the scream

you only need to hear it once to know it's different. not like any other scream you've ever heard. something about it immediately tells you there's something terribly wrong.

we'd heard it once before, last march. the five of us were getting ready to go out for an after dinner walk. owen was in the backyard, jumping from one cement slab of our raised septic tank to the other. he came up a bit short, and hit the cement face first. we were in the garage, getting molly and brendan ready, when he screamed. it was obvious from the sound that it was more than a scrape, and in the few seconds it took us to get to him, he had blood everywhere. took 7 or 8 stitches to close the cut, but he's no worse for wear now. even has the zigzag scar between the eyes to go with his harry potter glasses.

heard the scream again tonight. all 3 kids were in the backyard on the playset, while we sat at the kitchen table talking and watching them thru the window. it was brendan this time, letting out a scream that made owen's sound like a whimper. we didn't see anything happen, but from the house could see him sitting on the ground at the base of the slide. erin was convinced he was bleeding, i thought for sure he'd broken his leg. he knew exactly what had happened: "I GOT STUNG BY A BEE!!!!!" sure enough, the stinger was still there, right in the middle of his shin. he continued to scream as we brought him in the house, and as if the stinger had a direct connection to his sound card, he stopped almost immediately when we pulled it out.

a little ice, a band-aid, and about 10 minutes of extra attention were all it took to return him and the house to a sense of normalcy. i told him that even though he was just fine, the bee was not, because it would die without its stinger. erin thanked him for taking one for the team and ridding the world of one more bee. he said, "you're welcome, but it still hurts".

share a little love

continuing to find more and more uses for this blog. here's another- to promote good causes. my good friend ted is riding his bike much farther than i thought he could even drive, all in the interest of raising funds for the MS society. ted's mom rosemary passed away in june from complications from MS. you can read all about his endeavor here, and leave a pledge should you feel inclined.

thanks from both of us.

spreading the good word

kiddie quotes, stories, and my deep thoughts will only take this blog so far. as writer, editor, and publisher, i have sole control of all content and will humiliate you all as i see fit. i promise, no compromising pictures, but stories are fair game, as well as anything in the public domain.

i'll be gentle to start- the only humiliation here is me sharing your accolades with the world, as your grandmother might have done when she told everyone in her bridge club how you got the citizenship award at your junior high graduation. here then are a few huzzahs for some in the finkosphere...

• we finally know what googs does all day long- no better use for a medieval history masters than as a futurist. (those who do not learn from the past, blah blah blah)
• in case you're a large multinational insurance company involved in a bitter legal dispute, we've got a man for you. way to go, joey.
• congrats to mike and maura on the arrival of katie rose- start saving for the sweet 16 now

weekend wrap-up

no sharks this weekend, just some lazy time at home interrupted by a few trips to the driving range. brendan came into our room saturday AM dressed and ready to start his day, wearing some shorts and a collared shirt- clearly, something had gone eerily wrong during the night. his motive- he wanted to go to the driving range, and he knew that the course we go to requires collared shirts even at the driving range. now how's a dad supposed to say no to that?

no pics from the driving range, but here's a random one from last week when the "chefs" were making dinner...

when all else fails, go with the longest answer

off tomorrow to take my family medicine recertification exam. once every 7 years, need to prove to those who certify these things (and ultimately those who determine how much of your hard-earned insurance dollars i deserve to receive) that i can still make correct decisions on health matters when presented with multiple-choice questions. too bad patients don't read textbooks or give me a choice as to what i think they may have. not likely to see any questions like these tomorrow:

1) a 28 yo male presents as a new patient after leaving his other doctor because he was misunderstood. he is healthy other than his chronic low back pain, which has been refractory to all treatments except vicodin and soma. unfortunately, his pain is worsening because of his new job and he left the prescriptions he received from his last physician at his cousin's house in virginia. he is allergic to ibuprofen and tramadol. physical exam is unremarkable except for poor dentition and several large tattoos. at this point, you should:
a) rewrite his prescriptions for a 90 day supply with 3 refills, as he has requested
b) instruct him on proper lifting techniques and posture, refer to physical therapy
c) extol the benefits of chiropractic care and its effectiveness in similar situations
d) suggest he may want to find another less gullible physician
e) refer him to a pain management expert, since his pain is obviously far beyond your capacity to treat him

