Comments on: Go Big, Go Long, Go Home, or… http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/ America's favorite blog Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:56:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.11 by: David http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21976 Thu, 07 Dec 2006 22:04:17 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21976 I've seen someone get killed in a car wreck directly in front of me. I saw the guy fall from the van, then saw the van fall on him. It took some doing to get that picture out of my head. Hope I never see anything like that again. I’ve seen someone get killed in a car wreck directly in front of me. I saw the guy fall from the van, then saw the van fall on him. It took some doing to get that picture out of my head. Hope I never see anything like that again.

]]> by: Murray http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21970 Thu, 07 Dec 2006 18:01:31 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21970 Speaking of hit and run, more than 20 years ago I was with a girlfriend who was getting her diving certificate. We were at a bay in Queens and watched as a very small boat with a large motor cut inside the buoys, inside the parked boats, through the wharfs, and at high speed hit something metal that caused the motor to fly up and out of the water. The sound of the engine whining almost drowned out the sound of the water boiling from high pressure air lines. It then dawned on us that he had hit one of the other divers. We were sure that he had cut the diver in half. The dive boat that was working with them pulled them out of the water and headed to shore. The kid in the boat stuck the engine back into the water and furiously tried to start the motor. Another boat came along and explained to him that the divers didn't have a "Diver down" flag and therefore it wasn't his problem and he should get out of there now. Which he did. The diver who was hit was extremely lucky. The propeller had hit his tank, cut his air line, and nicked him on the scalp. A couple of stitches was all it took. We went to the Coast Guard station, only a few miles away, and reported the incident and gave the boat numbers for the CG to go after. I never heard how it turned out but I can tell you it was pretty horrifying to see the water bubbling and think that you had just witnessed a killing. Speaking of hit and run, more than 20 years ago I was with a girlfriend who was getting her diving certificate. We were at a bay in Queens and watched as a very small boat with a large motor cut inside the buoys, inside the parked boats, through the wharfs, and at high speed hit something metal that caused the motor to fly up and out of the water. The sound of the engine whining almost drowned out the sound of the water boiling from high pressure air lines. It then dawned on us that he had hit one of the other divers. We were sure that he had cut the diver in half. The dive boat that was working with them pulled them out of the water and headed to shore. The kid in the boat stuck the engine back into the water and furiously tried to start the motor. Another boat came along and explained to him that the divers didn’t have a “Diver down” flag and therefore it wasn’t his problem and he should get out of there now. Which he did.

The diver who was hit was extremely lucky. The propeller had hit his tank, cut his air line, and nicked him on the scalp. A couple of stitches was all it took. We went to the Coast Guard station, only a few miles away, and reported the incident and gave the boat numbers for the CG to go after.

I never heard how it turned out but I can tell you it was pretty horrifying to see the water bubbling and think that you had just witnessed a killing.

]]> by: siobhan http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21639 Sun, 26 Nov 2006 06:04:16 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21639 Gawd only knows why Fanny didn't like that one. Rival network? Here's a thought. Could we have the option of reading filtered messages if we promise not to complain about the contents?. Gawd only knows why Fanny didn’t like that one. Rival network?

Here’s a thought. Could we have the option of reading filtered messages if we promise not to complain about the contents?.

]]> by: siobhan http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21638 Sun, 26 Nov 2006 06:02:13 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21638 To provide counterpoint to hit and run... In '04, my hubby went to Athens to work on the Olympics broadcast as a sub-sub contractor for NBC. A week after he got there, he was hit while crossing the street. (The driver was an editor for a cell phone magazine; I have a theory about the cause of the accident....) Anyway. Not hit and run. The driver stayed with Bill, cradling him in his arms until the ambulance arrived. Stayed in the hospital through the night until he heard that the surgery was complete. Visited him in the hospital every single day for a month, until Bill was transferred back to the states. Drove me around Athens while I was there (though I gotta admit the big scratch on the hood kinda wigged me out). Had the local orthodox priest bless an icon painting and sent it home with Bill. Emailed regularly during the two months Bill was in the hospital here. Not everyone is a jerk. I don't know if it was the culture, or if it was because he was just a very nice guy. Still, I wish he'd have paid more attention to the crosswalks and less attention to the phone. To provide counterpoint to hit and run… In ‘04, my hubby went to Athens to work on the Olympics broadcast as a sub-sub contractor for NBC. A week after he got there, he was hit while crossing the street. (The driver was an editor for a cell phone magazine; I have a theory about the cause of the accident….) Anyway. Not hit and run. The driver stayed with Bill, cradling him in his arms until the ambulance arrived. Stayed in the hospital through the night until he heard that the surgery was complete. Visited him in the hospital every single day for a month, until Bill was transferred back to the states. Drove me around Athens while I was there (though I gotta admit the big scratch on the hood kinda wigged me out). Had the local orthodox priest bless an icon painting and sent it home with Bill. Emailed regularly during the two months Bill was in the hospital here.

