Have yet to install CS3.

Friday night was an especially drunk and out-of-control night at the bar on the corner. Somewhere just after closing time, someone stole a fire extinguisher from somewhere and set it off in our foyer. The resulting cloud of powder seeped into the building and set the fire alarm off at 3:00 am. Yikes is that loud. But at least I know it will wake me up from a dead sleep. As I was outside and the fire trucks came, I saw their closing crew righting the news boxes that their drunken customers had all thrown into the street. At 4:00 AM, just after I'd gotten to sleep their trash collector came, in spite of being told nearly a dozen times that there is to be no pickup until 7 or later. I yelled at the guy and he left, so it's clear he knew he wasn't supposed to be there. Would you leave if someone you couldn't see told you to shut up? I didn't think so. Their weekday crew has gotten the message and doesn't come until about 8. It's just this Saturday guy. Then at 6:30, the renovations crew putting new windows into the companion restaurant next door unloaded their truck by dropping everything off the bed. Needless to say, I got no sleep. Now we have to clean the mess of the fire extinguisher. Apparently, the police nabbed the guy and then let him go, and didn't make a report.

The upshot of all of this is that we're having a new door lock security system installed. You won't be able to get into the foyer unless you're buzzed in. This is long overdue.

My parents will be visiting next week. That should be fun. They get here Wednesday and leave Thanksgiving Day.

My cousin is not doing well. I swear there's a cloud over that family. (This is the younger brother of the one who was in the serious motorcycle accident.) He's been battling cancer for several years. It's nearly everywhere: liver, lungs, kidney (and he was born with only one). He was always a stocky kid when we were growing up. He's thin as a rail now. He and his wife were in the next town over, shopping for winter coats. She stepped away for a minute and heard a crash. He'd collapsed and cracked his head open. They took him to the hospital and did a CT scan and found a big tumor pressing on the brain. It wasn't there on his last scan a few weeks ago. Things aren't looking good. He may not see his 50th birthday. His dad died of pancreatic cancer at age 51. I hope my parent's trip here doesn't turn into a road trip to Ohia.

An e-mail relayed from my Aunt (his mother) says there are three new brain lesions. Chemo has started.

Yesterday was supposed to be surgery day for my dog. They didn't do the surgery. I got a call from the Dr. a couple hours after dropping him off saying the x-rays showed "lesions on the lungs consistent with metastatic cancer" (pulmonary metastasis). There's no immediate evidence of the primary cancer. It may be the lump in his throat although she thinks that's most likely just one of those fatty lumps all old dogs get (he's got them elsewhere). It's also unlikely to be the hemangiopericytoma in his foot as that metastasizes very rarely. So there's something somewhere else. He's also developed a raspy cough over the last couple of weeks. She also said that regardless of what the primary cancer is, there's a low likelihood of successful treatment based on what they saw on the lung x-rays. If the lump in his neck is thyroid cancer, it grows slowly but it's not very treatable and he could last a year. But if it's in his throat, it could be tonsil related which is an aggressive, fast moving cancer. It could turn out the the bump on his toe, which a prior vet diagnosed as another fatty lump, turns out to be SCC, it could have metastasized from that, but it's too late to do anything about it now that it's happened. But without determining exactly where and what is the primary, there's no telling what the prognosis is. But the treatment options are so limited, that would be primarily an academic exercise.

He's in good spirits, is peppy, has a good appetite, and has no sign of malaise. The prognosis is anywhere from a few weeks to a year. But this has me totally stressed and depressed.

I tink I'b geddink a code.