Touchdown--Dublin

Friday, February 9, 2007
Dublin

We retrieve our luggage and we manage to get a very small van taxi that all six of us cram into whereupon I immediately direct the driver to the wrong hotel. Surprisingly, my travel companions give me very little crap about this. At 11:00 a.m., we arrive at the correct hotel (100 Euros later), the Clontarf Castle, and after checking in, go right to our rooms. Melissa and I take a power nap of about 45 minutes, then head to the bar. The hotel and bar are very impressive. A lot of old stone, wood and vaulted ceilings. Melissa surprises me by ordering a Smithwick's (Made by the Guinness brewery and just recently available at Cooney's in Des Moines). I order a Guinness, and it really does taste better than it does in the States.

Melissa got us a couple of menus and decided to order what was listed on the menu as tortilla chips and salsa.
"Chips and salsa, please," Melissa said.
"Chips and salsa?", the bartenderess asked quizically.
"Yes, chips and salsa."
"Chips and salsa?"
"Chips and salsa."
"Are you sure you want salsa on your chips?"
"Is there a problem?, asked Melissa pointing to item on the menu she wanted.
"Oh you want tortilla chips and salsa."

As it turns out, "chips" in Ireland are french fries and potato chips are called "crisps."
We had a pretty good laugh about that one with Megan and Bruce, and Ben and Wendy who join us shortly thereafter.

We then took taxis to Davy Byrnes (the "moral pub" from James Joyce's Ulysses) for our first "authethic" pub experience. The place is located in the heart of one of the pub districts and filled up shortly after we got there. It's a neat place, with portraits of famous patrons including Joyce on the walls. Our bartender was fantastic and no one even batted an eye when I broke a glass. We went to dinner and a short time after dinner, returned to our hotel where we collapsed about 8:30 p.m. At about 9:15 p.m., our driver Gene O'Sullivan called to confirm reservations for tomorrow. We slept as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

Our Visit to Eire and Froggy Land

As many of you are aware, Melissa and I recently traveled to Ireland and France for 15 days, including travel time. This will be dominating my blogs for the probably the next month depending on how I feel, and how much I need to revise it, according to our faithful traveling companions Tonto and Silver (actually Megan, Bruce, Ben and Wendy). If any of you wish to comment on something else or have cancer related questions, feel free to ask them (the questions, not Megan, et al. :-)) .

Thursday, February 8, 2007
Travel Day

We arrive at Des Moines "International" Airport (I think they have one flight a week to Canada), at 10:15 a.m. We print out our boarding passes, check our luggage, and clear security by 11:00 a.m. Our flight doesn't leave until 12:15 p.m., so we adjourn to the bar for a drink. We board plane the plane and depart for Atlanta where we arrive at about 3:00 p.m. EST. The Atlanta airport is modern , but still cramped because of the incredibly narrow hallways and the volume of traffic. My head is throbbing and I'm already wondering how I'm going to make it through this trip. I've kind of worked out this unspoken deal with Melissa, that I don't "play the cancer card" unless it's fairly desperate circumstances. I tell Melissa to go ahead and do what she needs to in order to get us in to the private club. As it turns out, we don't need cancer at all, just $25 per person. All six of us gladly pay for it. Drinks with top shelf liquor are complimentary, conversation is subdued, and best of all, no cell phones. Worth every penny.

Rejuvenated, we board the plane for our 7:00 p.m. flight, then proceed to sit on the tarmac for nearly an hour. Bruce has the best line of the trip so far: "I've got the kind of baggage you can't check." Every time I'm ready to drift off, I'm awakened by Megan's cackles of laughter. 7 .5 mostly sleepless hours later (not necessarily all due to Megan), we touch down in Dublin, where it is 8:30 a.m. Friday local time.

"Oh well ,oh well, I feel so good today...

