the pod bay door

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Full story is here.

This time around, I’ll keep it short and sweet.  Today is my 59th birthday.  I was born at 01:05 in Winnipeg on 28 June 1953.  I don’t necessarily like getting older, but as my Mother noted some years ago when I complained about a birthday, and I paraphrase: “Think about those who never made it to the birthday that you’re celebrating today.”  Good point, Mom, and thanks for the reminder.

One thing on my mind today is that this is the last year of my 6th decade.  I’m still single, still think mostly like a kid, and probably have the maturity level of a 30 year-old.  I still wear t-shirts that celebrate the bands I like: Buffalo Tom, Bob Mould, Steely Dan.  Hey, grow up, already!  Well, maybe not.

Many things for which I am grateful: my health, my extended family, my friends and colleagues, the great career I’ve had and the opportunities it has given me to meet so many wonderful people and travel all over the USA and to India, the good fortune to have lived in Canada my entire life and in two great Canadian cities, Winnipeg, and since 1978, Edmonton.  I’m grateful for my ability to make music with a guitar, and for the many fantastic musicians with whom I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working over 40+ years, many of whom I count as friends.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my life right up to this very second.

.: On Tuesday of this week, 28 February 2012, laser stapedotomy surgery was performed on my right ear.  This is a procedure in which a CO2 laser is used to cut into the stapes bone in the middle ear, so that a prosthetic piston made of composite material can be embedded within to improve hearing.  I’m spending the week at home, recovering from the operation.  Essentially I am simply resting, and dealing with lingering pain near my right ear following the surgery.  I have a Medtronic Ear Implant, a “Fisch Fluorplastic and Platinum Piston,” inserted into my stapes bone.  I do not yet know if I will set off airport security alarms, but I have a card I can carry with me that I would need to provide to any MRI facility at which I might appear.

My hearing in my right ear has been diminished since at least the mid-80s.  For years I’ve been using a hearing aid and thought that would be the status quo for the rest of my life.  However, two years ago, my brother called to tell me he had had the operation himself.  I wasn’t aware at the time that he had a similar condition.  I decided to call my otolaryngologist, only to discover that he had retired.  I consulted with my audiologist, who recommended another otolaryngologist.  I met with him, and he concluded that I was eligible for the surgery.  When I met with the surgeon in the fall of 2010, my understanding was that it would be a stapedectomy, where the stapes bone is completely removed.  I was put on a waiting list for 18 months, and when I went to the pre-op clinic a few days before the operation, I was told I would have a stapedotomy instead.

My friend, Margaret, and I arrived at the Royal Alex hospital in Edmonton at 06:00 on 28 Feb, and I was prepped and wheeled into the operating room at 08:05.  I was given a neuroleptic anesthetic, which kept me awake during the surgery.  I remember my head being covered in small sheets, and could detect a very bright light over my right ear.  My head was turned to the left while I lay on the table.  Eventually I could hear various noises – whirring, clicking, a vacuum-like sound, etc.  At one point, the surgeon did speak to me and I responded.

Soon it was over and I was moved into the recovery area.  My brother had told me that he was quite nauseous and a bit dizzy after his surgery.  However, while laying on the gurney, I could tell that I had neither symptom. The surgeon did drop by briefly to tell me everything went well, and that the stapes bone was somewhat misshapen or out of alignment.  (I can’t remember his exact words.) At noon, Margaret came back to get me, and drove me home.    I was amazed that all of this could take place in 6 hours.

My ear remains plugged with some kind of packing, and I am constantly changing cotton balls in the ear.  I cannot get water into it, so when I shower, I need to pack the ear with a cotton ball with Vaseline on the end of it, and keep my hair dry.  I can tell that at least some hearing is working, but I really can’t hear anything until the packing is removed next Wednesday.  Afterward, my hearing will be assessed again.  Hopefully it will be better, and continue to improve.

.: A few photos from the Buffalo Tom 25th Anniversary weekend at Brighton Music Hall, Allston MA, 27 November 2011.  Guests included Aurore Ounjian and Chris Keene of Mean Creek, Mike Gent of The Figgs, Mike O’Malley (Glee), and Tanya Donnelly of Throwing Muses and Belly.

.: 58 Penrose Place is the address of the last house in which I lived in St Boniface (Winnipeg), Manitoba.  My family moved there in 1971 – I can’t remember which month – and stayed there until 1985, when my folks moved to a mobile home in St Vital.  I moved to Edmonton in the fall of 1978, but the time I spent living at 58 Penrose Place was memorable for many reasons.  While living in that house, I attended the University of Manitoba, where I met many new people and made the first new friends outside of my school years.

58 is also the age I am as of today, 28 June 2011.  I was born at 01:05 MDT in Winnipeg on this date in 1953.  With each passing year, I become a little more nostalgic about parts of my life, less so about others.  Regardless, it’s good to be alive, there is always much for which one can be grateful.  I work in one of the best library systems in one of the best universities in North America.  I have great colleagues who have tolerated my moody behaviour for almost 28 years!  The job has afforded me dozens of opportunities to travel, including a trip in February 2011 to India.  My parents are still alive and in decent health, as are my brothers and their families.  I live in Edmonton, a great city in perhaps the best country on Planet Earth.  I have a seemingly unlimited supply of good friends in many places, and am surrounded by people who care about me.  So on this day, I give thanks for all of these blessings.

In 2011, I have already traveled six times in the following order: Chennai and Mumbia in India, Winnipeg, Cambridge MA, Winnipeg again, San Francisco, and Philadelphia.  Please check the photos and videos from my trip to India, which was a work-related visit, but perhaps the most fascinating trip of my life.  It was the first time I’d been to country other than Canada or the USA.  I hope to make the time to write more the India trip, and the other trips, sometime soon.