Friday January 05, 2007
Five Things About Me...Even If You Don't Care
I've been tagged by
The
Tutorial Divas! I've never passed on the emails
that claim someone will die if I don't but I felt compelled to keep
this tagging chain going for some odd reason. Perhaps deep
down I want to divulge more private information about myself and was
just waiting for the chance to do so. Yeah right!
So here are five things that you probably don't know about me.
- I lived in Germany for three years in the late 80's while I
was in the Army. While I was on a weekend trip to Berlin
(remember the wall was still up in the 80's), Libya-backed terrorists bombed
a discotheque in West Berlin. Two U.S. soldiers
were killed and 50 injured. Fortunately I've never been into the disco
scene. You couldn't walk anywhere near a U.S. installation without
having the proper identification the rest of my trip. The
U.S. subsequently bombed
Libya.
- Upon graduating High School in 1981, I participated in the Fort
Lewis College Japan program. I lived with a family
in Tsukatsuki-shi Japan (Between Osaka and Kyoto) for six months.
I took a semester of Japanese before going but soon learned
the difference between learning a language from books and tapes and
understanding a native speaker. I was with a family in Tokyo
the first three days in Japan. I was standing naked in the
shower/bath area trying to figure out how to work everything when the
home stay mother opened the door and rattled off something in Japanese
and shut the door. I don't know what she said to this day.
She probably said something like, "Don't take a long shower
because we don't have huge hot water tanks like you Americans."
- My Great Grandfather, Tom Botterill, started the first Pierce Arrow
Automobile Company in Salt
Lake City, Utah and later Denver, Colorado. That's
ultimately how I wound up being from Colorado.
- Do you remember the story of the boy who had is arm bitten
off by a shark in Florida? On July 6, 2001 we were
vacationing near Pensacola, Florida. We'd been at the beach
most of the week and it was very hot. The beaches there are
incredible, white powder sugar sand and warm water. Near the
end of our vacation, the people we were visiting there said
they usually go to the beach in the evening because it's less crowded
and much cooler. So there we were on the beach at Gulf Island
National Seashore about 6:00 PM. My four kids were out in the
water playing in the waves. I was standing in the surf
watching them. There were only a few groups of people there
that evening. All of a sudden some women came running down
the beach towards us yelling, "A boy's been bitten by a shark get out
of the water!". First I thought, "That's not even funny."
Then the reality that it might be true struck me.
I started frantically yelling at my kids and my friends' kids
to get out of the water. Two Japanese women farther out
couldn't understand what I was shouting at them. They finally
came in. I instructed everyone to stay put and I went toward
where Jessie Arbogast was getting CPR. It was surreal.
Jessie was on the sand without an arm while his aunt gave him
CPR. About five feet away from him was a 7 foot bull shark.
No blood was coming out of his wound so I knew he had bled
out in the water. A helicopter landed and rushed him to a
nearby hospital. I returned to my family and regretfully
informed them that he probably wouldn't live. I was surprised
to hear the next day that he was expected to recover. My wife
had strolled up the beach about 10 minutes before the attack and taken
a picture up the beach. The picture included Jessie's group's
area. This picture was later used by the park ranger to deny
the claims that Jessie's uncle was shark fishing. I spoke
with the park ranger and confirmed to him that I never saw Jessie's
group fishing but did see a man and boy fishing farther up the beach
earlier. Here are a couple of good pages with more info if
you're interested.
- I live with my mom. Actually, my mom lives with
us. My mom's health has taken a bad turn in the past couple
of years and she really can't live alone anymore. I'm glad I
can do this for her after all she did for me growing up. I
won't lie and say it's been easy for us. This hasn't been
easy for my mom either. She's lost her freedom and is in
constant pain from a bad hip.
Posted by David Botterill
( Jan 05 2007, 05:37:47 PM MST )
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Tuesday January 17, 2006
I'm Retired! Almost
After 23 years of service, I put the uniform on for the last time on January 8, 2006. I'll be officially retired military February 1, 2006. I will retire as a Chief Warrant Officer 3 (CW3) from the Army National Guard. I did four years active duty and the rest in the Army National Guard.
I want to personally thank the Utah Army National Guard for supporting me throughout the years. In particular, I want to thank CW3 Dave Lucero and the DPI section for being such a great team to work with. Here's a picture. I'm the shorter guy in the middle.
The Utah Army National Guard is a wonderful organization that takes great pride in serving the United States of America.