We just touched ground on an international runway
Jet-propelled back home from overseas to the USA
. . .
Looking hard for a drive-in
Searching for a corner cafe
Where hamburgers sizzle on an open grill night and day
Yeah, and the jukebox jumping with records back in the USA

I'm so glad I'm living in the USA
Yes I'm so glad I'm living in the USA
Anything you want we got it right here in the USA. "
--Chuck Berry

Like hot water for example. 18 hours of travel time yesterday. I'll start on the adventures of our travels and travails tomorrow.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

..."don't know when I'll be back again."
--Peter, Paul, and Mary

Actually in about two weeks. I'm headed to Ireland with Melissa & a couple of other couples. I'll try to blog overseas but I'm not sure if it will work.

We'll see if I activate the dirty bomb detectors with all the radiation I've had. Appartently, this is a real problem according to some of the cancer "help sites." I'll kiss the "old sod" for all of you.

Friendship

"Friends come in and out of your life like busboys in a restaurant, ever notice that?"
--Stephen King, The Body, a novella within Different Seasons

"If you threw a party, invited everyone you knew,
You would see . . .
that the biggest gift would be from me,
and card attached would say
'Thank you for being a friend.' "
--"Thank You for Being a Friend" Andrew Gold

"Le sort fait les parents, le choix fait les amis."
("Fate chooses our relatives, we choose our friends.")
--Jacques Delille, French Poet, 1803


I received an e-mail the other day from an old friend, parts of which are reprinted below with permission:

Dear Tom,

When I think about ways that you influenced me and my life. . . well, if it wasn't for you I would have never drunk a Long Island Ice Tea!

Although consumption of alcohol was a frequent activity, it was the conversation that went along that was the most worthwhile. I always felt that you had interesting perspectives and thought provoking ideas. I just remember reflective conversations we had, like the line about how people come in and out of your life like a waiter at a restaurant. Where was that one from? A song I bet.

As a sometimes hyper, enthusiastic teenager you helped keep me grounded. You made me think, reflect, and probably saved me from being ditzy (or at least less ditzy than I was). I could always count on you to be real and even painfully honest. My husband is the same way, will always tell you how it is, which I appreciate.

Will I ever forget when we went to an Iowa Hawkeyes game with your folks?
Reflecting back on that, it probably prepared me for traveling in China, comfort in crowds --- I still remember the masses of people.
But now it is second nature to me as we bop back and forth between China and the US.

Tom, I remember going out drinking with you after working at my day camp job. I would come home tired and you would cajole me into coming out for a drink on the other side of town. Thank God, I always got home safe. But I think you influenced me in learning that your work can't be everything, you need balance and you need to enjoy life when you got it and in the end connecting with people is what counts. That is something you have done well, you have so many passions and are true to yourself, your family, you friends and what you believe. Of course you work hard too, that has also been a passion for you, but you haven't let it overrun you or define who you are. I know that family has always been at the core for you. From my heart, I wish that you find peace in all this turmoil and struggle. I will remember you always.
Love, Cathy

Well- thanks Cathy. That was very nice of you to say. Well, friends do come in out of my life like busboys in a restaurant. But not in a bad way, like I think that Stephen King meant it. Actually, I've been very lucky to have a number of friends who I can not see for months or even years, and we are able to pick up right where we left off.

And in the end, perhaps that's what it all comes down to. Not work or personal accomplishment, but our family, the friends we've had, and the experiences we've shared.

Surprise!

Yes, we're going to a party, party. --The Beatles

Who in the hell throws a surprise 39th Birthday party? Me, that's who. I had originally planned to do this for Melissa's 40th birthday, but since I probably won't be around, I decided to do it this year. I hired a band that we used to go see in college, the Rich Webster Band, invited some old friends from college who came from as far away as Raleigh, North Carolina, and put out a pretty good spread, complete with 15 lbs. of shrimp and lots of good liquor (there's no excuse for cheap booze :-) ).

The hardest part of this was getting Melissa out of the house for two hours so we could "turn" the room. We had to move a recliner couch, a regulation foosball table (about 400 lbs.), get the food and booze set up, get the band set up, get the guests here and in the basement all while Melissa was gone. Special thanks to the movers, roadies, my sisters and everyone who helped.

