Update From the Hospital
I just discovered that the hospital is kind enough to provide free wi-fi to “current patients and visitors.” I noticed this after seeing an antenna that looked suspiciously like a wi-fi one sticking down from the ceiling in the waiting room. After opening Safari and agreeing to the user agreement that appeared in lieu of my homepage, I now have high speed internet access.
OK, so here's the scoop. We were waiting in the waiting room for the cath lab this morning when my dad started having more severe chest and arm pains; his hands also became clammy. They soon transfered my dad to ER, where they gave him some morphine and other stuff and did some tests. One of our pastors had perfect timing to show up at this point and keep my dad occupied until the cath lab was ready. They did do the angiogram as on time as they ever do anything like that. The diagnosis was a bit hard to understand, but it seems that he does not have any blockages worth doing anything for, although one small one did seem to cause a mild heart attack this morning.
They've transferred him to CV ICU now and are going to monitor the situation for awhile. It sounds like any issues will be treated medically rather than surgically — good news! I'll post an update when I know more.
Your prayers over the past week are greatly appreciated. If you can keep dad in your prayers still for the next few days, that'd be great.
I Love "Buy It Now"
A Single Item. I love eBay's “Buy It Now” function. I just bought an item I've been looking for years for, and I “won” it for just $4 plus a couple bucks in shipping. I'll write about what I ordered tomorrow. Of course, if you want to read through my comments and figure out what it was, that'd be 25 tasty points. It relates to something I've talked about in the comments of the last few days. It's sad, but true that you will likely be unable to guess this. There are at least two hints in this paragraph, however.
Get Testy. As a side note, here's a question for y'all. I have my new CMS stable enough that I think I can start using it. It is missing a lot of features I want before I open up the code, such as trackbacks and multiple site support, but trackbacks are the only thing that would be missing as compared to the present asisaid. Do you think I should set up a beta asisaid and ask for some testers or just try it out here and see what happens?
Delay
Time's wingéd chariot came and went today and I didn't get anything written on here. The good news is that you have a whole night and day to take care of the question concerning our friend, Ben. Happy Hunting!
Time's Ticking
For the sake of simplicity, I think I'm going to close the Jonson questions tomorrow. That means this is your last chance to get the points on questions 4.1 and 4.6, including the bonus question I added yesterday concerning Jonson as the “killer cleric.” For the last day, I'll give 2x points to anyone who figures out the answer. Speak now, or forever hold your peace.
Also, I think I'll address the “assignment” question (see here) tomorrow. Take a look at what's being suggested and give your $0.02 if you haven't already. Or give your $0.04 if you've already said something on this issue. This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to pry in to my brain (and hear it echo once you've opened it up!).
Questions Set #5 and Roundup
Score Board (as of 2004 December 18 @ 21:50 CST)
Kevin: 75
Christopher: 30
Flip: 30
Eduardo: 20
Jason: 15
Ed: 10
Chris (answering vicariously for his wife): 10
Questions still pending
Excellent chances to catch up with Kevin, or for Kevin to further solidify his lead.
4.1.) Where does the following quote come from (20 pts.) [link to original post]:
Now, luck yet send us, and a little wit
Will serve to make our play hit;
(According to the palates of the season)
Here is rhime, not empty of reason.
So far: Flip has correctly guessed that this is Ben Jonson. Ben Jonson what is the question that must be solved for the points. Where did the “killer cleric” write this (10 pts. more if you can make sense of “killer cleric” too).
4.6) If someone is speaking one or both quotes [in the last question]], who is that person or persons? [15 pts.] [link to original post]
New Questions:
5.1) What famous, now secularized figure attended the council of Nicene, what position within the church did he hold and where at [5 pts.]? 5.2) Who wrote it, where and, if appropriate, who said it [20 pts.]:
To pass our youth in dull indifference, to refuse the sweets of life because they once must leave us, is as preposterous as to wish to have been born old, because we one day must be old. For my part, my youth may wear and waste, but it shall never rust in my possession.5.3) Who wrote/said this and in what [10 pts.]? BONUS: Explain the source and meaning of the name of the “what” part of the last question [10 pts.]. Hint on the bonus: The source of the bonus part of the question has been recently mentioned somewhere on this blog.