2) a 46 yo female complains of a 3 day history of sinus congestion, similar to all her previous "sinus infections". her symptoms include headache, mild rhinorrhea, and sore throat. she has no fever, though in the mornings she has a cough productive of "very dark green, thick stuff". she smokes 1 1/2 packs of cigarettes a day. proper treatment for this patient includes
a) an antibiotic
b) a cough syrup with codeine
c) a decongestant
d) a note for work for the rest of the week
e) a 20 minute discussion about the symptoms of the common cold, appropriate treaments for the common cold, advice on smoking cessation and the dangers of smoking, and then ultimately a prescription for an antibiotic, a cough syrup with codeine, a decongestant, and a note for work.


wish me luck.

random links...

...to a few things that caught my eye during my trip around the web this lunch hour:

- great photo here, makes a much better desktop image than that awful stonehenge one you're still using
- give a woman manna from heaven, and she'll eat for a day. give her worms, and she'll fish all week.
- mark my words, the cubbies are making this move to deal kendall, possibly packaged with a pitcher for an all-star 3B whose team won't negotiate an extension until after the season. you can say you read it here first.

our clever little land sharks

here's the other purpose for this blog- to share the joys of finkville with all of you.

this past weekend erin and the kids went down to calvert county, maryland to visit our friend (and molly's godmother) ciaran and her dog atti. they took a trip to the calvert marine museum. nothing says fun like sharks and face painting.

enjoy the photos.

the stars are out

thanks to all who've checked in so far and left comments (ha ha, HA HA HA, ha ha). i've really enjoyed some of the e-mail conversations/debates we've had over the years, and think that the comments section here could serve that very purpose. i figured a site merely about what's going on in our daily lives might not keep everyone's interest, so i hope that many of my posts turn into discussions and debates on the comments page.

picked up the newest release this weekend from a band called stars, album is titled "in our bedroom after the war". stars' last disc, "set yourself on fire" won them fair acclaim in the indy world (for good reason), and this one should do the same. a bit different, but solid album. listening to their disc reinforced to me how many great songs and bands are out there that deserve more radio airplay. there's no reason why several songs on this disc shouldn't be on pop/rock stations everywhere, but i guarantee you'll never hear them. i don't claim to be any kind of music expert, but it seems to me that there are more and more songs that have great critical acclaim and are "radio-friendly" by anyone's standards, but have never or will never be heard anywhere other than maybe college radio and a few satellite channels.

here's a brief list of songs just from the past year or two that i think should have gotten major radio airplay, but never did. check them out on itunes or elsewhere, and burn yourself a disc of them. great summer listening. (thanks to puddin, googs, d-train and others who steered me towards some of these)

stars, "my favourite book", "ageless beauty"
fountains of wayne, "someone to love", "new routine"
rock kills kid, "paralyzed"
brandston, "earthquakes and sharks"
camera obscura, "lloyd, i'm ready to be heartbroken"
golden smog, "corvette"
hard-fi, "cash machine"
nada surf, "always love"
youth group, "shadowland"
death cab for cutie, "crooked teeth"

don't judge a book by its cover, or a song by its title and artist. 30 second sound bites should be enough to convince you these are radio-worthy. you may add to the list, but not subtract. fire away.

go shorty, it's ya birthday

a quick happy happy to my baby sis, who leaves the coveted 18-34 demographic today. here's hoping you've got a homemade pinata to swing at, just like the old days. happy birthday b.

finks...in...(cyber)space...

while i will always have a disdain for the word "blogosphere" (there's fodder for a later post!), i've decided i can't resist the allure of a place to post my daily musings and amusements, not to mention a site for updates on all things fink. hence, the finkipedia.

herein, over the coming days/weeks/months/years (depending on how long i stick with this fad), you'll find postings about our daily happenings here in middletown and worldwide, pictures of the same, random thoughts and ideas, links to interesting things elsewhere in cyberspace, and plenty of the superfluous commas, parenthetical phrases (like this one) and run-on sentences (like this one) that have become my literary trademarks.

my original idea, in the spirit of wikipedia, was to have a site where everyone could post their own entries and update/augment everyone else's. but i figure i'll start small, and see what happens. so for now, i'll do all the posting, you do all the commenting, and we'll all have a happy cyber-experience together.

welcome to finkipedia! enjoy your stay.