On-out

At about 6:15PM on Friday May 11, 2007, Jim Sheffer, better known as Stroke, died of cancer. He was 42.

Stroke was well known in a lot of hashing circles with his main haunts at the Tide Water Hash (Virginia Beach), Humping Hash (San Diego), and TBH3 (Tampa). He was among the first people that I met when I started with the running club. He's been doing this a long time and had great stories and a generally good demeanor. I got to first know him a bit at Bike Week 2005 when I drove his truck to Daytona Beach so he could ride his Harley. Even though I was very new and they didn't know me, I was invited to share in a hotel room.

He'll be missed by some I am sure.

Story about Christine.

Nurse With Passion For Kickball Killed Near Bar In Hit-And-Run

Posted Feb 28, 2007 by The Tampa Tribune

By VALERIE KALFRIN and MARI ROBYN JONES
The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - Twice a week, Christine Hodill met with friends at MacDinton’s Irish Pub & Restaurant after the kickball games she helped organize.

Those who knew her reeled Wednesday upon hearing a car had struck and killed her about 2:30 that morning near the bar and her apartment. Police are searching for the driver.

“Everybody is still in shock,” said Barry O’Connor, general manager of MacDinton’s. “She was very outgoing, very personable. There’s nothing bad I can say about her.”

Police said a four-door Nissan Altima or Maxima hit Hodill, 28, as she crossed West Cleveland Street at South Moody Avenue. The car has metallic paint, possibly dark green or black. It has a large spoiler on the rear and dark, tinted windows. The car is missing the left side-view mirror and will have damage to the left front headlight and windshield.

Investigators ask anyone with information about the car to call (813) 231-6130.

Hodill, of 104 S. Armenia Ave., worked as a nurse, O’Connor said. Her off-duty passion was kickball. A local agent for the World Adult Kickball Association, she organized games every Tuesday and Thursday and hung out at MacDinton’s, a co-sponsor, afterward.
Through word of mouth, she had signed up as many as 400 players, O’Connor said. “It was all for the fun of it, you know?”

She also organized charity fundraisers. Last weekend, she put together a “pub crawl,” in which people paid $10 to bar hop in south Tampa. The event raised about $2,000, O’Connor said.
He hopes to hold an event at MacDinton’s to honor Hodill. “Hopefully, we can get the person who did this,” O’Connor said.

Kickball Tragedy.

There is no humorous subject line for this post. Christine Hodill, the main organizer for the local kickball league and related events was killed last night around 2:30AM in a hit and run accident. Many of us have met or had spoken to her recently regarding kickball or even at the pub crawl this weekend. Even after the game last night we were talking to her at MacDinton's and I spoke with her for a short time after she had expressed interest in checking out our running group after she had met several of our members this weekend.

Christine was instrumental in handling the organization logistics and did a LOT of work putting together everything for the charity pub crawl this weekend and was mentioning last night that they raised more than ever before and how the PAL charity would be able to use the money for new equipment.

***************************

http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/newswire/story/woman-dead-in-hit-run/

By CHRIS CHMURA
cchmura@tbo.com

TAMPA - Police officers are scrutinizing Nissan Maximas and Altimas
today, following an early morning hit-and-run that killed a pedestrian.
The victim’s acquaintances, meanwhile, are publicly mourning their
friend’s senseless death.

Christine Hodill, 28, of Tampa, was struck around 2:30 a.m. at West
Cleveland Street and East Moody Avenue, one block south of Kennedy
Boulevard.

Hodill may have been trying to cross Cleveland Street, officers said.

A police statement says the vehicle failed to stop, struck Hodill, and
then fled the scene. Hodill died at the scene.

The Nissan was dark in color, possibly green or black, according to
investigators. “It had a spoiler, rear view mirror missing and front end
damage,” said police spokesperson Lisa Parashis.

Anyone who spots such a vehicle is urged to call the Tampa Police
Department or 911.

Hodill’s friends are publicly expressing their feelings in comments that have been posted online.

“Christine was a good friend. Always in a good mood, fun to be around,”
wrote Matt Johnston on TBO.com. Johnson said Hodill was passionate about
kickball and was a local representative for the World Adult Kickball
Association.

“We will miss you in the kickball community,” he said.

http://www.myspace.com/christinewtf

A post by Brian Hummel reads, “Christine I’ve cherished the moments
we’ve had together and I know God is with you, you will be forever missed!”

She's Gone.

I slept on the floor with her last night and she died in my arms this morning. My home will be so much more empty without her to ever greet me again. I miss her so much already.

