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(me at twelve, cute huh?)
Couldn't resist the temptation to snoop around
my private life, huh? Boy you must be bored! :) In answer to the many emails (no really, there've
been LOTS!) inquiring about me, I decided to trump this page up a little. But
you guys have really got to get a life! To start with, I'm not that cute little boy any
more. I'm happy to announce, I'm now 44 years old as of Nov. 15th, 1999. (Send
gifts!) Why am I happy? Well, when I was 13, my doctor
told me life expectancy for a "Sickler" was 35. To have made 44 is no
small feat. Living with Sickle Cell hasn't been easy. I've
had to change my career three times and I still don't know what I wanna be when
I grow up. My first career, way back in 19 and 78, was
Respiratory Therapy. Before my little five year stint was up, I'd spent so much
time as both a patient and employee, the rest of the staff was getting confused. "Weren't you up on the 5th floor the other
day, giving a patient breathing treatments?" Some baffled nurse would ask. My doctor (not the one who tried to kill me)
finally put an end to it when he insisted I file for disability. But that wasn't
the life for me. I couldn't bear sitting around waiting for an SSI check. Two years later, I started training for Piping
Drafting. What's that? A piping draftsman designs the blue prints for large oil
refineries. I always loved creating and drafting seemed like an excellent
outlet. Unfortunately, after 8 weeks training, five days
a week, 8 hours a day, I took seriously ill and had to miss the last 2 weeks.
Suffice it to say, I never finished that course and so ended my second career. Although I tried to do as my doctor, family and
friends were requesting, I still couldn't take sitting around the house idle.
About three years ago, I enrolled in a local vocational school to study computer
programming. This time I completed the course and some idiot
actually hired me! Go figure. It had been over 10 years since last I held a full
time position and it was with great apprehension I took the job. Things went well for about five to six weeks but
then I started running down. Approximately four months after I was hired, my
temp contract expired (along with my will to live!) and wasn't renewed. I didn't
expect to be employed in the first place and didn't push the issue when I was
"released." Stuck at home again, I started rooting around the
internet and got a brite idea. I'd learn Web Design! Yeah right, why not pick up
Aeronautics while I'm at it? Actually, I've learned lot about these com-poo-ters
and am now launching my own Web Design business. I've had five operations, three of them hip
replacements. (Don't look at me, THEY were the jerks loosing count!) I run down
easily, I poop out at parties, I'm unpoopular... Sorry, channeling Lucy there.
And on really hot days, my shoulders ache. Heck, they ache all the time. But you know what? I love my life. And if you find that S.O.B. doctor that told me
I'd be dead by 35, tell him I want a refund!!
About Me