The car is still in the shop. They needed to send it out to get the front end alignment done. We should have it back today. Still not 100% sure how we’re going to go about getting it, but at least it should be done.

The love of my life, the woman of my dreams, my wife is still feeling crappy but I think she might be a little better than she was. She was going to work from home today even if we had two cars, so the car still in the shop doesn’t change anything.

We pretty much stayed home yesterday. More or less. We took the car key to the shop because I didn’t want to just leave it there the night before. They have a drop box, but we wanted to include a list of things that needed to be done… and we didn’t have anything to write on when we dropped the car off. So we took the keys there early yesterday. We went out to lunch at a celebrity deli in Salem, NH called Lindy’s. It was pretty good. Their John Wayne sandwich is smoked ham. I don’t see that. If you’re going to name a sandwich after John Wayne it had damn well better have a ton of rare red meat in it. Just saying. Later we went to Kimballs for some ice cream. Ice cream always makes sick people feel better, doesn’t it? Not long after that, when we should have been eating a real dinner, we just called it a night and went to bed for a reading date. Jen zonked out at about 9:00 and I went out at about 10:00. Stephen King’s Under the Dome has turned into a page turner for me. I still have 400 pages left but I am burning through them at a pretty good clip.

As for today? There are ominous signs. Jen’s illness started in her stomach. My stomach is feeling a little off today. The pessimistic part of my wittle brain tells me that I may be about to have my turn with this bug that has already hit my wife, my parents, my brother, his wife, his daughter, my sister’s son, and my brother’s wife’s parents. The optimistic side tells me that I shouldn’t have essentially had ice cream for dinner last night and that I am fine. Which side is right? We shall see. I am really hoping it’s the ice cream because both kids have baseball/softball games tomorrow and I really want to go to them. Also, Sunday is mother’s day and there may be events that day too. There’s also that little thing about my birthday being tomorrow too… but we’re not going there, right? I’m turning 21 version 18. Right? Not going there.

Last night in the hockey world the San Jose Sharks started their inevitable collapse by failing in their attempt to sweep the Red Wings. They were up 3 games to none. Are they the 2004 Yankees? Probably. The Penguins also lost to the Canadiens. That series is now tied at two games apiece when it really should be over with the Penguins moving on. What to do about Montreal. They could be for real. That could suck. I HATE the Montreal Canadiens.

Tonight though… tonight… the Bruins and the Flyers. Game four. The Bruins are up three games to none. You might not agree with me, but I think this is a must win game for the Bruins. They cannot give Philly life. They must beat them now. Don’t wait for game five at home. Just win now. Use the time to rest up and get those who can get better (looking at you Mark Stuart) back in the line up. No mercy. No 2004 Yankees.

So how do we sum up today.

Get Better Jenny
Don’t Get Sick Robbie
Go Bruins!

Jen and I went to lunch at Lindy’s in Salem, NH. There were two police cars blocking the parking lot when we got there. The cops were out of their cars talking (questioning) someone.

I tried to take a picture… Covertly. How’d I do?

I like this picture betterer.

My plans for the evening last night included dropping the car at the shop, taking care of my wife who has the bug that’s going around, eating a little dinner, and watching game three of the Bruins/Flyers series. I was looking forward to a quiet night at home.

No way, Jose.

I met Jen at the garage. She had gone to the doctor and was given a couple of symptoms to look out for. She was told to call the doctor back if she developed a headache or a stiff neck.

By 6:30 she had both. Her doctor’s office was already closed so we headed to the emergency room to get her re-checked out. (Holy Family in Methuen… is that what it’s called? I just think of it as “the hospital” because it’s 5 minutes away from us and I can never remember the name.) The place was packed. There were probably 10-15 people ahead of us. After about 30 minutes of waiting we were starting to get antsy. Jen decided to double up on the possible diagnoses by calling her doctor’s office nurse-on-call service. She called and left her information and we sat in the emergency room waiting room waiting to be either called into the triage room by the nurse there, or to be called back by the on-call nurse.

After another good chunk of time Jen had had enough. The on-call nurse is affiliated with a clinic in Manchester, NH and if a hospital visit were required they would (theoretically) be able to get us right in. So we left the ER in Methuen and decided to wait for the call back while driving North toward Manchester.

A little less than an hour after her initial call, Jen called the on-call service back and asked what the wait was. She was assured that she was the next call back in line. We got up to exit 4 on route 93 and decided to head into Derry instead of all the way to Manchester. There is a hospital in Derry that Jen was familiar with. We figured we’d head there and see what the on call said… if they ever called back.

We got to the hospital and parked in the ER parking lot. We decided to give the on call 10 minutes and then say the hell with them and just go into the ER. After 2 minutes Jen had enough and said, “Let’s just go in.” That was when the nurse called back.

