Yesterday morning Lindsey, Avery, and I (the patient) headed over to the outpatient surgery clinic in Covington to get my tonsils taken out. I’ve never had surgery before, so heading into this I was a little bit nervous. As it turned out I had nothing to worry about. The staff were all very friendly, and they took great care of me.
When I first arrived they took me + my entourage back into the pre-op area. I got a comfy chair to sit in, a gown that connected up to a hair-dryer-like apparatus (to keep me warm), some fancy leggings (to prevent clots), and some warm socks. After a battery of health history questions another nurse came along to give me an IV. I don’t think I’ve ever had an IV before, but it went fine.
Next I got to relax for a while, as the surgeon was slightly behind schedule. Lindsey and I talked a bit, she fed Avery once or twice, and we looked at a magazine. Eventually the anesthesiologist came along to chat. She explained how the general anesthesia worked — something in my IV to drift me off to sleep, then something to breath during surgery. The breathing tube would go in after I was asleep, and 99% of the time they have the tube out before the patient wakes up. Sounded good to me.
Finally it was time to give Lindsey a kiss and an ‘I love you’, before walking to the operating room with the nurse. The O.R. had all sorts of equipment in it, and lots of people in blue outfits. Once I got settled on the table the anesthesiologist said she’d “drift me off to sleep.” My vision went blurry, and that was the last I remember.
45 minutes later.
I heard a nurses voice, but I don’t remember what she was saying. Then a few moments later I could see her, and she was asking how my pain was. Weird, I don’t remember anything. One moment I was falling asleep, the next my throat hurts like hell. I told her it’s a 5 on a scale of 1 – 10. Then Lindsey arrived. I told the nurse and Lindsey I felt “fabulous,” and I enjoyed the power-nap. They giggled at me. About 45 minutes in recovery and they sent me home.
The first night at home went pretty well. I didn’t get sick, though between the anesthesia and pain meds I felt really woozy. I ate some sorbet, clam chowder, cream-of-wheat, and ice cream. I felt bad for Lindsey, between Avery and I her hands were full.
This morning I feel a lot better. My throat still hurts, but the dizziness is gone. I’ve decided to take regular Tylenol instead of the narcotic pain meds they gave me. The Tylenol works fine and has less side effects.

Today we had some very sad news from New Zealand. My Grandpa passed away this morning in his sleep. He lived an extrodinary life and had quite an influence on me growing up. We’ll miss him very much.
Here are a few of my favorite images of my Grandpa from past trips to New Zealand.
Grandpa and I at his timber factory.

When we were both a little younger.

Grandpa and Lindsey.

Showing off his fly fishing wall.

He was the International Fly and Plug Casting Champion in 1962.

One of my favorite pictures of us together in 2000.

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dad’s out there.

While I was in Hawaii, I was able to convince my wife to let me buy a fancy espresso machine. I justified it by showing the ROI created by a lesser dependecy on Starbucks visits. Here’s the math:

• Grande Americano = $2.30
• 5 Americanos per week * 52 weeks per year = 260 Americanos
• Total Cost = $598 anually

Lindsey estimates her Starbucks consumption to be around $400 per year (before including the banana loaf).
Tamping my first shot.


My precious.


Molto buon!

Today was a pretty exciting day. I got to spend the whole day playing in the dirt with my neighbors. Since we’ve only been living in our new house for a couple months now this was a great opportunity for everyone to spend some time getting to know each other. Along the way we moved a little dirt and drilled a few holes.
Did I mention the dirt? It was rather plentiful today. Almost too much of a good thing. We had five houses split a few truckloads. It ended up being 105 tons of dirt. Seemed like kind of a bit to me. The good news is we didn’t have to deal with wheelbarrows. We all split the cost of an 8,000 pound track loader to reduce the toll on our aging bodies. The neighbors made the grand gesture of letting me run the equipment pretty much all day, which of course made me smile 😉



In true construction worker fashion. Everyone standing around watching one guy do all the hard work. We probably drilled close to 80 of these today. Sure beats using a posthole digger.


Here’s the crew at the end of the day.