Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Brother is HOME

Been from afar monitoring my brother's health by talking to him, chatting with family, and a few calls to the medical staff that were caring for him at the University Hospital in Gothenburg.

Since this is all in past tense, you can figure out that he was allowed to come home today. Due to the time difference, I have not been able to talk to them today, but got an e-mail from my sister-in-law and they are of course happy and relieved. Family's reunited! According to the doctor who released him, only about 5% of the ones that gets a brain hemmorrage is as lucky as he is. He's back home w/o any residual effects what-so-ever.

Probably the biggest surprise today was for Emil who was greeted on his 8th birthday by a dad back from the hospital! Needless to say, he was exstatic!!

Staffan will now just need to take it "calma" under some period going forward and see what he has the strength for and dares to to. Over two weeks laying in a hospital bed can drain the energy from anyone.

And, almost forgot: Sister-in-law started a blog out of what were the e-mails that kepts us all up to date on Staffans's progress (simply too many people called her asking the same thing - draining her enetgy and leaving no time for the kids).
Her blog can be found here, Laila's Blog

Monday, January 28, 2008

Ztate of the Union?

This evening was president Bush' s 7th and final State of the Union address.
As much of a distaster he is/has been as a president, is it really necessary to broadcast his speach live on ALL news channels simultaneously? In our little Comcast world, that means that we could see the same Bush speak on channels 02, 04, 05, 06, 07, 09, 44, 47, and 48 - not counting the C-span channels I did not scan this evening.

Simply too much (and that would be the same regardless of who happended to be president)!

Goodbye - White Kiddie!

Today was a sad day. We had to put White Kiddie to sleep. He was just too sick and frail after having lost over 60% of his body weight since October. Over the weekend he started having severe problems controlling his "bodily fluids", and was simply miserable, hardly being able to walk. Neither bloodwork, nor urine samples did really give any hints of what it could be.

Actually surpised over my reaction, but the tears were gushing out of my eyes when his little body was handed over to me at the vet clinic. Never thought that I would take his "passing" that hard. Made even worse since he had his eyes left open.

But, he left us on a beautiful and sunny morning, where there were over 4 inches of fresh white snow on the ground. It was sort of almost like the weather gods wanted to paint the landscape in his honor.









Eulogy over a Great Cat:
An early fall day in October 1993, in Dallas, a big white cat showed up at my door. He sort of picked me out, and decided to make friends. For the next year, he was living around and outside my apartment, "guarding" the courtyard, and keeping neighbors entertained. We all cared for him, but he likely spent most of his time with me, always extremely "appreciative" for having somewhere to call "home". I gave him the name "White Kiddie" since it was fitting - he was entirely white and I have never really liked the word "kitty".

I was traveling so much so I had decided not "take in" a cat or any other pet, but a cold day in early December 1994 I broke down; "You've been hanging around here so why don't you just move in - permanently". And he did. For the first week I held out on putting a litterbox in my apartment, until I one morning woke up to a smell and a small turd behind a couch. That was the only accident in Dallas, but he starting having more later in life.

One memorable afternoon, I opened up the front door. On my little rug was a very dead mouse with its stomach ripped wide open. Perfectly aligned were 5 small mouse fetuses, and next to it was a very proud cat sitting. I guess that was his small housewarming gift to me. It was sort of hard not to accept the wonderful gesture!

White Kiddie always went out in the morning with me, and was waiting at the bottom of the stairs when I came home, or sometimes meeting me by the car. A couple of neighbors cared for him when I was out traveling, and he was just a staple of the apartment complex (or at least our courtyard since I never told the complex I had a pet, and had no intentions in having them find out either - succeeded with that during my 5 years at the same place).

This even after my weird neighbors downstairs one day sent me an e-mail, telling me that "the cat" had bitten the wife (Rachel). White Kiddie ended up in the slammer, and I sort of hal-heartedly told the neighbor that if they did not mind, I'd like the cat to come back to the neighborhood (this was before he had moved in). He had to spend a couple of days in the slammer, before he could be picked up, but they would not keep him for more than 10. I was out of town and missed the 10 day limit, but when I came homw, White Kiddie was waiting at the steps. Only thing I can imagine is that my neighbors felt bad and picked up the cat. They never told me and I never asked them, Everyone was happy so why stir the pot?

