Herron Family

Bill

I spent the last post praising Bill for all he does for us, but I didn't really tell you what HE was up to.  I'll take a stab at it, but I'll probably wander off the subject.  I seem to do that a lot these days.

I'd have to start with work at TaxBill Herron's office.  Every year tax season lasts a little longer.  He tries so very hard to get all returns done by April 15th, but sometimes information is missing or we are waiting on a third party to get us some info.  He has alternate ways of getting some information; for example, county real estate tax records are a matter of public record that anyone can get off the county website.  It's a lot more convenient to do that than give the client a call at midnight when he's working on their return! 

I certainly don't mean to get into taxes.  I admire Bill for the devotion he has to our business and how much he cares about his clients.  We opened the business October 1, 1982, and we still married a year later on October 29, 1983!  We each married the boss.

*****

Of course he is still into lots of Corvette events.  He went the NCRS regional meet in Old Town, Florida, near Orlando, in late January.  He functions as a CPA there as well.  But it stands for "car parking attendant."  He's been volunteering at that NCRS (National Corvette Restorers Society) show for over 25 years.  One of our early dates was at a show held at Cypress Gardens.  Here's a trip down memory lane to January, 1982.

*****

Ah, but back to the present.  Last fall, Bill had a unique opportunity.  One day he was listening to a radio program called "FM Odyssey" on Sarasota's own community radio station 96.5 WSLR. The DJ asked the listeners what song they heard on FM radio which changed their lives and why.  Bill e-mailed right away.  They liked his answer because they asked him to be on the show with others who had also answered.  Due to another engagement, Bill wasn't able to go to Merritt Island to tape his segment, so a local station taped his interview.  His interview with the host of the show, Fred Migliore, was the first on the FM Odyssey show "The Song That Changed My Life," played during the week of 11/17/08.  You can check out FM Odyssey at http://www.fmodyssey.com/. 

Bill did travel to Merritt Island for the first playing of the show at the FM Odyssey studios.  Several others also attended. 

 

.Fred Migliore is sitting front and center.  Bill is just to his left, sort of hidden under the fiber optics

 

Bill is standing with host Fred Migliore in front of the FM Odyssey signature wall.

I've listened to Bill's interview several times.  As our personal history goes, Bill grew up on Long Island, NY and I grew up in northern New Jersey, so when he speaks of the Sunday night show on WNEW FM in NY in which the DJ's voice was sultry and warm, I already knew what he was referring to.  She would speak briefly in the beginning and throughout her show, but it was the end of her monologue that always sent shivers up my spine.  The words were simple, but the voice made them ever so complex:  "Come fly with me, I'm Alyson Steele, the night bird." 

By now, I'm sure you're wondering what Bill chose as his song.  It was played one of the very first nights Bill had access to FM radio which happened to be at the beginning of Alyson Steele's show.  The title:  Prologue.  The artist:  Renaissance.  Progressive rock Bill calls it.  It was rock yet it was classical but no ... well it sort of defies classification.  I'm sure that's part of the reason Bill loved it so; it was out of the box and unique.  Just like he is.  When we combined our record albums (yes, those antique LPs), we found our collections of Renaissance complemented each other so we had just about all their albums.  Only a couple have come out on CD.

*****

In the fall, Bill is invited to "The Ultimate Corvette Party" with his red Corvette.  No, no, not that one; that one.  The 1997!  (My car, huh.)  There he is able to show off the many pieces of memorabilia and the book which the previous owner wrote: "All Corvettes are Red" based on his experiences behind all the closed doors at GM watching the making the this new style of C5 Corvette.  It took a little longer than he expected - 8 years! 

When the book was published, Bill and I were able to marry two of our separate but shared loves:  cars and books.  My bookstore, A Novel Idea, hosted a signing for Jim Schefter and his book at a Corvette show at Cypress Gardens.  After I'd closed up shop, I was home one rare evening not working with Bill, and I was e-mailing notes to friends.  I dropped Jim a line since Bill and I had been sitting in the hot tub a night or two before, and Bill said that if he ever bought a new Corvette, it would have to be unusual, different, you know, that out-of-the-box car. 

