d hiker FOUND HIM!!!!!

[PHATINJUN]

Anybody heard from Doug or know what's up with him . He has not been on in almost 2 months now. Kurt

[quickdtoo]

I sent him an email last month, didn't get a reply. 

Tim

[burntmuch]

I emailed him last week. Havent heard back.

[petemi]

Wow, that doesn't sound good at all.  I don't think he'd be without a computer for that long.

Pete

[PHATINJUN]

 I know he makes trips out to Colorado to visit his dad but even then he would check in . I can't find any address or full name info from me mailing him stuff .I know he's down by Peoria IL also got a son down in MO and another out in Utah or Idaho I think. Anybody else got this info if ya want to PM me I'll try and call his home. Kurt

[PHATINJUN]

FOUND HIM!!! He is ok just got a lot going on and been very busy. He will be on to update . Kurt

[quickdtoo]

Thanks Kurt, that's a relief!! 

Tim

[petemi]

Thanks, Kurt.  I was concerned for a bit.

Pete

[burntmuch]

Glad to hear. Kurt thanks for letting us know

[burntmuch]

Doug I was about to send a search party

[stimpylu32]

Maybe when he gets all his chores done he can come back and play 

stimpy

[d_hiker]

Sorry for the long absence.  Since mid December my life has been anything but under my control.  My father had been fighting cancer for about a year and a half.  In December his health took a turn for the worse and he was in hospice care by the end of the month.  In addition to having some of my kids come home for Christmas, I planned a trip for two of my brothers and I to head to Denver for the New Year's weekend plus a couple days.  We had a good visit with dad.  It was his wish to die at home.  We helped make arrangements with hospice, neighbors and friends to watch dad and keep us informed.  We hated to leave dad but we had to return to our jobs here in Illinois and Florida.  Almost two weeks later I got a call that I needed to head back out there.  It was a Friday morning and I left work, stopped by the house and grabbed some clothes and drove to Denver, about a 14 hour drive.  I got about 1/3 of the way through Iowa and got a call that dad had passed away peacebly in his sleep, in his recliner, just the way he wanted to go.  He was now with mom.  He was prepared and ready to go.

I spent a couple of weeks in Denver making funeral arrangements and getting things for the estate together.  One of my son's is in Iraq.  He didn't qualify for an emergency leave, but his R&R was scheduled for the end of March and they moved that date up so he could be here for the funeral.  I spent a lot of time making calls to friends and family and also tracking down places I needed to contact for bills and estate business.  While we were there over New Year's weekend, dad did go through a long list of finacial information with us and I am very grateful for that.  But it was still a lot of work.  One of my brothers had gotten into some trouble with the law shortly before Christmas, so that added to the mix of problems and things to get done.  While I was there and my siblings and kids were there, we did go through the whole house and got everything divided up and moved out.  I was also able to get the house listed for sale, (although I am still waiting for the County Court to appoint me as the Personal Representative).  I have a storage unit here with boxes of stuff I brought home that needs to be gone through.  While my son was home on leave from Iraq he found out that he has some serious marital problems.  His wife wants a divorce and we have been trying to help them the best that we can since he has returned to the big sand box.

The first of the year the company I work for announced that not only were we not getting a raise this year but that everyone was having their hours reduced by 10%.  But no one was laid off.  I used all of my vaction time for my trip to Denver and also took 5 days without pay.  Fortunately I have a project that I am working on that is a rush job and so I have been able to work extra hours to make up for the days without pay.

The morning that Kurt called to check on me, I happened to be home with the flu.  Kurt started off by saying I may not know him but he was looking for Doug from a computer forum.  I recognized his voice from the prairie dog shoot last year.  I do appreciate him calling to check on me and also the couple of emails I received from others.  It does make a person feel like they are missed. 

I have missed being online and I know I'll never be able to get "caught up" in reading what I have missed.  I still have a lot to do with the estate and other family matters but I will "sneak" some break time to escape from the craziness around me to be here.

Doug

[quickdtoo]

Welcome back Doug, my condolences to you and yours on the passing of your dad. 

Tim

[d_hiker]

Thank you Tim.

My wife has been gone a couple of hours this evening and I had better run up and put the dinner dishes in the dishwasher before she gets back   

[dpe.ahoy]

You're carrying quite a load on your shoulders right now.  My condolences on the loss of your Dad.  DP

[Siskiyou]

Wish you the best, sounds like your glass has been running over for sometime, take care.