Summers in Texas can be hot, but that did not really bother me. I was among my friends who held out the longest before turning on the A/C (preferred to have the windows open and let the natural breeze cool me), but one summer it was actually White Kiddie who sort of forced me to turn the switch. He came in from the outside and sort of just fell to the floor, forming a long white ribbing on the carpet. That was his way of saying he was TOO hot and that it was time for me to turn the A/C to "on".

White Kiddie was a trooper and he lived a good life. No, he lived an excellent life!
He only had two vet visits in Dallas, and that was due to an attack by another cat. The fact that the vet cut his claws, made him vulnerable and he was attacked once again, ending up for three days at the hospital. All in a period of two months.

One day I found out that he actually followed "commands", and this was not something I had taught him. I could ask him to sit, and he would sit. I could place food in front of him, and ask him to wait (he did), sitting there until I gave the word "Varsågod" (please go ahead) and he'd walk over to the food and eat - lots of it. Maybe bad for him, but he loved Friskies. Tried a lot of other stuff, but dry catfood, Friskies, was his favorite.

One weak moment in the spring of 1998 when I was considering moving back to Europe and leaving the U.S. for for good, I was looking for potential homes for him (those days it was almost impossible to bring an animal in to Sweden). Initially I decided to take a long vacation (5 weeks skiing) and at the very last moment, one of my great neighbors (Dee Bernhardt) took him home to care for him until I came back - a wonderful gesture!

Later that spring, we took a weekend trip together to Ardmore, OK, to visit yet one older former neighbor that had looked after him when I was traveling. White Kiddie did OK on car rides, but really did not like it and found the best spot in the car to be down under the brake pedal.

I ended up staying in the U.S., and the Friday in October we were to relocate from Dallas to Seattle, White Kiddie decided to "disappear" for a while. I had to reschedule the flight three times that day, and it was not until Dee called me and said that he had walked over to her place and was happily sleeping on the couch, that we could "move on" and get on the last flight out of Dallas. Texas was now history for us.

Finding a new place in Seattle, in the midst of the dot.com boom in 1998 was not easy. It was not made easier by my own firm requirements: cat friendly inside, cat should be able to be outside as well (White Kiddie went nuts if he was forced to stay inside), and I should be able to bring my frontloading Swedish washing machine.
I did drive several hundred miles on the Eastside, and looked at an unimaginable number of places, but it was not until by pure chance (isn't it always) I found a couple in Bellevue that were looking to rent out their condo. They were OK with a cat, and the place boardered a greenbelt. Perfect. We had find a new permanent home!

White Kiddie settled quickly in his new surroundings, even though a few evenings I thought he was gone when he never showed up until way past his "bed time". I thought my move to Washington would mean less travel, but instead I was on the road more than ever, and was again lucky to find a lady neighbor that could "babysit" when I was out of town.

In spring of 2000, the family got extended and White Kiddie was joined by Beth and her two yorkies, Pebbles and Sebastian. Wasn't that many days until they sort had settled and knew their ranks. White Kiddie as "the Governor" was leading the household.

Later in 2000, White Kiddie moved into the "Governor's Mansion" in north Kirkland. He liked it and found himself quickly at home, but at the same time I really think he always missed the hot days in Texas (even though he sometimes was miserable in the heat). He got an unexpected buddy in a grey Persian, Oscar, that Beth brought in as Christmas present our first Christmas together.

As cuddly as White Kiddie was, as much one had to "watch out" when he came around. He was "snow white" and he was shedding, all the time. If you were standing next to him in black pants, he just loved to walk up and surround your legs, effectively forcing a change of pants. No wonder I really never had any black pants until Beth forced me to buy a pair once - they just did not work - and in Texas there were shorts more or less all the time in the evenings home so it was never an issue.

White Kiddie met my parents a number of times and eternal cat lovers as they are, they quickly bonded. Everytime they visited, White Kiddie was sleeping either besides them, or on top of them. Last time was in fall 2007 when my dad was here for a number of weeks. There was not one night when he did not have at least two cats in bed (a black one and an white one - yin & yang).

As he got older, White Kiddie was drawn to heat sources. When the furnace started, he was sititng in front of the heat register in either the kitchen or the office. When I started preparing for a fire in the fireplace, he quickly moved into position to sit guard in front of the wood stove. A few weeks ago, Beth bought him an electrical heat pad he could snooze on. He seemed to like it, even though the pad never got as hot as we'd expected.

More is to be added over this lost friend and I have just added a little slide show here below. I also have "older" photos that need to be scanned (pre digital) when time is found. After all I owe it to him. White Kiddie spent more than 15 years at my side. 15 years that certainly changed my life dramatically (move, marriage, house, dogs, travels, etc, etc).

