Gerry Kimes 1969-2004

06.10.2004

Yesterday one of my best friends from my Birmingham Southern days passed away from a brain tumor. Gerry had been diagnosed with the tumor in July of 2002, and at the time he had been given less than 6 months to live. He and his family fought the battle, but Wednesday it became too much.

Jer and I, along with many others, are off to the funeral Friday morning. This is the first of my friends to die. Every other funeral I've been to has always been some relative (or relative of a friend), usually at the age when death is expected. So far, the relatives have always been somewhat distant, none that I grew up close to felt a special bond. Gerry is different. Gerry was one of the people that helped shape who I was to be after leaving home. He and Boyd lived in the dorm room next door, there wasn't a day that went by for 9 months that I didn't see him. It's hard to put into words, but that was a special bond for me, a special friendship.

After I left BSC, I didn't see "the gang" that often, especially once everybody graduated. The last time I saw Gerry was at Jerry's wedding in '96. It had been years since the last time I had seen either him or Boyd, but along with Jerry we fell into our old routine of snappy banter, cutting up, and talking amongst ourselves. I was amazed that although it had been years, we were talking like we had all seen each other the day before, there was a total lack of awkwardness. I was telling this to Janice, Boyd's wife, and she told me that it was due to the bond that we shared. We would always have that closeness, regardless of how long it had been since the last time we spoke. That was a part of that bond that was formed at BSC.

When someone dies, or comes close to death, you start to think of stories and experiences you've shared. Most of my fondest memories of Gerry involve either him having too much to drink or the word "fucker". My favorite story to tell was when Boyd and I were studying for a history mid-term. The BSC dorms had couches that folded out to a full size bed. Gerry was asleep on his bed while Boyd and I were sprawled about on the couch and floor, notes everywhere, studying. Gerry was a big Lebonese guy who would sweat like there's no tomorrow when he was asleep. As Boyd and I were quizzing each other / arguing about what to study, Gerry suddenly flailed about until he ended up with his face turned toward us, eyes wide open. Very wide open. "Isn't that the damndest thing?" said Boyd. "He's still asleep, he just does this every once in a while." We kept studying and after a few minutes Gerry turned his head, hopefully closed his eyes, and stayed steadfast asleep. I had thought Boyd and I were making too much noise and had bothered Gerry, so I had tried to tone it down a little. But of course, after a little while Boyd and I were back to quizzing/arguing like we were before. All at once, Gerry, face down on the bed, begins banging his head into his pillow while saying "Fuck the fuck can't get no sleep" before once again entering his quiet, blissful sleep. Boyd and I looked at Gerry, then each other, then Gerry again. We wanted to prod him to see if he was really asleep or not, but thought it best not to. It seems Gerry was still sleeping. We wrapped up our studying for the night and both managed to catch some sleep. The next morning, we asked Gerry if he remembered what happened. he didn't have any idea. We told him what happened and he got a kick out of it. Ever since, "fuck the fuck can't get no sleep" has been a part of our vocabulary, even though we don't know what it means.

Gerry also had a mutant ability to name what was in his hand when he had a little too much to drink (or maybe just a good buzz going) while not looking. I'm not just talking about knowing you put a pencil or sheet of paper in his hand, but he could tell you the details. To test it out once, we had him face down on his bed with his hand behind his back. We started out easy, pencil, pen, paper. Next came a book, which he knew, but he also told us what book it was (I want to say it was a biology book, but I forget details after 17 years). Next was a medicine bottle, which he identified, along with the allergy medicine that was in it. Maybe the stuff was too easy for him? Getting sneaky, Boyd dug out a fishing trophy Gerry had in the closet and proceeded to unscrew the fish from it. He then placed the fish in Gerry's hand. It took a minute of flipping it around, but Gerry suddenly said, "It's... it's the fish from my trophy. You fuckers took apart my trophy!" Ok, time to find something more difficult. At this point, Boyd went into his closet and got out a car wash kit that his girlfriends parents had given him the Christmas before. He had never used it (it wasn't good enough for his car at the time), but he opened it and took out one of the plastic parts. He took it and put it in Gerry's hand. About 5 minutes later, Gerry said "It's a part of that car wash thing Janice's parents gave you for Chrsitmas." How did he know? He couldn't see it, he was faced the wrong way. There was only one explanation. Gerry was a mutant.