Kinda

Truth, like surgery, may hurt. But it cures.

Kinda has been my most loyal, and sometimes only, companion for over a decade and it saddens me to see her starting to take on the burdens of age. Besides some hip dysplasia and ocular degeneration (Pannus), she was recently showing signed of a tumorous growth. When Mam's looked at her Sunday, she said that it would be quite important to get the growth removed as soon as possible. I'm more concerned with quality of life than taking expensive extraordinary measures that might not even work just to stretch out life a bit too long. I trust my friend implicitly so I took Monday off to drive to Orlando to bring Kinda to her clinic. I was out the door around 6AM and was there by 7:30 or so to get her prepped for surgery. I went off to get a drink and breakfast for a while after signing her in, but when I got back Mams invited me into the back to check out the place and hang around for the day. I got to stay back office, read my trail hiking guides of Yosemite and Grand Teton, and talk to her and the staff throughout the day and even stay for the surgery.

I must admit it was tough seeing my dog completely knocked out with eyes rolled back and tongue completely limp while tied down to a surgical table, but I knew it was something had to be done. The surgery itself really didn't bother me at all and thought the process of cutting the skin open and digging out the tumor was quite interesting. It was a fairly bloody process and took quite a while, but in the end a tumor mass that was the diameter of a banana and as long and hard as a potato was removed from the abdomen along with some mammary glands and a fair amount of skin. I am sure I could have, but for once, I really didn't think of bringing out the camera and taking a lot of pictures, though I wish I had now so I could post them for you all (so I'll just have to post some various old shots)!

After she was done and taken to the post-op area I also got to watch a cat being spayed as well and learn about all the surgical processes. We went to a nice Vietnamese Restaurant for lunch while Kinda was recovering with an IV drip to replace a lot of the fluids that she lost due to the massive blood loss. Over the next day or two, she was really lethargic and slow to move around as I could tell she would inevitable be in a lot of pain and quite sore; poor girl. I took half of Tuesday off to make sure that discharges were normal and that there was not any additional seepage. Mammaries called me Thursday night with the unfortunate results of the biopsy of the tumor. Apparently it is indeed an aggressive cancer. While few things are absolute, the likely scenario is that the tumor could crop up again elsewhere in another few months, if not the same spot. Considering the old age and previous surgeries (when she was spayed a couple of years ago apparently a tumorous mass was discovered in the ovaries), I don't think she'll be able to take a lot more, nor would I want to put her through additional pain. It'll be sad to see her go and I'm sure it'll be a while before I get another animal, mainly because I am not around often enough to care for a new dog, but it has been a great run. Everyone that has ever met her has commented on how well behaved she is. Hopefully things will turn out well and she'll go on for a while comfortably, but these things happen in the circle of life and at some point it'll be time to let her go and move on.

The fatality of good resolutions is that they're always too late

It has been a year since I started blogging, so I've spent some time going over the old entries and reflecting upon past events. Overall, it was one of the best experiences of my life. I'd like to say that I was hit with a sudden moment of lucid cognition where everything fits together into a feeling of zen, but that still seemingly eludes me. This year was great in that I traveled and experienced more than I had ever previously done. I was able to see things that I had always wanted to do, such as Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park, other new countries, and even Mardi Gras. I hiked some of the most beautiful places that I could imagine and could only begin to describe if I was a fireside poet. I've realized that there was so much more to enjoy in life than often our modern imaginations can take us.

There are times in history where the world has paused and held its breath; D-Day, Cuban blockade, moon landing, etc. There are often greater darknesses than the ones we openly fight. There is darkness in a soul that has lost its way. The wars we fight are not against principalities and powers, they are against chaos and despair. All of life can be broken down into moments of transition or moments of revelation with there even being a single moment last year that I thought I had the feeling of both. The future is all around us, waiting to be born in those moments. We can never predict what the shape of that future may be or where it may lead; only that it often seems to be born in pain. It should not feel like one of those moments when you're in the passenger seat of a car, the person driving is doing something crazy, and your foot automatically keeps searching for a brake pedal that isn't there because you know something awful is going to happen.

