Lincoln!

This is my new nephew, Lincoln.

Also as of tomorrow, I will have successfully finished 7 weeks of being a nonsmoker. More soon to follow... trust me!

Karen the Great!!!

As per my word, this entry is completely in honor of Karen Solas! She successfully answered when and where the picture of Cody and I was taken. Indeed it was from 2000 on a night we did a Theatre Sports show at a Starbucks in Ft. Collins. Now, I can tell you several things that would spell out how cool and amazing Karen is, but the simple fact that she knew the info on that picture YEARS before meeting any of us, is an indication of greatness in my opinion.

Oh, sure... she's humble enough to try and share the credit with the other half of Duo Team, but we all know false modesty when we see it. Besides, this is what Nate was doing that very night:



Does it look like a night he would recall voluntarily?

I think not.




As for Karen and her greatness, I have seen her lovingly tend to the wilderness surrounding the Twin Cities and I have seen her stiff arm guys on the football field. She has proven to be an ideal match for our oddball friend Nate. I admire her energy, humor, and zest for life.

Well played Karren!

Insurance?

A few years back, I had a run in with a rare-ish eye problem called Iritis. At the time I was still serving the green apron master, Starbucks and had insurance. I am tremendously grateful that I did as I was very close to losing that eye before a doctor was able to successfully diagnose me and begin extensive treatments. I was on about three different drops a day for weeks and had to go see a doc at least once week for nearly a month. Even with insurance, I paid a fortune in copays. It was worth it though, I still have my right eye.

Now I am usually a pretty healthy guy. I get sick very rarely and it passes with little true inconvenience. More often I get strange injuries like the aforementioned eye dilemma (or the several under "eye" category I could list). Thankfully I have been in more ER's for stitches and the like, I ma decent at knowing how serious more bumps and scrapes are. I am decent, but no MD.

What concerns me is one of the facts about Iritis they hammered home to me. "This could come back." Every time I get a little blur or pain over there those words ring in my ears. I know I should have insurance. I also think the whole industry is a crock of shit (watch Sicko and see if you can't agree a little with that). I don't know what to do here as far as finding what I need. I have spent all morning surfing the health care providers sites and NONE of them look appealing. It's as if some lawyers got tired of fucking people in court and decided sick people would be easier targets. Between the clip-art photos of happy, healthy people and the little things like "100% copay till annual deductible ($5000) is reached," I don't know what to think. Honestly, as often as I get sick, it feels like I would be better off sticking $70 - $120 a month in a savings account and call that my insurance.

Any thoughts out there?
By the by... the picture has nothing to do with the post. Who needs a picture on health problems? However, major points (and an entire Captain Stupie post on your greatness) may be earned if you can tell me where and when this photo was taken?

4th and 4th

The 4th of July was truly a blast. We joined Freddie and Laurel for a BBQ.

Now there seems to be a humorous route by which the actual grill joined us. When Cody, Laurel and I lived together on Belle Plaine, Scott, Jason, and Noah lived here. They had close ot 5 used grills lined up on the fence out back, not moving in the least. Cody and I figured they might not miss one of them, so with the aid of my Metro we "borrowed" one. We used it all summer and enjoyed it thoroughly. When it came time to leave that apt., Cody and I both were also leaving Chicago and lightly. Laurel kept it and eventually moved in upstairs from the boys here. They brought the grill... back actually. So here it is again, with a new grill.

We enjoyed Jenny and Clayton, Colleen, Rick and even Cody's company. The food was great and we eventually went up the Freddie and Laurel's place to play Rock Band. That was fantastic. Hell, even Tiff gave it a crack.

After everyone departed, Tiff and I made a last minute choice to walk down to the lake to see some fireworks. We almost made it but opted not to at the last minute. Instead we watched from our "L" platform. We saw a couple and that was good, but more importantly we enjoyed the company.

I am officially at 4 weeks now without a cigarette. That marks my official move to "Step 2" patches. So far after 20 minutes, all I can say is they are smaller. Oh, and my 2 mile run yesterday was under 14 minutes. That was pretty good for me!

Three Weeks

I am now three weeks into the latest (and last, hopefully) quit smoking effort. All is well thus far but there is a part of me that is not sure how much of that is due to familiarity and how much is due to the 21mg patch on my back. I am excited to almost be ready to go to Step 2 patches. It will feel a little like I am getting somewhere. That is one of the frustrating parts about quitting something that's not so good for you.


On one hand you want a lot of credit and accalaid for it because it's hard and awkward and you feel like a fucking alien. On the other hand, you are finally doing what you are supposed to be doing. People don't get awards for going to work, paying their bills, and not stealing. That is what they are SUPPOSED to do. That took a long time after I quit drinking to get through my head. I think it's also a problem my entire generation is struggling with. The "participant" award troubles. Seems we were brought up to believe that just showing up was all we needed to win something. Life does not seem to work that way. There are winners and there are losers. I get to be both, sometimes several times a day. What I don't get is a seat on the train just because I made it to the platform?!? "No fair!" Heh.

Wow, I didn't even see that soapbox coming...

In other news, last Saturday Tiff and I visited the Big Easy right here in the Windy City. We cracked open the Beignet Mix and Chicory Coffee I bought down at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. They came out pretty good actually. Tiff enjoyed making them so much, she eventually took over and I sugared and ate. I thought this was an acceptable arrangement. We then boogied over to our friend Dana's place for his annual Crawfish Boil.




Dana went to college in Louisiana and once a year has a bunch of crawfish shipped up. The event is amazing, even if you are a little creeped out by it. Even the tremendous rain bursts we saw could not stop the enjoyment. They were delicious. Our cajun day in Chicago was a lot of fun!

Lastly, I got a message this morning from my Mom. Jenn (Adam's wife), is at the hospital and in the early stages of labor. My brother is in the air on the way home right now. It's funny in that last night he called me to tell me he was on the top of the Empire State Building. Perhaps before I am even back on the dock tonight from a pirate show I am helping with, I will have a nephew!

This would be the ocassion to get an award just for showing up!

ps:
As of 12:53pm Chicago time, I have a nephew!! Lincoln Adam Coleman has arrived!!