The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

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JimHow
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The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by JimHow »

Wow!!! The nose on this wine is immediately exploding in the kitchen as I pour it into the decanter.
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by JimHow »

Tart on the palate at the outset, but no big surprise there, it is less than five minutes since the uncorking.
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by JimHow »

I'm heartbroken, Hound, the decanter you and Kathy gave me when you visited my house a few summers ago is broken. A shard of glass broke off on the inside of the neck leaving some very fine jagged edges, I'm afraid to use it any further. Bummer! :cry: It has been my go-to decanter, I really liked it. I think you guys gave me the business card of the place in Colorado where you got it, I can't seem to find it. I think they had a website, do you have the link?
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

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So a month ago I went in for my annual visit with my heart doctor. She says to me, Jim, it's been 16 years since your last stress test, it's time to do another one. Your cholesterol numbers are a little up, what's going on? Doc, I said to her, I've had a rough year. A lot of tough trials. A lot of stress. I'm not getting any younger. I've put on an extra pound or two as well. I'm all for it, let's do it! Let's do the stress test. So a few days later, I'm on the treadmill, and they're hooking me up to a stress test. And they get my heart rate up to 139 per minute, and, as I'm sitting there gasping for breath, she starts reading the printout….
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by JimHow »

Watching John Kasich on CNN right now… He's telling the talking head: "We have momentum." We're doing "well" in Ohio. "Don't be surprised if I go to the convention with the most delegates." Gag me, John. Gag me. One of the other jokes about this campaign -- besides the fallacy that is Little Marco -- is that John Kasich is some sort of "moderate," above-the-fray Republican. Riiight. He's as much of a hater as any of them. He's one notch below Marco in the phoniness factor, I'd even put him above Cruz in phoniness quotient. (As I've said several times previously, Cruz for some reason doesn't bother me as much as the others.) I'm REALLY hoping that, after Tuesday night, we'll be seeing the end of Little Marco and Buckeye John, at least for the next four years….
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by JimHow »

Wow, they've just cancelled the Trump rally in Chicago!

This is crazy! This is really starting to get crazy! There's gonna be riots!
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by JimHow »

One of the traits of this wine is that it needs a lot of air. And that seems to be the case tonight. A stunning nose, but quite tart in the mouth.
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by JimHow »

Chicago is gonna be a game changer in this campaign. They are really going to enhance security for ALL of these remaining candidates, on both sides. This is 1968 all over again!
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

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So the doctor looks at the printout quietly, as the heart rate increased, then concluded, hmm, looks like there's a problem here! This does not completely shock me. I'm 57 years old now, I haven't been exercising, haven't been watching my diet, I have an extremely high stress lifestyle between homicide trials, international philanthropy, and the benevolent dictatorship of BWE. Let's do another stress test tomorrow, she says, this time we'll video your heart, before and after, to confirm whether these initial results are accurate….
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by JimHow »

Now the palate has smoothed out nicely, about an hour later. And the nose grows even more stunning, just classic Pauillac cedar, lead pencil, black fruit, coffee. That rusty-red/purple color so characteristic of Alfred Tesseron's Pontet Canet.
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by JimHow »

Mmmm this wine is so smooth. I know you guys like your wines older, but to me this wine is really singing right now. It emerged from a five year awkward stage about two years ago and is now beginning a long twenty year evolution that will bring much enjoyment in the decades ahead. We had this wine at our epic dinner at Pontet Canet last spring with Alfred Tesseron….
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

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Phew, that was a dicey half hour or so in Chi Town, just after they cancelled the Trump event. For a brief time it seemed like it could have gotten really ugly. There didn't seem to be much security around. Somebody's gonna get killed here.
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

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So now I'm in the doctor's office the next day and I'm restless. I don't have time for this. I'm going on vacation the next week, gonna hang out with Nick and Rob/Sue in Nashville and Charlotte. I don't have time for blocked arteries. Leave me alone! I don't have time for stress tests. I'm too busy! The word "stent" starts entering into our discussions. A pretty routine procedure, they say. Heck, my brother Tom had it done 22 years ago, when he was 33 years old. Routine! But how routine can a heart procedure be? I exchange emails with Jacques. He's my age, he had some heart issues last year. A busy Manhattan financial guy. How did your procedure go, Jacques? Well, says Jacques, it was kind of tough! It was a lot harder than they said it would be. I made the mistake of going back to work that following Monday. It took me a good couple of weeks to recover. As we all know, it affected Jacques so much that he went into retirement, stopped drinking wine, etc., etc. Oh, great. I don't have two weeks! The second stress test is scheduled for Thursday, I'm leaving for my trip on Sunday! I don't have time for this shit!
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by JimHow »

