Me? Mack & Jack's while waiting for some Chicken Saganaki at my local Greek place.

Cheers! One day to the weekend!

My wife and I went to see Verdi's 'Nabucco' at Seattle Opera last night. I used the occasion as an opportunity to wear my brand-new white dinner jacket. The rest of my outfit was standard black-tie.

We were enjoying a drink at intermission when Mrs. Aristus went off to the ladies' room. I just stood by our little snack table checking some stuff on my phone. A very attractive woman right around my age (46) or so, came up to me and announced: "You're beautiful!"

When I had finished putting on my evening outfit at home, Mrs. Aristus and I both made a few Casablanca and James Bond jokes. I'm pretty sure it was my dinner jacket that caught this woman's attention. Those of you who have seen pics of me know I'm no James Bond. Or even Humphrey Bogart.

I could barely think of an appropriate response. "Thank you! So are you!"

Just then, a woman older than the first, whom I guessed was her mother, came up behind her.

"What are you two talking about, dear?"

"Um, we're just telling each other 'you're beautiful'."

'Mother' harrumphed and said: "Ah, a mutual admiration society, eh?"

I laughed, pointed at the 'daughter' and said: "Well, she started it!"

All three of us laughed at that.

Then the older lady took my arm, drew me aside and asked: "Are you staying for the rest of the opera?"

"Oh, most definitely!"

She patted my arm: "Good".

The younger woman led her away after that, and smiled a dazzling smile at me until they disappeared in the intermission crowd.

When Mrs. Aristus got back from the restroom, we had a good laugh over that strange but pleasant encounter.

Feeling no pain...

How about everybody else?...

A high-tension, strenuous workout this morning; cardio and weight lifting.

Then a haircut, a hot shower, a massage, and now relaxing with a very tall cold beer.

If anybody needs me, I'll be in a puddle on the floor...

She was a sweet lady that I had been visiting with for about a year and a half. She had poorly-controlled asthma, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. The thing is, she had never smoked in her life. At least, not directly. Both of her parents were heavy smokers (and if you're reading this and you smoke, STOP SMOKING AROUND YOUR KIDS! )

The last couple of visits were difficult for her. She was always having difficulty breathing. In addition to her pulmonary problems, she also had severe anxiety, which didn't help her much when it came time to try and take a deep breath.

Anyway, she came in last week very dyspneic, sweating, and on-edge. I listened to her lungs, and instead of the usual wheezing, I heard a coarse rale in her left lower lobe. Her oxygen saturation was within normal limits, but between her respiratory distress, and that rale, I sent her to the ED for an emergency chest x-ray.

I found out this morning that they had admitted her, and then she coded: pulmonary embolism. They weren't able to get her back.

I'm going through the usual "What-more-could-I-have-done-for-her?" phase. She was only 60.

I'm on my second pint of Mack & Jack's.