Be Careful Out There

Megan is looking better tonight. Still no word on the knee surgery.

If you go to visit, be very, very careful on Boulevard. The street was repaved this week, so it is a good, dark black, and it has no lane markings. I do not know how many lanes are supposed to be there, and I'm not the only one. I see the remains of a crash every time I'm there. Coming from the east, I drive on Highland, and that's OK.

Room With a View

Megan is out of ICU, and is now in room 545. Visiting hours are 9am to 9pm.

She has a great view of the Atlanta skyline and the helicopter landing pad.

Surgery Update

I just returned home. Megan returned from surgery about 6pm. I saw her briefly, then they put her back in ICU. While I was in the waiting room I chatted with my co-waiter. His wife was in a car crash Wednesday, and expected to go home Monday, which was good for them. The guys in the Porche that hit her were not so good, they are at Grady and really messed up. It could be worse. Then he told me how he was carjacked ten years ago and shot twice in the back. It can be even worse.

So Megan is in a world of pain today following hip surgery. Her blood pressure was too low to get a full dose of pain meds, but once she gets rehydrated she'll be back on the horse. I think tomorrow she'll be doing better. No news on the knee though.

The SAAB is back with a new fuel pump. Staci, thanks for the ride! Clark, thanks for the offer!

Guest Blogger

Hey there, Len here. I hacked this site so I can post updates on Megan's hospital stay, and to create a forum where you can discuss visiting Megan while she is in the hospital. She will not be able to read this until she gets out of the hospital.

First, thanks to everyone who has called or visited. We appreciate it.

We all ask, what happened? Megan does not remember anything but the grill of an SUV. She was on her scooter traveling west on DeKalb Avenue Monday about 5pm, where four lanes are funneled to three including a reversible lane in the middle. She was stuck in the middle and collided with the truck. She is very lucky to be alive, and with only broken bones as her injuries. Yes, they are serious breaks, her hip and her knee, but it could have been much worse. Her helmet took a beating, but that's why you wear one.

I'm not going to post much more about her injuries because she wants to blog about it when she gets out. And with pictures, so be aware.

Megan is at the Atlanta Medical Center, which seems to be a pretty good trauma hospital. She will probably be there two weeks, and I'll bet she is out of ICU this weekend. Visiting hours are frequent but short, at 10:30, 12:30, 2:30, 5:00, and 8:30, and last only 15 minutes.

She's having surgery right now on her hip. She may even have it on her knee. Her knee has been too swollen to cut open.

I'm doing OK and except for one thing have home and the dogs under control. The Uber-generous Staci loaned me her brand new (and beautiful) Honda Civic last night after our SAAB broke down again. I'm going to need a ride to SAAB to pick up my car. And don't tell Megan about the car problem, she does not need to know.

Marketing My Birthday

It pays to tell people weeks and months in advance that your birthday is coming up. Nobody forgets! This has been a fabulous week for me! My friends took me out on Tuesday evening for fun and libations. Cards from old friends, new friends, and family have been streaming in all week. Little gifts have been left on my desk in my office. Folks have been taking me to lunch. Today is the big day, and I'm the queen!

I'm forty and fabulous!

Famous people who share their birth date with me include:
William Shatner
Reese Witherspoon
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Stephen Sondheim
Karl Malden
Louis L'Amour
Chico Marx

My horoscope for today is:
Aries, born on March 22
The months ahead are likely to begin with a wonderfully unexpected surprise. This is most likely to be of a romantic nature, but may also relate to your very close family. Towards the end of the summer you will need to make sure that you have plenty of free time, as somebody close to you is going to suggest some kind of major trip that will be an adventure you won’t want to miss. The end of the year will be a time for relaxing with relatives and you will find that you make contact with members of the family who have been absent from your life for some time. This will all lead up to a celebration that you will remember for many months in the future.


Today's Chinese Proverb:
"Patience is wisdom in waiting."

Cuter than a Puppy

This is my niece, Emily, after just having caught a fish in the pond behind her house. She's the cutest thing on the planet. She'll probably be trouble later on because she'll figure out that she can away with anything if she bats her eyes just right. Her big sister, Laura, is a soon-to-be-15-year-old knockout. My brother certainly has good genes... why'd he get 'em all?

Getting old...Or not!

I have less than a week left of my 30s.
Yep, this time next week, I'll be in my fifth decade of life.
How did this happen? I blinked, and suddenly I can't stay up past midnight.

After my first Saturday at Knitch, I really thought I'd made a mistake because I felt SOOO tired. Not in the normal "boy, it'd be nice to go to bed" sort of tired, but the falling-asleep-while-pouring-a-beer kinda tired.

But, since then, I've had two more days at Knitch, and my second Saturday is tomorrow. I'm kinda energized now about the job. I love working retail and would do it exclusively if I didn't have a mortgage. And cable. And four doggles...

It has been great fun, because I get to see the new yarns as they come in and be the first to touch the yarns and imagine what can be made from the yarns. The yarns... the yarns... the yarns...

Anyway, once I realized I'm not too old for the job, that I can handle the standing and climbing stairs and sitting on the floor, etc. (even though my manager is half my age), I feel a lot better about leaving my thirties for a new decade.

Look out 40, here I come!

Moonlighting

I finally took the plunge this week, and started working at Knitch, the best yarn store in the South. Monday was my first day, and I straightened piles of yarn and put labels on balls of Patagonia chunky cotton, all the while imagining what I'd buy with my earnings! I haven't spent a lot at Knitch, mostly because my budget is too small. But now I'll have mad money for the yarns of my dreams.

Habu is a Japanese yarn company that produces some truly unusual stuff, like stainless steel wrapped in silk and paper yarns that are actually washable and yarns made of pineapple leaves. Knitch is one of the few stores in the Southeast that carries the brand. I'm really interested in the paper stuff, so I have to come up with a suitable project.

I'll work Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Thursday, I get to learn to run the register! Woohoo!

Media Gone Wild

I don't normally post things like this, but a friend in Augusta, Georgia, sent a link to me to a U-Tube video of the Augusta TV news that was priceless. Apparently, they did a story on the new low-cal Krispy Kreme donuts and used a graphic off the internet. No one noticed the graphic was, well, graphic, before airing the picture. Now, I know this could be a hoax, but I checked on Snopes and it wasn't there. It's really funny and, if true, an excellent example of why we need editors (me!) in this world.