This 2003 Pontet Canet is amazing.
Of course, as many of you know, this has been a bit of a controversial wine.
Bob Parker and I were big advocates of this wine early on.
Bob not so much as me, but he finally came around, as he usually does eventually.
Then it went into a five year funk, and everyone panicked.
Especially when you factored in the "volatility" <rolls eyes> of the 2003 vintage.
Let me tell you something… There has been NO volatility in the northern Medoc in 2003.
If you want to talk to me about the right bank, or even the southern Medoc, okay, fine, I'm willing to listen.
But St. Estephe, Pauillac, St. Julien…. Absolutely NO problems here in 2003.
These appellations excelled in 2003. The wines have been consistently great.
And Pontet Canet has been right there, front and center.
2003 Pontet Canet rating: 97 points. A stunning, stunning wine.
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by Blanquito »

Great read, Jim. Hope your results come back with good news.

I'm a fan of the 03 PC too, but not surprisingly I think it will be better down the road. One good thing about the 2003s though, they're drinking pretty well for the most part, much earlier than most other big vintages of late.
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

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So the next day I'm lying on my side and this nurse is rubbing this slimy stuff on my chest over my heart, and they video my heart before the treadmill, then I get on the treadmill for about 5 minutes, and then when my heart is pumping hard enough, they get me back on my side on the table and video my heart again, so that they can look at the before and after. And, sure enough, when the doc looks at the video evidence, it confirms that my heart isn't functioning like it should be. So… They're gonna have to do a cardiac catheterization…. And the word "stent" is really now becoming more and more prevalent. But… But… I'm leaving for vacation! I don't have time fora cardiac catheterization….!
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

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So NOW it's the Thursday before my vacation. And I'm sitting there, at 6:30 am, in my nighty, in the cardiac unit of Central Maine Medical Center. And this doctor comes in, he's about my age. He's moved up to Maine from Boston, used to work at Mass. General. Hey, I GUESS he knows what he's doing, what the hell do I know? I'm like the first of about 12 procedures he's got going that day. They squeezed me in early so that I could get this done before vacation. So he comes in, and he says to me: Jim, I know you don't want to be here. Just like I don't like being in a courtroom… Ok. So he looks at my chart… Keep in mind, by now I'm resigned to the fact that I'm going to have to have a stent inserted…. He looks at my chart… And then he starts rattling off some percentages….
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by Nicklasss »

Health is always a main topic in our life. I can see things are changing in my case, as I'm getting older. I still do a bit of cross country skiing, moutain biking, but not enough and my diet is ok but not great.

I knew you would be ok Jim, but every warning has to be taken seriously. At the opposite to you, not as much stress in my job. We had a great time in Nashville and Charlotte, being hosted by Susan and Rob, but like always, too short. But too short is way better than none.

i always enjoy the time I spend with all the BWEers, and also with you BD. And I've spent a lot of time with you Jim, and want to spend some more in the coming years. We're relax together, laughing, and having fun with incredible wines. And we'll open a 2003 Chateau Pontet Canet together in the future I guess.

Nic
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

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The doctor -- Eisenhauer, his name is -- says: I have to tell you, Jim, but, having looked at your charts, I think there is a LESS than 10% chance that there is NOTHING wrong with you.
Now… I'm a morning person.. It's when I think most clearly. He threw me off there a bit, though, because he hit me with a double negative:
"less than 10% chance" … "that there is nothing wrong."
Ok. So… Pretty quickly, I concluded that there was a NINETY-fucking-perecent chance that there was SOMETHING wrong with me!
I mean, Jesus Christ!
Yes, Doc… I get it:
10% chance that there is NOTHING wrong = 90% chance that there is SOMETHING wrong.

I mean. ok. That's it. We're looking at some serious STENT action here….

Fine… Let's just get it done….