I've told these stories for years, and they've always brought a smile to my face. They still do that as I type them in here. And I'm still going to share them.

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Dinner and a Movie

06.09.2004

Gina told me that we're overdue going out and seeing a movie, so I'm forcing her to take care of that tonight, going against her "on a weeknight?" policy of going out. Yes, a weeknight. I think I can get my homework done in time.

She doesn't know it yet, but we're going to go see Shrek 2. Since she mentioned it a lot on our little vaation a couple of weeks ago, I'm hoping that I've taken the proper hint.

While looking at yahoo to find what times the movie starts, I discovered something interesting. There aren't enough movies out. Case in point, at our local super movie cineplex that has 18 screens, there's only 9 movies currently showing. It looks like The Day After Tomorrow and the latest Harry Potter are being shown on half the screens. I think I know why we don't go see as many movies as we used to. There just aren't as many to go and see.

Or maybe I'm just old and would rather flop on the couch with my popcord once the movie comes out on DVD. I bet that's really it!

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Eats

06.08.2004

Looking at the clips of vacation pics in the window up by the logo, I'm reminded of how this past beach vacation was a little different. Usually I overdo the whole seafood thing. This time, we ate in for breakfastand (usually) lunch, and then would go out for dinner. This trip we tried places we hadn't been to before. My favorite discover was the Bonefish Grill. I think it's now become my favorite seafood place. The food is good, the staff was extremely helpful and courteous. As far as atmosphere, I would put it on par with J Alexanders, my favorite place to grab a steak in Nashville. It's casual, but it still has a classy feeling.

To make my new discovery even better, they are opening a Bonefish Grill in Nashville in September, probably next door to J Alexanders. Nyah, my luck couldn't be that good.

Great. Now I'm hungry.

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Painting 102

06.07.2004

This weekend continued the painting experience I've come to know as my house, where it seems every wall needs 3 coats of paint. This weekend saw the hallway and bathroom get painted. Mostly.

Trying to think ahead, we added M-1 Additive to the paint in the bathroom to help retard mold and mildew growth. Being the single, non-cleaning guy I am, I'm all about the mold and mildew. Reading the directions for the M-1, it's scary stuff. You almost need an NBC suit to handle this stuff. Long pants, long sleeved shirt, socks, shoes, eye protection. For a minute I thought I should go get a condom just to be sure. But it was added to the paint without incedent. Once the wall started to get painted, there was the incedent!

This stuff is 51% Tetrachloroisophthalonitrile. It doesn't like water, or moistess. I guess that's why it's an anti-mold and mildew chemical. It's to be applied to a dry surface, which we thought the wall was, but it appears the underlying sheet rock may have been moist from my using the shower in there for so long. So once the paint was applied to the wall, the paint started to bubble. Not like it was boiling, but more like there was an air bubble underneath that just wanted to get out!

So this leads to plan B. Since something's going on with the sheet rock, we're going to get a moisture-blocking primer with which to paint the wall, and the try again with the treated paint. Maybe then it won't bubble.

And there's still a great room to paint....

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Stupid Link Day

06.03.2004

It's been a while since I had an assortment of random links. The time is nigh for that to be fixed!

Seeing as how I have a shy bowel, I got a kick out of How To Poop At Work.

Curious as to how many calories it takes to keep your current weight? Find out what your Basal Metabolic Rate is.

I've been watching Babylon 5 on DVD (I'm about halfway through season 2 now). Michael O'Hare played Commander Sinclair in the first season, and you can keep up with him on his site. On a solemn note, Richard Biggs, who played the doctor on the show, died suddenly last month from an aortal tear. On a less solemn note, Jerry Doyle, who played Michael Garibaldi, has pulled out of the running for a Florida congressional seat. And just so I don't leave anybody out, Claudia Christian (Ivanova) even has her own site.

What happens when 2 ten year olds start driving bulldozers?

In my quest to make a more complete wrestling game, I've gone back in time and picked up a copy of Avalon Hill's Wrasslin' game. I'm hoping that I can borrow a couple of ideas from the game. That's borrow. Not steal. Ooh! How about liberate!

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