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Ski resort expands search for missing snowboarder

I thought the headline said this at first

Ski resort expands search for missing snowblower

iplaying: Malibu – Hole (Celebrity Skin)

I need to find a crummy old comic book to try this out! That would be way cool!

Thanks to Paul at the Wolfshack for providing this link.

http://www.kerismith.com/funstuff/wallet.htm

iplaying: Show Me The Way – Peter Frampton (Frampton Comes Alive!). Let us not forget that Peter Frampton is the maker of the other great hit Sweet Emotion. Mike, that comment goes out to you.

I think 2008 brings a little more website updates from yours truly. I feel I let the masses down from time to time.

Dad went for an angiogram this morning which lets the doctors take a look inside your heart to see if there is anything amiss. Sure enough, they then took him to put a stent inside an artery as there was blockage. I looked at a picture and I’m not a doctor but I would say the artery was 100% blocked as there was gap between one side of the artery to the other!

He is now resting as they have to cut open the main artery to get in to do this kind of thing and should be out of the hospital tomorrow. Hopefully this will fix it up!

The last few days in the hospital have been interesting and if I feel like it I’ll write more about them in the future. For now, I think I’ll take a nap but there is also this lingering question…

If he had an angiogram in October and it showed that an artery was 60% blocked and three months later, it is fully blocked (even though they said that would be rare), does this mean:

1) Someone misread the angiogram the first time and there was more blockage than originally thought?
2) Is there somehow some hyperactivity in Dad’s blockage-making centers of his body that make it blocked faster than a speeding bullet?

Ah well…we’ll figure this stuff out later.

iplaying: The Rose March – The Smashing Pumpkins (American Gothic EP)

I try to keep this site up to date over the holidays but sometimes it’s difficult and then I’ll just throw a random information update which will have you saying “Whaaa?”

I am now in Sudbury, the place of my birth as I drove Mom done so we can see Dad in the hospital. They were planning to put both Dad and Mom on the Air Ambulance to go to Sudbury to see the cardiologist but as soon as they were boarding the plane, the pilot informed Mom that no one informed them that Mom would be coming so they had too much fuel on board. So I packed my bags and drove Mom and myself to Sudbury.

I have never really remembered going to Sudbury in my later years in my life so it was odd to hear that I could get there through Timmins. We packed up the truck with all survival gear; sleeping bags, candles, snowsuits…it’s a dangerous time to be travelling in the winter up North. Mom kept warning me about the Highway 144 which connects Timmins to Sudbury…it was barren and there no civilization for 300 kilometers.

This was chugging through my head on the way down. The trip only began around 3PM and it already started off bad as the sub we bought was hard to eat while driving and there was now mustard all over my jacket and seat! After getting a scolding from Mom for asking for too many toppings, the rest of the trip went fine until hitting up Wal-Mart for some windshield washer and I couldn’t find the latch to pop open the hood of Dad’s truck. For a valiant 5 minutes I searched and searched but I could not figure it out. I stared at the mechanism for a solid 30 seconds to see what part connected to which. In the end I realized that it was a simple pull of a lever which had alluded me which popped the hood and we were on our way.

HWY 144 is a disaster. Small. No Cellphone towers. Snows. Argh. While there weren’t any close calls, I was on edge the entire trip as we passed oncoming traffic and you were shifted to the side of the road. I felt like a big man coming down the hallway and I was Peter Parker being shoved to the side.

Mom introduced me to the CBC on the ride as the CDs Maureen gave me were god-awful. She even had mixes entitled “Soft” and “Evil”. Gak. CBC was amazing….they had some amazing jazz sessions as well as a songwriting session where last year songwriters submitted 27 words that encompassed their past year or what they saw in the upcoming year of 2007 and then other songwriters wrote music to it. Very inspiring and I may ask you all to submit your 27 words so I can use them to build songs with.

In the end, we made it through HWY 144 and after some questionable directions from Mom, we arrived at the hospital (we passed by Northern Brewery!) and saw Dad on the 5th floor. I think it relieved all involved to see a) Dad in Sudbury to see a cardiologist and b) Us show up safe and sound.