Well Jim e-mailed me back that he wasn't doing well, and he needed to sell his car; did I know anyone who'd want it?  We were smack in the middle of tax season crunch, and Bill just couldn't negotiate the purchase of a car.  So Jim waited til after April 15th, and the fellas worked out a mighty fine deal, and the car was shipped to us.  I asked Jim tho, before the car left, to please sign it, just as you'd sign a book.  When it arrived, on the glove box door I found the words "This ACAR is for you" with his signature.  Not too long after, Jim passed away, leaving a legacy in words behind him, with a little road dust mixed in.

*****

Bill currently is helping a friend change an engine out in his 1962 Corvette.  The use of the in-ground lift as well as the hoist above to pull the engine up were two valuable tools the friend didn't have, so could he borrow Bill's?  Sure, Bill even helped a bit.  He felt much better with a layer of grease under his fingernails for a few days.  After all, these tools weren't ones you just borrow and take home with you.  Here's a peek:

                      

Oops, that's not a Corvette, is it?  It is red.  It's Bello Nockt signing autographs after performing in a special Circus Sarasota show held for the Suncoast Communities Blood Bank to celebrate their 60th anniversary.

Here's that 62 Vette:

                      

I couldn't possibly close out this post without a photo of Bill's beloved 1957 Corvette.  I guess he took the picture so he's not in it.  He's doing routine maintenance, changing the oil, but everything about what you love is special.

              

Smoochies, honey.  And don't stay up too late tonight, OK?

 

Why you haven't heard from us in 2009

Hey there.  I had seven posts written and saved in draft form to share what was going on with us, and somehow they all disappeared but part 8!  I'm devastated.  And I'm too tired to repeat everything except briefly.  I had pictures and everything, but they'll have to wait now.

You haven't heard much from us because we've been busy (Bill) or been very ill (Sandie).  I developed a sinus infection in November which went into December and for which I took oral antibiotics.  I missed the blood bank Christmas parade in which Bill drove his 1957 Corvette.  I missed the Christmas party to which Bill drove his 1957 Corvette.  I missed the "Hearts and Hammers" day in which blood bank employees and volunteers and donors worked for Habitat for Humanity while Habitat employees and volunteers donated blood.  I missed the special performance Circus Sarasota gave to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the blood bank.

But back to December.  We found a new drug to try to help build bone density called Reclast.  It is a yearly infusion.  I found that the Cancer Center in town would do this for my Tampa doc (why drive for an hour each way for a 15 minute procedure?)  A few days later, I began making frequent trips to the toilet.  I wondered if it was a side effect of the drug.  When Bill got sick, we knew it wasn't.  We both spent Christmas in bed feeling horrid.  We didn't even open presents until two days later.

Bill was up and about much sooner than I was since he's got a normal immune system.  Mine is depressed to help keep the lupus and arthritis and all the auto-immune diseases at bay.  A couple weeks into January, that awful gunk started coming out of my nose again.  This time I went straight to the ENT doc, who cultured it.  He was shocked by the results:  pseudomonas aeruginosa.  This is one of the "super bugs" resistant to many antibiotics.  So I was sent to an Infectious Diseases doc.

There I learned I needed IV antibiotics for a minimum of two weeks.  Fortunately, my insurance company allowed the twice daily infusions at home so I did not have to go to the center or to the hospital.  I did need to have a PICC line placed.  This is a peripherally inserted central catheter.  A radiologist inserted a tube from the inside of my upper left arm to just above my heart.  We inserted meds in the lumen attached outside the skin.  When I asked why they use the PICC line, the nurse explained that these antibiotics are tough on the veins, especially the smaller veins usually used for an IV.  With this tube inside the vein, they could advance it to an area just above the heart where a lot of veins come together and there is a lot of blood flow, so as soon as the drug is pushed in, it becomes much more dilute than it would in a smaller vein.  Of everything that happened in the past few months, it was having the PICC line that disturbed me the most, probably because of the horror stories I've heard of the lines getting infected.  This infusion center was terrific, and I doubt that would have happened.  I loved showering in the plastic long blue "opera glove" to keep it dry. (Yea, right!)