The band was fantastic, and everyone danced the whole evening. It was so fun to see people we hadn't seen in years, and I think we truly surprised Melissa. My oldest son Joe kept the secret for about one week before the party. He even helped be a roadie for the band, but was smart enough not to get stuck carrying the amps. :-)

The drummer, who strangely enough is my next door neighbor's brother, was kind enough to let Joe (an up and coming drummer) tap out a few things on his set during the band breaks.

All in all, a perfect evening.

P.S. Free publicity. Many of you inquired into hiring Rich Webster sometime. His e-mail is websterlaw@gmail.com. Telephone (319)358-9899. Address: 212 S. Johnson, Iowa City, IA 52240.

180 Days

"Because I could not stop for Death----
He kindly stopped for me---"

Emily Dickinson, "Because I Could not Stop for Death", circa 1862.


"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by."

Douglas Adams, quoted in Guardian, June 3, 2000.


"It is difficult to predict, especially the future."

Niels Bohr, Danish Physicist, in "Statistics", (1975)(attributing quote to Mark Kac).


I think I like the last the two quotes better, even though I always thought (even back in my American Lit. high school class), that the title of Dickinson's poem would make a great name for a rock song, or for a hard rock/heavy metal band.

I took an MRI on January 8, 2007 and learned that my lung cancer has metastasized through the lymph nodes to my brain. When cancer metastasizes throughout the lymph nodes, it gets into your blood stream and starts popping up everywhere. It grows like wildfire and wherever it goes, and your body's organs begin shutting down. So we planned for the following week to do stereotactic radiation (see 1/18/07 post). I had eight spots on my brain that we "zapped", but for every one that we got, there are probably two more we can't see. My oncologist, Dr. Heddinger, gave me a revised life expectancy of four months without additional radiation and six months with. So July 9, 2007, is my new drop dead date.

For those of you saying "but you already had brain cancer", the easiest way I can explain it is this: The "old" brain tumor was non-cancerous, but had to be controlled in order to stop it from crowding out important brain functions like speaking and thinking. It was nearly baseball size when it was discovered, so it had to be operated on. These kind of tumors can grow but not spread.

I received this news the same week we had our lawsuit with The Worst People in the World (see 1/16/07 post). This all occurred while trying to plan Melissa's surprise party on the January 13th (which I will discuss in a future blog). To say the least it was a stressful week.

I've decided that I can handle the physical pain that cancer causes pretty well, but the psychological beating that you take is really something else. It has come to the point where I ought to feel good about bad news, because even worse news is lurking around the corner. And getting no news, well now that's spec-fucking-tacular.

164 days and counting. Bet the over. :-)

P.S. I will need a person or persons to take over writing this blog at some point. They must be be educated, witty, charming, insightful, thoughtful and clever. Which basically means a friend or relative of mine, since you all meet the criteria. Please contact me if you would be willing to do this. Tom

California

Better than the Bowl Game

I am just getting around to writing this, but shortly after Christmas, we went to Palm Springs to visit Melissa's oldest brother for a few days. It was the first time in six years that we didn't go to the Hawkeyes bowl game. It was raining when Melissa, the boys, grandma and I landed outside of L.A., but by the time we got to their house it was already sunny. Their home it stunning and backs to a PGA golf course. Another of Melissa's brothers was already there with his family when we arrived, and the third brother arrived the evening of the 27th.

We stayed at a beautiful resort hotel near the house, with the Sierra Mountains for a back drop. If any of you ever wondered what a $50.00/couple breakfast tastes like, I can now tell you. But I'll also tell you this: It was damn good. The weather was very nice, and we only ventured out of the hotel and house twice: Once for a casual dinner (we all took turns making dinner the rest of the time) and once to go the grocery store. The kids had a great time playing with their new scooters, football and swimming. The adults had a good time just talking and relaxing. On the 29th, when Iowa played Texas, Melissa's brother went out and bought a bunch of monster cable and moved the flat screen t.v. outside into the shade. Melissa made tailgate items for brunch and dinner beginning with breakfast burritos in the morning and chicken and burgers for dinner. (Hey, I had to fill the coolers with beer, pop and ice). The Hawkeyes actually played pretty well before losing by two points.