But he wasn't done yet, as I sat there, legs dangling, completely naked beneath my nighty loosely tied in the back…

He wasn't done yet with the percentages….
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

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Yes, Nic, it it is sad that we don't get to see each other much more than once a year or so… But that trip from Nashville to Charlotte was so much fun!
One of the highlights.., Listening to the 9 minute version of Donna Summers' "I Need Love" while traveling through the mountains of eastern Tennessee….
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by JimHow »

Just saw your note Patrick. What were the 2003 Medocs we had that night in NY? Not sure I recall all of them. I'm remembering Sociando, Duhart, Barton.
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

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So Dr. Eisenhauer says to me… I mean, he must be great, right, his name is ALMOST the same as the legendary Word War II general and president -- he says: Jim… There's LESS than a 10% chance that there is NOTHING wrong with you.
Ok doc. Got it.
Stent-city. I got it, you asshole. Ok. Fine. Give me the fucking stent. Just give me the fucking stent you son of a bitch!
Let's get this done! In 72 hours I gotta drive to the deep south to see my friends Nick, Sue, Rob…. Jesus Christ!

So looking at your chart, Jim, General Eisenhauer continues….

The hair on the naked back of my neck begins to stand on end… Stent. Just give me my goddamned stent...

Looking at your chart, I would say there is a FORTY percent chance that you are going to need open heart surgery… A 40% chance you are going to need a bypass….

Stent… I think to myself…. Stent...
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

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So he says to me:
Jim.. We're gonna put you under a light anesthetic… We need to be able to communicate with you. If we have to do a stent, we will just go ahead and do it during the cath procedure. If we need to do bypass surgery, obviously we will step back and talk about it and schedule it for a future date.

Excellent…. Proceed with all due haste my good man…

So suddenly, like in a dream, I'm surrounded by several hot light blue gowned nurses… They came out of nowhere. There were at least four of them, maybe five. They lay me back on the cot, and they roll me down the hall. And somewhere along the way, not sure where it happened, either in the first room or in the cath lab room, those nymphs drugged me. They drugged me! Without telling me. Next thing I know, I'm at their mercy. Now, when I had a cardiac cath 16 years ago, they went through my groin. But now I guess like 99% of the time they go through your wrist. But… They still have to prep your groin, as a backup, just in case they can't go in through your wrist for some reason. So next thing I know… AFTER I've been unwittingly drugged… no less than TWO nurses are shaving my groin… Because, well, you know, it takes TWO of them to get the job done. Understandable. Whatever… If they need to shave my balls, and if it takes TWO of them… Who am I to argue? Especially after they've drugged me in to prone submission?

And now, my right arm extended, I am prepped for the procedure. I fall into unconsciousness….
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by DavidG »

Jim, geez you're a great writer. Your pacing is perfect. I mean, we know you made the freaking trip, but the suspense is still killing me.

As for the 2003 Pontet Canet, I last opened one 3 months ago. Indeed it has emerged from a shut down state. It showed very nicely after an hour or so, but it's got better days of greater complexity ahead. I'm glad you talked me into buying a whole case of the stuff, and that the better part of it is still resting in the cellar.
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by Blanquito »

JimHow wrote:Just saw your note Patrick. What were the 2003 Medocs we had that night in NY? Not sure I recall all of them. I'm remembering Sociando, Duhart, Barton.
Yeah, we had those, and a 2003 Pontet Canet and perhaps a Smith Haut Lafitte too... that was a fun night, the wines showed well.
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by JimHow »

Lol David.
Yes, as I succumbed to unconsciousness, my last recollection was of two masked nurses rearranging my testicles.
I think I dreamed back to that night back when I was mayor -- twenty-plus years ago -- when I was having a beer with a young teacher who was on the other side of a teacher's union contract negotiation, telling me that the word among the other young teachers in the school system was that I, the young bachelor mayor, had a big dick….
But I digress….
My next recollection was a sensation that I recalled from sixteen years earlier. Heat. Heat in my chest. Like a hot flash, as I feel the dye flowing into my arteries. I feel one of the nymphs grabbing my left hand. Are you okay Jim? Yes. Yes, I'm fine.
I breathed heavily for a few moments. The hot flash sensation passed. I felt fine.
The doctor, mask on his face, came up to me on my left.
He rolled a video screen into view, showing me my heart arteries, and what the cardiac catheterization had found….
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

