Speed Walrus

Kobacker House (Guest Blogger LTB)

2012-11-18T10:32:00.000-05:00

I wrote this blog before Rob passed away. You might have some interest in reading it.
11/5/2012 8:16 am

Kobacker House (Guest Blogger LTB)

Rob is doing some time over at the Kobacker house. What is the Kobacker House you might be wondering? Why the Kobacker is this fabulous house you can visit if you have terminal cancer. They only allow 24 patients there at once. It looks more like resort then a hospital. There are no machines to plug you up to. There are no IV's. The nursing staff are all the kindest people you would ever want to meet. The staffs job is to keep you pain free in your last days.

Which brings us to the very hard reality that Rob is in his last days. I am about to lose my best friend of 21 years. Miranda is going to lose her very beloved father. Shannon and Bob are going to lose their only son. Sarah is going to lose her only brother. The rest of you reading this are going to lose one of the greatest guys you've ever known. Rob was the first one there to help you fix your car, or your computer. If we had it he would let you borrow it. I can' count the times we stopped so Rob could help perfect strangers change the tire. He is the good Samaritan.

Rob is a fighter though. Rob's doctor came in a few days ago and told us his body was starting to shut down. I called his family, and got everybody very worked up, only to have them tell me the next day that he was doing good and we should expect some kind of recovery. Since then he has had good days and bad days. They are still not talking about him going home. His doctors use vague terms like "maybe in a few days once we get his medication worked out." It's always a few days away though. They are constantly changing his meds.

I can't say if he has days, weeks, or even months still in front of him. However, whatever time he has left is not going to be like the last 28 months. Motorcycle trips are off the table unless he can figure out how to attach his oxygen tank to his bike. Miranda and I want to thank you all for your support and good wishes. The nurses all laugh at how many people have stopped by for visits and how many phone calls he gets. He is one very loved man they assure me. Don't I know it.

Rob's Cancer in Baseball Terms (guest blogger LTB)

2012-10-07T11:28:00.001-04:00

A baseball season is a long season. Training starts in February and runs into April. From April to October there are 162 regular games. If you are a good player and on a lucky team you will be playing in extra games in October. It's hard work. It takes a toll on your body to play everyday. The players families keep everything else going while their loved ones are engage in this epic battles of brain and brawn. When you get to October players and their families are exhausted.

When Rob showed up for spring training in February, nobody gave him very good odds to make it to the playoffs. But his bat was hot when he needed it to be and his defense is the best in the game. It looked like he was going to go all the way at the All Star Break.

He hasn't disappointed his fans all season long. He makes sure he always has a smile for them, and he always tell them how good he is feeling. However, things have started slowing down for him in September. He has been good enough the rest of the season to earn a spot as a Division Champion. The question still remains: Can he make it to the World Series? If so: Is Cancer too good of team to defeat?

When you're playing baseball in October anything can happen. Every game counts, you can't afford a single loss. This ain't no bush league, brah, these are the Champs. Rob's rival Cancer has been getting stronger all season. Cancer plays like they want it.

Rob is standing in the October of his battle against cancer. He has played long, and hard, his team mates respect him, but the injuries are starting to add up. He's been benched all week and his team of experts are concerned that he might be on the DL for the rest of the playoffs.

If you've got Rob on your fantasy team, now is the time to start cheering for him. If you have ever wanted an autographed baseball or a private interview you should reach out now. When this baseball season ends, Rob's looking at retirement. He hasn't said the words yet, but all the signs point to it.

In other words, Rob is rounding third and headed for home. Don't lose the opportunity to meet him at home plate and pat him on the back for a job well done.

Thanks for reading,

Laela

P.S. Go Reds!

Know Your Walrus - Week 4 - Your Most Significant Childhood Memory

2012-08-15T09:56:00.001-04:00

August 13, 2012 - Know Your Walrus - Week 4 - Your Most Significant Childhood Memory

Wow, my most significant childhood memory. That conjures up all kinds of different scenarios; good memories, bad memories, traumatic events, tragedies, etc. I could come up with one for any of those. The memory that I'm going to pick involves a moment of personal triumph and ingenuity born out of complete stupidity.

