Sylvia

On the way to work this morning I was delayed by a “SIG Alert” on the 101. I don’t know what a “SIG Alert” is exactly, but I know that there was an accident. A multiple-car accident that blocked three lanes of traffic and made me almost an hour late to the office. There were injuries, but I don’t know details. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to hear that someone was killed.
On NPR there was a story about a water-shortage in some third-world country - I don’t even remember which one - and how people are starving to death there. I read today (on line) about some teenagers killed in Ireland, and another shark attack. Several Iraqi soldiers were killed when the chemical weapons they were developing exploded.
There is a homeless man that plays his harmonica for change on the corner of my exit. I pass him almost every morning while I’m talking on my cell phone and driving my shiny red pick-’em-up truck.

Three hundred sixty-five days ago today I left Tampa, Florida and began the drive that would take me to Los Angeles, California.

So much has happened in that time, and so much hasn’t happened, that I am amazed that I ever look at my life and worry about what it is.

It is a life.

And it is pretty good.

In the Summertime - Mungo Jerry
Several years ago I visited Ocean City (or is it Ocean Beach?), MD with my then-wife and my dad and his girlfriend. Sylvia and I heard this really great music in a little surf shop and I bought the double-CD “Ska Bonanza” on the spot. It’s one of my favorite CDs. Great stuff.

Yes. Now that you mention it. Rachel Hunter was in Tampa today. She spent the day with Sylvia visiting cancer patients. She also managed to find time to say this.

To Do

• take invoice to title company
• oil & filter change for the Legend
• 11:00 am meeting
• update MS Money
• make mix CD
• recharge phone
• finish laundry
• handle football ticket situation
• shave
• harass Andrea
• call Ron
• buy Sylvia her own computer

Billy was in the neighborhood IRL and stayed at Chez Gagne last night. He got here around noon and I had the place all ship-shape by then. I showed him the house and we chatted and did the techno equivalent of showing pictures from our wallets: we showed each other pictures from our computers. (Billy has a laptop.) We roamed around Tampa for a bit in his rented Sebring convertible; had a fabulous lunch/dinner at Shells. Sylvia and Billy and I went to see “What Lies Beneath” at the Hyde Park theater at night. (Decent movie; nothing to write home about.) Afterwards Billy and I sat on the front porch and he played my guitar a bit and we philosophized. It was was pretty cool.

Christmas Redux
There has been a huge suitcase on the floor next to the bed since the day we moved here. I’ve been using it as a nightstand. I had one of my (pointless) alarm clocks on it and several articles of clothing have been tossed there. I had been growing increasingly upset with Sylvia for not unpacking it. There must be tons of clothes in it, I thought. It looked so messy, too, sitting there making the room look more like a hotel room than a bedroom. It was driving my crazy. Before we left for Orlando I finally snapped. “When are you going to unpack that thing, anyway?” Sylvia snapped back, “When are you going to unpack it?! It’s all your stuff!”

Now it is a little like Christmas here. I got six or seven new pairs of my favorite shorts, two dozen t-shirts, and several pairs of dress khakis. No wonder it seemed like I never had any clothes for work!

explaining the webcam shots today:
Since Sylvia left for the hospital at 6 am and won’t return until tomorrow afternoon, I figured it would be a good idea to make it look like someone is home.

The weekend shifts of an OB-GYN at Tampa General do not appear to be fun-centric. Sylvia works from 1 pm today until 8 am tomorrow. Then she has to be back from 8 am until 5 pm Sunday.

In other news: I am currently cellphoneless right now and I feel like a man out of reach. Thank Papa Smurf for ICQ, fourteen different eMail addresses, voice mail, answering machine, work phone, and, y’know, the 83 other ways you can find me. I still feel helpless though. Damn you Powertel for getting me hooked on wireless technology!

Finally got to bed around five. Somehow Sylvia managed to wrest me from unconsciousness around 6:30 long enough for me to understand that she was leaving for the hospital. (She’s working 7-7 in the ER today and tomorrow.) My death-like slumber was disturbed around 8:30 by the carpenters from DeNome Construction working with a SawZall and hammers and skill saw and - I assume - a jackhammer on the little piece of my skull right behind my left ear. It has been said by greater minds than mine that I could sleep through a freight train running through my living room. That always makes me think of an episode of Steven Spielberg’s old Amazing Stories show. Regardless. They are incorrect. No one can sleep through a SawZall. So I was up by 8:33 and drinking coffee. Screw this. If I have to do this, so does Jorge. Nothing like waking your best friend in LA around 7 PST. heh heh.

Yesterday was a long day. It was, after all, my birthday. I really only get to grossly force everyone to pay attention to me once each year, so I like to take advantage. True, I spend the other 364 days of the year trying to get you to pay attention to me, but those days don’t really count. To everyone who has played along with me, my profound thanks. To the sweetheart that send me an eCard, it was a little tacky, but I loved it. To the silly fools who left me voice mail, I love you. To the many of you that sent me eMail, you are wonderful. To those of you who blogged me, even maliciously, you made my day. To those of you who don’t know I exist, I’m sorry you’re missing it.

Our story begins with our intrepid hero sitting at home waiting for the Time-Warner cable guy(s) to bless me with blazing speed. “Sign right here,” he said. “I’ll be here between 10 and noon on Monday,” he said. I spent the morning working on something called a Packaging List Pass-Out Form. I also drank two cups of coffee. Sylvia did laundry and went to check out a gym which we might join. I blogged intermittently.

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Sylvia and I went to a dinner party last night at the Tampa Club. It is a very classy (probably the classiest) restaurant at the top of the Barnett … Nationsbank … Bank of America skyscraper downtown. It was a sort of graduation ceremony for the OB-GYN residents who were completing their fourth year. Lots of doctors. I was a bit underdressed in a pair of khakis, Docs, white dress shirt, and tie. Everyone else was in tuxedos, suits, and gowns.

So many people neglected to RSVP that some of us ended up sitting at hastily arranged tables in the bar. Not surprisingly, I became good friends with the bartender and the piano player. We sat near the end of the bar and discussed the amazing lightning show proceeding across the bay. Sylvia and I left as they were serving dessert so we could meet Ryan back at the house. This was around ten-fifteen.

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Bud tried to keep me bound and gagged, but eventually Sylvia and Jenny found me under the desk. We escaped and are now living in Tampa. There’s too much to unpack now and too many things to do. I will tell you all about moving as soon as I can. Otherwise look for me on-line *early* in the morning if you wanna catch me.
Billy and Jess, you two are faboo. (I am more of the Foo Fighters type, if that’s what you mean, Bill.)

It’s funny that Sylvia and I both went to our respective domains to start packing when we got back to Gainesville tonight. She is downstairs organizing photos and the assorted tchotchkes surrounding the television zone, so she can watch MTV while she packs. [Note to women: Is *your* ob-gyn watching MTV right now?] I am upstairs in the office trying to cram all the peripherals and desk stuff into boxes, so I can reach over and type a quick post while I pack.

Sylvia painted my toenails at the party last night. I’ve never had my toenails painted. They are sparkly dark green now.