Ex Las Cruces

Went up to Canada for Bryan's memorial/wake. I was supposed to be there for trick-or-treating with Juliet and her cousins, but I encountered yet another diaster, a 3-hour traffic jam on Highway 17. Needless to say, I missed my plane, and the next flight, too... Candice suggested that I just fly up to Vancouver and spend the night and take an early morning seaplane to Salt Spring Island.

Which I did, and then joined the Denton family fray, with David, Heather, Colin, and their SOs Jeanette, Sharon, Alex (Allie), and Sammie. Juliet (age "almost 5") and Sammie (age "almost 6") became best of friends and were inseparable. They were most definitely BFFs. It was just so sweet and innocent amidst the grief and family dramas.

Now after a very brief interlude back in Aptos, I am back in Las Cruces, hanging out with my dad and helping with his recovery and just talking with him and trying to figure out what we are going to do. He was very independent and now, suddenly--in a stroke as it were--he is bed-ridden and unable even to feed himself.

At one point, he was intubated and we didn't think he was going to make it. Thank God, he is much better than that now, but still totally debilitated. But the future is still unknown. It doesn't look like he is going to be able to go back to living on his own in his trailer in T or C, but he may be able to still enjoy a few quiet years.

Our disastrous October

I thought times were trying when I lost my job along with my shirt in the stock market crash. But then things got really bad.

My dad had a serious debilitating stroke on Sat., Oct. 18. I rushed out to New Mexico to find him on life support. Then, with my dad still in the ICU, Candice's father had a sudden and rapid relapse of his mysterious neurological apnea. My dad is slowly recovering from his stroke, but Bryan Denton passed away early on Tues., Oct. 21.

Candice said, "I just don't think I can take anything else." I feel the same way. With me in NM, then her and Juliet going up to Canada, we've not even been together much, so we've not been able to comfort each other.

Travels

This will be the main post with links to all the places I have been. My travels have been fairly extensive in North America, Europe, and Australasia, but I have not even been to Africa or South America. However, some of the favorite places that I have visited outside the continental US are:

• The Caribbean: Jamaica, Haiti, Nassau, Cayman Islands, Florida, Roatan
  
• Alaska, Yukon Territory, Canadian Rockies (Banff, etc.)
  
• Vancouver, Victoria, BC; Gulf Islands
  
• Mexico - Pacific: Baja, Puerto Vallarta, San Pancho; Caribbean: Isla Mujeres, Cozumel, etc.
• Hawaii
  
• Thailand
• Vietnam
• Singapore; Hong Kong
  
• Bali, Java, Sumatra
• Nepal
  
• Australia
• Fiji
• French Polynesia (Tahiti)
  
• New Zealand
• Japan
• Siberia
• Russia and Ukraine
• Prague, Czech Republic
• Western Europe: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the low countries, etc.
  
• Switzerland, Lichtenstein, The Alps
• Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  
• Paris
• London, England, Scotland, Wales

And within the US, it's easier to list the states that I HAVEN'T been to:

• Maine
• Rhode Island
• North Dakota
• Kentucky
• West Virginia
  

I'm not counting places that I've only driven through, and of which I have no memory.

Stuff worth blogging about

Now that I am a MAN OF LEISURE, I have time to consider what is worth talking about, or at least what I feel qualified to talk about. Well, in the spirit of de gustibus, they are just my experiences:

• Travels - places I have been, places I have lived; perhaps even places to which I would like to go.
  
• Spirits - Scotch, whiskey, gin, tequila, this, that, what have you.
  
• Wine - Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet, and the whole galaxy of oenophilic delight.
  
• Books
• Films
• Music
• Family
  

Many of these, I have already begun to address. Others will come.

These are the times that try men's souls...

That quote from Thomas Paine came to mind last week as the stock market was crashing, and the whole western financial system seemed to be seizing up. It certainly did not help to be unemployed during this crisis. I don't doubt that we will come out of it eventually, but it looks to be a fairly long and bad downturn. Some people were even using the "D" word--depression. I'm not ready to subscribe to that train of thought yet, but we are definitely tightening our belts.

Multiverse's Big Splash

Just returned from the Virtual Worlds Expo in LA, where my company, Multiverse, made a number of big announcements, including announcing of a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" online game. We also announced Multiverse Places, which we've been working on internally for some time.

Now, on to Austin!

Six Years...

Candice and I recently celebrated our sixth anniversary...a rather low-key observance, especially compared to last year when we had a big shindig, with a band, catered food, etc. This year was just about the exact opposite: at the Lake House, I played (my very first) 18-hole round of golf, we had lunch at the PML clubhouse with friends Mark and Suzanne and daughter Brooke; then a couple hours on the beach and a quiet dinner back at the "Relaxin' Shack."

Actually, it was quite a nice day...our last of this summer together as a family at the Lake House.

Summer's come and gone...my oh my!