As you probably recall, President Ford passed away at that time. He was from Rancho Mirage, which is about two miles from Melissa's brother's home. You could hear the twenty one gun salute from the patio. Very cool. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable time.

Justice is Served

"Millions for defense but not a cent for tribute."

--Robert Harper

De minimis non curat lex.
("The law is not concerned with trifles.")

Received our small claims decision in the mail today. We prevailed against every claim. In an unusual (but not unheard of ) manner, the small claims court typed out a two page decision detailing why the plaintiffs could not prevail on each of their claims. I think Melissa's favorite part of the decision was as follows:

"The dirtiness of the home appears to have been the direct result of a hurried move. Had the Plaintiff's waited until the agreed date to move, this Court believes the home would have been very clean."

Good news for the weekend.

More Radiation...

. . .to go with my already glowing personality. Was on the table for about 3 hours yesterday getting the eight brain metasteses zapped. It's called stereotactic radiosurgery. You've probably heard of it's twin , the "GammaKnife" which sounds a lot cooler and is far better marketed. I have to make a decision on the last ditch effort chemo has to keep me alive a short while longer in the next few days. I'm leaning toward no.

Local Readers only: We've got corruption with a capital "C" right here in River City, which rhymes with "P" and that stands for prison. Federal Prison. Without further ado, let me present:

Tom's early line on the CIETC scandal:

Ramona Cunningham--5 convictions, 84 months.

Karen Tesdell --4 convictions, 48 months.

Archie Brooks --2 convictions, 12 months of house arrest due to medical reasons

Jane Barto --1 conviction, probation

The Worst People in the World

(Or at Least the Most Annoying)

"And that's the way it was: Thursday, January 11, 2007."

--Walter Cronkite

A few of you may know this already, but we were sued in small claims court last week relating to the sale of our house in August, 2005. They sued both Melissa and I as well as my father, who had nothing to do with the drafting or the signing of the Purchase Agreement. The couple that bought the house tried to claim that a stove was included in the deal, even though the Purchase Agreement (which they were given several days to review and were urged to have an attorney review before signing) clearly and specifically stated that a stove was excluded from the sale, and they initialed that specific part of the Agreement.

On Saturday, November 12, 2005, they arrived at our old house at noon insisting that they be let in even though we had agreed to give them possession on Sunday. We were obviously still moving at the time. (This was after we had agreed to close the transaction more than two weeks early for their convenience). We explained to them that we were still moving and after cleaning we could give them possession. They told us they didn't care that the place wasn't clean, they just needed in. (A rainstorm was approaching.) At trial, a major claim of theirs was that the place was dirty when they moved in. In fact it was so dirty, they alleged, that they were unable to move in for forty-one (41) days (no, that's not a typo), and had to pay her mother $1025.00 in rent. Right. Any of you who have been in our house know what kind of housekeeper Melissa is. Despite several claims of how filthy the place was, the best they could come up with was a $50.00 receipt from some friends in Makoquoeta, Iowa, who had to drive down because "there are no cleaning people in Des Moines, Iowa." Right. As part of their forty-nine (49)(again, not a typo) exhibits, they introduced a photo showing a small wastebasket in the 1/2 bath with a Kleenex box in it, and another photo showing that we had left the special cleaner for the Pergo floor in a closet.

The next claim was that we had torn holes in and "ruined" the orange shag rug carpeting in the basement which had been there more than 21 years, by putting holes in it. The holes were there when we moved in, right in the center of the room. They were claiming $2000 for this "damage." Right. Note: these people were in the home at least six times between signing the Purchase Agreement and closing and never once mentioned any problem with the place.

The female part of the couple than began bitching during the trial about how the cupboards were "cheap" and how she didn't like the colors in the place. Makes you wonder why they bought it in the first place. The male part of the couple kept bitching thoughout the trial that they had no attorney and "there's three attorneys over there." I kept thinking "well, you sued two of them you fucking dummy. What did you expect?"

Their case took them 2 hours and 40 minutes to put on (which the magistrates always enjoy). Our defense was 25 minutes. We don't have a decision yet, but, regardless of the outcome, these are:

The worst people in the world for Thursday, January 11, 2007.