It has gotten to my head. Permeates the path I tread. But I tread, I'm moving on in a new and happy song.
I can sing about the night, how my tunnel without light
Led me to the other side where the sky is blue.
5.4) What is the bus speed of the iMac G5 1.8 GHz and what is the relation between the bus speed of iMac G5 models and the CPU clock speed? How does this differ, if it does, from the original PowerMac G5 1.8 GHz [5 pts.]? Note: No offense, Chris (Olson), but you aren't eligable for this question… it just wouldn't be fair! If you want to play this round, give me the fastest supported bus speed of the present, fastest AMD 64 processor instead.
5.5) Useless trivia: What was the cpu model and clock speed of my first IBM-compatible computer (this has been mentioned at one point here on asisaid)? What did I have before having an IBM-compatible? [10 pts.]
Prayer Request for Dad
Some of you may remember from last summer that my father underwent quadruple bypass surgery. This week he has been experiencing numbness in his left arm and tightness in his chest… he is scheduled for an angiogram on Tuesday. Best case scenario is that it finds nothing, although given the present symptoms, that seems unlikely. Second best is that any blockages can be taken care of with an angioplasty while they are already “in there.”
What's worrisome is that while they successfully did that nineteen years ago on my father, they had tried last summer only to decide bypass surgery was necessary. Worst case is that they would do another bypass — the second of (as I understand it) two possible such surgeries during one's life. Not even considering the risk at hand during surgery, this would be bad also because such surgeries usually only last a maximum of a decade and a half or so, meaning that Dad would be in trouble down the road when he should be “due” for a second surgery.
If you can keep him in your prayers, that would be great.
Coping, Part I
October 5, 2001 was also the day my grandpa finally succumbed to the terrible cancer that had transformed one of the most wonderful people you would have ever met into a monster. The bone cancer that had been quitely taking over his system for years has been known to confuse brain processes and cause people to become angry and paranoid. To say my grandfather had become angry and paranoid would be like saying the Sahara gets warm at times. The last ten months since the cancer had been diagnosed were far worse than any prior, but they only exaggerated what had already been the status quo for several years.
My grandpa had always had a temper, but it had become uncontrollable and unpredictable since another infamous date for my family, January 11, 1998, the day my grandparent's house burnt down. Neither of my grandparents had been physically harmed in the fire, but the fire was too much for them mentally. We did not know it at the time, but my grandfather's cancer and my grandmother's Alzheimer's were already chipping away at them, but in ways that weren't perceptible. The fire made their states all too perceptible.
Other events would only compound the situation. In 1996, my nine of my grandparents siblings and their spouses were alive, eight of those in good health. Of the eight, five were frequently at parties and other events. That year, my great uncle died. In 1999, one year after the fire, my great aunt and uncle both died within a three day span. My uncle, who had lived for years with my grandparents, became entrenched in a legal battle as well. By the time my grandfather died in 2001, another one of my great aunts, the one closest to my grandmother, would die… just months before my grandfather.
Her death was just four weeks after my grandmother on my father's side died, which had been hard on my grandparents that I've been telling the story of. That had come of a surprise illness just weeks after her 80th birthday. While my other grandparents lived several hundred miles away, whenever they came into town, the four of them enjoyed each others' very much.
As I said, my grandfather was not even close to himself during those final years. From my earliest years, my grandfather had been a magical type figure. He was a kid at heart and we'd spend hours doing just about anything. My grandfather had been a butcher and for his retirement, he'd received a professional meat slicer. One of my favorite memories would be at parties when my grandpa and I would head downstairs with a hot roast my grandma had just finished cooking — he'd slice it while I watched, and we'd “test” it to make sure it was “OK.” We had a good time down there while everyone else waited for dinner.