After visiting for a few minutes (as it was past visiting hours), we headed to Gary and Susan’s place where I was introduced to the most amazing basement (if not house) of all time – a basement with motion sensor lights, a hot tub, beer bottles from heaven’s knows where and a beer keg in the fridge. A smile crept on my face when Dad prepared me for it at the hospital but when Gary was showing me how to pour the beer, it was all fun and games at that point. We then headed to their deck which they converted to a den and had fun for a few hours before retiring for the night.

So here I am in Sudbury in a bedroom typing away and hoping that Dad will see the cardiologist tomorrow. Chances are that he won’t as it is a Sunday but you never know. At least he is here where some world-renowned cardiologists reside.

As for the quick update before I update the past few days: Dad has been having pain since the beginning of December which resulted in a hospital stay. Hasn’t gotten better since then to the point where he has chest pain while walking to the washroom. Brought him into the hospital on December 27th and has now arrived in Sudbury today. Don’t know how long we will be here. Vero has in her heart offered to drive us and take care of us but let’s be honest…I appreciate that and if we do need your help, you’re a phone call away.

Christmas Eve brought forth the standard fare of wrapping gifts when the clock is ticking. We ended up running out of nametags so I had to resort to the old tried and true method of sticking a piece of paper onto it with someone’s name on it.

Church was fine and I would like to mention that Krista and I got a shout out for being some fine servers back in the day and how St. Mark’s wished that we could find jobs in town so we could come back and serve. Let it be said here that if I ever came into some money, I would hire the church a server.

I headed over to the Townsons for an excellent feast as well as some drinks and National Lampoon’s. The Losiers came over as well as my old manager at Wal-Mart (along with his family) and we laughed at some good stories as well as our favourite parts of the film. Thanks to the Townsons for hosting yet another smashing event!

I then headed over to the Konopelkys with drink in hand and finished off the night there before heading home with my family.

The next morning I awoke from my slumber to find a stocking thrown at my face. All I know is I peeked into it and noticed the words lose flab. I groaned and turned over. No magazine should say those words on Christmas morning!

After some excellent breakfast from Mom, we headed downstairs to start opening the gifts.

Highlights:

• Mom yelling at Dad for opening up one of my gifts (it was an excellent book called Run of the Town by Terrence West. He comes from Hearst and lives now in Ottawa where he has written stories about his youth in a small Northern town.) Anyhow I had picked this gift up for Dad but we didn’t realize that Mom and Dad had also picked it up for me so Mom thought Dad had opened up my gift! Ha ha. We had a good laugh and I added “Quel surprise!” when I opened up my own copy.
• Maureen got me some excellent Christmas tree ornaments in the form of some characters from A Christmas Story as well as a very original gift in the form of a gift certificate to Ticketmaster to help out with all my concerts. Neat-o!
• I also got some excellent gifts from Nannies (Thanks!) as well as some other great gifts such as a work bench and some great books/DVDs.

The Konopelkys came over for an early lunch where we watched some Christmas specials on TV, had some great grub and lazed around until the nighttime. Unfortunately, Dad wasn’t feeling too good again so he had to lie down for awhile. Hopefully it wasn’t the turkey which did it!

Recapture some of that magique that you had when creeping down the stairs to see what Santa brought you under the tree today.

Also, gorge yourself with some wine, turkey and let’s not forget the stuffing. It’s called that for a reason.

Uncle Gary sent in the final Christmas survey of the year to round out our 12 Days of Christmas (however unlucky the number seems to be!). I hope everyone has enjoyed reading these surveys and I hope it got you in the mood for the holiday season which we are pretty well in the moment of right about now!

What is your favourite thing about Christmas?
Giving a gift that makes everyone say ” How did you think of that “. Throughout the year listening to your loved ones, making mental notes of what they like, love enjoy, miss from years ago, etc. The spending hours, upon hours, making, building, asking, looking, searching, planning and finally giving the gift that wow’s them all. Never use lists !!!!!!!! Enjoy the ART OF GIVING !!!

What’s your least favourite thing about Christmas?
Sacrificing being with your family to be with the ones you love, being too many miles away to be close to them, to see their smiles, to see their happiness, to be a part of their life !! But, all the while enjoying the life you lead and the new family you created !

