Insult to Injury

I've had a pretty stressful week, about as stressful as I'd had in a long time. I didn't have a loved one die or get arrested or anything dire like that, but still... damn. Usually, when I need to de-stress, I'll pour a glass of one of my favorite beers and turn on my 360.  That just wasn't happening this past week. This was more like a Prozac/Xanax/Valium kind of week.

It started last Wednesday. I get a message left on my work phone from the school principal. She's frantic stating that my daughter had passed out and they called 911. Right behind her message was one from my wife stating that my daughter was sick and I needed to get to the school right away. So I ran out of work, barely stopping long enough to advise my manager of what was happening. I'll pause now to give you a little background. My daughter is a type 1 diabetic for about 6 years now. We've had our share of highs and lows and in the 6 years she has been to the hospital only a couple times. Mostly they were in the first few years while we were still learning the ropes on dealing with this disease. Being a teenager now, her hormonal instability has made keeping her blood glucose levels stable quite a challenge. Anyway, I run to the school which is only about 3 miles from where I work and find the paramedics there along with have the school staff. They gave her an IV of a dextrose solution and about 20-30 minutes later she was just fine. I mean fine like she was never sick at all. That's how screwed up this disease is. One minute you’re verging on a coma, the next your ready to party. She's fine now, but her doctor had to make some significant changes in her insulin dose.

My wife took her home and I followed, stopping to get some gas on the way. As I made a left onto the road that would lead me home, a motorcycle cop jumps out into the intersection and waves me over. He tickets me for running a red light. I protested, advising the officer, who had not been behind me but coming In the opposite direction, that the light didn't turn yellow until I had started into the intersection and I stopping wasn't an option at that point. He wasn't having it. He was in a real pissy mood too. Someone must have really got on his nerves earlier that day and I was going to pay for it. Pay for it meaning $188.50 plus driving school.

I get home and try to relax. I turn on my Xbox 360 and behold... three flashing red lights.

That was Wednesday.

The rest of the week and through the weekend I continued to monitor my daughter and make insulin adjustments. Her blood glucose levels remained unstable for days until we finally got the dose right. I had to go visit my parents over the weekend also. St Patrick’s Day was their 47th wedding anniversary (we're just a little Irish) so I drove to Orlando to throw them a little get together. We decided to have a fish fry and we fried everything we could think of:  fish, shrimp, calamari, potatoes... whatever. I also had plenty of Newcastle Brown to keep me company and it looked as if I was going to be able to relax and enjoy myself. But in true Irish tradition, before the day was done, everything went to shit and I remembered why I live 150 miles away.

The following Tuesday my wife turned on the computer and then yelled to come quick. I get out of bed (it was just before midnight) and rush to her side. I looked at the computer monitor and read the following (or something close to it): S.M.A.R.T. Error. Catastrophic failure eminent. Please back up you hard drive and replace it.

Fuck me. My week was complete. I didn't even write about everything, these were just some of the greatest hits.

So, here I am on Friday and my outlook is improving. I'm not completely done waiting for shoes to drop but I'm not actively looking for them either. My computer is repaired with no lost files and I even upgraded to a larger hard drive - 250gb.  The coffin for my 360 has come and it has gone. I hope my replacement is on its way soon. I missed the R6V2 launch but I know I'll catch up to the rest of my pals. My daughter is pretty much stabilized, just some minor tweaking. You're always making some minor tweaks. My stress levels are also starting to subside. If only I had some beer it would surley help. But alas, I spent all of my beer money on a hard drive.

Wait.. What’s this? A bottle of Newcastle Brown and a bottle of Harpoon IPA shoved back into the rear of the fridge?

 Thank you God, thank you.

Albert King & Stevie Ray Vaughan In Session - Stormy Monday

-Jim