Bad Day

 life events  2 Responses »
Oct 072007
 

We came back from Blacksburg today after another alumni weekend. There were over 100 alumni there as we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Virginia Tech chapter of Zeta Psi. We had a great time as usual.

The bad day part was today. On the way to Blacksburg on Friday, we had such a horrible time with the traffic on I-64 and I-81 that we decided to take US-460 back home. About an hour into our trip, we drove up to an intersection and noticed some shredded tires in the road and a tractor trailer on the side of the road. At first I thought he just blew a tire, but then I noticed a Jeep Wagoneer on the side of the road facing the wrong way with gasoline and oil leaking out of it.

And then both Monica and I noticed the woman lying on the side of the road.

I stopped the car immediately, and Monica jumped out and ran over to assess the woman’s condition. I pulled the car over on the side of the road and talked to a bystander who said that the paramedics were called. I was making my way over to Monica when I noticed two other people on the side of the road. There were several people around them, and I saw that there was one woman who was conscious and one man who was also conscious but bleeding from his head.

I walked over to Monica, and she said that she was unable to find a pulse on the elderly woman and that one pupil was pinpoint and the other was completely dilated. I looked at her face, and I saw her eyes were open but she was unresponsive. There was one woman there that said she knew her, and she kept calling her name but there was never an answer.

The paramedics and fire fighters arrived within a few minutes. One came over to the elderly woman on the ground, checked her pulse, then walked away while saying, “She’s dead.” I figured this was the case, but to have him officially confirm it freaked me out a bit.

I walked past the other two people who were being looked at by the paramedics and just stood on the side of the road. Monica saw that the everyone was being taken care of so we decided to get back in the car and continue on home.

I haven’t been able to get the empty stare of the elderly woman out of my head all day. Seeing a dead woman on the side of the road has just freaked me out. I’ve seen two other dead people in my life but that was at funerals. To see this poor woman just lying there like that was just weird and has given me a heavy heart the rest of the day.

I looked on the Roanoke Times site for information about the accident, and I found it here.

Summer Update

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Jul 242006
 

Brian and I went on vacation in May. He was supposed to write about it but I think he has given up on updating this website. We visited Disney World, Epcot, Sea World (which I’d never been to) and MGM studios. We had a great time and I loved meeting Shamu!

After we came back I started my summer classes and thankfully those are now over. I did well and I’ve already registered for the fall….less than a year, less than a year, less than a year………

On July 4th we gathered with friends and headed to see the Dave Matthews Band. It was a great show with fireworks at the end and everyone had a great time. After the concert we came out the wrong way and had to cross through some bushes to get to our car and as a result, Brian is now recovering from the worst case of poison something I’ve ever seen.

As far as summer movies we’ve seen: Poseidon – awful; X-Men – pretty good; Superman – good; The Devil Wears Prada (monica only) – really good. We still need to see Pirates and we are still debating whether we will go see World Trade Center.

Brian and I celebrated our 3rd year Anniversary. Praise God!

Okay, I know this was a very short summary but that’s all I have for now.

House

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Jul 202005
 

And there’s another anniversary today. No, I’m not talking about this one, although that is very cool. I’m talking about our first house.

It was one year ago today, that we signed the documents and became homeowners. It was quite a big step for us, and it’s not exactly comforting sitting in a room with lawyers seemingly signing your life away. The whole thing was really quite the experience. I’m sure in a few years, once we’re on our second or third house, it won’t be a big deal anymore. But for now, we’ll celebrate our first year in our little home.

Newlyweds no more

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Jul 192005
 

Man oh man, I cannot believe that it’s been two years since we were married. So much has changed since then. We’re in a new town, new job, new school, new car…well, just about new everything.

[now for the mushy stuff]

And I have somehow managed to find new love for my wife. I’m incredibly blessed by God to have such a woman by my side. Yes, it’s mushy, but it’s true. I’m just a confident guy in touch with my emotions so that makes it okay, right? Right?

Happy anniversary, baby!

Don and Mike

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Jul 112005
 

Back when we lived in Northern Virginia, Monica and I used to listen to a radio show called the Don and Mike Show. I started listening to the show about nine years ago and was quickly hooked, and Monica started listening not too long after that. It’s hard to describe why I listened as much as I did, but the show was strangely addictive, and since it was based in DC, I could relate to much of what was discussed. The hosts also lived much of their lives on the air so you got a chance to listen to their wives and learn about their families, especially the main man behind the mic, Don Geronimo.

Now that we’ve moved, I still listen to it, albeit not via conventional means, and I keep Monica up to date on the happenings with the people on the show. It’s weird, but when you listen to a show for as long as we have, you start to feel as if you sort of know the people. So it was a shock today to hear about the tragic car accident in which Don’s wife, Freda, was involved yesterday while driving back from Ocean City, MD. Her injuries were so severe that she died yesterday evening.

We listened to the show today (you can stream it over the web through the station’s website, and surprisingly there was a new episode today with everyone except Don. Mike, Buzz, and Rob talked about Freda and played some clips of her past appearances on the show, and you can hear the pain in their voices as they choked up at times. I don’t even know these people, and I feel silly writing like this about it, but I guess you imagine yourself in the same situation, and then you really empathize with the affected people. I can’t imagine what Don and Bart (their son) are going through right now.

May God be with them during this time of sorrow.

One and a half days off

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Jun 242005
 

I took off a half day yesterday and all of today, and it’s been great. We went to the Dave Matthews concert last night (absolutely no political rants, thank goodness), and had a great time with Bucky, Steve, and Tanya. Before the show, we cooked out some grub on the grill and listened to some tunes in the backyard. Around 7:15 pm, we headed to the show, and made it there just in time for Dave to open with American Baby. There’s a couple of shots from the show on the moblog, including one that turned out to be somewhat artistic looking.

Today, Monica and I took it easy with one of those lazy summer days we all know and love. We picked up some slurpees at the local 7-11, a first for me in about ten years, and headed over to Mount Trashmore where we enjoyed a leisurely walk around the lake and park area. I even managed to take a couple more shots for the moblog there as well. Afterward, we headed to the mall where we did a bit of shopping, and then finished off the day with some great seafood.

The weather for my time off has just been gorgeous. Here’s hoping it stays that way for this weekend.

Busy, Crazy, Lazy

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Jun 132005
 

That is how I describe our lives lately. We are sorry that we don’t update the web site very often, but we promise to get better at it soon. Brian the computer geek has been doing all kinds of nerdy things that I don’t understand to update the web site and make it better and more efficient.

The latest update is that everything is fine.

We hope to get back to normal soon.

Another New Year

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Jan 022005
 

Well, another year has come and gone. The holidays are just about over now, and Monica and I are truly blessed to have so many family and friends that care so much about us.

Last year was pretty eventful for us with the car accident, changing jobs multiple times, buying a new house, and Monica going to school (she received two As and two Bs last semester! woohoo!). I pray this year is a little calmer, but that God will continue to open new doors for us as other ones inevitably close.

Happy New Year, everyone!

You choo-choo-choose me?

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Dec 212004
 

I finally got my train up and running, after years of sitting in a broken-down box, season after season tucked away in an attic. I tried to get it working a couple of weeks ago. There engine would run, but the gears wouldn’t turn, so I dropped it off at a local train store to have it fixed.

Two weeks later, I’ve got a working model locomotive. The train itself is over thirty years old having initially belonged to my uncle, and I can remember putting it together with my dad twenty five years ago, so it has some sentimental value.

I like just sitting here and watching it go round and round. I’m not sure why, but trains are just cool.

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