly some days. It was Sunday and my brother had just pulled into the driveway. We were planning on going out for a bike ride, get some exercise, work up a sweat, strain the muscles, burn the lungs and rest our minds. It can be a religious experience.

*ring ring*

'Hi Ma.'
'Oh your going to Phippsburg today?'
'Yeah sure we'll come down.'

Phippsburg is a small coastal town south of Bath. It's only about 40 minutes from our house and it is a beautiful place to hang out for the day. The riding could wait. Plus, LilGuns will get to see his Gram, Grand Aunt/Uncle and Great-Grandma. And of course they want to see him even more.
I ended up taking the longest possible way down, because I hadn't been there in years and I just couldn't remember any other way to get there. But the drive down was really nice. Long two lane roads. Tree covered. Hilly and winding. Rock outcrops just inches from leaving a big 'ol scratch down the side of the car. Drive carefully.
The camp is on Winnegance Bay in Phippsburg. The water is 30 feet off the dock. Stripper and blue fishing is awesome here. The year my brother caught the big bass, he got a 23 pound blue fish. Fought it for nearly an hour before landing it into the 12 foot aluminum row boat. The fish fight of his life.
The picture is looking northeast from the camp yard. The foreground shows a shell midden that contains lots of Quahog clam shells. We suspect the origin of the midden is from a local indian tribe. But that is speculating some.
The rocks are devonian age granites intruded into schists of the Cape Elizabeth formation.

I am spending some time today and tomorrow at the Northeast Geological Society of America meeting. This morning I managed to grab some GSA schwag (pictured), cruise the poster presentations and sit in a couple of talks.

My problem with the talks, as it has always been, is that while the presenters are among the best know and respected geologist in their field, few of them have any clue how to present good, clear and meaningful slides or how to SPEAK THE FUCK UP.

I was sitting there this morning thinking of this. Guy! speak INTO the microphone. Don't look at your slides and speak towards them. Not only that you are not projecting your voice AT ALL. Good lord man your like one of the 10 ten guys in this room right now.
I wanted to shout out ' could you please speak up'. But, as that I know who most of the people in the room are; it is really not the situation to be shouting at the idols. It would be poor form.
After lunch Ill go back up and sit in on a couple of more talks. Might as well. It's ligit time away from the office.

Fish Story

I grew up in Maine on a large pond/small lake named Bauneg Beg. My brother and I felt like we practically owned that pond. We knew every nook and cranny. every shallow spot. every deep spot. where the best rope swing was. where the best fishing was. we explored this place in great detail with either: a 14 foot aluminum canoe when out for fishing, a 10 foot 9 hp aluminum boat or a 14 foot 90hp fiberglass boat.

***memories of waterskiing and kneedboarding alone after school before mom got home from work will have to wait, this is a fish story.***

My brother is into fishing among other things, bass speciffically. His luck and skill has always been very good. One summer he was out on the pond, in the canoe, somewhere between 12 and 14 years old he hooked on to the biggest bass ever pulled from this south western Maine pond. 10 pounds 12 ounces. So, large we actually had it mounted. Here it is:(beer bottle for scale)

Hold on...this story would be better told by him. Standby.

Batholith Study

Here is just a flash thought I had today. I will come back and define the idea better at a later date:

I would like to propose a study into the thickness of the Sebago Batholith. I would like to drill a hole (core preferable) through the batholith to measure among other things, thickness. The reported thickness in 1-2km. My study would include chemical analysis at 500 meter intervals and an anlysis of the rock type(s) beneath the Sebago. Who can drill this? geothermal drillers perhaps...it the grand scheme it just ain't that thick.

I know its been measured by gravity by Behn et. al in 97-8 (Can. J. Earth Sci. 35: 649–656 (1998). And they have a great paper about it HERE.

There is more here to uncover I think.

Comments from the geologists please.