Not everyone is a jerk. I don’t know if it was the culture, or if it was because he was just a very nice guy. Still, I wish he’d have paid more attention to the crosswalks and less attention to the phone.

]]> by: David http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21634 Sun, 26 Nov 2006 03:55:41 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21634 cooper, We've been in the same UU church in Orlando, in my case for an amazing theatre piece performed by a single actor (Tom Nowicki) playing a host of Viet Nam vets. Powerful stuff. UUers embrace humanity like no one else. Gotta love 'em for that and for the complete freedom of the human intellect they honor without reservation. If I were going to be anything, it would be a UUer. Nowhere else does my mind feel so welcome. cooper,

We’ve been in the same UU church in Orlando, in my case for an amazing theatre piece performed by a single actor (Tom Nowicki) playing a host of Viet Nam vets. Powerful stuff.

UUers embrace humanity like no one else. Gotta love ‘em for that and for the complete freedom of the human intellect they honor without reservation. If I were going to be anything, it would be a UUer. Nowhere else does my mind feel so welcome.

]]> by: Harold http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21631 Sun, 26 Nov 2006 02:21:07 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21631 Just a few staples in the scalp. I cut my head on the seam of the headrest of my friend's passenger's seat. In the milliseconds I had to make such a decision, I elected to go limp as I heard the screech of suddenly-stoped tires coming up behind us while we were third in line at a red light. The seatbelt kept me from going through the windshield, but the recoil - plus the force of having the car pushed through my previous location in space - snapped me back against the seat pretty hard. Hard enough to twist the seat completely out of shape, and to push my scalp into a seam in the material of the headrest. I was going to step out of the car to survey the damage and I felt something wet dripping onto the back of my neck and realized I was bleeding. Then we heard the car behind us roar to life and it cut around us on my side, turned the corner, and took off - if I had stepped out of the car, I would have probably been run over. My friend tried to pursue as I chanted the license plate number over and over, but her car was too messed up to travel much more than a few yards into a nearby drugstore parking lot. The kid who hit us had had his license taken away several months before for drunk driving. (The accident was December 21, 2001, which I belive was also a Friday, so it was a big pre-Christmas party night.) He also managed to hide his car, making it a little more difficult to locate. But after a few weeks of pursuit and detective work, we did get him. Just a few staples in the scalp. I cut my head on the seam of the headrest of my friend’s passenger’s seat. In the milliseconds I had to make such a decision, I elected to go limp as I heard the screech of suddenly-stoped tires coming up behind us while we were third in line at a red light. The seatbelt kept me from going through the windshield, but the recoil - plus the force of having the car pushed through my previous location in space - snapped me back against the seat pretty hard. Hard enough to twist the seat completely out of shape, and to push my scalp into a seam in the material of the headrest. I was going to step out of the car to survey the damage and I felt something wet dripping onto the back of my neck and realized I was bleeding. Then we heard the car behind us roar to life and it cut around us on my side, turned the corner, and took off - if I had stepped out of the car, I would have probably been run over. My friend tried to pursue as I chanted the license plate number over and over, but her car was too messed up to travel much more than a few yards into a nearby drugstore parking lot.

The kid who hit us had had his license taken away several months before for drunk driving. (The accident was December 21, 2001, which I belive was also a Friday, so it was a big pre-Christmas party night.) He also managed to hide his car, making it a little more difficult to locate. But after a few weeks of pursuit and detective work, we did get him.

