Hello again

The lost season appears to be over. It's been busy here lately, with computer repairs, doctors' visits, and entertaining out-of-town guests.

The computer doctor removed the blown security program that was blocking everything and installed a brand spankin' new Norton antivirus program. He left me with a stern warning, "Don't download any more of that free BellSouth crap" and relieved me of $120. Wish I knew how to do some of that stuff myself...

Mrs. S.' primary doctor also felt that she had an episode of chest wall inflammation, but scheduled her for a stress test in order not to take any chances. We have once again become concerned with breast cancer issues, though. A recent ultrasound revealed some irregularities. Her surgeon biopsied two suspicious spots; he found a spot on the left breast to be precancerous and one on the right that had necrotic tissue. She has surgery scheduled for April 6 to remove the offending masses.

One of our oldest, best friends came down from Chicago for St. Pats. We had a great time downing considerable amounts of Guinness and Gentleman Jack. (None of us are big on Irish whiskey.) We watched plenty of basketball as well. There were some great games over the weekend - Vanderbilt's double overtime win over Washington State, Tennessee holding off Virginia, Pittsburgh's comeback against Virginia Commonwealth. The best game of the weekend, though, was in the women's tournament, where the scrappy Marist Red Foxes upset a taller, more physical Ohio State squad. Marist then picked apart Middle Tennessee to become this year's Cinderella story. They face the Tennessee Lady Vols next; should they pull off a miracle against Pat Summitt's juggernaut, it could be the best thing to happen to women's hoops in years.

Being computerless for a week gave me more time for book-reading. I picked up a copy of Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra in a thrift shop for 50 cents recently, so I've been spending my time in doctors' waiting rooms reviewing the Superman and other things I half-learned in my undergraduate years.

It may still be a few days before returning to what passes for normal around The Hill. One of Mrs. S.' cousins and her husband are visiting this weekend. They're good people; they just get loud and obnoxious and they tend to get on my nerves. In the meantime, I plan to get around the neighborhood and see what the rest of you fine folk are up to.