We got two things from the talk with the nurse. First and most important we were told that she would be all right if she just went home and went to bed. We also found out why the wait was about 70 minutes. This nurse was thorough. Amazingly so. Every little detail of the smallest symptom Jen was feeling was covered in depth. Both why it was happening and how to deal with it. The nurse was great.

After the conversation was over we just put the car into gear and drove home. Jen went straight to bed. I listened to the end of the Bruins game and read for an hour and a half or so. As soon as she laid down she was sound asleep. She really needed to rest.

So the most important thing in my whole world last night was taken care of. Jenny wasn’t feeling well, but she was reassured that it was just a bug and she’d be fine if she took things easy. My bride was taken care of.

That left me to look after the other interesting event last night. Game three!

Another incredible win over the Flyers. I just can’t get over it. Three games to none! A 4-1 win. Just… just… astounding!

But… we lose David Krejci for the rest of the season with a broken wrist. That is going to hurt us a lot. He has been playing his best hockey of the entire year and centering the team’s hottest line.

Granted, after he was out of the game the team picked up their game without him. They had not been able to do that at all this year, but last night… when it counted the most… they did it. They carried their shortened bench. McQuaid went out too. It was a tough night for injuries, but it was a great night for winning.

Three games to none… four chances to win one game. As a Red Sox fan who clearly remembers 2004 I am not going to write this one off as won. Nope. Cautious optimism is the key. They had better play like their lives depend on it Friday and not slip back into their lazy regular season habits. We need to win it as soon as possible.

Here are the highlights from last night’s game.

So the car is in the shop getting checked out for Florida.
The Bruins are on the brink of winning their second round series.
My beautiful, wonderful, wife is not as sick as she had feared last night.

Get well soon, my love.
Go Bruins!
Get well soon, my wife.

Cinco de Mayo… not what I thought it was.

Allow me to quote from wikipedia.org:

Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for “fifth of May”) is a voluntarily observed holiday that commemorates the Mexican army’s unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín. It is celebrated primarily in the state of Puebla and in the United States. While Cinco de Mayo has limited significance nationwide in Mexico, the date is observed in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day, the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico.

Umm.. WTF KIDS??? Cinco de Mayo is NOT Mexico’s Independence Day?

It’s not even an actual national holiday in Mexico? It’s primarily celebrated in the state of Puebla and the USA? That’s it??

WTF KIDS???

It’s the Mexican version of St Patrick’s Day, a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. Those are excellent reasons to celebrate. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining or anything… I just thought it was Independence Day. I’m a little bummed.

Still, it didn’t stop Jen and me from going to the Border Cafe last night. Granted, I got cajun food… but I still had tortillas… and it was still awesome.

Happy Cinco de Mayo folks. It’s not Mexican Independence Day, but it’s still worth celebrating.

I am off of work tomorrow. Due to that I can almost smell the life being sucked out of me by work today… and it’s only 9:36.

The original plan was for Jen to have a doctor’s appointment and for me to bring her to it. That changed. Instead it’s errand running/car fixing day. With an impending 2,000+ mile drive we thought we’d put the car into the shop for some maintenance. It’s due for an oil change, it’s due for a tune up, it needs a front end alignment, and it would also be nice for some one who knows what they’re doing to take a look-see and tell us that the car is going to make it all the way from Massachusetts to Florida.

Also, I need a hair cut. When my hair gets this long it grows wings and tries to fly me away. If we can come up with any other pre-trip things to do then I’ll take care of them tomorrow as well.

Jen was scheduled to work from home tomorrow too so we could have lunch together and maybe sneak off to the gym before picking up the kids. Unfortunately, she is not feeling well today and has actually gone home from work. I hope you feel better as the day goes on sweetie. I love you. If you need me to I will totally take care of you tonight and tomorrow. Chicken noodle soup is my specialty.

This is the view out of the window next to my desk right now.

I am guessing the storm will hold off until the second I walk out the door… four minutes from now.

The original story told in under three minutes… with legos.

May the 4th be with you…

Remember that last post I put up? The one before this one where I said it would be the grossest post I’d ever done?

This will one up it.

From Funny or Die

I can’t remember what the dish was called… but it lead us to what will probably be the grossest post in the history of this blog.

You’ve been warned.

We had dinner last night at Kashmir in Salem, NH. We ordered a chicken dish off of the specials menu. I couldn’t pronounce the name.

When it came out of the kitchen it surprised us a little. It was green. Bright green. Almost florescent green. It looked like it might glow in the dark.

Jen was seriously grossed out at first site. I figured I’d try it. Why not, three years ago I would have thought that all Indian food was disgusting.

Slowly I raised it to my mouth…

…and then I dramatically ate it!

It was awesome. Melt in your mouth awesome. That makes me wish I could remember the name of it even more. The green color seemed to come from a little touch of mint. I don’t like mint. I don’t like green meat. I did like this.