When The Phone Rings That Early, It's Bad News

The other morning as I was getting ready for work, the phone rang and because our friends Debbie and Don are early risers we assumed it was Deb. They get up so early, they get the bird that gets the worm. This is not unusual. Deb usually calls at this time because it's the best time to get my wife. My wife and I exchange looks and say in our sleepy voices "Debbie". I pick up the phone and look at the caller ID. I frown and say "My Mom," I hand the phone over to my wife. I am from the school of thought that if the phone rings between 11pm and 8 am, the news is bad.
My baby sister had recently had a cancerous tumor removed and had undergone radiation and had recently even had a feeding tube put in. Her spirits are good though. My wife spoke and then she bit her lip as she was trying not to cry. I looked at her and went back to making my lunch. I had a sick feeling in my gut. My wife spoke to her for over an hour and I went to work. Right before my shift started, my cell rang. I took a deep breath and answered. My wife told me the cancer was back, bigger and stronger. It had spread. I cannot tell you how sick I felt. I sat on a skid of boxes, away from my arriving coworkers. I did my best to not cry.
I cannot believe this is happening. Although all of my siblings have a neurologial disease and this is one of the possible side affects, I never wanted any of use to experience any of them, especially cancer. Cancer killed my Dad. He carried the gene ( and the disease) we all inherited.
I'm slightly numb. My sister is 33, she has a 7 year old daughter. My sister is adorable. Tiny, little hips , big chest, long hair, nice smile and she's a firecracker. It seems unfair. Of course anyone having cancer is unfair. It seems horrible to hear about someone you know having it, or one of their family. But when it hits your loved ones, it's the worse.
On Wednsday, she will have a MRI and meet immediately with two docs, and possibly a neurosurgeon to determine a treatment course. I hope it will be a good one. I hope it's anything that will help her. More surgery, a clinical program, anything. She is remaining positive. She's upbeat and she has talked with her daughter. The little one knows her momy is sick and has told her 'not to be scared to die, because if she dies she can be with her Daddy again'. Pretty heavy coming from a 7 year old.
I'm going to remain an optimist for as long as I can. I know, unusual for an Irishman. I'm also smart enough to know she's in for a fight and I'll continue to pray for some kind of miracle

The Lovely One and Meself in Vegas

Okay...explain this to me

Here is a picture of a snack vending machine. We have a few at work. Notice the front is glass, you can clearly see what's in it. Right? On the little numbered buttons are the raised braille bumps. Braille...Okay I get that the vendors have to be pc or non-disciminatory or whatever..but, honestly, what good is the braille if the poor bastard can't see what he's selecting??

Mother Nature is a Bitch

Yes. Yes she is.
For the past, I dunno, month...we in New Jersey and evryone else within a five-hundred mile radius has been in the grips of a cold spell. It has not been above 12 degrees since I don't know when. And it will not get warmer until Saturday when we hit 20. Woo-Hoo! I cannot take this shit any omre. I am not a baby, I grew up in New England. The cold doesn't bother me, but long ong stretches of it does bring one down. From the numb toes to the aches that run up and down my spine....My truck has a good heater so that's a plus. My area of the building is not so fortunate. In the summer we have NO a/c and now it seems, they have cut the heat. The office, is of course, mostly toasty. In our area people are working in jackets and scarves. True story. We all huddle around the heat unit on our high-speed ink-jet printer in the mornings to restore blood flow.
They have named a new warehouse manager. He is a good guy and I've been workign with him since I began their 6 years ago. So good luck to you bud.
I will be assisting the Lovely One this weekend with an open house. Don't know how much help I'll be, but I'm game. If it'll help out, I'm the man....I hope..

Housewifes and Hookers

Okay I'm back from Vegas. What a town. It cannot be explained to those who've never been there. I did fly and survived. Of course I had a little tranquilizer in me but overall, the flight didn't suck. Except for the fact that the seats were so small they look like they were designed around an anorexic five year-old dwarf spider monkey. Really people. Not comfortable at all.The flight was long and uneventful. Thankfully.
Once on the ground we checked into our hotel and hit the bar. The hotel was of the divey variety and it had a funny stink to it. These places are amazing. Billions of dollars are poured into this city in gambling alone. Not to mention the whores. They were everywhere. Walking the streets and I'm sure I saw a few in the hotels. And when you think hookers in Vegas, don't hink Pretty Woman, think more like 'crap, I hope the power goes out..' Guys stand out on the sidewalks handing out coupons for the call-services. Coupons people. Coupons for fucking blow-jobs. Think about that for a minute.
The city is, aside from that, amazing. When seen from the air it baffles the mind. The desert is pitch black and then all of a sudden, like a spotlight, there it is. Billions of lights in the middle of the desert. Hundreds of people fill the casinos. From the ordinary guy and his wife and kids to the singleguy thinking he's ome to town to bankrupt the place, to the retireees hoping to pad the ol' nest egg. A person who's into 'people-watching' would have a field day here.
We gambled. I won a bit on the blackjack table and the wife won a bit on the Elvis slots, we gave a bit back but in the end we broke even. Had dinner in a four star restaurant. Dig this. The groom's son knew the manager of said restaurant and the kid hooks us up big time. Free wine, free champagne. Free appetizers, and I'm not talking nacho chips and watery salsa here boys, I'm talking freakin' pate and some kind of whipped salmon spread. Dinner was amazing. I had a pan-seared steak that gave my stomach a fucking woody and then the deserts came out. There was six deserts dropped on the table and when they were gone, 6 more came out. We all waddled out of the place. The name of the place is the Bouchon and it's in the Venetian Hotel.
The hotels and casinos are amazing. I'll get into that more in another entry. Anyways. It was freakin' cold today and apparently a big snow storm is coming in this weekend. Great. Take me back to Vegas