Quick Update and Other Stuff

Dad is doing a lot better. They took him off the ventilator today because he's doing so well. They thought he might have been developing pneumonia so they started him on antibiotics because he had a fever and there was a lot of fluid in his lungs. The fluid in his lungs started to build up because of the damage his lungs received from 50 years of smoking. Because of the tube in his throat he of course can't talk but they wrote the alphabet down on a piece of paper so he could spell things out. I know it had to be frustrating for him. I suck at charades and hand signals so I'm sure he was getting frustrated with me. They were even talking about him taking a walk today so thats good news too. I think hopefully if everything else goes well, he should be out in about a week. So everything is going well there.


Hurricane Katrina is of course the big news here. It's so sad, just makes you feel so helpless. I know when Isabel came through here and we were flooded, a lot of people came to our aid. I know there are a lot of people volunteering and donating money. I think the only good thing the president has done is free up over $10 billion for hurricane relief. They're sending a lot of Guardsmen from here this weekend. Thats good because they need all the help they can get. The lawlessness that is going on in the Convention Center and other areas is horrible. Many of the troops that are being deployed were given shoot to kill orders. I don't think that was a good idea at all. Yeah, I know there are people there that went and stole weapons and they are shooting at innocent people, but is it really a good idea to give shoot to kill orders when there are so many innocent people around? No I don't think that violence should be met with violence. I can't suggest anything but thats just how I feel. As more time goes by the sadder the story gets.

Like I mentioned yesterday, there are people across the country that are opening up their homes to those that lost theirs. There are quite a few churches in my area that are urging their parishoners to take in some of the victims if they have room. Food and clothing is a lot easier to get than a home and the churches said they are taking any donations people can afford to give, whether it be food, clothing, or money. The Maryland Food Bank, is also donating food to the victims. Thats really a great thing considering that the food bank is always in need of more food. Especially with colder weather and the holidays coming up. Food drives are pretty successful around here so I don't think they'll have a problem replenishing their stock.



I watched a movie the other day called "Y Tu Mama Tambien". It's an older movie, I think it came out 3 or 4 years ago. It's a Mexican movie so naturally its all in Spanish. It's really good though. There was a lot of nudity and sexual situations in it but once you get past that, its a really good movie. It was funny and sad at the same time. If you can stand to sit through a movie with subtitles and don't mind sexual content, you would probably really like it. I have "Constantine" sitting at home waiting for me to watch it. Since I've been at the hospital and work, I haven't had a whole lot of time to watch movies. But I'm working on it. The reason I watched "Y Tu Mama Tambien" was because I wanted to send it back so I could get another movie. I knew no one else in the house would watch it because there were subtitles and the content.

The next movie I should get it "The Motorcycle Diaries". Another Spanish language film, but this one deals with the early life of Che Guevara. I already know the story, I read his biography a couple years ago but its really a good story. Che Guevara, for those who don't know who he is, was a Cuban revolutionary. He was with Fidel Castro when he overthrerw Fulgencio Batista. I know that sounds bad to most Americans, a couple years ago if you said that to me, I would feel the same way. But Che Guevara believed that he was helping free oppressed people which is what the mission originally supposed to do. But "absolute power corrupts absolutely" and in the end, he left Cuba to train revolutionaries in the Congo and Bolivia. He was of course on the U.S. watch list because he was a communist and at the time and even now, but more so back then, communism had the same stigma as the "f" word. Most people thought, and to some extent still feel, Communists were evil and they were against the way we live our lives. It's true that we live in a society the complete opposite of communism but if you look at him, the man, you will see that he felt he was doing something good for the people. He didn't like that there were so many poor people while there were also so many rich people. Thats odd considering he came from an upper middle class background. But anyway, he was a good person at heart, he was a doctor committed to helping the poor and sick.

It sounds like I'm espousing communist propaganda but I'm not. I'm talking about the person. If anyone has the chance to read up on him, they should. I think they would benefit from reading his story. I'll probably be the only one watching this movie in my house too, but thats ok with me. Everyone has their likes and dislikes. It's just a really interesting story, his life. I think he just wanted to help people and it always bothered him that some people were living the high life while others were starving or dying of disease.

Anyway, sorry about that. I just kind of went with it. Like I said though, if you have a chance to read up on him, you should. He led a very interesting life, full of contradictions like most of us do.