Tuesday, February 6, 2007 "SuperDad" or "Harry our Hero Shows World Who's Boss"

Hello fellow blog readers,

On the phone tonight I asked Eileen how Dad is doing, and she confirmed what everyone already knows: Dad has super-powers. The following anecdote is just more evidence of the fact.

Recall a time when you have been standing on line in a grocery store, a convenience store, a Walmart (take your pick) and discerned that the traffic was just too much for the staff on hand. Thirty seconds or so waiting in line to pay for your toothpaste and q-tips is perhaps an acceptable interval of retail suffering. But aren't we all a little aggitated after 2 or 3 minutes go by?* Then there is the period of helplessness when we must decide whether to abandon the toothpaste and q-tips and live another day - or wait for the stunningly serene clerk to get kick into high gear - even though it's clear that the clerk has no such gear. His (or her) whole demeanor says "I make $5.25 an hour, and you 'have' me for so little"** and you can't really blame him (or her).

Wouldn't it be great if you could, by sheer force of will, make the line move faster? What if you could simply man the intercom and summon a legion of clerks to check you (and everyone else) through the line so you could get on with your day? Wouldn't it be simply awesome to have such super-powers?

Enter: Harry our Hero. SuperDad.

During a recent visit to CVS (it could have been Walgreens, to be fair), Dad and Eileen were forced to wait in a line to complete a simple transaction because there was NO ONE at the register. After a minute or two, Eileen was surprised to see Dad swing open the gate separating the counter from the general public. He then located the phone, lifted the receiver and positioned his finger over the intercom button, fully intending to summon the legion of clerks. Before he could depress the button, the legion appeared (apparently, they were eating crackers in the break room when they noticed this unusual activity in the security monitors - otherwise there's no way they could have known so quickly that the gate had been breeched by the handsome man in the ball cap).

Magic! They were checked through the line and out of the store in no time.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking the Harry you know would never do anything that might be construed as irregular on a scale as described above. But readers, while Dad is the same miracle of a human being he has always been, ChemoBrain has amplified certain of his powers. When one has ChemoBrain, one might perhaps lose track of time or be unclear as to whether it's right to sleep at night or in the daytime, but membership in this special club also means having extraordinary clarity regarding how to get a thing done. Bravo, SuperDad.

Eileen had other things to report today, of course, and all of them are good. All the cultures are back, and all but one are completely negative. There was one that did grow a little something, but what grew there had virtually no chance of surviving the cocktail of antibiotics Dad has been on, and since Dad has been without fever since Saturday, the result doesn't have much significance. In light of this, the infectious disease specialist concluded that if Dad stays fever free for another 24 hours, they can go home and pretend this whole event never happened (although I am sure that the ordeal of the "goo" is forever commited to memory).

LPCTC, lifters, well-wishers, and all interested parties, stayed tuned for another update tomorrow. Dad and E will hopefully be at the lake and getting back to something like a normal life.

Jen (for Dad and E)

* if you're one of those people who goes a full 5 minutes on line without feeling as if you are being murdered, then that proves that you are out of your mind - or just a much, much better person than I am. Adjust your math in whatever way is necessary to enter into the retail suffering described - and fully appreciate my Dad's annihilation of said suffering.

** I really don't blame them. I certainly wouldn't let someone make me spin like a top for that kind of money. If you would, well then that just proves you are, again, a much better person, or at least more patriotic. But I am way off topic here. :)