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It's a long story.
There's like two major arteries, as I understand it, that go to your heart.
The artery out back of the heart is just congenitally narrow, with no blockages.
The other major artery.. It like branches off into two arteries… That's where it gets a little tricky. As my doctor explained it, there's like the trunk of the tree, and a major branch. Then they start throwing percentages at me… 50% here.. But it's ok if it's under 75%… and 0.84% there… meaning there's only a 16% "narrowing." Then a little further down the major "trunk" artery, there's more stuff on the sides of the artery, but nothing that requires intervention.
There are much more complicated terms for all of this -- I have the reports back in the office -- but the bottom line is that he didn't feel a stent would be needed, at least for now, because the .16% narrowing was in a place right where the two arteries diverge, and it was a minor narrowing for someone my age, and a stent would be impractical, yada, yada….
Anyway… The doctor points all of this out to me..
Jim, he says to me, if it's me, I do nothing about it. Maybe we do another stress test in a year or two.
So, doc, I think this sounds like good news….
Yes. I would say this is good news.

They wheel me out. My brothers come to the hospital and pick me up, and drive me home. I pick up an Italian sandwich on the way, and eat it with gusto on an empty stomach. All's well that ends well!

I went to see my other doctor today, she went over the results, confirmed that this was something that we needed to keep an eye on, but that everything looked good for now. Took me off blood thinners. As long as we keep our cholesterol down, and our weight down, and our blood pressure down, etc…

Piece of cake, doc!

Life is good!

It really is….
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by stefan »

That is good news, Jim. And now you have added motivation to get your weight back down, resume your exercise regimen, and relieve stress. Go for it!

Be happy that drinking red wine in reasonable amounts is good for your heart.
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by JCNorthway »

Good to hear, Jim. That means we will get to see you in DC! Looking forward to it - it's been too long for us.
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by robertgoulet »

This is some big ole fancy story that Jim had to tell reminding us that his nuggets are much larger than ours....and now consequently much smoother also!

Good to see you shall continue residing as Alpha/benevolent dictator for many more years to come

Cheers to your upcoming lifestyle changes and steps to improve your health. I am 97 points on your story!

Thanx for the notes on the PC but for now they shall sleep for another 8-10.
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by dstgolf »

Good news bad news Jim. No intervention needed now but they've shown you have coronary artery disease. No stenosis significant enough to stent but no one can judge plaque stability and future hemorrhage. If your not on baby ASA and a statin I'd ask why. Always good news bad news with docs.

Yes the 2003 PC is fabulous and I've said while others have been griping for years about the left bank ripeness etc was over blown and these wines are turning out great.
Danny
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by Comte Flaneur »

Good read Jim

Glad you are OK. I think you should drink more young left bank bordeaux. And maybe buy yourself a road bike. Never too late to get into cycling. That will keep your weight down. There must be some amazing cycle routes in Maine.

And of course it will take care of your ticker too.

I surmise that the reason you are having these issues is that you sometimes take ridiculously long breaks from drinking wine, sometimes months, and the abstinence has been most harmful to you.

On a slight tangent over here the alcohol guidelines have been cut to ridiculously low levels because the government committee that sets out the guidelines has been hijacked by neo-prohibitionists. They are of course talking baloney.
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by JimHow »

Yes, I've been on statins and numerous other drugs for nearly thirty years. Unfortunately, heart disease runs in my family, on my mother's side. One of my problems is I go on these 20 pound weight swings. Right now I've been on a swing back down towards a more natural weight of 175. My goal is to get down to 165, which is what I was at in law school. (I was 139 as an undergrad.) I find a lot of it work stress related. When I'm in these crazy criminal trials I don't exercise as much, don't eat as well, etc. Fortunately, I've been able to reduce my workload this year. I like walking a lot, but I have indeed been considering biking. There's a fancy bicycle shop just a couple doors down from my office, I'll consult with you, Comte, if I end up buying one. I have no problem losing weight when I put just a little bit of effort into it, I just have to do it more consistently.

