Sorry to hear about your drive -time troubles , Dave. You have been pre -occupied with how dangerous the traffic is in Dallas / Collin counties lately...maybe that was a premonition and you didn't realize it!
Three Christmas Eves ago, my family was down in East Texas for Mother's last holiday at her own place. Driving around that whole weekend I was unusually anxious about the traffic. Nobody seemed to be paying attention to what they were doing and it made me really nervous. Late that afternoon, as I slowed and put on my left signal, a teenager in a big red pickup rammed us from behind [ he'd been busy changing the CD player] and then three more vehicles [who knows what they were busy doing] rammed into him.
The point is, I remember that feeling that something was headed my way, traffic wise. I 'm so glad you're okay! Get right back on the road, as soon as possible, so your nerve won't fail.

My high is after many years of lessons and practice, I had my paintings of local scenes accepted for exhibition in an art gallery. I'm keeping the samples I showed them, but will start a few more next week, and then leave them there to see what happens. But being told I was good enough to be exhibited is almost like passing my exams again!

Of course I will return with news if I actually sell one, but seeing them there is going to be pretty good in itself.

Great news! Your first show... best of luck, David.

Low point today/tonight:
I am not really stupid, folks. I come across that way occasionally, and I try hard sometimes to, but I don't mean to. I really just want to keep the "flow" of everything going. But then 3AM happened. Ugh! An old friend phones up (good timing since my PC connection froze up at just the right time) and the phone actually rang and I could hear it. My 7th Grade friend was shocked when I picked up. "Enough", I said. "You just don't call people at that hour expecting someone to answer!" I was SO mean about it. I finally took care of that. 7th graders suited me OK when I was 13. No more of it. And that dude hasn't grown an inch. And, yes, I know I'm in a spot now. But he really doesn't see it. He's still Disco Dancing/Cruising. Blech! I was actually a good friend back then. But not so much now. All getting "dressed up and have a life", which means little to me now, got him apparently a bit interested in it into all this time later. I'd scare The Dickens out of most everyone now. Funny that they were interested in me and not him. Peace in knowing that he'll never understand that. It's all so funny to think back. And I have much bigger things to think about at this time. Getting him laid is way low on the list. *Sorry. That's a little crude to say*

High point:
I healed from my recent fall. Never thought I would, really, since I went down like a lead balloon out there. Something just had to come back. It did.

Glad you are feeling a bit better Dave. As for your 'friend', what a daft time to call anyone, I would automatically think of bad news which could not wait.

High - went to my first social occasion since March yesterday, a wedding. A bit emotional for me as I realised what I missed a few weeks back. Still, it was a good outing and I met up with so many friends and acquaintances.

I must say that I dread the telephone going after about 9.30 pm any day....always imagine the worst Lowlight of the past few days, is that my Dad hasn't had anything sorted about his treatment yet.He had an appointment on Wednesday but unfortunately there was a mix up and the notes weren't there. So got another one tomorrow, which I hope will be a bit more organised!

Hang in there, Jane. I know it is maddening when you feel time is of the essence and careless mistakes are being made...tomorrow they will hopefully try and make up for being so inept on Wednesday!

Well we know a little more. Dad had an x-ray when he saw the specialist. He'll need five courses of radation theraphy. Not sure when the treatment starts but he is now in the system. He also has a fractured collar bone....which might explain the pain he has been in. So more waiting to be done!

Good wishes, Jane! How did he fracture that collar bone? *ouch* But I hope it's that and nothing worse. Once again, and trust me, fractured things heal.

I don't have any point for today, high or low. But I thought I'd write anyway. So strange, you know? I'm right on the wobbly edge of losing everything. My health is shot (but we all know that already) but my house might be the next to go. Imagine it! A homeless crippled guy? And the most bizarre thing is that I'm not stressed in the least! I should be in a total spin but it's not happening. It just seems like tomorrow is only a word. Getting through today is quite enough. Maybe I should be glad that none of it worries me. But, heck, worry was such a factor in my life for a long time. We'll see what happens.

I did get all mad this morning (but, again, let it slide over me). My friend wrote, which she does daily, and mentioned that her husband [he's the one with that cancer] gets home from work now and collapses in a basic heap. So why does she keep insisting that he go out there with swollen legs and all? "We can't live without his regular paycheck". Lovely. So would it be so much to think that maybe she should get off her rear and go out and make some money? Too busy throwing birthday parties for the grandkids, I guess. Too bad for Mike there, though. The paycheck with pants on has fallen down the hill. Ugh to that. He's been on that job for some 25 years. Retire, already. That his wife needs to go to WalMart every day shouldn't matter at this point. It all makes me nuts.

Gulps at your news, but I know what you are saying, I just couldn't bring myself to get in a spin about perhaps dying, it wasn't going to help me so I didn't - scared yes, stressed no. My blood pressure was suprisingly low.

As for that selfish woman, what is she going to do for money once he dies? Perhaps she should be getting into practice at earning for herself. Can't she see it would be better to look about for work now rather than have to accept the first rubbishy job once she needs to work?

High and low of the week:

I met a great young lady. We 'clicked' immediately. We had so much to talk about, so much to share. It was bliss. I fly back to Toronto in a week. End of story.