Warrior

"Roland was a warrior, from the land of the Midnight Sun.
Thompson gun for hire, fighting to be done."

--Warren Zevon

A New Cancer Term I can Live :-) With*

I've decided that's what I am. Not a "survivor", not a "victim." A fucking warrior. Bloodied but unbowed. It doesn't state or imply surviving, which I won't, but the connotation of having been through several battles even though at some point you lose the war is very accurate, at least in my case.

I've studied the enemy to be best of my ability, consulted with top members of my staff (i.e. surgeons, oncologists and my family), and live with results which are necessarily based on incomplete and imperfect information. Yup, a fucking warrior. That's what I am.


*Full disclosure. The term in the cancer context originated with a Ms. Lorraine Powell who was responding to Leroy Sievers' "My Cancer" column on 1/09/07,Comment 2. http://www.npr.org

Was I here at all?

"A man has to have goals - for a day, for a lifetime - and that was mine, to have people say, 'There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.'"
- Ted Williams

And people still say that. He missed 4 1/2 years due to serving in both WWII and the Korean War and still managed to hit 521 homeruns. He batted .344 in his career, won two MVPs , finished second four times, hit a homerun in his last at bat in Fenway Park, and is the last man to bat .400 in a season. If he's not the best hitter of all time, he's second best behind Babe Ruth.

He was a fighter pilot in the wars and was shot down in the Korean War. He also was a world class fisherman, and quietly did a lot of work for the Jimmy Fund, a children's charity.

On the other hand, by all accounts, he was a lousy husband and father, a real horse's ass whenever he was criticized, and petty.

But people remember him and will continue to remember him long after he's gone. (He passed away in 2002).

Aside from Melissa, and my parents, will anyone remember me ten years from now? I suppose Joe and my sisters will, but will Jack? He's so young, that he'll probably all but forget I was here. I'd like to think that other people would remember me, but I really don't know if I've had that kind of impact, except maybe in a "oh yeah, he was a good guy too" sort of way. I never made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, which was always one of my primary goals. Did I ever make a positive difference in my client's lives? In my children's lives (since I am presumably "moving on up" in the next year or so and they are so young)?

In short, if you leave the planet and no one remembers you, were you here at all?

New Year's Resolutions

"Ring out the old, ring in the new,
. . .
Ring out the false, ring in the true."

--Alfred, LordTennyson


I've often heard that you are a lot more likely to accomplish your resolutions if you put them in black and white. I've done this with some success in the past, but what the hell, maybe I'll get 'em all accomplished this year:

1. Lose 15lbs.—Weight on 1/1/07 is 208 lbs
2. Read the Bible 20 minutes/day
3. Read James Joyce’s Ulysses before going to Ireland
4. Read 20 books this year
5. Start Walking/Exercising 20min/day
6. Send Thank You Notes
7. Solve a Tuesday NY Times Crossword, then Wed., and so on
8. Write Congressmen re cancer funding in general, and stem cell research in particular
9. Write letter to Melissa and boys
10. B’day cards to boys
11. Be around to make 2008 resolutions

I'll tell you about the California trip later this week.

A Great Christmas

If this was the Last One, at Least it was a Good One

"At Christmas play, and make good cheer,
for Christmas comes but once a year."
--Thomas Tusser

I truly enjoyed this Christmas season. It probably was the most shopping I have ever done. This unemployed thing is not without its perks. Stress free shopping during the day (and early in the season) at the mall. I even used the handicapped permit I have for parking a couple of times.

Dinner was marvelous as usual (after all Melissa cooked it), the company for Christmas was delightful, and I received a bunch of gifts (almost as many as Jack and Joe!!). The Puerto Rican rum and the Crown Royal Reserve were especially appreciated, as were all of the Books and gift cards I received.

Amongst the other books which she bought for me, Melissa bought me Miriam Engelberg's "Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person." It's great and I have read it already (okay, okay, it is a cartoon book). You can purchase your own copy from Amazon.com but if you need a preview, it's availible on her website, which you can find here: http://www.miriamengelberg.com/comics_mainpg.htm

The lights were brighter, the music better, and people more enjoyable than probably any Christmas since I was a kid. In short a great holiday. Hope to hear from you all soon and hope your holiday was as wonderful as mine.

