Thrown to the nerd wolves

So, when the season ended, my sister terminated our "You can live here and not pay rent" agreement and I ventured into the scary real world looking for a place to live and a way to apy for it.

I found a place, a pretty sweet house in Odenton, Maryland. To pay rent, and to continue buying food, I got a second job. I am now employed by the Bowie Baysox AND Gamestop.

Given my love for video games and my experience in retail, it seemed like a pretty good fit.

So I got hired. I was scheduled for one shift my first week. 4 hours. Then nothing for two weeks. This week, I finally got another shift, another 4 hour job.

While I contemplated how I'm going to fill my belly and whether or not I needed a third job, my store manager called me on Thursday, and asked if I would be interested in filling a shift in another store that night, in Annapolis. I jumped at the opportunity.

My first day at Gamestop, about all I did was put games away. I showed up at the Annapolis Mall store and immediately realized two things: 1. It was MUCH, MUCH busier than my store and 2. I had NO useful abilities. I didn't know where anything was, I didn't know how to sell anything to anybody and I didn't know how to take trade-ins. Yikes.

Fortunately, there was another guy from my store there. Although he was supposed to leave when I showed up, he at lest showed me how to sell things.

It was an interesting night.

I made it through, and it was a pretty good time.

So far everyone I've worked with at Gamestop has been cool as hell.

I thought this was going to be an interesting story, but maybe I should have just boiled it down: I filled in in a pince for another store, I didn't know what the hell I was doing, but I had fun and didn't get fired.

Well, those are precious moments of your life that you'll never get back, SUCKER!

An Update On MJ

So, Makenzie went in for her surgery early Tuesday morning. Everything went as well as it possibly could have.

On Wednesday she was moved into her own room, meaning she was doing well enough to NOT need direct nursing care. They took all her tubes out yesterday, and today she was able to go home!

I'm not sure how long she'll be sidelined, but once again I can not help but ponder how amazing my niece is. She's indestructible. People may not have ever guessed about her health problems by looking at her, but they can certainly get a sense of her spirit.

I wish I could hang out with her, Jake and Heidi until she's feeling better, but alas....here I am in Maryland.

Thanks a TON to all my friends who checked in and expressed their support.

I love my niece!

Too Far From Home

I am still alive and well in Maryland. I've moved from Baltimore to Odenton, a town about half way between Baltimore and Bowie. Things are going pretty good here.

Except for today, when I am half way across the country from where I belong.

Makenzie was scheduled to have another surgery today. They're putting a valve into her heart. If it goes well, it SHOULD be the last surgery for 8-10 years. My brother does a great job of describing what's going on medically on his family blog: http://jakeandheidis.blogspot.com/.

There was a complication today when they were putting IV's in, so they had to postpone the surgery until tomorrow. 'Kenzie spent the day heavily sedated and on a ventilator.

So, hopefully tomorrow everything will go great, and we can stop worrying, and Kenzie will finally go on to grow up to be the smart, beautiful and HEALTHY girl we all know she will be.

I can't help but think once again of how amazing Jake and Heidi are. They are so strong...with everything new hurdle that arises, they handle it with an uncanny and unbelievable grace. I cannot say enough how much I respect, admire and love them.

This is the first time MJ has had a surgery since I left. I have a role when she's in the hospital. I'm the one who stays overnight with her, so Jake and Heidi can each get some sleep. It's how I help.

It absolutely kills me to be out here, to feel like there is absolutely nothing I can do to be a part of the solution.

I love my niece. Once again I ask that you keep her, Jake, Heidi and Tyler in your thoughts as we wait for the doctors to execute the wonders of modern medicine.