Life at a Lively Pace

No, I’m not dead or otherwise incapacitated.  So many things have happened in the last few weeks that I haven’t had much time to think about a post, much less actually posting the thought.  Sorry! I get involved in so many different things that I’m astonished I actually have time to sleep.  I may have to do something about that!  This is a general recap of what’s been going on:

• After much running between a variety of medical offices, I have a definite diagnosis - it’s called supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). In a nutshell, the electric signal that is supposed start at the top, go down in, through and around the bottom of the heart to create the contraction gets screwy. Instead, it starts at the top, goes in and gets caught in a loop, causing the heart to beat faster and faster in an attempt to pump out the blood. Test results have shown that I can go from 80 beats per minute to 165 and not even be aware of the change. This is not good since the overly rapid heart beat causes the heart to pump inefficiently. Thankfully, I’m on a baby dose of medication and it’s completely under control now.
• My brother-in-law, Rick, and his family have finally moved into their home here in PA after a long and grueling search for a job and a place to live. We’ve been helping out on weekends, doing some minor repair work and helping set stuff up.
• Earlier this month, we managed to take a day off from work and went to the Philadelphia Flower Show with hubbie’s sister and her husband.  This year’s theme was Ireland.  I have a bunch of pictures from that - some really beautiful displays - but I haven’t had time yet to post it to my Flickr account.  Maybe I’ll get some down-time this afternoon…
• Our niece, Shannon, had a scary medical incident the other day. While at a friend’s house, she became incoherent, began mumbling strange things, broke into a cold sweat and started to drift in and out of consciousness. After a really long night (we’re still catching up on sleep) and a lot of nasty tests, the doctors came up with nothing. Fortunately, the tests ruled out a lot of very serious conditions that might bring on those symptoms but it isn’t very comforting when you still don’t know what caused it - or what might inadvertently bring it on again.
  Update (3/24/07): Got a phone call today around 11:30 AM - they’re taking her back to the hospital.  She quickly developed a horrible headache and is vomiting.  We’re praying that the doctor’s figure out the cause soon.
• I’ve been busy working on a website re-design for someone else. I’m not about to toot my own horn, so I’m not linking to it. If you know where/what the site is, enjoy it when it comes out (soon) - I’m really quite pleased with the way it has turned out. If you don’t know, oh well!
• The company I work for was sold and we merged another Local Company a few months ago. Prior to that event, the Local Company had become a partner of a Very Large Company, based south of here, that wanted to expand their territory into our area - a good business move. To consolidate things, Local Company let us know that our current office will be closing sometime around June or July and we were all going to move to their main office a few miles away. I would be moving out of my current position (receptionist/secretary) to a more tech-oriented position. However, Very Large Company has been downsizing in their region and now has asked Local Company, their partner, to consolidate the workflow and do the same. The responsibilities of the position I was supposed to take has been given to someone else at Very Large Company and the position was eliminated. I got that phone call yesterday.Now I have to start the great job hunt. While it is not likely that my current position will be cut prior to the office closing (someone has to answer the calls and keep things running smoothly), it always is a possibility. God has given me complete peace in this situation. I know that the right opportunity will turn up at the right time, as per His plan. One of God’s fingerprints is clearly visible : I have approximately 3 months to find a job instead of 3 days or weeks. This is a blessing that I know doesn’t happen very often - most times, you’ve got a couple of weeks at best - and it’s a blessing for which I am immensely thankful. He’s provided perfectly in the past and I know He will do so again. I just pray that my eyes will be open to see the door He’s opening rather than stubbornly staring in the opposite direction at a closed window, willing it to open itself.

We got home last night from spending several days in Philadelphia.  Good times!  A minimum of 5 hours every day was spent walking around.  We visited the Franklin Institute (btw, the King Tut exhibit will visiting there next year), walked through the entire historical district and visited the Philly Zoo.

Of course, we had our own brand of adventure.  Anyone who knows us well knows that “stuff” always happens to us.  This time around, we got to experience two new things.  We went to bed late Tuesday night and didn’t set the alarm, figuring we’d sleep in a little Wednesday morning before starting our day.  Wrong!  The fire alarm went off at 8 AM, broadcasting a message that an “emergency has been detected - please evacuate the building”.  It was raining lightly outside. And most of us were in various states of undress - mostly in our PJ’s. Hair unbrushed. Turns out that some smoke from somewhere had been sucked into the AC system intake.  It took about 15 minutes for the fire department to determine that there was no danger and they let us all back into the building.  Unfortunately, they couldn’t turn the elevators back on right away, so we were forced to climb the stairs back to our room.  On the 6th floor.

