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June 30, 2017

BACK ON MY FEET

... i'm back—well, okay, so perhaps would be more proper to say that i'm doing much better'n i was last week ... !!! ... for those of you who've been hiding out for the summer, a brief recap ... three weeks ago i crashed my motorcycle ... rather, i got off the motorcycle and we each had a crash ... motorcycle didn't make it, i'm sad to report, but, due in large part to this very expensive helmet, i'm still alive and—hmmmm, not kicking yet, but that's soon to be ...

... bent fork, twisted frame, smashed up all over ... vague memory that there was a lot of stuff squirting out of the engine, too ... it served me well, and i'm only sad that it didn't get the opportunity to wander even further ...

... me, week two ... week one is a bit of a blur ... after the accident i managed to visit two emergency rooms and a really cool i.c.u. room ... even got to watch a 3d fly-through of my brain ... !!! ... inside my skull i had four spots bleeding, i suppose that was the scariest part of all this (although, to be honest, i never worried) ... they sealed up rather quickly, thank goodness, so i only had to spend one night in the hospital ... a most dearest friend sent me a care package containing a comfort blanket ... that, the tracy gang dropping in, all my friends checking on me, and the hovering comfort of liz and adrien, after the first week my head started to unfuzz ... the beard's because i couldn't (still can't) keep my arm up to shave ... funny how it's lightened up since i last had it ...

... so, fast forward ... progressive insurance people were wonderful, within four days they'd settled everything ... my doctor at the veterans' hospital is a gem ... he wasn't happy with the fact that my ankle looked like a big pumpkin (something two emergency rooms hadn't noticed—interesting) ... "i'll be blunt with you, if that's a clot you could drop dead" ... so he had an ultrasound done of my entire leg ... more cool, i got to see the insides of another part of my body ... !!! ... no clot, just muscles and stuff that must've gotten squished up during the accident ...

... anyhow, other'n a lot of pain, broken ribs, holes in lungs healing, lack of a proper appetite, loss of energy, and the fact that i've had to sleep sitting up in a chair for three weeks (i think that's the worst of all this), i'm doing pretty good ... last week was exhausting for me to do the stairs once during the day, today i did 'em five times ... !!! ... last wednesday robert took me up to bangor so i could look at cars ... after a rather exhausting bout of refereeing my "logic" and "emotional" brains, i made the decision that i'd look at a car and if i really, really liked it i'd buy it ... i did, and i did ...

... thursday liz drove me up to pick up my new car ... i managed the drive home rather nicely, although i'll admit that friday i was pretty much a wreck ... a sidebar:  i actually bought this car without selling my impala ... !!! ... how's that for financial management ... i posted a "for sale" to facebook and sent an email to all those nearby ... was about five minutes, the impala was sold ...  a friend, former teaching colleague ... i dropped the price and gave her a great deal, which made me feel as good as it did getting a new car ... here's me and car, courtesy of liz's cell camera ...

... on that first ride home i easily got 42.7mpg on the highway ... soon as the doctors're done with me, in a week or so, i'm hoping to drive down to rhode island ... i'm thinking i'll shoot for 45mpg on that trip ... or, if not, i'll push the little "sport" button and try for a new "waterville on ramp to brother's house" time record ... (don't ask, i can't print it 'cause they'll track me down and throw me in jail) ...

... "nuveau blue" ... so corny i actually like it ...

... stereo system better'n anything i've ever owned, car or house ...

... zillions and zillions of buttons ...

... so, i'm here ... it's a beautiful evening ... tomorrow liz's picking me up so i can treat the two of us to pedicures ...

... life is good ... live is very, very good ...



June 1, 2017

ALISON & GARY GET MARRIED

... at the end of this journal entry you will find instructions for accessing the complete set of wedding pictures ...

... alison and gary decided to get married, and they asked me if i would take pictures ... alison's a most dear friend, so it was a great joy to say yes ... i asked john if he'd work with me, if for no other reason than i've found that sharing a gig like this makes it much more fun ...

... little bella was dressed fancy for the occasion ...

... the bright sun made things difficult, but after a bit of searching i found a spot behind the house that was nicely shaded ...

... what a nice looking couple ...

... "i want to remember forever this moment" ...
BY JOHN MEADER
... how two people dance together can say much ...
BY JOHN MEADER
... an exciting moment ...

... everyone seemed to enjoy the dancing ...
BY JOHN MEADER
... at sunset alison and gary took a few minutes for a little evening stroll ...

... a perfect kiss in a perfect sunset—a perfect moment in their most perfect day ...
BY JOHN MEADER
... now, the details ...

... the full wedding album is at shutterfly (link below) ...

... at this site you can order prints, make books of pictures, etc., all of which will be mailed to you ... if you set yourself up with an account (no commitment, easy to do), you will also be able to print to your local target or cvs (if you do so make sure you do not check "overnight" or "one day," that raises the print price considerably ... as a general rule, your pictures will be available for pick-up in a day or two ... important note:  when you pick-up the pictures pay close attention to the bill ... !!! ... cvs especially, it's not unusual that they'll try to charge you for overnight printing even if you didn't ask for it) ...

... you cannot download the full-quality files from shutterfly ... if you'd like to do your own printing, alison and gary will have the full-quality files ...

... when you open the album there's a little "slideshow" button in the upper left—way cool ...

... if you've any questions about shutterfly you can drop me a note in the little "message" box in the upper-right corner of the journal ...

... john and i hope you enjoy these pictures, and that they help us all to better remember alison and gary's wedding day ...