Friday the 27th of Mar, I had the day off so I could join dad in a weekend train trip to Essex & back for the NARP meeting. While the overnight sleeping arrangements left a little to be desired(we had simple coach seats, no sleeper), it wasn’t too bad, and we survived pretty good. The train was full, however, so we didn’t really have the chance to sleep in each of our own pair of seats to stretch out, we shared. Dad didn’t sleep as well that first night as I did, probably not enough irish whiskey to help like I had. We arrived in Essex on time and it was snowing!! I’ve been there before with snow on the ground but I do not ever remember it ever snowing while I was there. They also got about 4 fresh inches while we were on our way there overnight.
After arriving, everyone first met in the basement/bar area, that was where we registered for the meeting and got our name tags. We hung around there until lunch, then I ate up in the restaurant with others while Dad ate downstairs in the overflow area. Lunch was very good, and a couple of the women at our table didn’t want their huckleberry cobbler dessert so I got extra. At 12:45 we headed across the parking lot to our meeting room and began the meeting.
I felt surprisingly alert most of the day in Essex, not too tired, although my butt and back were sore from sitting so much. I finally couldn’t take it anymore, and left the meeting about 3:00 during the break, to go for a walk. I came back after about 20 min. and stood in the back, but even with windows open it was too warm for me so I left again and walked out to the hwy, then to the bridge over the tracks and hung out with a couple other people who were taking pictures of trains. Once the meeting was over, everyone met downstairs in the bar for a social hour before dinner. Dad then made reservations for 4 of us in the restaurant at 6pm and we had a very nice dinner.
The westbound train was mostly on time at 7:50p and there was quite a mix of sleeper and coach passengers that they had to move the train forward 3 times to board all of us. We were going back by way of Portland, and the car we boarded was pretty full. Dad & I had to split up. We started to walk back to the car behind but the car attendant yelled that we couldn’t do that, it was reserved for others. Shortly after we got moving, dad walked back there and found a couple different pair of open seats and came and got me and we moved anyway. Well, then I couldn’t sleep because I kept thinking they were going to come and make us move back. Fortunately that didn’t happen, but it was a lonnnnnng ride to Spokane worrying about it and not being able to sleep. Once we got there about 1:30am, while the train was being split in two(which took an hour), I took a head clearing walk outside on the platform in the cold damp air. Once I got back on board and the train started moving, I was able to konk out pretty good until we arrived Pasco at 5. But that was really enough sleep to feel better and get me most of the way home.
In Portland, we had about 4 hours until our train home, so Dad and I walked uptown and took the MAX line out to Beaverton and back, and I nodded off a couple times while on board. It was relaxing. Once back into town, we tried to find the Rogue Brewery Pub for lunch, but I couldn’t exactly remember where it was. We ended up at the Deschutes Brewery pub instead for a great lunch and a beer. Our waitress said that Rogue was only about 4 blocks from us. Oh well. It was something new.
It was a pleasant and uneventful ride back on the Cascades train to Seattle. Mary picked us up and once at dads, I drove home. I didn’t fall asleep on the way, but I was tired enough when I got home that I pretty much went right to bed. That was Sunday night. I slept VERY WELL that night. And really appreciated the bed!
Monday morning I got up about 7 and since I had the day off I planned to hike Rattlesnake. I was lazy & didn’t get ready to go until about 10 and then while checking my work email I found out that Alan had a stroke while we were on the train home. Oh geez, what should I do? Go in to the office? Well, that may be yet to come I thought but I still really need to go hike. After I got back I called the office and they said don’t bother. But the rest of this week has been extremely busy as I’ve had to cover Mitch’s desk while he’s tending to his dad and family.
As of this writing, Alan is stable but on a ventilator and unable to move or speak. He can hear, see, understand, and feel. He has a tube in his nose for feeding and the ventilator tube in his mouth and throat. He looks good except for the tubes and a million dollars worth of equipment attached to him. The ability to hear and see but not talk must be extremely scary for him. But he can move his eyes up and down and side to side for yes and no. I visited him on Wednesday afternoon and he was in and out, I think from drugs. I couldn’t tell if he acknowledged me or not. Apparently the family had a meeting with the doctor just before we got there and was pretty much told that he wasn’t likely to get any better or see much improvement. The first 48 hours are critical for strokes and he was past that. Hope is not lost, as miracles do happen. He will get a tracheatomy next week and get that ugly breathing tube out of his mouth. That should at least be a little more comfortable for him, and possibly allow him to move his mouth and maybe even mouth some words. A little communication like that would go a long way to helping himself and the family. But long term it looks like he’ll never come back to the office. I never thought I’d feel sorry for him, but seeing him there helpless, I do. For Mitch, the toughest part he said is not being able to do anything, to help him in any way. He does do things like move his arms and legs around and Alan enjoys that he says. Others visiting him since I was there report increased alertness on Alan’s part, and just generally positive appearance.
Torben and I have been discussing what needs to be done in the meantime. Torben is our CFO but not an officer of the corporation, just a contract worker and a good friend of Alan. I found out(remembered too) that I am an officer of the corporation, registered with the state as a VP. But not a stockholder. Don’t want that, too much debt right now to be responsible for. Alan made me VP back when he bought out Skip in ’98. So I at least am authorized to make executive decisions and work with our bank accounts if needed. We had a talk with our Attorney, another long time industry friend of Alans, and found that beyond me being VP, all other necessary corporate status papers were probably never kept updated with the state, so its looking like Alan’s wife and son will have some issues to clean up and deal with in the near future. But in the meantime, we keep plugging along. With Mitch out this week, I’ve been handling his desk in addition to my own and have gone from quite slow to quite busy, without really gaining any new business. Going to spend a good part of Saturday in the office catching and keeping up.
Next week, I’ll need to deal with Customs on having my broker license transferred to replace Alan’s as the corporate license needed to operate. Since he will not be able to provide proper supervision being there, I’ll need to take over. Beyond that, I don’t know what else yet Customs may require of us except maybe a letter updating who is in charge, who is owner, etc. Whew, what a week!