Sunday, September 27, 2009 1:03 PM, EDT
An open letter to the Dartmouth Hitchcock Pharmacy/Pharmacist:
You are on notice! If you continue to cause us undue stress and make it so Ally cannot follow her assigned chemo schedule I know hundreds of people who will write a complaint letter on her/our behalf! Also, next time show a little bit of concern when I am calling you on the phone and explaining that we really do need chemo drugs delivered on time!
Okay...got that out of my system.
So, Ally's week went really well, other than a huge mix up with the chemo drugs Daddy and I administer in the morning. Everything turned out okay though. Not really, but we made it work.
We got some really exciting news this past week. First, we are headed up to the hospital on Wednesday for a super secret event. We don't really know anything about it, just that is is an exciting event at the Children’s hospital. :-) I like fun surprises. Also, we were contacted by Make-A-Wish. Ally gets a wish! They are coming by on Thursday night to talk with her.
Lots of stuff going on! I will be sure to update on Wednesday when we return from the hospital. I'll also keep you posted about Make-A-Wish.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
jjl
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Peace and War at Niagara or the Pentagon
falling thunder. striving to carve rock
yet unable
pulling downward but the rising mist
free to pull us too
the tug of earth and sky
flesh and soul of a planet at war
so ever more gently than the creature that subdues it
claiming two gases in bondage
essense of creation
released by fire
or falling and rising
or the terror of hydrogen alone
itself
unleashed
pushed inside itself to its freedom
crushed by the weight of uranium
enriched not by transcendent thought
but flung past all other dendritus
to purity
as we too were circling
(faster than escape velocity should we leave?)
would we be enriched as we abandoned
our home of water and rock
to purity
or haunted by falls mist memory
of mushroom clouds?
stuck in a centrifuge of religion
God the desert sun
flinging us upright
the nightmare an unwelcome
dream turned to glass
the mirror to the soul
Zoroaster's Twins
By Phil Specht
Friday, September 25, 2009
This is it (short form). The week prior to the 12th my phone line had been acting up (cutting out for minutes at a time). Finally, the afternoon of the 12th, it was out for three hours, and using my uproad neighbor's phone, I called it in. Repair scheduled for the 18th. Please stay home between 8 o'clock and 5 o'clock. (my experience is 8 to 8.) My son and his daddy came for the birthday weekend, so staying home was no problem. The phone line however was not fixed. I assumed Monday. Nope. Went to the store in town after five on Tuesday. Turns out there was an area-wide outage beginning at six on the 13th, which was cleared on the 14th. At which point they *assumed* my outage was cleared also. No repairman was sent on the 18th. Deeply apologetic, they promised the next day, the 23rd. Of course, no repairman showed. Waiting until after 6 on the 24th, line still out, I went to country store again. And asked what I needed to do to get them to repair my line. And was informed in a hostile fashion that "a repairman had been dispatched". . . . At 7:30, a hot, sweaty, tired and frustrated repairman, Mike, knocked on my door. Evidently in the area wide repair, my line had been physically disconnected and a good bit of my actual phone line had been removed. He didn't think he could finish last night. I gave him a glass of water and two Tylenol (his head was splitting) (mine too, lol!), sent him home to bed with a promise that I'd be first this morning). He called at 10:30 this morning: I was good to go. The Verizon computer called shortly thereafter to inform me that *they* had found the problem and corrected it.
My son had removed my stove in preparation for a new one, and I couldn't go to town to arrange the delivery of the new one. So have been cooking with a crockpot and a waffle iron (makes very fancy grilled cheeses)(can boil eggs in a crock pot, but not macaroni, which just dissolves). So Monday, I go to town and get delivery together.
Some days one understands why "May you live in interesting times" is a curse.
Thursday, September 17, 2009 7:05 PM, EDT
Good News! The tumor appears to be even smaller today! The technician and Ally's oncologist were comparing today's scan with the one taken in February and they saw a major difference. I reported in the past that the lesions on Ally's legs have gone away (meaning the cancer has left the bones), but her legs still needed to heal. It is hard to tell bone stuff from a CT scan, but from what they could tell, her legs are healing as well.