What’s better? The Christmas Story or National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation? Why?
You must add “It’s a wonderful life” to me it win’s hands down over the two spoof’s of Christmas. Think about your life and ask yourself this question ” How wonderful is your life?”

Do you have a guardian angel, by the name of “Clarence” or “Sydney” everyone has one…mine is “Sydney” he brought Lois into my life !!!

What’s your favourite drink during the holiday season?
Rum punch or Pina Colada on a tropical Island called Cuba.

What should Vero get Palmer for Christmas?
Vero should GIVE Palmer all the love that Palmer has GIVEN her all year long, Palmer on the other hand should GIVE Vero MORE of the LOVE she deserves for being a part of Palmer’s life and making his a “WONDERFUL LIFE!!!”

He also wanted to add the following:
Christmas is about being YOUNG, thinking young, feeling young, living young and most of all believing in Santa.

The Holidays Gods have blessed me with a clear head after a hard night of rocking at the legion. Dad showed me how to operate the plough on the ATV and plowed the driveway for awhile as it was raining and crappy outside so everything was slush. After resting easy in the morning and picking up a few last minute things (including some wrapping paper as someone misplaced theirs), Randy and Lina came over to visit. I haven’t seen Randy in a few years and had never met Lina so I was anxious for the day to begin. After talking with my folks for a bit, Randy and I retired to the basement and the magic was recaptured as we jammed together again. Randy was the first person I really jammed with when I started playing guitar. We played some classics and he introduced me to a few tunes I never tried out like Tripping Daisy’s Piranhas and Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game (which I remember Three Days Grace covering last year). John also showed up with his electric guitar and provided some mythical lead guitar. He is by far the most talented guitar player I have ever met. It comes naturally to this individual.

After a few hours of jamming, Mom and Dad were gracious enough to invite everyone to a feed of moose meat. We then piled all the equipment into John’s Suburban and headed to Jeff’s. It was nice seeing him again and it was the first time I met his wife Kate and she is lovely. We continued the jam session and John taught me a few things about playing bass guitar and I had a good time while it lasted. The night descended into madness fueled by jamming and alcohol and by 1:00 I was ready to hit the sack. It was nice to walk the long walk home in the middle of a snowy night as it reminded me of my youth as I cut through the backyard of the french high school. Too bad that it had snowed all day long and the path was about a foot deep! I navigated well until the end where it turned into slush and it was all downhill from that point!

Our Mac enthusiast Artoo writes in with his thoughts on Christmas! Please note the photo with his true love…

What is your favourite thing about Christmas?
Oddly enough, I have to dig into Christmas past for this one. Christmas time memories of yore is what I like most about Christmas. From the time the lights go up to the time we take them down, it just seems that everything I do just reminds me of great past memories.

Wether it be at four or five years old, opening up my table hockey set and Star Wars action figures at my grand parent’s place on Rockwood street and then playing with my 3 cousins in the halls of that huge house — or a couple of years back, meeting my sweet right before Xmas and us going on our first date on boxing day. Christmas time is magical.

What’s your least favourite thing about Christmas?
The shopping. The hectic pace in public places. The stress that many people inflict on themselves to conform to the commercialism of Christmas. Relax people, it’s just Christmas!

What’s better? The Christmas Story or National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation? Why?
National Lampoon’s is my favorite of the two films. I have been watching it for years. Let’s face it, there is a little Griswold in all of us. I saw A Christmas Story for the first time a year or two ago. To quote Palmer on this one: ‘Don’t get me wrong, It’s a great film” but it’s not yet in my annual rotation of Christmas Specials.

Speaking of Christmas films or specials, I must admit that for me there is a new king in town. “Elf’ has become my favorite of all favorites. Syrup on pasta… Mmmmmm!

What’s your favourite drink during the holiday season?
Bailey’s… definately Bailey’s!!

What should Vero get Palmer for Christmas?
She should get him Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii or the Game Rock band for the PS3. Should she have trouble finding one of these items, she could buy him a cool Tintin book or the movies Spiderman 3 or Ratatouille in Blu Ray format. There is also an new Adventures of Young Indy Jones DVD set that just came out or the new Keane or Kylie Minogue Concert DVDs or… … oh.. what should VÉRO buy PALMER… .Ehm… nevermind!