Merry Christmas

(and drink your Gin & Tonicah's, cause it's time for Hanukkah)

Not Happy Holidays. Not Holiday Greetings. Merry Christmas. It's a celebration of Christ's birth. My sons' school which we've otherwise been very pleased with has changed the lyrics on the Christmas songs, placing "winter" where Christmas is supposed to go. So now it's the "Twelve Days of Winter" and so forth. Political correctness run amok.

To add insult to injury, this public school is teaching my kid Hanukkah songs. When asked for an explanation as to the discrepancy, we never really got one from the teacher or the school. So, instead of wasting what little time I have left arguing with school administrators about the issue, I went the subversive route: I played Adam Sandler's "The Chanukah Song" for my older son knowing that by the end of this week every 5th grader at his school would be singing it as well. :-)

Thanks for the help on the rain songs. I can't believe I missed the Prince, Led Zep and James Taylor entries. Must be chemo brain. I trust no one cheated by using iTunes, Napster, Google and the like. I mean, hell, I can do that. I actually came up with four more on my own that oddly enough, weren't mentioned by anyone:

No Rain Blind Melon
I Love a Rainy Night Eddie Rabbitt
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head B.J. Thomas
Fixing a Hole The Beatles

BTW, there's a new link on the left. She's funny and clever, and unfortunately, recently widowed due to cancer. Check out her blog.

"For there is born to you this day in the City of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:11

Surprised you mom, didn't I? Merry Christmas!

Couldn't Stand the Weather

That's that the title of a Stevie Ray Vaughn album (or as Wendy (26 years old) calls them, "Big CD's"), but the weather here today is just plain, old fashioned, crappy. It is currently 35 degrees and raining on the shortest (2nd shortest?) day of the year. The only weather I hate worse is when it's real cold (like negative 20 degrees farenheit with a wind chill of about 40 below).

One thing I've been doing between researching my cancer, planning trips, planning my funeral (but more importantly my Irish wake) :-) is thinking up themed CD's. I have one entiled Rain and here's what I have so far:

Rain

1. Like the Weather Natalie Merchant and the 10,000 Maniacs
2. Who’ll Stop the Rain CCR
3. Rain The Beatles

Any Suggestions?


P.S. to Aaron: How you coming on your top 25 all-time albums? I'll give you two of mine: The Who, Who Are You? and Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill.

Don't Look Back

"Don't look back. Something might gaining on you."

"Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching."

"You win a few, you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for them all."


Can you match these quotes with the people that said them?













Wrong. They are all attributed to Satchel Paige, the great Negro League pitcher. Satchel was both a great quote and perhaps the greatest pitcher of his generation. Though he didn't get to pitch in the major leagues until he was 45 years old, he acquitted himself well, going 6-1 with a 2.48 E.R.A. to help Cleveland to the 1948 pennant. He pitched regularly until 1954 when he was 50 years old. A major league lifetime ERA of 3.29. Amazing. I knew the first quote came from Paige, wasn't sure about the second, and thought the third quote was from the movie Bull Durham. I should have known that Hollywood writers were too dumb to come up with a line like that.

Anyway, people seem to want to know "how you got cancer", as if it was some social disease. Damned if I know, and it doesn't really matter anyway. The fact is I have it, and I need to deal with the cards I've been dealt. There's something that Melissa and I did at the outset of this ordeal back in late 2002. We made a deal that win, lose or draw, we would not ever second guess our decisions because: (1) It can drive you insane; and (2) It's pointless. The current situation is what it is, and no amount of second guessing is going to change that.

Our last visit to the doctor didn't go so good. My lung is still filled with crap, and the brain MRI discovered a couple of small metasteses, including one on the brain stem. It looks like the end game is in sight, but we'll try to find the right balance between quality vs. quantity of life. Don't look back.

