Dynasties were teetering today.

My dad has been in the hospital on Saltspring Island with pneumonia. He's been in for a couple of days and his white count is now down to more acceptable levels and they'll probably let him out tomorrow or soon thereafter with orders to recuperate sensibly and avoid heavy gardening for a while.

This morning we get a call that my Father-in-law has been taken to the hospital here in Scotland with a recurrence of heart problems. Down to the Borders General Hospital in an ambulance with blue lights flashing and then up to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in another.

He too seems to be a bit more stable with one artery unblocked and another due to be reamed out in the next couple of days.

It's been one of those weeks

My dad's in the hospital tonight. It's not anything too serious - probably just a pneumonia. I talked to him on the phone tonight and he seemed quite upbeat. Mom is being organized and brought along a small suitcases with pyjamas and small things he might need. At least he didn't put it off which is good.

Dad's most recent blog post recounts the time his own mother convinced him back in the 70's that the way to deal with his thinning hair was to get a perm. She added that she had a friend who did 'home permanents' and it could be arranged that very afternoon. My mom was away with the girls somewhere on a trip and I was away at school so there was no one to advise him to the contrary. As my dad puts it:

At a party that night a colleague ,much older, and 3 sheets to the wind, asked if I was as sexy as I looked. I went back to my mouse colored thin hair after that: so much for my attempt at currency.

It's at times like these that one doesn't like living on the far side of the globe.