Hello from Springfield

Well since our last meeting I have been to Peoria,Springfield,New Salem and a Pacer home opener. But by far my favorite is home. Peoria is the home of Para Al Dice casino and the room was nice. However the Springfield Holiday In Express was marvelous. We enjoyed our time visiting Mr. Lincoln. I always learn something and I learned this time that Young Abe did not get along very well with his father. In fact it seems that when his father was dying he was asked to go and see him. He replied it would be to painful for both of us and did not go. A highlight was the Springfield Wal-Mart which got me a bears hat and some other goodies. Then the trip to Abe's young adult home of New Salem was fun as it is a lot like Spring Mill in Indiana. Tonight Shawn treated Susan and me to the Pacer's opening night which turned out great expept the Pacers lost their 2nd game of the season. Tomorrow is Halloween (big Wup)and Sunday is my 24th anniversay. It seems like yesterday really it does. So the next few days I should see plenty of family which is nice. Tim seems to be in no commumication mode which was expected. Austin was at his second basketball game and again really loved it. So were Jonathan and Lauren. I do not like being handicapped but it is nice at games and for parking. It helps a lot. My room is a frigging mess maybe I'll clean it up. I tt Pat today and he seems fine as always. He told me Vanessa is playing keys on the piano at Jim and Joyce's house. I mean like she really is trying to play not just bang on the keys. Susan might want to give her a pointer or 2.

SHIPPING OUT

I was at what used to be the Army finance Center. Part of it is now a disembarking station for the armed forces. Why was I there, well it wasn't me going back in! Tim joined the Army and hopes to become a Combat Medic. He was sworn in this morning and will ship out this afternonn arriving at Ft Still Oklahoma tonight. He then will spend 3 mos in basic trainig and probably another 3 most in tech school learning to bwe a medic. A lot of feelings came out this morning. First was support of Tim who at 31 years of age is late blooming. We support and care for him and I told him how proud of him we are. I have 4 sons and I had hoped not would have to serve in the military. Two others are studying to become police officers another stressful career. Next it brought back a flood of memories of one of the darkest times of my life. In 1968 I joined the USAF and was sent to Lackland AFB in Texas. I earned the national service defense medal for joining in time of war. I was in for 6 weeks before being sent home with a variety of problems one of which was blood pressure. It was probably the worst time of my life and I do not enjoy thinking of those times. Another thing that is hard is one of my kids broke up with a girlfried of 3years and that too is tough. Figure in a few medical things and one can see why my colonitis has kicked in. Oh and my fantasy FB team lost this week to. today's remedy is 14 pieces of candy corn and a diet coke. Oh that reminds me. Today I heard a lot of military terms that actually make no sense. One "having chow", why can't a soldier just eat like every one else. Another is "having every thing squared away". What does that mean, is everything put in a square box? Why can't things just be done. The last one I agree with "hurry up and wait"

BASEBALL'S FINAL DAY OF SEASON

Well today is the last day of the season. The Reds will have their 7th losing season in a row but have hope with a lot of young guys. Its sad in a way but the playoffs are here and so is football, basketball and hockey so not to worry. The Colts play Seattle today and I figure they will win but am not sure about them over the long haul. This is going to be a big week. First Austin goes to the doctor about his heart to see if its better? Later in the week is a wedding rehersal, and Wedding of Russ and Lynn Bradshaw. I don't have any medical proceedures but last week I had two days of testing. They tested my heart with and without stress. The stress test did not involve a treadmill like when mom had her problem. Instead they give one a shot of some vodo medicine and it simulates stress. The problem is that it feels like your heart races and one can't get their breath for almost a minute. I didn't have a problem but it certainly wasns't fun. One bright spot was at 7:15am Russ and Lynn showed up for moral support. We had breakfast in the cafeteria. After that they give you some radioactive stuff that they now follow thru your heart for 15 minutes. The MRI machine takes pictures while rotatinng around you chest. Some like Tom get claustrophobic but I was okay. It was hard for me to lay still for that many minutes. The next day they do the same except without the stress. Its supposed to track the heart for defects and hardening of the arteries. I appreciate people like Gary Plunkitt, Tom and Patti Mink, as well as Russ and Lynn Bradshaw for their support during this really fun time. As they used to say in the "HATS OFF" to ya.