I'm on my way to the big house again! It's not completely
clear what they're going to do, but I've apparently hit
the magic number 10 again (it was 26 last we checked), so
the standard drug therapy is not working, and the doctors 
have started to Chicken Little it a bit, as by the stats my 
chance of making it that hop, skip, and jump to 70 is no 
better than 50/50. Not so ominous as a decade ago, when the
mortality figures gave me six months tops, but not so much
fun, either. I've become accustomed to beating the numbers
and hope to do so once again at least.

The cardiologist suggests that I not encounter the surgeon
except on the table, which makes sense, as he's a bit of a
totalitarian monster (the one who admitted that he tends
to communicate in words "of one syllable or less" because
he was a jarhead treating jarheads before his current gig).
Problem is that who knows what I'll agree to when I have
tubes stuck at all angles up me and a knife at my belly.
I'm hoping for just more stents, but with the amount of
metal in me there may not be too much more opportunity
for that. Last time they were talking sort of abstractedly
about a heart transplant, but I think I should refuse one
if offered. Surely there are younger more deserving
recipients out there.

So I'm giving you advance warning of a possible absence of
indeterminate (I hope short) duration; the pattern seems to 
be when I predict crisis, it doesn't happen, and when it 
happens, I'm blindsided by it. It's been the normal two 
years between life-threatening health crises (the last one 
of this kind was 3 years, so it was maybe worse than normal; 
this one is 2 1/2 years, so I figure I'll come close to 
boxing on the table but won't quite), so the blindsiding 
is not all that blind.

Last time, I was a delirious mess for two weeks; Lilli is 
hopeful that because my underlying soundness is greater this 
year, I should be out of stir fairly soon. Meanwhile, play 
fair and don't cry too much over your beer (or lemonade).
I'll be back when I wake up, probably Wednesday if I dare.

Shandygaff
categories: booze
yield: 1

1 oz orange liqueur such as Grand Marnier
3/4 oz lemon juice (1 1/2 md)
10 oz English-style ale
10 oz ginger beer
Twist of lemon peel, for garnish

Pour the liqueur and lemon juice into your drinking 
vessel of choice along with a few ice cubes, then 
top off with the ale and ginger beer. Stir gently.

Garnish with lemon peel.

Adapted by foodieunderground.com from Jacob Grier,
Cocktails on Tap: The Art of Mixing Spirits and Beer
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