One thing I've learned is that the truth doesn't hurt unless it ought to. It is so easy to get caught up in the moment that one forgets to appreciate the smaller things in life; there really is nothing bigger. I've found that strength in friendships is very important and am blessed for some of the bonds I've created, but also realize that I have strained others, and for that I'm sorry. I want happiness and contentment for my friends, and even myself and cannot settle for less. Even the little Kiwi animation I found a month or so back really gave me a consideration of change. Some people will reach an aphelion many times in their life, but will they ever completely reach perihelion? It is like at the end of 'Point Break' where Bhodi's entire existence was just to lead up to that last final ride. Sometimes it may indeed be that society slowly kills the human spirit. If one wants the ultimate thrill, then they have to be willing to pay the ultimate price. I'd been so use to shallow things that I've neglected the deeper, more fulfilling ones. I am pretty sure I know what I want in life, I just need to find it and not get waylaid to the point where I expect everything to be the same and not allow for something different, or even significant.

As such, with a nod to tradition, I'm going to try to come up with resolutions that I hope reflect a new year. I've turned off comments since this is something I want to reflect upon myself for a little while.

4) Better organization. I think the accumulation of things that I might need, but never use, just becomes too much of a pain. Take the minimalistic attitude to apply at home.

3) Find a comfortable position between work and play. Put more emphasis in career goals and completion of assigned projects.

2) I've found that I've been a little disrespectful of friends when I spread myself way too thin and become more of an occasional contact than friend. No more HCS, period. With significant reflection and the observations of trusted friends, sometimes I've realized that things I've done are not who I want to be or who I think I am. (Thanks to JM, HJ, and CG for the reflections). Friendship without self-interest is one of the rare and beautiful things of life.

1) Join the 'just say it' club. Don't hold back letting someone know how you feel about them. Is it ever truly too late to say something? Yeah, it just might be, but time is circular, so maybe the moment will return. Don't just show appreciation for what people tell me, reciprocate in letting them know what I feel; whatever way it may be. This was the biggest regret I've had this year and in the past. I'd love to find a relationship of reciprocation, nurturing, and being in-sync; equal partners in a mystery.

“If we are to be who we are, and what we are; if we are to accomplish great things, then we must learn the heart's most essential rule: Never Surrender Dreams."

People cause accidents, and vice versa.

Driving down I-75 from the campout, we came across an accident that consisted of a single overturned car. There were no police or fire personnel on the scene and from the way people were standing around the car, it seemed apparent that there was a serious problem. Since I always carry two fire extinguishers as well as some pretty well stocked first aid kits with me at all times since it is something I had put together when teaching classes, diving, and being involved in activities that might be a good distance away from immediate assistance. I pulled over to see how we could assist and grabbed my equipment as I ran over. As you can see from the pictures, it was pretty serious situation in that both occupants were trapped in the vehicle.

Fortunately, a local off-duty EMT just happened to be in the passing by and was at the vehicle 2-3 minutes before we got there. The female driver was on the side that wasn't as nearly crushed in while the male passenger was in the collapsed section of the car, but still breathing. The woman's hair was caught between the vehicle and the ground when the sunroof shattered. The EMT was using a pocket knife to cut her hair so that she could be freed so I gave him my rescue shears and a set of gloves since at that point there was glass and quite a bit of blood around. After quite a bit of cutting we were able to get her head released and assist in lowering her to the ground and easing her out. Just as she was taken out rescue personnel started showing up on the scene and took over. At that point it is best to just get out of the way and convey the little information we had.

A couple of trucks had to respond with the equipment necessary to reinforce and lift one side of the vehicle while they used cutting tools (e.g. the Jaws of Life) to tear open the other side of the car in order to extract the male occupant. The female was stable so she was just loaded into the ambulance, however the male had to be medevaced out. The interstate was shut down so that the helicopter could land and after being quickly interviewed (we were not witnesses of the accident, merely responders) we were told we could leave when the helicopter had left. I got a bunch of shots of the extraction and the medevac operations.

The whole event merely reinforced the necessity to have even basic first aid training and keep emergency supplies on hand. There was one stupid bystander that commented that maybe a tourniquet should be applied when he noticed some blood on the arms and legs; so obviously if you don't have training you shouldn't attempt such things else you will make the situation worse. In the least people should keep handy a face shield for CPR, gloves, bandages, and rescue shears that can cut through straps, clothes, canvas, or even metal. Apparently while driving in the right lane the female saw a large pickup merging into her lane, so she jerked to the side without thinking and lost control. When the car ran off the road it struck a tree in the rear side panel and overturned before it came to rest a few hundred feet away in the recently rained grass. Fortunately the site was near some fields and was sparse of any large trees, else a frontal impact would have been even more devastating. After the excitement was over we headed home to unpack from the campout events, merely glad to make it home safe and having been able to provide some assistance.