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1 phrase that grinds my gears is “everything happens for a reason”. You’d be hard-pressed to convince me coming back to IL from OR after a 3rd attempt at moving out of this state is not a failure, especially after losing my part-time remote Office Manager job, forcing me to scramble for immediate new income opportunities (see prior entry “Career Detour” via THIS LINK HERE). But, I suppose, in the grand scheme of things, being nudged back to northeast IL (hopefully for only a short while; would rather not endure another Chicagoland winter) makes SOME sense.

Most of you are aware of my ongoing health issues [for which I have specialist appointments scheduled Thursday, 09/20/2018, the day after my birthday (45), at Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital; looking for someone to go with me], but not my Dad’s. Over the last year or so, he’s had some short-term memory loss & has taken a few tumbles, cracking ribs in at least 2 of them, including in December right before I went to OR. His latest fall, ~1 week ago while headed back to bed after going to the bathroom, cracked his pelvis, or perhaps, his cracked pelvis led to his fall. Either way, he was hospitalized (despite his protests) the next day. Soon after, he was transferred to another area hospital for physical therapy while his pelvis heals. Like the ribs, the pelvic bone must heal on its own, approximately 6-8 weeks.

Unfortunately, the hospital transfer, along with certain medications, has exacerbated his memory loss & led to an altered-disoriented state of mind, including paranoia, which has made him more belligerent at times towards hospital staff, Mom, my sister & me. All narcotics & sleeping pills have been stopped, hoping those were the culprits, but so far, we’re not sure because he continues to move in & out of lucidity, most times without warning either way. We’re hoping his return home (scheduled for Monday, 09/17/2018) will help bring him back completely. We’ve taken things to the hospital from home for him & talked about various past experiences, which from my perspective, seem to help.

So, what does the image of the middle pages of the 2nd printing of the 1974 Major League Baseball All-Star Game program have to do with this? That game was played at Pittsburgh PA’s 3 Rivers Stadium, then home of the Pirates & Steelers. Hailing from western PA, near Pittsburgh, Dad is a HUGE Pirates fan, something he has in common with Mike “Doc” Emrick, the notable NHL broadcaster, who happens to have graduated from the same college I did (Manchester, near Fort Wayne IN) & for which the “E” in the college’s former radio station call letters (WBKE) is! Those call letters sound familiar? That’s the very same station I broadcast my college radio show, “The Saturday Evening Mostly Country Music Show”, 7p-10p, for 3 years!

Emrick, who grew up listening to Bob Prince on KDKA radio [I remember Lanny Frattare] & saw his 1st Pirates game at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, finally broadcast his 1st regular-season MLB game, along with Bob Costas for MLB Network, in July 2016 when the Chicago Cubs visited the Pirates at their newest home, PNC Park. The Pirates won the game for Emrick, but the Cubs won the World Series later that year, winning Games 6 & 7 on the road after trailing 3 games to 1.  The last team to accomplish that same feat? The 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates; true story! BTW, Costas had been behind the mic for the national broadcast of what is known as “The Sandberg Game”, 06/23/1984, when Ryne Sandberg blasted 2 game-tying home runs off former Cubs and then-current St Louis Cardinals closer Bruce Sutter. ALSO of note, Dad & I went to 1 of the last 3 games of the last baseball series at 3 Rivers Stadium in 2000, played between the Cubs & Pirates; the Cubs only loss that series was the game we attended.

In other news, I found out I still owe the apartment company in Medford OR. While the place I vacated in late July WAS re-leased by early August, that vacancy was filled by a transfer within the same complex. Since technically my departure caused the vacancy, I am responsible for rent on an empty apartment I’m not occupying. The other empty apartment should be filled soon, if it hasn’t already. However, it is yet another expense I was not expecting at a time when I have no income & am still waiting for my final check from my former employer.

Meantime, I have crafted several OC,SH NETWORK member-related posts that will soon appear on the OC,SH Facebook page. While searching & brainstorming job possibilities, I’m also considering how to set up a page for my time in OR, while gearing up to publicize the rest of the week’s posts (Wednesday-Sunday) not published when the regular schedule ended abruptly after the Tuesday, 08/22/2017, entries were complete. Mid-late morning that day, my trusted laptop was baptized when Dad accidentally spilled his cup of water, leading to a forced abrupt halt to OC,SH posts & interactions. I promise the re-launch, jump-start, spark return of the full OC,SH schedule IS coming.

How the time passed away, all the trouble that we gave
& all those days we spent out by the lake
Has it all gone to waste? All the promises we made
1 by 1 they vanish just the same
…
Now the days are so long that summer’s moving on
We reach for something that’s already gone, yeah
…
Of all the things I still remember
Summer’s never looked the same
The years go by & time just seems to fly
But the memories remain

In the middle of September we’d still play out in the rain
Nothing to lose but everything to gain
Reflecting now on how things could’ve been
It was worth it in the end