I really didn't have to go through as much hardship as many soldiers have in 20+ years of service. I did the normal service schools basic training, Warrant Officer Candidate School, etc. but I've never had to put my life on the line as many of our brave men and women have in recent years. Whether you agree with our efforts in the middle east or not, please support our men and women in uniform. They serve with great personal sacrifice. Their families serve by plodding along at life while their loved ones are off serving their country. I've never personally met or heard of any soldier an any service of the United States that regrets serving their country. They miss their families and fear for their lives but in the end, they get the mission done with great honor. Thanks to all you who have served and to the families as well. Thanks to the ones who have made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their life for their country. You will not be forgotten.
May God continue to bless the U.S.A!
CW3 David Botterill, Retired
Posted by David Botterill
( Jan 17 2006, 03:18:21 PM MST )
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Saturday May 07, 2005
It's Out!
As I sit here typing this blog, there is less of me than when I last blogged. Yes, I'm missing my gallbladder. It's finally out. The pain is somewhat bearable sitting down but standing up is another story. I had it taken out Thursday and I've only started to take the pain medication frequently today. That's the best time to blog, when on pain meds. Right!
If you remember from one of my previous blogs, I was going to ask for the gallbladder to dissect it. My surgeon said OSHA wouldn't allow that anymore. One of the surgeons told me horror stories about golf-ball size stones he'd taken out of patients. So I guess I'll never get to see the little piece of who-knows what that caused me such pain.
I talked to my brother last night. He said he suffered a couple of attacks that caused severe back pain and vomiting. He's going to the doctor on Monday to find out the cause. I'll bet he's the next in the family to get his gallbladder removed.
Where do all these bad gallbladders go anyway? I guess that's a topic for another blog.
Posted by David Botterill
( May 07 2005, 04:53:49 PM MDT )
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Saturday April 30, 2005
Two Bees or 10,000 Bees, That is the Question
As I stated in an earlier blog, Colorado is experiencing some later winter weather. This hasn't really interrupted the current code-a-thon I'm in. The weather has, however, interrupted my appointment with the bee keeper. I've had a bee hive in the soffit under my root since last summer. I've tried getting rid of them with about 6 cans of hornet/wasp spray. By the way, if the can says it kills hornets and wasps but doesn't mention killing bees, that's because it DOES NOT kill bees. Oh sure the ones you hit with the stream of foam are knocked out of the sky and die a less than honorable death. But before they die, they must signal the other ones inside the hive saying, "That crazy home owner is trying to kill us with hornet spray again so stay in the hive!". And they do. I tried to ignore them hoping they would just go away. Well that doesn't work for the fat on my gut and it certainly doesn't work for the bees in my soffit.
So I called the bee keeper that keeps bees on my Father's property near Boulder, CO and asked him if he wanted some free bees. He was happy to come get them tomorrow but said if the weather was bad, he would have to postpone the bee safari. Apparently, he said the bees are more agitated at night and during bad weather because they are ALL in the hive. I guess the bees riot when you try to take their hive so it's best when you catch them away partying in the flowers.
My other worry is what my soffit will look like after the bee keeper tears it apart to get to the bees. I asked him to leave his ax at home because I had some tools like pry bars and such.
The weather looked better tonight so I might be bee free tomorrow night.
Well anyway, that's all the buzz for now.
Posted by David Botterill
( Apr 30 2005, 11:17:53 PM MDT )
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Wednesday April 27, 2005
My Warranty's Expired!
My warranty has expired! Last August I had an umbilical hernia. That's the kind that is a balloon coming out of your belly button. Last week I had a gallbladder attack while on a business trip to Menlo Park, CA. I was hospitalized and they wanted to remove my gallbladder before I left the hospital. The pain subsided and they let me return to Colorado. I have surgery scheduled for 5/5/2005 to have my gallbladder removed. I'm only 42. I thought my warranty was good until at least 70!
I had a brilliant idea. I planned to ask for my gallbladder and sell it on eBay. I just knew someone would buy it. Then I checked eBay's policies and they won't allow the sale of human organs. Bummer! That would have really been cool to ship my gallbladder across the U.S. I still plan on asking for it. I plan on dissecting it with my family to see just how many stones are in that confounded thing.
My father told me he had an attack and went 17 years after the attack before having it removed. The doctor that removed it said it was the worst one he had ever seen. You have to understand that in the early 1980's when they originally wanted to take it out, they would cut you from your sternum to your crotch. Now they do most of them via "laparoscopy.":http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=laparoscopy
Posted by David Botterill
( Apr 27 2005, 04:48:08 PM MDT )
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