The second thing that happened was a bit more interesting.  One of the main highways running in and out of Philly is I-76, also known as the Schuykil Expressway.  It is notorious for backups and accidents and rush hour typically starts around 3 “ish”.  We decided to head back home around 2 PM yesterday to avoid the action.  There are a lot of slow spots because the speed limit changes every so often and it also goes from two lanes to three and back to two.  We managed to get through a couple of these spots and were just entering another, debating whether or not we should exit and wander our way home using back roads - minus a decent map of the area.  We decided to stick it out.  Soon, one emergency vehicle followed another up the right shoulder and we could see that the right lane was blocked, forcing traffic into the left lane.  We merged into the left lane and traffic came to a sudden halt.  We could see the emergency crews and their vehicles, only a few yards ahead of us - there was a fire truck blocking traffic, a tractor trailer behind him, a van, a Subaru and then us.  Helicopters were hovering overhead, presumably ones that reported on the state of traffic.

What we initially didn’t notice was that there wan’t anymore traffic going into Philly.  They were all stopped on the opposite side, several yards back from the scene of the accident as well. We thought that perhaps the accident may have involved the median and the crews were trying to clear a lane.  Wrong guess.  We watched as a MedEvac helicopter landed on the highway in the space that the crews had cleared for it.  By this point, those of us who were close enough to the scene to see what was going on were out of our cars, edging our way closer to get a good look at the helicopter.  I was impressed - I had never seen one that close up before.  They made short work of loading the injured party onto the MedEvac and off it went. Traffic flow resumed and off we went. 

Unfortunately, I have no pictures.  We had forgotten to charge our camera Wednesday night after walking around all day taking pictures and the camera died while we were at the zoo.

Musikfest has been held in Bethlehem, PA for a little over 20 years. They take one week out of August to host musicians of every genre, popular and "just starting out", food from a lot of nationalities as well as craftsmen and give them all a week to do their thing. It's like one giant street fair, but stretched out over a couple of miles.

Bob & I spent most of our free time this past weekend at Musikfest. Besides taking in the sights, sounds, smells and tastes (oh yeah!), we stayed for several perfomances. Our favorite, btw, was the Arrogant Worms. Here's who we saw:

Moscow Nights : can't help it. I'm half Russian. This stuff stirs my blood. I haven't heard a balalaika played in almost 20 years. I needed a fix … They were very good and added some comedic twists to a very traditional folk music concert.

Lynn Marie & the Boxhounds : Ok, can't help this one either. Have some Polish blood in me too. Polka music gets me grinning. We stayed around in the "polka tent" (festplatz) to listen to some other acts too. Inevitably, the Chicken Dance, Beer Barrel Polka and Pennsylvania Polka were played. The Chicken Dance is good fun, especially when you're out on the floor in August heat with a few hundred other people and a lady on stage dressed like a chicken, leading the whole thing.

Synergy Brass Quintet : Instead of being on a stage, these guys were among the street performers on Main Street. This was their first year at Musikfest. What a show! In another few years, they'll be giving Canadian Brass a run for their money. If you like brass ensembles, their music is well worth the purchase.

Cast In Bronze : Never saw anything like this before … this is the only mobile carillon in the world. Most carillons these days have been automated, so to find a live performer is rather rare, much less one that travels with his own 70-ton set of bells. Incredible performance, though I must say that his theatrics were a little overdone.

Arrogant Worms : By far, our most favorite performance. These guys hail from Canada (which might explain a few things …) and are extremely funny. We were headed toward that particular stage (Liederplatz) to hear Moscow Nights and wanted to get there early. We caught the last 15 minutes of the Worm's show and decided that we had to come back on Sunday to see the whole performance. Their harmony and musical talent is amazing. Add to that their flair for making fun of anything that exists and you have the makings of a side-splitting evening. Some of the songs we heard were: "I Pulled My Groin", "Rippy the Gator", "Jesus' Brother Bob", "Carrot Juice is Murder" and "I Am Cow". We couldn't stop laughing - the music alone was hysterical, let alone the antics on stage. Would highly recommend that you see them if they're in your neck of the woods…

Just an example of their work:
Rippy the Gator - Given, Raffi, Barney the dinosaur and a whole host of other kiddie song promoters, the Worms wanted to get into the act. The two criteria for a good children's song is 1.) a cute animal to sing about and 2.) a catchy, sing-along chorus. Since all of the cute animals were taken, they chose an alligator. The chorus will get stuck in your head. Is it a children's song? You decide …

Lyrics to I Am Cow:

I am cow, hear me moo
I weigh twice as much as you
And I look good on the barbecue
Yogurt, curd, cream cheese and butter’s
Made from liquid from my udders
I am cow, I am cow, hear me moo (moo)

I am cow, eating grass
Methane gas comes out my ass
And out my muzzle when I belch
Oh, the ozone layer is thinner
From the outcome of my dinner
I am cow, I am cow, I’ve got gas

I am cow, here I stand
Far and wide upon this land
And I am living everywhere
From b.c. to newfoundland
You can squeeze my teats by hand
I am cow, I am cow, I am cow
I am cow, I am cow, I am cow!