Yesterday was a big day for me. I got to sleep late while Jackie
volunteered at the local hospital. When she got home I drove back in
to the other local hospital to take a Cancer patient home after her
chemo treatment. After returning home we waited for our son and
daughter to arrive from New York. The four of us were going to spend
the weekend at a local college doing a "We Can Weekend" with the
American Cancer Society. Late in the afternoon my face began to swell
and itch. I was concerned, but I wasn't going to cancel the weekend
retreat.

We arrived at the college and registered at 6:30pm. Then we had pizza,
chips, and pastries. By 7pm I realized that my facial swelling was
serious and left with my son for the emergency room of the local
hospital. The doctor gave me a diagnosis of shingles, prescribed an
antiviral medication, and told me to go home and wait a week for it to
clearup.

My son has navigation problems, especially at night and in the rain.
So, we returned to the college, told Jackie the bad news, and our
daughter Laura came with me to pickup the prescription, drop me off at
home, and return to be with Jackie and our son, Ed. On the way home
there was a muffler in the middle of the road. I swerved in a last
second attempt to miss it, but it was too late. After the bump and the
noise as we ran over it, we counted 5 cars pulled off the road with
people standing behind them in the pouring rain. Using my cell phone I
called 911 to report the problem and drove on the rim of the left
front wheel the last mile to get home. We parked and swapped into
Laura's car to get to the pharmacy for my prescription. We got there
at 9:03pm - 3 minutes after they closed. We then had to drive 15 miles
back to the hospital where there was a 24 hour pharmacy. On the way
back we noted that there were now 8 cars off the road with their
emergency flashers on and 3 state police cars directing traffic. It
was backed up about 5 miles. At least, we weren't on that side of the
road. The pharmacy was mobbed with people waiting for prescriptions
including one woman who apparently had taken drugs and alcohol and was
incoherent and a bit violent. They called both the police and an
ambulance for her. I got my prescription and we returned home, but
took a back road instead of the turnpike.

By now it was after 10pm and the Boston Red Sox/Detroit Tigers game
was over, but I had recorded it on my DVR. So I tried to relax and
watched the game skipping over the commercials and fast forwarding
much of the pitch and wait stuff that goes on during a low scoring
game. The recording ended with the Red Sox trailing 2-1 in the top of
the 9th inning, 2 outs, and a 1 strike count on the last Red Sox
batter. I went to bed saddened by the belief that my beloved hometown
team had lost.

It wasn't until noon today that I learned what happened next. A single
was followed by a 2 run home run and the Red Sox led into the bottom
of the 9th 3-2. Their rookie pitcher then shut down Detroit for his
20th consecutive save and a Red Sox win.

I may be home alone and very uncomfortable, but I am happy knowing
that something is right with the world. Jackie, Laura, and Ed are
having a good time at the Cancer retreat, too.

Shalom,
Chuck