My dad's uncle owned a cottage on a lake in Michigan called Ackerson Lake. As far as lakes go it isn't huge, but the fishing is good and it size is capable of sustaining leisure activities such as water skiing, tubing, etc. Occasionally my family would have an opportunity to visit the cottage and be able to enjoy what it had to offer. One of the big things that sticks out in my mind is that there were eight boats. There was a ski boat, a pontoon party boat, a bass boat, a pedal boat, several rowboats with or without outboard motors and a few canoes. The cottage wasn't huge so it always seemed excessive to me that there would be eight boats for four people (because usually is was just Mom, Dad, Sarah, and me).

So I don't remember the exact occasion, but at some point my dad and I went up to Ackerson Lake for a father/son weekend. It might have been spring break, it might have just been a weekend during the summer. Like I said, I don't really remember what the occasion was but I do know that it was early in the season and in fact it was way too cold to swim in the lake. I was somewhere in the middle school age range 6th/7th/8th grade. Anyway the last couple of times we'd been up there my dad had started letting me take out a rowboat with an outboard motor onto the lake all by myself. I remember vividly my disbelief that dad was going to let me go out on the lake unsupervised. I'd usually bring some fishing gear with me and throw that in the boat but by the time I got in control of something with a motor I kind of got tunnel vision. I was so enamored with the thought of being under my own power with a motorized vehicle that I wouldn't ever end up fishing and I'd just cruise around the lake with that tiny 10HP Evinrude motor.

Well I must have done something dramatic or impressive to earn my dad's trust or maybe it was just because mom wasn't around, but on this trip he decided that he'd let me take the bass boat out all by myself. Imagine my complete shock and amazement. I was going to get to take out a boat with a steering wheel all by my lonesome. I couldn't have been any more excited. As I recall, I took the boat out a few times without incident and just had a really enjoyable time cruising the lake much faster than I was used to.

It was shortly after breakfast one day and I was really itching to get out on the lake and drive the bass boat around. Dad was moving kind of sluggishly so I think he was happy to let me go out and do something that'd keep me out of his hair. So I grabbed the key to the boat and off I went down to the dock. I got the motor warmed up, unmoored the boat and was out on the water in about 10 minutes flat. I headed straight out to the middle of the lake and started driving in circles. After about 10-15 minutes of super fun boating the motor started to cough and sputter and then nothing. It was dead. Well it turns out that in my haste to leave that morning I forgot to check the fuel level on the gas tank. I was completely out of fuel.

I had no idea what to do. So here I am in middle school stranded in the middle of a lake on a boat with no way of communicating with anybody. The first thing I tried was paddling with the one oar that was on the boat, but since the bass boat was so wide I just ended up going in circles. The one thing that hadn't dawned on me was that there was a trolling motor on the front of the boat. As I said earlier, it must've been early in the boating season because it wasn't hooked up, but the battery was on board. Mind you, I'd never used a trolling motor before and had no idea how to hook it up but I figured "Hey how hard can this be?" So this motor had a foot pedal for for steering and throttle. The pedal was hooked up to the motor, but not the battery. I had no tools or way to fasten the cables so I took the red cable and touched it to the red post and the the black cable to the black post. Since I didn't have any way to fasten the cables, I just stepped on them with my foot to hold them in place. Then, using my hand I manipulated the throttle and steering pedal and got myself pointed in the right direction. After about an hour I finally made it back to the dock.

I went up to the cottage and let dad know what had happened and he said he'd been sitting and watching me from the bay window the whole time. He wanted to see if I could figure it out myself.

This experience was such a huge confidence booster for me. It let me know that I could be put in a crisis situation, analyze my surroundings and come up with a solution to my problem. I'm so grateful to my dad for NOT coming out and rescuing me. It was one of those moments that made me feel smart beyond my years. When I think back on it, it wasn't really that monumental of a deal that I figured out a solution but it's still one of those things that I carry with me as a big lifetime triumph.