10-17-2004: Well, I had an uncle pass away on Thursday.

It wasn't a surprise - he had recently been diagnosed with renal and pancreatic cancers. He "hadn't been feeling well" for a while; for several months in fact. And it turned out to be a double-whammy of renal and pancreatic cancer. That's an incredibly BAD combination. I lost an aunt to pancreatic cancer many years ago - it is fast, it is relentless, and there's not a helluva lot you can do about it.

Personally, I think he gave up when he was diagnosed... He lost his wife and love of his life Stella many years ago, and that broke his spirit. He missed her so incredibly much, and so I don't think he fought very hard once the diagnosis was handed down.

I think the powers above handed him an offer of mercy, and he took it. Rest in peace and be with your beloved wife, Uncle Marvin.

10-08-2004:Oh good lord, let this day end...

I need to rewind a few months, to emphasize the impact of this morning's events.

It's been several months since I've slept worth a shit. My bed is a queen-sized mattress and box spring balanced on a double-sized frame. The mattress and box spring are like a gazillion years old, bought from a friend a while ago. It has suited me, until these last couple of months. And I distinctly remember mentioning to my good friend Gina that my sleeping patterns were changing again.

So, I'm sleeping like ass. And this very morning, I was sleeping very well - I was snuggling up to Angelina Jolie in my dream (yes, I was SNUGGLING, you perverted bastards), and then my alarm rang. *BLAMMO* right out of REM sleep.

At that very moment (and I remember thinking this very clearly), I knew today was going to suck ass.

So I got up and went to work as usual, grumbling and pissing and moaning the entire way. No coffee, coffee burns my ass after two years in EE at ISU. Just water and a pissy mood.

I get to work, and of course one of our build machines is down for the count. No symptoms, no errors, it's just not responding on the network. And of COURSE we don't have a %()*@#&$()*& console on it. So I spend the rest of the morning screwing around, trying to get logged into the stupid thing. At approximately 11:20AM, I finally got a console on it. And by that time I was so annoyed I left it and went to lunch. They can wait, that damned machine has already been down for a few hours.

SO, that's how my day was. Boring, stupid, annoying, frustrating, etc. Blah blah blah.

10-03-2004: Well folks, would you believe we're still alive? We are, indeed.

More stuff coming very soon.