Ups and Downs and other randomness

Yesterday was a feature day in the ups and downs of life. In the morning, I had an email waiting from Ms. Colorado. It was a really nice email and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. She's doing well in Colorado, but misses me and wants to talk as soon as possible. Good stuff.

The slapback from the warm and fuzzy beginning was an email I received from a former classmate at around noon. I've mentioned him before - he's the 50ish South African guy who was in our program for most of the last two semesters. We hadn't seen him in awhile, so we assumed he had followed through with his plan and moved to Georgia. He got into a law school in Atlanta and was planning on finishing the MA from long distance. The South African is a really interesting guy. After logging many years as the owner and operator of an accounting firm, he sold it a year ago, enrolled in the MA in international relations, and started reinventing himself - pursuing a longtime dream to go back to school and feel like he had more importance than protecting rich people's money.

That history combined with the fact that he's a really smart guy with a great heart made his email all the more saddening. He disappeared from the scene not because he moved to Atlanta, but because he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. And it's spread to vertebrae in his spine.

Most of my classmates didn't know what that meant. I do. I didn't even have to google it to know that it's a virtual death sentence. Life's like this I suppose, not that clichéd axioms makes it any easier. The South African has always been healthy as an ox; he eats right; he's in great shape. Just when he embarks on the next great adventure of his life, this happens.

I have no way to express my sorrow toward him and his family. We never became great friends, but my heart goes out to him. From his email, he sounded like he's still in a bit of shock and denial. I imagine that's normal. No one wants to hear that they have 6-12 months to live. Everyone who faces that sort of thing has to stay upbeat, optimistic, and confident. It just doesn't look good.

Finally, because I can't resist, I have to put up this link. Truly disturbing. I think the solution is to shift to organic or imported beef. It does not shock that the USDA is ignoring a glaring risk, but it does disturb. See where the low end regulation takes us?