A friend of mine gave me the following news article link this evening, and I’m still baffled/shocked.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090129/METRO08/901290400
I shouldn’t need to explain why. It’s pretty incredible how everyone has “tunnel vision” in society these days…
A fellow I used to talk to occasionally on IRC, a member of the romhacking/translation community, passed away today (2009/01/13) after undergoing brain surgery a couple days prior. Takashi was pretty well-known for drawing group pictures of all the members IRC #romhack.
I didn’t know him very well personally, and hadn’t spoken to him for a few years, but I still feel the loss. It’s strange — years go by and you figure a person is off doing something, in good health, and that you’ve just lost touch… and then one day you find out they’re gone. A small part of me feels empty, and even more-so awkward.
I’d like to think he’s in a better place now. I wish his family the best, and I hope friends of his who knew him personally are doing okay.
I haven’t blogged for a week or two about how I’ve been doing in this regard. A lot has happened (good and bad), and I’m still struggling through things. Am I better than I was shortly prior to Christmas? Yes, definitely, but the ordeal is far from over.
Today was an incredible day, for many different reasons. There have been a lot of changes in a very short period of time. My diary should be overflowing with entries, but it isn’t, just due to the nature of so much craziness at once.
Day isn’t over yet, but I wanted to post diary updates, and note how today (or technically yesterday, since it just hit 0000 hours here) has gone.
Technically the day isn’t over yet, but at least work is. Yes, I survived. I seem to be getting a lot of support from folks at work, which makes me very thankful (sincerely), but at the same time, no matter how sincere people are, how I feel and what goes on in my mind doesn’t really change. It’s almost like a tiny piece of me hopes one day someone will say some magic words that suddenly change everything for the better. Yeah right. :-)
Well, I’m still broken in some way. I’m doing better, being as I can eat normal food now (though with some discomfort).
Since my previous update, a few things have transpired. I’ve been keeping a verbose diary on paper, like I promised I would, so that when I meet up with my doctor early next week (I hope), I can provide some detailed feedback.
Since Tuesday afternoon, I’ve been sick. The way things transpired since then has been pretty strange.
On Tuesday I had some chili which I probably shouldn’t have had, and it didn’t sit well with me. I slept, then went to work in the evening. Going to work means biking, and there have been some times in the past where I felt absolutely horrible (physically) while en route, thus triggering panic attacks. I’ve always managed to make it to work despite the attacks, and within about 30 minutes I’m feeling normal again. Tuesday was one of those days. I made it to work, and after about an hour was doing alright, but my stomach was upset and my entire abdomen hurt (a very drone pain, nothing sharp).
While most people are rushing to get on/take a tram, I’m rushing to avoid them.
I live and work in Mountain View. I work graveyard shift, usually 2200 (10pm) until 0600 (6am). My workplace happens to be on the opposite side of the railroad tracks as where I live, so twice every day I have to cross these tracks.
Trains aren’t a big deal… but everything changes when you realise just how completely buggered this particular Mountain View intersection is. The pair of tracks (one for northbound trains, one for southbound) make things worse. Anyone who travels this route will know the pain of this intersection. It doesn’t matter if you’re a pedestrian, a cyclist, or in a vehicle: if you’re trying to get on to Castro, you will get screwed by this. And there’s no easy way to schedule/account for it either, as you’ll see.
