DAY TWO HUNDRED AND TEN

Back to work after a three day weekend. Blech! Anyway, I managed to get a rush job done in record time. Martha and I ran some errands during lunch and that took a little longer than expected so, I'll be staying late to work tomorrow. After work we went home and finished up Dan's Pinewood Derby car. It looks pretty cool and he did most of the work on it. I would say ninety percent.
The Pinewood Derby was chaos. I got a chance to use the new video camera to tape Dan's races, well the first one. On the second one some cow in a pink coat got in the way of my shot and I missed that one. Dan didn't do well in the race, but I pointed out to him that he did more work on his car than most of the boys there. You could tell the ones where the dad brings in the shoebox and doesn't let the kid touch it. I explained to Dan that his car was infinitely better because he made it and he seemed happy with that. Plus, they had milk and cookies and he got a really cool patch for being in the race.
After that we went home to eat and catch some of American Idol. I think the trainwrecks are my favorite part.
Now for the bad news;
First Heath Ledger is dead. This really doesn't affect me in anyway except we will see how they play it out against the new Batman movie. Never was a big fan of the young man, but it's a shame that he thought it was necessary to do that to himself. Hollywood has been killing people for decades and this is just another body on the pyre.
Second, and this is waaaay more important, I got a letter from my editor over at Cult Cuts. Mark and his lovely wife, Lina, have been long distance friends of mine for a long time. Cult Cuts was the site where I started reviewing movies on the internet. They gave me my start at reviewing flicks and I was the guy who would review anything. Didn't matter what it was or what the budget was. I would watch it and give it my honest opinion. Because of me Mark got threatened with litigation and bodily violence at least a couple of times that I know of.
Anyway, Lina was found at their home and officially pronounced dead, but the paramedics, bless their souls, managed to revive her after fifteen minutes. She is not in good shape and her kidneys do not work at all. The doctors are working on her to see what the damage was and if their has been anything affecting brain function. Now, Lina is as smart and sharp as they come so, hopefully, all is well in the Engle household. But, never one to leave things to chance I would like to ask a favor from any and all of my faithful readers.
Say a prayer for Lina and for Mark and all their children. I realize that God's will is the deciding factor in all things, but in a selfish way I would like to see Lina make a full recovery and remain at the side of her loving husband, Mark. So, while I have no real right to ask this of anyone, I would like prayers said to see her get a full recovery and retain that beautiful brain of hers. Thank you if you will and I understand if you can't. She's going on the prayer list at church as is her entire family.
Last year I lost my editor and friend Larry Stanley and I really would not like to see this become some sort of trend.
I'll be back tomorrow.