More than anything else, my grandpa was a fixer of things. Jukeboxes, clocks, lawnmowers, and countless other things were in the realm of his abilities to fix. That was part of his “magic.” He could fix anything and was prepared for everything. On trips down to the Ozarks, he'd pack a little lunchbox full of tools, flashlights and numerous other things which he would produce for our use when something came up. Yet, his own health and my grandmother's health were beyond his ability to fix, as were the deaths and complications in the lives of the loved ones mentioned above, and these things only exacerbated his mental decline.
One Day at a Time
He refused to ever give up, that wasn't a phrase in his vocabulary. Yet, just a short time before his death, my pastor came and visited with him. My grandpa was no stranger to the Gospel, but the repetition of these basic truths brought peace, if not acceptance. He never conceded, but kept saying “one day at a time.” He would keep going, one day at a time.
In one of his more lucid moments, my grandfather related something very hopeful to my mother. He said his favorite season was always the fall, because fall represented a beginning. Consider this for a moment. After the spring, summer and bright early autumn colors of life, we reach what – at first – appears to be the beginning of the end. Yet it is only through the ending of life as we know it that we can really begin. Without the ending that is autumn, there can be no springtime of resurrection. As my grandfather himself worked through the fact that he was in the fall of his life, he eventually gained a new hope and peace recognizing he was heading forward to the springtime.
It was about eleven o'clock on that Friday evening in 2001 when the dreaded call came. From the perspective of the time the call was terrible, but also something of a relief after the years of anger. Yet, those last few days of peace reminded us of how my grandfather really was. A different type of funeral seemed called for.
This all brings me to what inspired this post, Josiah's post on the subject of funeral music experiences. We chose three non-traditional CCM songs for the funeral, to go along with an instrumental rendition of Amazing Grace. Two came from Steven Curtis Chapman's 1999 album Speechless: “With Hope” and “Be Still and Know.” The final one was Twila Paris's classic, “We Will Glorify.”
The selection of appropriate, yet optimistic music for the service had an unintended, but not unwelcome effect: people left the service uplifted and commented to us how much they enjoyed it. Enjoying a funeral was a new comment for us. But, it was a fitting ending for a fixer. A life that was so much like that of the poem “The Touch of the Master's Hand” appropriately left people hopeful one more time.
I obviously agree about the usefulness of optimistic music. Yet, I'll consider in part II why I also see the appropriateness of melancholy songs.
Give Me an Assignment!
You get to decide what to post to your own blog, but what about someone else's? Here's your chance to boss me around. The readers of asisaid can discuss what they would like me to post about, and I will blog about the topic agreed upon by the comment posters to this post. Here's a few requirements: (1) it should be a topic I can discuss within a typical sized post, certainly not more than two pages and (2) it should not require research of any substantial sort. If you were thinking of assigning me to write the book you always wish had been written, I'm sorry, but I cannot promise I'll do that.
So what do you think? Post your ideas below. I will not be commenting in the comments for this post — it is up to you and your fellow asisaid readers to come to a consensus on this.
The Five Gifts of Christmas
Looking for a gift that will make your recipient say “Wow this is a really inside cheke and cimble gift”? Well, I reviewed 5 different gifts under $50 for the technically inclined among us (one — the “eyelighter” — is something almost anyone would appreciate). Take a look at OfB.biz.
Tried any of them? Have a better idea? Play the pundit. Write about your own inside cheke and cimble gift ideas below.
A Little Help
I fear, I shall begin to grow in love With my dear self, and my most prosperous parts,
They do so spring and burgeon; I can feel
A whimsy in my blood: I know not how,
Success hath made me wanton.
Also Flip is correct about 4.5, it should be “Seek truth knowing that there can be no conflict between God and truth,” not behind “God and truth.”
Building off question 4.1 and the above hint, I present question 4.6:- If someone is speaking one or both quotes, who is that person or persons? [15 pts.]
