Thinking of my father-in-law (former father-in-law, not sure what the right title is) today. He passed away in 2008 after an tough cancer fight at Roswell. Today would have been birthday number 76. He died the day before my birthday, so as fellow aquarians, we were pretty tight.

He popped into my brain a bit with the news surrounding Roswell last week. My dad has been involved in some of the computer work there on a volunteer basis that helped move the program along a bit, given that he too is now a patient, makes me think that the facility owes us one.

So, I think Pop would think that was pretty cool. He was a natural cheerleader who was always looking for a way forward. Sometimes his suggestions might feel like a bit of wild goose chase, but in his eyes, it was taking a shot, taking that chance, because that was always better than wondering "what if" in the long run.

Lord knows the people that could use boosts receive them the least. He knew everybody and those he didn't know, a quick conversation might give way to a plan to accentuate those talents he knew you had. He was a pay it forward all the time kind of fellow. I'm sorry he isn't around now to see the great people his grandchildren are turning into, but glad he was here to get 'em started.

I remember telling him (and most of you via the journal) of the journey to get my current post here at the Zoo. Even in the middle of chemo battles, his sly smile couldn't help but come to the surface.

"Aw. c'mon man, you got this."

Yeah, I got it. Happy Birthday, Pop

The caller-id on tv from Time Warner can be a mixed blessing. I do most of my calling with my cell phone, but when the TW phone rang and displayed my older sister's number on Tuesday night, I couldn't help but cringe. Love her dearly, but she makes me nuts. It's a call I knew I had to deal with but I wasn't looking forward to it.

She is in epic streak of bad luck. She is in the graphic arts/printing industry in Manhattan. Her firm got sold and the new owners started running the business into the ground by bouncing her in late 07. The industry is both changing and rapidly deserting NYC. She hooked on with another firm for a while and booted around this time last year. Since she is by herself, that wasn't an immediate source of panic. This was before the economy took its current swan dive.

Unemployment and 401K draws later, so drastic steps have to be taken. She was busy holding out for the miracle offer and associating way too much with coming back to our parents house. It's for a few months and a chance to attack the job problem from another angle and a little more support, not to mention some relief from the pressure of looking for work around NYC while living in New York.

She had herself wrapped up that coming home meant the end, that she envisioned returning to Buffalo to take care of an ailing parent (which we don't have) or our disabled brother. He has a job and his own place. Somebody had to be an asshole and tell her to prioritize, that those past couple of sentences don't exist as issues, that our younger sister lives in Harlem and has all kinds of experiences in subletting, so she keeps the place, she had their place to stay for interviews as the economy improves and yields more chances. She just needs to accept the offers.

So, a little respect as I took one for the team. She got rolling today and enable my dad and younger sis to get the ball rolling with local storage of her stuff in NYC, getting going with a sublet, prioritizing what to bring to Buffalo for the summer, and more.

I'm still tired from the one man intervention, but if you need a short term sublet -- I know a 2 bed room in Chelsea that could be had for the summer for a comparitive steal.

Sometimes it pays to be the jerk.