Stay put!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Brother

Parents visited him yesterday, and they seemed upbeat after they came back home and I talked to them late in the evening.

This morning, I called the hosiptal to talk to him, but I could hear him in the background mumbling that he was too tired to talk, so I ended up chatting with the nurse a while.

Turns out his headache had gotten worse this morning, he had thrown-up, and they had proceeded with a cerebral angiogram in order to be able to "see" more. What I could get out of the nurse was that they still cannot see where/if a vessel had burst, or how serious it is. Images were to be reviewd by experts, I assume that'll happen early Wednesday.

Needless to say, anything that resembles bleeding in the brain is serious.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Call from Zweden...

Early Saturday morning (and I think they held out a few hours in order not to wake me up) I got a call from my parents. My brother had been hospitalized after a heavy sneeze on Friday evening. Turns out he likely burst a blood vessel somewhere in his brain and ended up with an anuerysm. Situation severe enough he was quickly transferred to a specialist hospital.

At the moment it looks like it is a less severe case, and he is able to move all his limbs, speak, and "act" normally, but is very, very, tired after the worst headache of his life.

He is hospitalized at the University Hospital and is getting great care at the neurointensive ward where he'll stay for at least another week, while they'll monitor him and wait for the body to absorb the coagulated blood.

I called him Sunday evening his time and we talked for a while. Sounds "normal" and upbeat, but I also think he now realize how serious this can be. So, a close call, but so far, so good.

Everyone; keep your fingers crossed for his speedy recovery!

Being so far away, the worst is probably getting 2nd or 3rd hand information (from his wife, or from my parents via his wife (information that has already been "filtered" by hospital staff), and it really felt good in being able to talk to him, directly. Curious as I am, I want to chat with his doctor as well...

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

SteinklinkerZ...

A (great) group of beer drinkers that meet up the 2nd Wednesday of every month at a "new" brew place.

Well, we sort of have run out of "new" places so we recycle them now. And sometimes, like tonight, it was just a "pub" since the brewery "Mac & Jack" does not have a tasting room open in the evening and recommend instead people to go over to "J. Michael's Pub & Eatery" in Redmond, just across from Ben Franklin. Only a stone's throw from the brewery. Sort of hard to find (if you're looking for a pub), and it sure does not look anything like a pub on the outside. But, these girls have good brews, and good basic pub food.

All in all, just another very agreable evening with the "Klinkers".

Old - French - FriendZ

After leaving Europe in the early 90ies, I sort of lost contact with many of my French friends. Been using different search engines to try to find them, but no luck.

Via a tip from a good friend in Sweden, I was guided to Copains d'Avant. Signed up, and low and behold, I found someone that "could" be the right person.

Trial message sent over, a few days of silence, but eventually an answer. Sure enough, it was the right person! He connected me to his wife (very old friend of mine) and I learnt that they unfortunately live separated (joint custody of a daughter though) since many years.

Just getting a few e-mails, some photos, and later also a long chat over the phone brought me back to the heydays of the 90ies in Paris. I was also amazed that my French is also still pretty much "there". I thought it had gone into a stage of "permanent hibernation", but chatting with old friends in French sure brought it out relatively quickly. Just proves that going to a "French coversation" class never can be the same as "the real thing". You need an emotional and "expressive" French person on the other side of the conversation. It is like jumpstarting a car with a fresh battery!

Isabelle and Xavier, sure is time for me to cross the Atlantic again, and thank you for being there all these years!

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Cleaning up the deZk...

Spent the past days cleaning up the desk, filing away papers, paying bills, and generally getting the office closer to being just that, an office. Sometimes I wonder I how I managed to keep it in order when I was traveling all the time (but I did).

By the way, swung by the Swedish Cultural Center for the first Pancake Breakfast of 2008. Always yummy!
After that took the dogs for a walk through Pike Place Market and downtown. Phoebe just loves to venture where there's tons of (friendly) people. As it is January in Seattle, it started squalling after a while and we ventured back to the car and home to make a fire. I bet however that this was a great day on the slopes, but no point in heading up during the weekend, fighting the crowds when the week seem to be even better - and less crowded.

Less crowded, one of the better skiing days of late, was up in Alpental on Superbowl Sunday 2006. Empty slopes, sunny skies, and perfect snow. Can it be better? All football fans couched in front of their TVs, leaving the mountain for "us" to enjoy!