Circumstances suck. At least I still have my health (almost lost my life this week too, but that seems to me minor details at the moment). I wish all of you the best at the moment, and hope all goes well with Gats' house, and Jane's father. Some things just blindside you when you least expect them to. Keep it together, and don't let it drive you nuts.

My guess is that this pretty special lady met this great Leo guy. She knows it, even if you're not sure yet, buddy. And, Sue, isn't it wonderful to "get mobile" again?

No bad points for today. No stress about my house. I'm learning the right questions (which yield the best demands). I may be a floundering fish but I'm no beached whale just yet.

And losing your life, Leo? And it doesn't matter? I read it, you said it (so I respect it). The cool thing is I can rest easy knowing you don't have such a mindset. Keep in mind, it is designed by The Masters that you will be here to keep me on my toes for, um, maybe 20 years hereafter .

One good point of the week...Dad starts his treatment on Monday hopefully. They hope the collarbone will knit together by itself. Good to see you still around Leo!

Losing one's life is not a simple thing. Without going into too many details, and without pointing any fingers, some of which ought to be pointed directly at myself, lets say I had a very unfortunate underwater incident that ought to have left me in the pressure chamber for the rest of the week, and part of this one. It always is a series of mistakes that dominoes into something bigger. Thanks to good skills, a good partner, and good friends, the entire incident ended well, better than I originally expected, and I'm still around to tell about it. Its not a minor thing, but now that its over, I will just put it behind me.

Watch out for crazy drivers and be alert. You may be the best driver in the world, but you're still subject to the faults of others' driving skills.

Wow, one good thing I can say is we're all here not just to show we all have chaos in our lives far more than we'd realise otherwise, but we've got good people here to help us when we do.

My low isn't such a low in the big picture, so a bit of a mixed one. Last weekend a piece of my guttering fell down, which had come loose from the rotting wood behind it. Of course, when someone came to fix it he told me the whole lot had gone the same way as it was just about the only house left with the original ironwork and woodwork. I was presented with a bill for more than I paid for my car, and didn't stop to question it at the time as he was already working on the smaller job and I felt committed. Anyway, four days later and the work looks so good, it's cost me over the odds but having the work done so quickly and so well just had to cost me a premium over waiting ages for someone else to do it. He's also whitewashing the house as well as new guttering and woodwork showed up the state of the rest of it. At least if I ever put it up for sale it won't fail an exterior survey now. I just wonder where the money will come from to fill the space in my account...

Hmmm, haven't you watched any of those programmes shown from time to time with Trading Standards and the house of horrors? You know the sort of thing, you think you need a small job and they suddenly find a huge problem. Hopefully you haven't been 'done'.

I am writing this with my CAB hat on, it is always better to get two or three firm quotes from reputable companies rather than allowing one company just to find more work and not on a fixed price.

It was a moment of immediate pressure, and I wished I'd done that afterwards, and thank goodness apart from charging top rates for labour, the work's been getting admiring comments from people passing by. I've never done business like that before and won't again, I suppose it was a way life forced me to do something that would have hung around for months otherwise as I was already awaiting two quotes on the work for weeks and as a neighbour pointed out, if I'd been standing at the door when the gutter fell down I wouldn't be here now. And the whole of the house was the same, so I suppose this was just one of those breaks where life forces the issue. The quality of work is amazing though as I can see nearly every house is a real mess in comparison, just the one attached to mine has had a similar job done to that quality.
I think I got away with it this time!

You were lucky, if you find a good workman/company then it is worth sticking with them. I have an excellent firm of decorators, a very small firm, and having used them for many years I wouldn't hesitate in having them work without a firm price.

God, I hate nights like this. I'll be honest and say that I don't want to be online anymore for today. It's nearly 3AM, for Heaven's sakes! But I can't really move from here to the bed at the moment. I can't crawl because my knees are so scabby. Can't butt scoot because the ol' posterior is all bruised up. Probably just an episode. I don't know. Come Monday the doctor will have bundles of advice. Too bad they aren't stuck like this and don't have a clue what it feels like. Jeesh. I wish I could just sit here at the computer for the rest of my life. I'm going to end up the worst case scenario. A brain with no body to back it up. Life is a tricky business. But I was here and that is a good thing. They all expect me to not know what I'm doing now. News for them. I know perfectly what's what. That I can't make it to the mailbox is just 'one of those things'. Just blowing wind over here. Looks like you guys are stuck with me for this night.

Gatsby have you ever thought about rigging up some type of flying fox that would allow you to just pull a rope/string and have the mail "delivered" to a window?

I'll take a guinea pig instead of a fox. Got one?

Hehe, I have three guinea pigs but none of them fly, unless they bite me.

High or low point? I guess neither. Let me simply just say that you'd better be glad you don't have my bone structure at the moment. Man, such pain! It all still seems a lot unjust to me. I get to die pretty soon (and no one is telling me how to do that). It makes me mad but it wakes me up, too. How did all of this happen? Just when I thought I had all the right resources. *And, of course, I'm wondering if this is the place to be saying all this* I had a really good time/life. Please know that. That it ends up in a place like this was both a surprise and a bit of an education. But I learned this one major thing, so I'll share it. Getting to the door, and we all thought it your basic no brainer, IS important. Especially when you can't do it. Maybe that's not so major at all but I think it is. Call me a dummy, but I am finally coming to learn that everything is important. I'll shut up now.