Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, what did you think of the play?

The past ten days have been a blur.  I have six days remaining and it's likely to also be a blur as I try to get many things done before I head back to the Emirates.  

I was not looking forward to the visitation or the funeral but both were really quite nice.  I spent two days scanning pictures of Mom and they played in the back of the church for people to see.  With Mom being cremated, I much prefer the slideshow of pictures - it seemed much more of a celebration of life than seeing an embalmed body in a coffin.  

The outpouring of support from friends and family has been very much appreciated.  Those who knew Mom years ago remembered her humor and liveliness. In looking through the pictures of the past it's very saddening to see how much the Lupus took out of her in the past twenty years.  Living with systemic lupus for twenty years, however, is quite remarkable.  

My friends have been amazing... I started listing all the great things they did but realized I would most certainly leave something out and then feel bad.  Several of my former students from Kaplan who became friends also sent flowers and came to the visitation/funeral.  Let's just say I'm really lucky to have such amazing friends.  

This experience made me realize how much I need an American credit card.  One friend - Sandy (who comments on the blog) - sent a huge plant and planned to come down from Minneapolis.  I talked her out of it because I didn't want her traveling so far when I'd have so little time to talk to her.  Sandy lost both of her parents while I've been in Emirates.  I wanted to send a plant but couldn't without the American credit card.  I wasn't sure if I could even get one having destroyed my credit back in 2007-2008.  The good news is that I was able to get one and I didn't even have to put down a security deposit or pay an annual fee.  Maybe my credit isn't quite as bad as I feared.  

The bright spot of the past week is all the reconnecting I've made with old friends.  It's unfortunate that it took these circumstances to make it happen but I am a really lucky guy to have a wonderful support network.  This is something I need to remind myself of when I feel depressed.

Mom

Yesterday Mom spent the day and night in the hospital.  After a week of bad diarrhea her potassium levels dropped to nothing and they spent a couple of hours pumping her with fluids to get them back to normal.  Dad had headed home earlier and by the time I brought her home she was doing OK.  She wasn't terribly coherent after plenty of pain medication, but given the number of close calls over the years this one didn't seem like a big deal.

This morning Dad heard her breathing a bit labored but didn't think much of it.  When she didn't get up he went to check on her and she had already passed.

Mom has been sick for decades.  In the late 90's nobody would have predicted she would have made it to 2011.  Still, it is safe to say this is shocking.

*****
In late May I volunteered for summer school.  Following that I had nightly nightmares.  The nightmares were that Mom died while I was in the Emirates - and if I hadn't taught summer school I could have seen her one more time.

Fortunately, my sense of foreboding didn't come true.  In fact, Mom had a really great June and July.  She was in the best condition she's been in for at least ten years.  Last week Mom had her 77th birthday and 59th wedding anniversary.  The family gathered for the first time in years at the Amanas just last Saturday.

So, it is shocking and I'm still in a state of disbelief.  I am happy however because:

• She was in great shape the past two months.
• The whole family gathered just last week.
• I was able to spend all of yesterday with her.  I am so grateful I was in the country.  I can't imagine what it would be like to get this call in the Emirates.  
• Given Mom's illnesses she could have gone in a long, drawn-out way - spending months in a nursing home.  I am so grateful that she passed peacefully in her sleep.  After what she's been through, she deserved it.

I feel so bad for my father:  Married for 59 years to the only love of his life.  He's quoting a song that talks that all the bad things in life had to happen in order for him to meet the love of his life by coincidence. He considers himself one of the luckiest guys in the world for the time he's had with her.  I can't imagine his world without her.

Week one in Iowa

Downgrade?

If you or I saw our credit rating lowered we'd be paying higher interest rates.  We'd have trouble getting credit.  So what happens on the first day of trading after S&P downgrades US debt?  Interest rates on the debt have actually fallen and the value of the dollar is up about 2 cents.  

Crazy?  Not really.  

As bad as things may be for the US, they are much worse in Europe.  The US has a Tea Party inspired political problem.  Europe has dysfunctional economic system hangover for which there is no clear solution.

The bottom line:  As much the tea baggers did a good job of showing the world they could bring the US government to its knees, the very real problems in Europe trump the theatrical sideshow.

Next stop Chicago

Woke up late. My driver thought he was to pick me up at 6pm, not 6am. Still, made it on time and was given an emergency row seat (more leg room). Everything will be fine, inshallah. To track the flight Go here: http://ar.flightaware.com/live/flight/ETD151 You may need to switch to the English version.

Packing

I am attempting to bring back to two tajines - traditional Moroccan cooking/serving dishes.  See one in use here.    They are made of clay so I'm really scared.... so they are wrapped in newspaper and bubble wrap.  Feeling that was not enough I ripped one of the egg cushion things from from my bed and cut it up.  I think it's good enough. Time will tell.

I am bringing these back for two friends who are excellent cooks.  Assuming these don't break my friends had better invite me over for dinner.

Summer 2009 vs. Summer 2011

Summer 2009 was one of the coldest on record for Iowa.

The highs never reached an average high for the month (extraordinary).  Many concluded that the good weather was due to my absence.

July of 2009 was 9 degrees below normal while July of 2011 will end 2-3 degrees above normal.  (Most odd is that the lows for this month are 5 degrees above normal.  The low for three days was 77!  That's a very warm night.)

Meanwhile I was in middle east and the weather was odd in 2009:  hazy most days.  The haze kept the tems from going above 110 but I didn't see a cloud for over a month.  This summer has had a bit of sprinkles, sand storms, and clouds.  During the day we've been baked:  115 most days.

The summer itself has been very different.  Two years ago it was a lot of watermelon and sleep.  This summer I tried getting lots of both...

... but this was one of the few decent ones I could find this summer.  The rest were all past their prime.  And sleep?  It's better than the month of horror (mid-May to mid-June) but it's still not good.  I hope things are better when I'm home.  The fact the heatwave will break by the time I get home is a good sign.  I appreciate not being to be blamed for bad weather.

*****
My aviation-geek friend and airline pilot friend have both assured me that the new plane is nothing to be concerned about.  It's reassuring.

Debt Deal

I am glad I am thinking about coming home, otherwise the debt deal would be overwhelmingly depressing.  I am hard-pressed to think of a more disastrous legislative loss since healthcare reform was killed in the 1990's.  The same qualities that made Obama the only Democratic president to get healthcare reformed passed are the same qualities that led to this horrible deal:  The guy will do anything to get to yes.  That's a tough bargaining position.

I'm trying hard to find a silver lining and this is the best I can do:  This bill is not as bad as the "grand bargain" he almost struck with Boehner two weeks ago.

Economically this hurts an economy that can't take many more blows.  Politically, the president has demoralized his base (and killed our enthusiasm for him) and emboldened the Tea Party.  Until now, I really believed the president was a lock for reelection.  Given what the state of the economy will be by November 2012 and a base that is unenthusiastic, I don't know if he'll win.   Interestingly, GOP.com seems convinced that the president will win reelection.