Year End Personal News And Notes

Thanks again for to all the readers of TSSBP for all your support throughout the year. It's been a busy week here at the Bubblehead house; I wanted to fill you in on what's going on:

1) This morning, I finished my radiation treatments in preparation for the cancer surgery I'll be having in a month or so; the chemo finished up yesterday. Everyone says I came through the radiation treatments (5,040 rads to my gastro-esophageal junction) about as well as anyone they've seen, in that I've been able to eat and drink normally throughout the treatment; one nurse said she's only seen one person through their office (a Marine) also make it through without having to tube feed. I credit the extra shielding I have (although I did lose about 15 lbs of that during the treatments.) I'll be starting back to work on Sunday, and hopefully will get the surgery scheduled in Seattle very soon.

2) Farewell, Faithful Friend: Yesterday, we had to say good-bye to our beloved cat, Hercules. It was a very emotional moment for all of us. A loving companion to our whole family, Hercules blessed our lives more than we could have hoped for, both with his affection and humor. Some of the "Best of Hercules" can be seen here; a more recent picture is here:

Thanks for sharing your life with us, old friend.

3) For the 3rd year running, I've been selected as a finalist for the "2008 Weblog Awards", this time in the "Best Up and Coming Blog" category against 9 worthy competitors (including the blog that cleaned my clock last year). I finished 2nd in 2006 and 3rd in 2007, so hopefully we'll be able to reverse the trend this year. I'll post more information as we get closer to the start of voting on January 5th (and maybe even another "Completely Impartial Voter's Guide"). As always, your support is appreciated; the "competition" has always been a lot of fun.

4) Go Big Red!

Happy New Year to all!

Update 2312 01 Jan 2009: Thanks to CDR Salamander and ninme for posting about Hercules. It means a lot to us.