Yeah for awesome news! Thanks for thinking of us all day. It was actually one of the smoothest running days ever. We got her contrast dye around 9:30, and had 3 hours to get 12 ounces in her (which is a LOT of intake for Ally). While we were walking in the hall we met Ally's oncologist and she was SUPER nice to walk the length of the hospital with us to unlock the playroom in the cancer clinic. There, Ally happily played until it was time to head to "Pain Free" where she went to sleep for her scan. She was back within 30 minutes and we were out of there 30 minutes later! She almost fell asleep on the ride home too.
Relief.
Fun Tid Bit: Ally went apple picking 2 times in the past week.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 9:28 PM, EDT
We (Ally and Mommy) are headed to the hospital tomorrow for a CT scan.
I'll be sure to update as soon as we know something!
Friday, September 18, 2009
JABBERWOCKY
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Lewis Carroll
(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)
Friday, September 11, 2009
About two weeks ago, I ordered a book, American Dreamer (a biography of Henry Wallace) from Amazon. Shortly, I was inundated with email from Amazon about the order. I figured they were having an email problem. NOT.
Yesterday I picked up my mail: Five books. So last night (this morning) went to Amazon: five separate orders over three days. . . . I'd used one click. . . . Found the help pages, and got called in exactly five minutes by a nice girl. Who told me that I *had* placed five separate orders, and their recommendation was that I stop using one click because I didn't know how to use it. My first order was placed at one a.m.; the second, at six a.m. the same morning. I said no: the problem was theirs ~~ I'd gone to bed, and the computer, on dialup, was disconnected. . . . She did not agree. Evidently believed that for three days, at random hours, I pulled up the page, and hit one click, lol!
Final solution: contact the seller, and return the books, and get refund. . . . Book is $1.80. Shipping is $4.00. So I pay another $16.00 ($32.00 in shipping costs altogether), to get a $7.20 refund. . . Don't think so, lol!
I thought perhaps they (Customer Service could warn IT that they were having problems with the system). Nope. I asked her where she was: from the Philippines. . . Asked if that is *where* she was. . . Yes. Asked if it was a good job? Yes. I said, Good, enjoy it. And goodbye.
Better luck than with India Customer Service, but truly total lack of understanding, or power. . .
Next time, I need to pay attention *when* the weird emails start: as in cp. order numbers, and solve it *before* shipping. . . .
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
09.09.09
Seems like somebody should be celebrating *something* doncha think? Anything? It'll not be back for another century, after all.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009 5:22 PM, EDT 
Some random info:
The Jimmy Fund Marathon collected $4.5 million! Thanks to everyone who donated.
Jason ran the 1/2 marathon in one hour, 45 minutes! Our friends were very close behind. Thanks for donating to that and to our friends for running!
Ally is doing well with chemo this week. She had Monday off for the holiday. We are headed to DHMC on Thursday of next week for a CT scan.
As you can see Ally got her own car, at the age of 2 1/2. Thanks Auntie Lynn, Uncle Jason, Auntie Mary and Uncle Butch! Check out our flickr site for more pictures of Ally's new car!
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Monday, September 07, 2009
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Father's Day Lake Trout The cord cut lungs full of the magic ether we who walk the earth upright share the sound of your cry so sweet your day of birth a circle spun. They could celebrate a holiday for fathers anyday they wanted for me the day I became one most special. The Father's Day Holiday, you shared it, morning sun cutting through mist to form a rainbow; and as I turned the boat between the pine tipped islands of the north hooked the ancient trout. You were there for me at the end of a struggle net in hand. Together we landed that trout a team, a bond, father and son held through eternity because you were there. I miss you son. Nevermore than when I return to that sacred lake after you left us too young. Let me be the net man next time. ~~ Phil Specht
