I got a 29 on the Putnam exam (a math competition), which puts me on the published list of the top 500 scores in the country.

Rob Curtis died at 1:30 a.m. on April 15, 2003. He is survived by his wife, Sadie, his son, Zachary, his father, his brother, and his sister. He will be missed.

Thanks to all the Buffistas for their love and support. It's meant a lot.

For those of you who don't know, I'm having back surgery today. I go into to the hospital around 2 p.m., and the surgery is scheduled for 4 p.m.

If all goes well, I'll actually be home tomorrow.

My Mom is going to call Trudy when the surgery is over, so that she can post here in Beep Me and let you all know that I'm fine and on my way to becoming bionic.

Going kinda gray for the next week or so. All things personal and professional are needing extra attention, so I need to back away for a bit.

I'll be back when things are more orderly and I can devote more time to buffistas. And by buffistas, I mean porn.

anyone that wants to reach me can do so via profile addy.

Just heard from Steph's Mom!

Teppy got out of surgery about an hour ago and the doctor says everything went well. She is still in recovery and her Mom and Dad haven't seen her yet. She should be coming around in the next hour or so and should be calling me herself (though not Herself) before too long.

Airlines suck. I would have to stay over for longer in Dallas and rent a car and a motel, etc.

Driving from Minnesota to Dallas. 1000 miles. I figure I'll drive and stop and walk and drive.

Wake and service for my brother on Thursday, and his funeral with military honors (Vietnam vet) at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery on Friday.

Thank you all for your well wishes.

I'm home!!!!! I'm not in pain, exactly -- I'm very very VERY SORE and very VERY VERY STIFF.

The pain that was shooting down my leg seems to be gone, but my foot is still numb. My surgeon says that's normal, because my nerve root was absolutely squashed by 2 herniated discs. He says the numbness should go away over the next few weeks as the nerve un-squishes (that isn't the medical term for it, but hey).

The surgery went very very quickly (so says the doc and my parents; I was blessedly unconscious) and there's no reason I won't have a complete recovery. The next few days might be tough, with the incision pain (it's at least 3 inches; possibly longer), and the stiffness and soreness.

However. It's done and I'm home and I have last night's Buffy on tape. Yeehaw.

I probably won't be online much today and possibly tomorrow -- that all depends on how I feel and how long my Mom stays (when she's here, I feel like I should talk to her, rather than shun her to talk to my blinvisible friends).

Anyone who has my number is welcome to call me, and, again, when Mom is gone, I'll probably be making lots of doped-up calls to y'all.

Thanks for the good thoughts, prayers, and vibes. I'm going to go out on a limb and say they helped.

(Now, if I may be selfish, vibe me for a fast recovery!)

I have a job interview tomorrow at 9. It would be really easy and fun and I liked the supervisor when I talked to her -- so please send me jobma vibes around then!

Spoke with Steph this evening.

Her back muscles are sore but her leg feels MUCH better. Her foot is still numb but the Doc says not to worry and it should be better soon.

Mostly, though, she sounds wonderful. She's off the painkillers for the first time in weeks and sounds like herself again.

It was weird, hearing her so relieved choked me up.

Surgeons slicing up your friends? = SCARY

Okay Folks. I gave up on the drive, I got 5 hours in and found myself facing 11+ more hours of driving, the funeral and 16 hours+ back and freaked.

There is a rest stop 7 miles from the south end of Iowa whereupon I freaked and could't even sleep on it, I was so wound up.

So I drove back home. I stopped at every rest stop and a couple of gas stations, and I napped in my parked car.

I'm back home. I'm going to sleep, examine my options, see if I can get a flight still and do a one day thing, or say "argh!" and make my peace without a service. My brother would understand.

Sometimes you have to look at what you are doing and have the wherewithal to say "this is a bad idea" and turn back. I realized the only thing keeping me going forward was stubbornness. Not a good enough reason.

I might even miss tha funeral, but he isn't there anyway. What he was is now gone, and I need to deal with that.