The Time Sink

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

A relatively short post as I hope to put something more up this evening. Shelley is scheduled in for her gallbladder surgery this afternoon and that has most of my focus as I write. Her father and stepmother (his first wife died in 1988) are coming up from about forty miles away to stay with the boys while I sit with her.

I say I'm relaxed, but that wouldn't be true. We have several unknowns to deal with, primarily her response to the anesthesia and whether or not the surgeon will be able to work under the constraints of laparoscopy. ...and I won't know the results of either until sometime this evening.

I'm working a half day today, then off to the place where they strip you of your clothes (and dignity), feed you marginal food (unless you can get a delivery from the coffee shop), and put you in close proximity with a bunch of sick people. What fun.

I'll let you know how things progress, but it will likely be late...

2330 +/- We're home. Shelley is okay. Short time in surgery and things went well. Extended time in recovery to get some pain control issues worked out. Details in the morning as I'm whipped. Thanks for the emails. They are appreciated.

(1500 +/-) Okay, she finally gave up and let me tuck her back into bed. Wal-Mart wasn't tough enough; it took a Target store to do the trick. One van load and one truck load later (good thing my brother-in-law was in the area) and she was finally ready to give it up!

Recap: Shelley went into surgery at 1530 Monday; things went well according to everyone and she went to recovery around 1615. At 1730 they moved her to outpatient recovery and finally let me in (and I'm real done reading Linux Network Administration for Beginners for a while). She stayed in recovery until around 2030, primarily for pain management. The anesthesia didn't seem to bother her MS, and we're calling that a Real Good Thing. Her incisions didn't bother her too much either; it was the referred pain from the surgery site that was causing the problem. Removing her gallbladder fiddled with the same nerves that were bothered by the gallstones; this gave her the same 'screwdriver in the back' pain that started the whole ruckus.

Things finally calmed down enough for her to decide she'd be better off at home with me than at the hospital not sleeping. We got home around 2100; sent the kids to bed again (grandma had just put them down but they wanted to see her 'cisions); loaded her up on pain meds; and tried to de-tox from the day.

Things went well enough; she managed two three-hour blocks. Then this morning, after I got the kids off to school, she realized even though she was tired and couldn't drive, she had a chauffeur! ...and we're off to check out patio furniture. No; you're quite correct: there's no water in the pool yet. Regardless, HMS Dauntless; also known as The Shopping Queen, forged on through the fully charted waters of the mega-stores in search of the elusive Perfect Patio Furniture. Nary a call of "by the mark, twain" was heard, just the grunts of the seaman third class loading goods and calling for more cargo vessels to assist. Talk about flippin' fleet operations!

...and I get to put it all together this evening. I'm belaying off-loading until I pick up the supercargo from school.

(2200 +/-)...and we're back closer toward what we call normal: the boys are arguing about whose light stick is the brightest; I'm further behind than I was two days ago and Shelley is able to stay up for longer periods of time. She's still not up to snuff, but I'm betting another day of light duty will help. Brad's out at 1200 tomorrow; that will force her to stay home and veg.

...and back to work I am; and happy I will be. ...when this pool gig is done. Last night I enlisted the aid of my aides and put together the patio stuff Shelley and I picked up yesterday. I'll give that a "B+"; there's a reason I do adult education and leave the primary stuff to Shelley and her brethren: I Have No Patience and I Hate To Lose Focus. ...especially when a piece of cardboard is frisbee'd past my head at warp 4.<sigh>. I know; it gets better.

Actually, I have no real gripes; we worked in the garage until Shelley woke up, then hauled the completed stuff to the patio. At that point, Daniel and Bradley took over the two larger boxes as forts and 'launched' the ex-umbrella box back and forth as a missile. That let me finish up the rest of the stuff. After dinner, Brad played "hold this" with me while I added the springs to the gates and the alarms to the doors (JHR would even pass this operation). The one fence board is replaced and I'm ready to call for a final on my end (the contractor's subs finished Monday). Next up: program the X-10 controls for the pool light and the one pump (and reset about ten lines of code in that box...). With any luck, we'll have water by the weekend.

...and that will be real handy. 'Cause then I get to start putting the landscaping back together. ...and drop in new drip lines to everywhere. ...and figure out what the heck I want to do for lighting. ...and have at least one beer on the new deck. ...and then finish the drain lines. ...and re-grade the drainage. ...and, and, and...

...and some people just don't get it. <RantOnFull>Yesterday afternoon I received an email with the subject line of "Don't get bit by the Love Bug Virus" (or some such; it's long gone) from some place called Symantec Systems.    !    I started for the old <Shift><Delete> but stopped for a moment. Erik and I had just spent some time pooling our information on the variants of "ILOVEYOU" and had discussed rules-based filtering. I wondered for a moment if this had slipped through his and NA's filters.

