Today my dad is having open-heart surgery at Hamot Hospital, in Erie.  He’s having a triple bypass surgery.  So far things are going OK.  We should be getting another update fairly soon about his progress, but last we heard he had received his anesthesia and the surgery was underway.  The hospital has wifi, but it is pretty jenky.  If every local mom and pop coffee shop can offer reliable wifi, why can’t the hospital?  On the other hand, I guess it is better for their resources to go towards something other than my twitter addiction.

Seeing my dad in this condition is tough.  One the one hand, I feel bad for him and want him to do well.  On the other hand, I guess this is what happens after a lifetime of smoking and eating poorly . . . but I still want him to do well.  Theoretically this is going to be the end of his cigarette addiction (after a recent failed effort using Chantix).  I’ll believe it when I see it.

Things I like about visiting Erie:

• Men and women here still have the same haircuts that were popular when I was in middle school.
• Smith’s Hot Dogs.  These are the best processed meat products ever, and I know a thing or two about processed meat products.
• Local weather forecasts include three different regional variations (lakeshore, inland, mountains), with a difference of about 2 degrees from one area to another on any given day.