15 miles on the Erie Canal....

It's amazing to me that no one knows this song on the West Coast - although I don't know why they would.

Anyways, got this from my This Day in History email:

ERIE CANAL OPENS:
October 26, 1825

The Erie Canal opens, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River. Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York, the driving force behind the project, led the opening ceremonies and rode the canal boat Seneca Chief from Buffalo to New York City.New York legislators became interested in the possibility of building a canal across New York in the first decade of the 19th century. Shipping goods west from Albany was a costly and tedious affair; there was no railroad yet, and to cover the distance from Buffalo to New York City by stagecoach took two weeks. Governor Clinton enthusiastically took up the proposal to build a canal from Buffalo, on the eastern point of Lake Erie, to Albany, on the upper Hudson, passing through the gap in the mountains in the Mohawk Valley region. By 1817, he had convinced the legislature to authorize the expenditure of $7 million for the construction of a canal that he proposed would be 363 miles long, 40 feet wide, and four feet deep.Work began on "Clinton's Ditch" in August 1823.

Teams of oxen plowed the ground, but for the most part the work was done by Irish diggers who had to rely on primitive tools. They were paid $10 a month, and barrels of whisky were placed along the canal route as encouragement. West of Troy, 83 canal locks were built to accommodate the 500-foot rise in elevation. After more than two years of digging, the 425-mile Erie Canal was opened on October 26, 1825, by Governor Clinton.As Clinton left Buffalo in the Seneca Chief, an ingenious method of communication was used to inform New York City of the historic occasion.

Cannons were arranged along the length of the canal and the river, each within hearing distance of the next cannon. As the governor began his trip, the first cannon was fired, signaling the next to fire. Within 81 minutes, the word was relayed to New York--it was the fastest communication the world had ever known. After arriving in New York on September 4, Clinton ceremoniously emptied a barrel of Lake Erie water in the Atlantic Ocean, consummating the "Marriage of the Waters" of the Great Lakes and the Atlantic.The effect of the canal was immediate and dramatic. Settlers poured into western New York, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Goods were transported at one-tenth the previous fee in less than half the previous time.

Barge loads of farm produce and raw materials traveled east as manufactured goods and supplies flowed west. In nine years, tolls had paid back the cost of construction. Later enlarged and deepened, the canal survived competition from the railroads in the latter part of the 19th century. Today, the Erie Canal is used mostly by pleasure boaters, but it is still capable of accommodating heavy barges.

So just the other day my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer. Very few of you know my dad, but if you did, you would know that he is just one of the best guys in the world, and for sure the best daddy for this daddy's girl. So naturally this news struck me very heavily.

He was diagnosed on Tuesday, and he will have removal surgery on Wednesday, perhaps followed by radiation/chemo. A little bit nuts. Last time I was home I realized how nice it was to live far away from my family - cause, you know, there all crazy and all.... but it's times like this I really hate being far away; I would love to be there for my dad on wednesday, but the plane ticket isn't in my budget at all.

It's weird too because something like this makes you think about .... hm, kind of peripheral things that you wouldn't think you'd think about.... like I'm just worrying even more so, kind of, about my mom, because I think my dad's the only thing that's kept her together at different times throughout their 35 of being married, and I just don't know how she would manage if my dad wasn't around.

Now, I'm totally feeling super optimistic about everything, and colon cancer's the most recoverable, and I'm really not too concerned that he's not going to be around (at least not yet, I guess) but it's just odd the things that come into your head. I worry if they have enough money, if his insurance is good to cover everything, all that stuff - mom type of stuff to worry about. Well, I guess that makes sense.

So, anyways, guys, especially those that are ripening nicely in age, go get checked out, it's super important!

---

Woman performs caesarean on self

"Woman performs own caesarean to save baby

(Reuters) -- A pregnant woman in Mexico gave birth to a healthy baby boy after performing a caesarean section on herself with a kitchen knife, doctors said on Tuesday.

It is thought to be the first known case of a self-inflicted caesarean in which both the mother and baby survived.

The unidentified 40-year-old, who lived in a rural area without electricity, running water or sanitation that was an eight-hour drive from the nearest hospital, performed the operation when she could not deliver the baby naturally.

She had lost a previous baby due to labor complications.

"She took three small glasses of hard liquor and, using a kitchen knife, sliced her abdomen in three attempts...and delivered a male infant that breathed immediately and cried," said Dr R.F. Valle, of the Dr Manuel Velasco Suarez Hospital in San Pablo, Mexico.

Valle recounted the event in a report in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

Before losing consciousness the woman told one of her children to call a local nurse for help. After the nurse stitched the wound with a sewing needle and cotton thread, the mother and baby were transferred and treated by Valle and his colleagues at the nearest hospital.

"This case represents an unusual and extraordinary decision by a women in labour who, unable to deliver herself spontaneously, and with no medical help or resources, decided to perform a caesarean section upon herself," Valle said.

He added that a mother's instinct to save her child can move a woman to perform extraordinary acts but said it would not have been necessary if adequate medical care had been available."





I just wonder, did she drink the hard liquor for courage/numbness (probably not to much more harmful than general anethesia) or use it to dip the knife in? Probably both....

I've had a c-section, and can't even imagine giving myself one! Props to her, I think!

So for some reason I got the bright idea into my head last night, after already having about 4 or 5 cocktails at home, to go to the bar at like 9:00 last night. This is what happens when I pretend to be a good girl for a while - I just end up doing something stupid like getting totally f'd up on a "school night". Stupid.

O ye coffee!
O ye water!
O ye advil!
O ye poppy-seed bagel....

Bring together your magic forces to sponge up the bourbon in me tummy!

If you're ever in San Diego and in need of a strong cheap drink, the Kensington Club in the Ab-normal Heights is the place to go! (unless you have to work in the morning!) Bastards!

Also, it's not my birthday today! Happy birthday to all! And a very merry un-birthday to the rest!

Is there an easier way to respond to someone's comments? If so, I'm in the dark...Anywho, Paul, Bob is actually doing pretty well. Not like he's all cleaned up andmade a bunch of progress, but he's out of the phase of destroying things with a sledgehammer (that was scary for a while, I assure you!). Also, he spent about $17,000 getting his teeth fixed, so he's got a brand-new grill and feeling pretty good about that.Ladycroft, no I didn't donate it. I think I might have if I had cut it, say, to my shoulders. But no, I kept it. Also, sorry for keeping you up at Paul's party in August!

Theecarey, speaking of painful hair situations, I used to live right across from, oh gosh, I guess Das Boot isn't there anymore, but a few doors down from Pano's (1097 or 1079 Elmwood). It was a very loooong apartment with a long hallway down the side, and rooms all off to the left of that. Anyway, I used to get going a full run down that hallway, and all of the sudden my hair would catch on a nail (of which, for some reason, there were countless many of in the doorways and walls) and literally throw me to the ground. Actually, that happened a lot. I was ususally not very sober, so found it terribly humorous (I still do!). Also, sometimes I would be dreaming of drowning in seaweed, and wake to find my hair wrapped insanely around my arms at the pits - it would take me awhile to figure my out of it!