boyhood friends

the last two days have been draining to say the least. one of bob's childhood friends passed away unexpectedly and suddenly last week. i came home from work last week and bob explained what had happened. i could tell it really affected him. bob is lucky to have stayed close to his childhood friends. there were 3 in bob's grade, including him and 3 a year younger that all hung around together and still are close to this day. i find that unusual for men their age. it's been well over 55 years!

it was interesting to watch "the survivors" grow even closer these past 2 days. the visitation was yesterday and the funeral today. 2 of the guys stood up and spoke at the funeral on behalf of their "group." mostly it was humorous stories, tastefully told, of how they got caught drinking, and their many memories playing golf and camping over the years. it really added a nice levity to the service. the 3 children of bob's friend, ages 19-26 found these stories of their father fascinating. after the service was over everyone was invited back to bob's friend house and "the guys" sat in front of a video camera for at least a half hour and talked and shared many more memories of their friend for the family to have.

close friendships that last for as long as these friends have is really amazing to me. i have 2 close college friends, who know me better than anyone else, but i must say to have that friendship go back to as far as they can remember is remarkable.

nese, you are and will be missed by all your buddies. may you rest in peace.

p.s. i didn't forget you yesterday russ. i still miss you like crazy and love you. happy father's day ya big shit. You done good.

trying times

you never know what life will throw you, you just have to be always prepared for the unexpected. a lot of times, these things are not what you would prefer but, one must trust that things will work out.

last week, bob came home unexpectedly "on time" and informed me he had been let go from his job. it is a job that he had been at about 9 months, a director of pharmacy at a LTAC facility (long term acute care - somewhat of a cross between an acute care hospital and a long term facility, or nursing home). i could tell he was in shock as i was, it definitely blind sighted him. as no job is perfect, but he really enjoyed the challenges and not only his staff but other staff in the hospital. he was told "we want to go in a different direction". corporate wouldn't be more specific, only would say that he had done a lot of good things, and it was NOT complaints from staff or MD's, but wouldn't really share anymore. he did get a severance package which helps but, never good for one's ego. i think there is more going on than we will ever know. bob was the only director not hired by the corporate pharmacist, bob was hired by the CEO of the hospital. the CEO was let go about a month ago as well. the very next day they had a replacement in from corporate. it is a gal who had been traveling around to the different hospitals helping out and staffing where needed. ironically she had finished up her last stint and only lives 20 minutes from the hospital. makes me wonder if bob was let go to give her a permanent position. fortunately being a pharmacist he will pick up hours "here and there" until something else comes up that sounds intriguing. so, i have to trust things work out for a reason and there is something out there for both of us in due time.

enough venting for now, i feel a little better, at least for the time being. the good news is that bob will not be working 60-70 hour weeks, 7 days a week and will not be on call this summer. we can actually plan things on the weekend and not worry about the phone ringing that he has to go into the hospital. i have learned to look for the silver lining in most situations. you can't change it so you might as well try to look for the positives.

p.s. happy anniversary gene and russ, i'm thinking of you and will toast you tonight!

beware of avocado's

it has been about 2 weeks now since i had my run in with an avocado. it was memorial day weekend and we had been invited over to some friends for an annual memorial day cookout. as ususal i was asked to bring a salad. i made my usual spring salad but this year decided to add an avocado to it.

my cousin had had a run in with an avocado a couple months ago and has needed surgery and is still undergoing rehab and physical therapy as she severed tendons and nerves in her hand. when pitting the avocado, the knife slipped and went completely thru her hand between her middle and ring finger.

fortunately for me, i was much more fotunate. i also was attempting to pit the avocado and thinking to myself i needed to be careful. well, like my cousin, my knife also slipped. for me, the knife also went completely thru my finger, near the base of my left pointer finger and then entered my middle finger. i was much luckier as i did not cut any tendons or nerves. for once in my life i am happy to have short pudgy fingers. the knife only cut thru my skin/fat, missing anything else.

immediately after there was a big discussion as to who would drive me to the ER, i think everyone wanted an excuse to speed! well, i stood firm and stuck it out with just elevating it and icing it and in about 30-45 minutes the bleeding stopped. i cleaned it out as best i could with soap and water and applied neosporin and kept it bandaged.

it has healed really well and i am now able to get back to doing normal activities and typing without difficulty. i know i am really lucky that my injury wasn't any worse. i have since seen different little gagits that you can purchase to cut and core an avocado. i just have to decide which one to try as i love avocado's too much to forgo eating them. so for those of you out there who use a knife to get the pit out of the avocado, beware and please be careful!