Lunch with Dan and King Tut

I took Michelle and my sister's former step-son Dan to lunch at Turnpike Pizza in Greenlake yesterday.   Dan lives 4 blocks east of Greenlake in a Sound (was Seattle) Mental Health building.  In 14 years of taking Dan to lunch, this was the first time I had ever taken a friend with me.  Dan's schizophrenia can lead to escalated levels of anxiety in new situations.  I had my concerns about how it would go with Michelle joining us for lunch.  Lunch and conversation went amazingly well.   Dan was the most comfortable, relaxed, and social that I have ever experienced with him.

After lunch, Michelle and I went to see the King Tut exhibit at the Pacific Science Center.  King Tut was one of the lesser Pharaohs of ancient Egypt.  So much lesser that he was deliberately deleted from the historical record by succeeding Pharaohs and their historians.  In the greatest archeological find ever, Howard Carter discovered Tut's tomb in 1922.  Tut was buried in a 4-room tomb with 5000 objects ranging from jewelry to other mummies to furniture.  It took ten years for Carter to record, photograph and catalog the find.

When we got home last night, Michelle put up my fake fir Christmas tree.  That was the first time in 8 years that I have had a tree up for Xmas.  It felt good to get in the spirit of the holidays. 

Then we went to the 9:30 meeting at the Alano Club.  The topic was on step two and being restored to sanity.  I get great comfort in knowing that my addiction is a form of insanity which can be treated restoring me to sanity.  There is no more succinct explanation of my (active) addiction than I am insane.  I have watched incredibly bright addicts try to explain why they are addicts using complex psychological theories and childhood issues in a tragic amalgamation of mumbo-jumbo which still fails to accurately describe the situation.

My oldest friend from childhood, Bob Warren, was diagnosed with melanoma a few weeks ago.  He was to have a tumor removed by a surgeon at the UW Medical Center.  Instead, he learned that he has stage 4 melanoma and the surgeon declined to operate.  I am going to have lunch with Bob and George tomorrow. 

This morning, I took my 1993 Cougar to the same auto repair shop I have used for the last dozen years.  Ali's Automotive does great work and is very good about communicating the state of my car with me.    My car needs several thousand dollars worth of love for master brake and suspension issues.  I have had this car for seven years.  That is the longest I have ever had one car by a couple of years.  It is also my favorite car that I ever had.  Due to how I transfer and get my wheelchair in & out of my car, newer cars are generally too small for me and so there is not a newer replacement car out there for me.  I hope to have this car for another five years.

I am grateful for the pleasant experiences I had yesterday, the security of proper mechanical maintenance done by honest mechanics and a ride home from shop—and still having enough room on my credit card to get the priority repairs completed on my car today after a prodigious relapse.  Thank you god!