Slouching ever closer to decrepitude

A few months ago, I had these big, glorious plans for my upcoming 40th birthday; beer, more beer, maybe a stripper popping out of a cake or something like that. Unfortunately, having a wife with cancer and sky-high gasoline prices kind of put the kibosh on that. Man plans, God laughs and all that.

So the festivities were somewhat truncated. On my actual birthday (well, the night before, as every decent restaurant in this @#$% place closes on Sundays) we went out to one of my favorite spots, The Red Door, and Cheryl was even able to keep some food down. Although, in the future, I should pick a location that has actual air conditioning, not just several fans that keep moving the hot air around like a convection oven. Just bring me the pitcher of ice water and leave it at the table, m'kay?

Last weekend we drove down to Bend to see friends and family; my friend Jon even arranged a Seinfeld-themed party which, alas, only turned out to be the usual poker night with a puffy shirt and a trivia contest that I, amazingly, lost. I know Seinfeld trivia, but Action Cam has me beat there. My distress at having to spend $100 on gas on this trip (and I drive a Honda, for cryin' out loud!) was ameliorated by winning $100 at poker from the hard drinkers. At some point, you'd think they'd realize that Dave here is a tight player; if he reraises you, odds are he's got you beat.

Jon, in fact, now has two stills going and is marketing his liquor/paint thinner to the masses, while former business partner Brad Irwin is looking to actually go into business selling his homemade whiskey. Hey, if the craft brewing industry can take off, why not the craft distilling? Now, this would be something I would like to get into - make my own happy juice! Vodka ain't cheap, ya know.

Cheryl did pretty good for most of the trip, but I think these long car rides are probably a no-go for the forseeable future, as she faded pretty badly by the end. On the bright side, she has been able to eat a little food to supplement the intravenous milkshakes, but she's not back to her old self entirely either. She goes in for another ipilumimab treatment on Thursday; hopefully they won't keep her another two weeks. I just got the bill for the last two weeks - our insurance better pick up most of it of I will have to look into ponying up a kidney.

Dave