I'm fully backed up... Outlook is locked down... Okay; show me what you got.

It seems this little piece of idiocy is from a mailing list I used to subscribe to (as of 1530 05/10/00). They routinely allow piggybacks on their list and they always lead with a disclaimer; I didn't mind too much as most of their partners are at least interesting. But this... This one was either a ILU variant that hopped on to their list (maybe; hang on) or the most stupid piece of marketing I have seen. The sender was "Symantec Systems" (I've never heard Symantec Corporation refer to themselves in that manner) which resolved to a "media" address. The subject line was as stated above in all caps (I always pay attention to all caps; that usually means it's important); and the body contained a URL that purported to lead me to a free trial of some anti-virus software. One problem: that URL had some interesting qualifiers tacked on. ...and it sure didn't look anything like http://www.symantec.com!

So... The old "virus variant in the email" trick? ...or the old "too stupid to look around before you start marketing woolen sweaters in Bakersfield, California in August (daytime ambient 110F)" trick?

At long last this week is over. ...more or less. Shelley is doing better now; Wednesday and Thursday her body decided to remind her that it had undergone significant trauma. Bruises appeared and the muscles and tissue that were shoved around during the surgery made their complaints known. Life was a little rugged as she essentially couldn't drive, lift, or shout. ...all essentials with two young boys in the household. Meals were ad lib; alternative transportation was arranged; and I handled all the chores that required bending over. I'd forgotten about the cat box...

The pool is almost a done deal; water is going in as I write. I figure it should finish up around 0200. I'll have to remember to thank the contractor for his timing<g>. ...and I'll have that opportunity as he'll be here real early in the morning to go over the equipment with me.

Based on the above, Saturday will become either a rather full day of landscaping or a rather laid back day of rest and planning.

As of 2000 +/-, the Daynotes Portal is down as is Svenson's mirror. Although not completely up to date, the Daynotes Map is accessible as is Brian's very complete Start Page.

What happened? I seem to have lost an entire day. ...and while this is not an uncommon occurrence for the members of the Daynotes Gang, it's not all that common to me. I really don't know where some parts of the day went. Age jokes accepted.

I remember not sleeping very much last night. ...something about noise. Oh yes; did you ever try to just sleep through the sound of a running toilet? You know, where you're just too darned tired to get up and jiggle the handle, but you know it's making noise and you're constantly waking up to it? Try that to the Nth degree (NF=rt^N). Way too late last night, I discovered the only live water line to the back was the one that is under the foundation in the master bath. That's the line feeding the hose filling the pool. No; I couldn't turn it off; if you do, you get a ring around the plaster. We didn't much notice it during the day, what with all the noise and activity and such. But late last night...

It only makes me feel a little better that I was slated to fire up a water line this morning. The contractor was real appreciative that there was water over by the equipment and in the work area when he showed up to dial in all the details. Sheesh.

Evidently, at some point today Shelley baked/bought some pound cake. ...sure hope those slices I just found on a plate weren't earmarked for anything. Just the thing to raise the blood sugar enough to post<SEG>. Speaking of which, she's better (other than the sleep thing); she wandered out shopping twice today and the pain seems to be under control. ...but no swimming for at least three more days!

Bradley had the honor of being the first non-bug into the pool today. As a matter of fact, he was the only non-bug to make it into the pool. Shelley's out of the running; Daniel was scheduled out all day; and I never got around to it. Ah, well; Sunday approacheth. Shelley and my sister are trying to pry my reclusive mother out of her house; the pool and Shelley's "recovery" are the hooks. Details tomorrow.

...and the no-computer weekend continues. ...not to my specs! I had one or two projects scheduled in, but they may be shot to heck. The detail work on the pool sucked up much of today and I think Mother's Day will take care of Sunday...

Well, Bradley is still the sole non-bug occupant of the pool, based on yesterday's early swim. We just got too darn busy with the Mother's Day gig; by the time we got home, some of the weather that's been keeping Marcia off her bike and JHR stuck inside made things just a little too cool for my sons' mother. She's such a protective sort; I'd have just let them go in, freeze their tails off, then into the showers and off to bed. Shelley thought a 1700 bedtime would be a little too early.

I'm guessing we'll all be in by late next week; I've been following the storm track and they're saying the rain's going to miss us. The projected temp for Tuesday is 71F; by Saturday, 93F. Talk about a swing; now if we could just balance central California and Saskatchewan...