]]> by: cooper http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21630 Sun, 26 Nov 2006 01:18:14 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21630 Oh, I'm sorry I missed the opportunity, dee. Really. So close. My dear sweet mom was UU back in the days. I remember a Christmas feast @ the UU church in Orlando, circa 1969. Like nothing I've ever seen - a complete pig, with an apple in its mouth, brought into the church on the shoulders of four strong men in medieval drag and 4 trumpeters leading the way. UUers have a discreet charm and an atypical sense of humor, no? Harold, I didn't know that. I hope you weren't seriously injured. Alyson is just scratched and bruised, no broken bones or head injury - sometimes an inch or two one way or the other makes all the difference. Life's like that, isn't it? Oh, I’m sorry I missed the opportunity, dee. Really. So close. My dear sweet mom was UU back in the days. I remember a Christmas feast @ the UU church in Orlando, circa 1969. Like nothing I’ve ever seen - a complete pig, with an apple in its mouth, brought into the church on the shoulders of four strong men in medieval drag and 4 trumpeters leading the way. UUers have a discreet charm and an atypical sense of humor, no?

Harold, I didn’t know that. I hope you weren’t seriously injured. Alyson is just scratched and bruised, no broken bones or head injury - sometimes an inch or two one way or the other makes all the difference. Life’s like that, isn’t it?

]]> by: David http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21625 Sat, 25 Nov 2006 22:41:20 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21625 dee, A UUer? I knew there was something extra special about you. I get the e-newsletter from the fab UU Austin. I've exchanged a couple of e-mails with the good minister there. He's both very bright and very articulate - a real breath of fresh theological air. dee,

A UUer? I knew there was something extra special about you. I get the e-newsletter from the fab UU Austin. I’ve exchanged a couple of e-mails with the good minister there. He’s both very bright and very articulate - a real breath of fresh theological air.

]]> by: dee http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21620 Sat, 25 Nov 2006 17:02:24 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21620 Well shucks, cooper -- you could have headed down PeaceHaven a bit, turned left onto Robinhood and joined us at the UU Fellowship for dessert. This was the third year I coordinated this dinner. People sign up ahead of time and bring a dish to share. Of course, we always get those folks who don't sign up (did I mention we're UU's?) and show up, green beans in hand. It's always a lot of fun with amazing food. I was worried that we didn't have enough desserts signed up. Two pies, a cake and another "pie" for around 60 people. We ended up with six pumpkin pies, two cherry pies, pecan tarts, a sweet potato cake and brownies. I should learn to relax about these things. Well shucks, cooper — you could have headed down PeaceHaven a bit, turned left onto Robinhood and joined us at the UU Fellowship for dessert.

This was the third year I coordinated this dinner. People sign up ahead of time and bring a dish to share. Of course, we always get those folks who don’t sign up (did I mention we’re UU’s?) and show up, green beans in hand. It’s always a lot of fun with amazing food.

I was worried that we didn’t have enough desserts signed up. Two pies, a cake and another “pie” for around 60 people. We ended up with six pumpkin pies, two cherry pies, pecan tarts, a sweet potato cake and brownies. I should learn to relax about these things.

]]> by: Harold http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21617 Sat, 25 Nov 2006 15:47:38 +0000 http://fanaticalapathy.com/2006/11/20/go-big-go-long-go-home-or/#comment-21617 Cooper, I was wondering who your supercool, easygoing, bone-crushingly funny manner reminded me of. And there it is: Jim Rockford! (At least there's no requirement that you get beaten up once per episode!) Good luck with the detective work on your daughter's hit-and-run. I was on the receiving end of one of those five years ago, and even <i>with</i> a license plate number, it wasn't easy to get taken care of. Cooper, I was wondering who your supercool, easygoing, bone-crushingly funny manner reminded me of. And there it is: Jim Rockford! (At least there’s no requirement that you get beaten up once per episode!)

Good luck with the detective work on your daughter’s hit-and-run. I was on the receiving end of one of those five years ago, and even with a license plate number, it wasn’t easy to get taken care of.

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