Just a couple days after starting the infusions, I began having chest pains.  Everyone said to go to the ER, so reluctantly we went.  Triage was fabulous.  The hospital promises that any patient with chest pain will have an EKG within 20 minutes.  For me they made an exception.  They put me in a room in the ER and forgot I was there for a couple hours!

I finally had the EKG plus a CT scan and chest x ray along with a variety of blood tests.  Many hours later, at 8 PM actually, I stood in the hallway in my gown and jeans until my doctor noticed me.  He and the nurse had been tending to a critical patient and he apologized for not getting back to me sooner.  He had my infusion set up and food brought in.  Then he told me the good new/bad news.  I didn't have any clots or pulmonary emboli, no pneumonia, no endocarditis, no pleurisy, cardiac enzymes were fine, and so far the tropinin levels did not indicate a heart attack.  However, troponin does not always show a heart attack right away; it might take up to 12 hours.  We weren’t at that point yet.  Then I realized he was going to admit me which I did not want to do.  However, I realized all I would do is go to sleep, wake up and leave, so I agreed to stay.  I was so happy to see my own main doc in the morning who asked if I wanted to go home.  They brought in the antibiotic infusion, Bill arrived, and we were outta there!

As much as possible, I am trying to rest and take it easy.  My cats have worked hard at giving me lessons on how to take naps for hours on end. 

       

Big Block                       Goodrich                 Goodrich again            Riley

(Tip, if you'd like to see a larger version of any photo, just click on it.)

      

          'Stache                      Zora                             

 

  Riley getting a rub before our nap

Finally two weeks had passed, and the ID doc said I was done with the antibiotics and the PICC line could be removed!!  It felt so good to take a normal shower two days later (waiting for the new bandage to stay dry).  Yet I am so sleepy and tired which they say is from the antibiotics as well as the infection.  Unfortunately pseudomonas can be treated but not cured, so I have this bacteria lurking in my body somewhere just waiting for an opportunity to pop out.  So I will have to rest and nap more than I have been.  The two weeks were just a rehearsal for the months to come.

Bill has been my rock through all of this.  He has been by my side the entire time.  He did the infusions for me.  He helped me get my opera glove secured and removed.  He brought me meals in bed (what a luxury).  He washed my hair.  He lost countless hours at work just as tax season is gearing up yet again.  I'm not so sure last year's ever ended!  He's already coming home at 2 AM and sleeping until 7, if the cats let us sleep that long.  He's already sleep deprived, and it will only get worse.

We are fortunate that he is swamped with work when others have been laid off and lost their homes.  After all, what's that saying, there will always be death and taxes.  I do believe he'll be able to continue providing for us, not only financially but emotionally as well.  He's spinning a lot of plates, and I don't envy him. 

Now I really must go for it's far past my nap time since I've written this twice.  Sorry for the missing pictures.  Oh, I'll leave you with a fabulous one.  I had my first "drive-by signing" in my own personal library with Tom  Corcoran!!  He brought me his new manuscript for HAWK CHANNEL CHASE to read, so I insisted he inscribe it to me ...

An advance reading copy for HAWK CHANNEL CHASE arrived while I was acutely ill.  Cool.  Very few of these have been printed!  I put mine to use right away.  (Keep in mind that I'd fallen asleep; I would never put a book down this way.)

 

I think I'll go assume this position again! 

Sandie & Bill & the new Fab 5

PS  Please remember that I must do less, and that includes e-mail so I may take longer than usual to get back to you.  The same goes for Bill but his excuse is work, so please be patient with us.