Greetings,

You know, the thing about being in the hospital is that it is either all action, or complete boredom. All motion and no lotion, so to speak as a friend once said.

I'll get enough action tomorrow, looks like.

Family was here to push up the spirits. Mission Accomplished.

Beautiful today, loved the sunshine.

Wished I could go out and play.

But, today was inside, and listening for the emergent sounds of a fellow trying to live, cry, and otherwise whittle away a few more moments of confinement in the health-o-polis that seeks to keep us living.

This entire episode started seven years ago this week, actually on June 6, 2006, to encompass June 16th when I had my left kidney removed. Now, seven years later, the blind will of life in all its mutant form has returned to remind me of my lightly held grip on this earth.

Being even marginally ill is a terrible inconvenience, and well, it is also difficult to accept what level of illness one has because then you have to accept the outcome. But to weigh against that I think of recovery, not blind to the existential grip we have, but to live when I have the chance and enjoy it for what it is.

So now, I am readying myself for a fairly routine surgery, although as I said to the nurse today, it is not routine for me. I think some ativan will help, which I hope is a nice size dose, which will be supplemented with more narcotics tomorrow. Sometime later when I awake, I will be done with this alien invasion of my chest and think about getting up and back in the game.

Great quote which seems to sum up my experience this past month or so, "You fly in and you think a thing's going to happen one way, and it invariably happens the other way."

Later. Tim