Sunday afternoon. Hmmmm, there must be a way to get away from Courier font..... Looks like I have succeeded.
Liz and I went to Tom O'Brien's wake today. Tom is the man who started the Workbound program in the Oostburg school district where our kids went to school. My late son, Greg, was one of those in the program during its pilot year. Tom's wife told us how profoundly Greg's death affected Tom. I remember that Tom prepared a tribute video for us with footage that we will always treasure. I particularly remember a segment where Greg is on camera talking to an interview team at B&B Ford. Greg was explaining that, yes, his dad had accepted that he would not be going to college and that he was ok with this career choice.
Tom O'Brien was the kind of a man who I think will get into heaven before me. His workbound program helped all three of our kids. He helped Greg, Theresa and Geoff get several jobs and experience things that helped them eliminate several careers from their consideration. I will always be grateful for what he gave my kids.
I've made the decision to explore joining the local barbershop singing society. Church choir just isn't doing it for me. I don't go to the Thursday practices so all the practice I get is 30-45 minutes before mass. There are just two tenors and the other guy is a great singer. I follow him and listen for notes from him and he is almost always right on.
But I've wanted to sing harmony with other singers and not be overwhelmed by instruments. My voice is good enough, I think, to hold its own with other singers and I LOVE to sing harmony. I'm not so sure that I really care for the old fashioned Barbershop style but modern barbershop quartets are not restricted to doing only the old style stuff.
I've been pretty much on the fence with this idea for some time but Scott Crevier, our web developer at SNC, is in a quartet that came and serenaded our secretaries on Valentine's day. I was very impressed with the way their voices blended together.
Meetings are in Plymouth on Tuesdays at 7:30. That conflicts with my jail meeting schedule but I can switch the jail thing to Thursdays for now until golf league starts in the spring. Anyway, I'm kinda excited about this barbershop thing.
Liz also reminded me today that if I am going to remove myself from this funk that I am in, I'd better take some steps. Exercise is the way to climb out of depression. I'm going to start walking at the Campus Center gym during my lunch hour. My iPod will make good company.
Think I'm going to ask John for a week of vacation starting a week from Monday. I need a trampoline to get me though till spring. Liz is so tied up with graduate school and school school that she can't take any time off. I'm going to see if I can get some things figured out about my pension.
Finally, I'd like to leave you with a picture. Bauer has a whole blog devoted to the progress on the motorcycle that he hasn't even ridden yet. I can show you a picture of me taken about 13 years ago. There I am with my suspenders and my Apple IIgs.

Ok. My fans demand it. I must write. After a few anonymous comments received today, I'm here.

As usual, I think of all these things to write while I am in the car driving to work. Probably there are more in the morning than in the afternoon.

Here's my latest pet peeve. It's called Just Say Hi, Dammit!!
Why do people insist on greeting me with "What's up?", "How are you?", "What's happening?"
Y'know what's up? The frickin' sky! The ceiling. The heads of tall people. Point up and say "That way"! Get a clue!
What's happening? Well, right now, I'm breathing in. No, out. No, in. No, out. Well, you get the picture. Life is happening. If you don't really want me to tell you, then don't frickin' ask!!! I WILL tell you but since, in most cases, I don't know you well enough, you really don't want to know.
Finally, how am I? Sometimes, I feel great. Sometimes, I'm depressed. Often, I am frustrated and angry. Sometimes I am tired. Once again, if you are not a close friend, then you don't really want to know, so stop asking.
Just say, "Hello, George." Smile. I will think you like me or care about me and I won't feel obligated to reply with some insincere and mostly false answer. It bothers me to say I'm fine when I'm not and it reminds me that I am not fine. Is that what you want?
Finally, if you are a pretty female with generous breasts, cradle my head between them, stroke my hair, and just say "it's all right, now." Oh, wait. That was mom. I never got enough of that. She died when I was 30. I guess by then, I was too old for the "cradle my head" bit, but, I can still have my fantasies.....

Tomorrow will be the 11th anniversary of Greg's accident. My son Greg ran into the back of a school bus that day and after 5 days in intensive care, was declared brain dead. It's so hard to hate February so bad. Geoff's birthday was three days ago. Theresa's was 13 days ago. And tomorrow is the day that Greg left us at age 19. There's a hole in my heart. It hurts that I can't remember him very much except through pictures. I watch that video that we made a Christmas a year or two before he died. It's hard to bring myself to do it, but I must and I kinda enjoy it. It hurts to feel that I don't think of Greg as often as I used to but that's good in a way too. I pray for him every morning. That's nearly 11 years of prayers.
If you see me tomorrow, I'll probably be busy. I may not be thinking about Greg at the moment and that's fine. But as I drive to school tomorrow morning, I'll probably think of him. Maybe I will cry as I drive down the road. Maybe I won't.

I am reading, er, listening to "The Time Traveller's Wife", a novel. After about 6 hours of the book, I'm starting to get into it. It has been tough though at times. It's about this man who is suddenly and uncontrollably transported from the present to the past or future. He arrives naked and has to forage for food and clothes until he is just as uncontrollably and unpredictably transported back to the present. I look forward to listening to the rest of the book.

When that book is done, then I'll listen to the unabridge version of "The DaVinci Code". Theresa says it's very rivetting. I usually like what Theresa likes so I'm looking forward to listening to it. Audio books sure make my 80 minute commute less of a chore. Now that I belong to Audible.com, I get two books each month for $21.95. I can download them as many times as I want so I don't have to archive them on my laptop or iPod. It seems to be a great deal for me.

So, I'm trying to make it through the bleak month of February. It is like a black veil for me. I will try to stay positive and think of others rather than myself. Yeah, hope that works for me.

I guess I've given you a big enough slice of me for today. Thanks for reading.

Ciao, babies!