I hope my cardio story didn't offend anyone, I was just tapping into my inner David Sedaris for an evening. And Dr. Eisenhauer is outstanding. And the light-blue-scrubbed young nurses weren't bad either….
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by DavidG »

JimHow wrote:Lol David.
Yes, as I succumbed to unconsciousness, my last recollection was of two masked nurses rearranging my testicles.
I think I dreamed back to that night back when I was mayor -- twenty-plus years ago -- when I was having a beer with a young teacher who was on the other side of a teacher's union contract negotiation, telling me that the word among the other young teachers in the school system was that I, the young bachelor mayor, had a big dick….
Really glad to hear your coronaries are still in decent shape, Jim. Scary stuff. Similar bad family history here.

But about the above: perhaps it's time for a hearing test? Don't you think it's more likely that the opposition in a union contract negotiation was spreading the word that you were a big dick, not that you had one? Anyway, I'm just hoping no one posts "Pics or it never happened."

Funny how these brushes with mortality get us thinking about our reproductive abilities.
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by robertgoulet »

I am sensing a potential flash off at the upcoming BWE

JHowe vs. Nic

Stay tuned boys
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by JimHow »

Lol… We laugh David but I actually have lost my hearing.
I have to use hearing assistance in the courtroom these days, I can't hear a thing with those high-ceilinged acoustics.

And my doctor referred me to an ortho, we think I may have a torn meniscus. I have a very high pain tolerance… Didn't have a primary doctor (besides my cardiac doctor) for like 20 years. Now, I'm falling apart….

And, yes, those teachers did think I was a dick by the end of negotiations.
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by Blanquito »

DavidG wrote:
JimHow wrote:Lol David.
Yes, as I succumbed to unconsciousness, my last recollection was of two masked nurses rearranging my testicles.
I think I dreamed back to that night back when I was mayor -- twenty-plus years ago -- when I was having a beer with a young teacher who was on the other side of a teacher's union contract negotiation, telling me that the word among the other young teachers in the school system was that I, the young bachelor mayor, had a big dick….
But about the above: perhaps it's time for a hearing test? Don't you think it's more likely that the opposition in a union contract negotiation was spreading the word that you were a big dick, not that you had one? Anyway, I'm just hoping no one posts "Pics or it never happened.".
Lol. That was funny. I nearly spit my coffee there. First the imagery in Jim's story, then David's zinger. Long live BWE.

P.S. Nurses definitely don't get paid enough...
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by William P »

The same thing happened to me last September. I had a chest xray for my lungs and three week later my GP called and said I have an aneurysm and he scheduled an appointment to see a Cardio-Vascular surgeon for me. Hell I hadn't seen a MD for more than a cold for 15 years. So the surgeon orders an angiogram. I'm told that if they find a blockage they'll stent me right then. I'm going in and out of reality during the procedure and I'm watching the wire snake through my arteries to my heart. It was very interesting procedure.

The cardiologist comes in after and tells me that they couldn't stent me because the bulge is too close to my heart. He takes out this little pocket screen, and shows my heart beating. Oh your upper valve is fucked up too. During recovery my vascular surgeon comes in and says, you're not ready for surgery yet given the parameters of the bulge. When you hit 2.4 cm well do both... and that might be sometime in the next 7 years, if ever. So I'm being tested every 6 months now. Good luck to you.
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by JimHow »

Wow, that's amazing stuff Bill, I hope you can avoid bypass. I'm hoping I can avoid ever having to have bypass. My mother had it done when she was 62. My buddy Ray had it done last year. He's a year younger than me. The obligatory cracking open of the chest bone, the long scar across the body, etc. I went in to see him a couple days after the surgery. I didn't feel any pain, he said to me. You look like death, I said to him. He laughed, until his chest started hurting. A year later, though, he looks good. My narrowing is in an awkward place, at least as it was explained to me, because it's right near where the big branch branches off from the trunk, making a stent not really possible because it would have to extend from within the branch into the trunk, thus interfering with the flow into the trunk.

I know it sounds melodramatic but I feel like I've had a very different perspective on death since I spent that last night by my father's bedside last year. I don't fear death. I fear the end of life! I'm just having too much fun. I'm always keeping myself amused. Even when things don't go perfectly I'm just amazed by it all.
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DavidG
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Re: The 2003 Pontet Canet has been uncorked….

Post by DavidG »

I've got a hearing aid in one ear, Jim. Makes a big difference. I often find myself telling my patients that the longer we hang around, the more baggage we accumulate. But now I'm starting to accumulate a fair share myself.

More red wine and exercise, less cheese, and we'll hope our coronaries stay open for many more years.
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