General Observations

"Do you ever notice that....?"
--Andy Rooney

That the brightest, most articulate couples that you know are always the ones that can't have children or least have trouble conceiving them, whereas every trailer park family has six kids with collective I.Q. of about 70? And let me tell you, as someone who represented a fair number of these people, it ain't because they don't smoke and don't drink.

That the problem with cancer blogs is that your friends keep dying? It makes you think you're bad luck after a while.

That the font size of mail notices that say "IMPORTANT" or "DO NOT DISCARD" is in direct inverse proportion to their actual importance? The IRS never stamps that stuff on their notices.

That when you are behind some moron driving erractically they are invariably on a cell phone?

That when someone is talking too loud in a public place, the conversation is never interesting even though the person wants us all to hear it.

That the losers from your high school all ended up with good paying federal jobs. Unfortunately, they all ended up with the same job, working at the TSA screening for dangerous people like the 90 year old lady in the wheelchair (and 60 year old judges :-) ) and dangerous carryons like shampoo and toothpaste.

That customer service is an oxymoron? I have a Pioneer Airware unit (basically a portable XM unit) that cost probably $250-300 new. I enjoyed the unit but springs that hold on the back door sprung. After 1 1/2 hours on the phone, I was told that "It's not a warranty issue." I called the boss, had to leave a message, and he finally called me back a week later. This is for a part that costs $9.44 on their website (retail).

That people with those Bluetooth phones and headsets are some of the most self important people you will ever meet. I always walk up to them when they are in mid-conversation (of course it's always in public that they have these things) and ask them if they need help landing the Boeing 767. Well, not really, but it would be pretty funny, wouldn't it?

That people are now more shocked when people display common courtesy such as saying "please" and "thank you", open a door for them, or letting them pull in front of you in traffic, than they are by expletives. I guess common courtesy really isn't that common anymore. Maybe we all should see if we can shock a few people this holiday season.

Have a good weekend. Feel free to add your own "did you ever notice" in the comments section.

Back from Philly

The Sights and Sounds from the Birthplace of A Nation

Got back from Philadelphia late Sunday. Dad and I flew out with "The Uncle" and my aunt. It was beautiful (about 70 degrees and Sunny) when we got there. We were met at the airport by my aunt's friend, Gar Joseph, who's a newspaper columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News , and he drove us back to the hotel after we waited 1 1/2 hours for our luggage to be unloaded from the plane (thanks American Airlines).

We went out to dinner at Spasso's, at Gar's suggestion, and it was great. After, dinner Dad and I had a drink at the Penn View Bar & Grill, across the street from our hotel. On, Friday, we went to see Constitution Hall, the U.S. Mint, the Liberty Bell and the Building that initially housed the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court shared the building during this initial time period with Philadelphia Municipal Court so the courtroom had a jury box and a prisoner box.

I also had my first real Philly Cheesesteak at a hole in the wall convenience store located somewhere around 12th and Market. It was awesome!!

On Saturday, we went to the Army-Navy game at Lincoln Finanical Field. My cousin Tim is a cadet at West Point. It was very cool with all of the pagentry including Navy jets and Army helicopters buzzing the stadium, the cadets in their dress blues (Navy) and grays (Army), (attendance is mandatory), great bands and 70,000 of the best behaved most polite football fans you've ever seen. The only person who swore the whole day was me and that was only one "goddammit" when the Army QB let his 2nd interception fly (which was returned for a TD). It was a good game until there were about 10 minutes left. All in all, a very good time. On Sunday, we came back after getting a picture with "Rocky" at the Philedelphia Museum of Art. Our first flight was cancelled (thanks again, American Airlines) so it took a while to get back.

The football Hawkeyes are playing Texas in the Alamo Bowl. They're gonna their collective butts kicked.

Once again, Steve Alford's underacheiving basketball team (has their been any other kind since this asshole has been around?), achieved yet another "first": the first loss to UNI at home in 25 years, which if memory serves, makes it the first loss since Carver-Hawkeye was constructed.

On the cancer front, I felt okay this weekend, and felt real good yesterday(I actually did some Christmas shopping).

With fear and arrogance (or maybe it's ignorance?),

Tom