Sentimental Executioner

My dad had a stroke recently, I took him for an out-patient biopsy up in Portland October 5th.  He was wasn't just expecting bad news, but he somehow believed that he definitely had cancer, and I'm not exactly sure where he got that idea, but he is a bit of a fatalist at times.  And beyond pessimism and sarcasm, anyways, he was giving me his goodbye speech again before the procedure, and kind of putting words into the mouths of the surgeon and anesthesiologist.
After the surgery, the surgeon called me in for a post-op consult, and he recommended that I get a beer in my Dad shortly after the surgery.  I believe he was basing this on my dad's history of alcohol withdrawals

after his brief recovery from the operation, the nurses suspected something, but because the sedatives were wearing off, I suspected this is just "how he is" after a heavy dose of Ativan, or whatever

Thankfully, he is still pretty sound physically, no paralysis or neuropathy, just a loss or gap of cognition.

I took him to the Emergency Room the day after, and I stayed there with him until they took him for an MRI.  They kept him in the hospital Thursday and Friday, Saturday afternoon, I finally took him home.  He can't read, he says.  He can't use an analog clock.  He's not driving, and he hasn't made any threats that he might drive, though I was still tempted to disable his car before I left, Sunday evening, we went to see a production at Artists Rep Theater in Portland - Portland in Play: Decades.  
Presented by LineStorm Playwrights, in association with Artists Rep
My Dad is a playwright, and he's had his works performed there.  This was an audience of mostly playwrights, and the performers were also playwrights, but it was done like a reading with lecterns, and few props or costumes.

then I went home and back to work, and luckily I've been able to pickup a lot of shifts without having to work the "Noc" (nocturnal) shift.

My daughter declined a full weekend visit, I definitely do not begrudge her that, she's having a sleepover at her mom's house, which I believe is great for Melissa, too, I do envy her those times, and the biggest joy for me in those moments is to let go of the reins and just watch what the kids do, I don't mind driving them around or whatever, but its better when they can just walk around the neighborhood.  I'm very glad that Santina is enrolled in her neighborhood school, instead of driving her across town for the 'good school' the way Melissa was doing before (using a fake address)
But I'll pickup Santina tomorrow (Sunday) and we'll get Colin from the airport, then go see my Dad, and Timothy. 

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Sunday I did the Pint Pot Poker Cruise with my Pirate Radio pals, Teren and Jameson.  Justin and Barbie throw a pretty good party, and we rode bikes through Eugene to Old NIck's (!) , Cornucopia, Webfoot and back to pint pot.  I won a 60 minute massage.
Monday, I met up with my pal Nathen Maxwell, who was here with his group, Flogging Molly, for a sold out show at the McDonald Theater.  We ate at Toshi's ramen, then went back to my house and listened to records and got stoned for a bit.
I dropped him off for sound check, and he gave me five passes to bring guests, so I brought my son, James, his girlfriend Ilee Jo, John Cain from Pirate Radio, Jacob from Black Forest and my friend Kalyn from work.

this video is from 2011:

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