Bayview Boat Club News

Commodore's Log

August, 2007

8/29/07 - Update on Mike Wood
My wife, Monica, talked to Mike, yesterday (Tuesday). They're still running tests and exploring options. Since a successfully-treated case of cancer in his neck, years ago, Mike hasn't been able to qualify for health insurance. Since he's paying out of pocket, he's been trying to get the more routine stuff taken care of at the V.A. He was at the V.A. hospital in Dallas, Tuesday, but was due to be back at Baylor, in Houston, on Thursday. From there, he'll go to M.D. Anderson.
He told Monica he's sore, bruised and beat-up looking, from all the poking and prodding. At one point, he'd had to go 6 days without eating, while they ran several scopes. He said he would have nearly killed for a cheeseburger, or even a fudgesicle.
He has a tumor above the bile ducts that is preventing his liver from draining, and causing pancreatitis and jaundice. "I'm as yellow as a sunflower!" he said. If they aren't able to operate, or otherwise deal with his condition, he was told he may only have a few months to live. Monica said he sounded positive and far from giving up, though.
He told Monica that he was surprised and touched to find so many people concerned about him. He appreciated the visits from Leatta, Twila, Donna, Randy and Jeanette, and the calls, and told Monica he very much wants all our prayers. "I'm a good Catholic boy, go to church every Sunday."

8/24/07 - Mike Wood, Former BBC Member , in Hospital
Those of you who have been Boat Club members, or just at Bayview Marina, for over a year or two, probably know Mike Wood. Mike's a funny, generous, helpful guy, and a great story-teller and friend. Mike sold his business and moved down to Galveston last year, though he's been back to visit us.
Chuck McLaughlin received a call from Debbie York, a close friend of Mike's, that he is in the hospital, in Houston, with possibly inoperable cancer. He's undergoing testing, Thursday and Friday. Chuck called him, and Mike told him to tell everyone, "Hi".
We wanted to let all of you know, in case some of you who were good friends of Mike wanted to give him a call, and so that he would be in your thoughts, and, especially, in your prayers. I'll keep you updated, as I get word.

Mike and Debbie - Commodore's Ball 2005
Mike and Debbie, Commodore's Ball 2005

8/17/07 - New CO₂ Beer System for Club
At Club events, we tend to have part of a keg left over. If it's not finished by morning, it's so flat, only teenagers could drink it. This is because our "party pump" taps pump air into the kegs to push the beer out. The air oxidizes the beer, as well as introduces air-borne bacteria. They're meant for use when the keg will be consumed completely in a short time.
I've had the tragic duty of dumping gallons of day-after flat beer into the lake, this year, and it pains me every time. It's not that I'm totally against beer going in the lake. I just think it should be properly filtered, first... by kidneys. Well, that's all about to come to an end.
The Club has acquired a carbon dioxide setup for our kegs, capable of dispensing from two kegs at once. The beer will stay fresh-tasting through the party, and any left over will still be good, later. It'll quickly pay for itself, both in better quality and no more waste.
I want to thank member Randy Glover, who put me in touch with his friend, Dan Moore, who in turn put me in touch with Brent Sparks (both of the Ben E. Keith Company). Brent advised me on what I needed and the best place to get it. Then he hooked it all up for us, and taught me how to use the pressurized system without blowing my head off. He even threw in some new taps for free! Brent's a great guy and a credit to his company.
Also, I'd like to thank Bennie and Deb Brantley, for getting our new CO2 tank filled on very short notice, in time for the party, this Saturday (and then, refusing to give me an invoice).

8/11/07 - Photographers, Let's Get To Work!
I've had Chuck McLaughlin, our Photo Gallery administrator (and website host), add several new, as-yet empty, categories to the Gallery, for 2007 pictures. Now we need you to start filling them.
Do you have digital pictures from any Club events, this year (or last)? Do you have pictures from your boat, the docks, or other non-Club events that you'd like to share? All you need to do is go to the Photo Gallery, click on Register (upper right area), and go through the process of creating a user name and password for yourself. Once you have created an account, log in to the Photo Gallery, and you'll notice a new option in the upper right area: Upload Photos. You can upload pictures from your computer by browsing to their location. If the pictures are rather large and you don't know how to size them down, don't worry. The program automatically resizes pictures to the appropriate size.
When you upload pictures, you can choose which category to put them in. You may want them in a Club event category (i.e., July Beach Party 2007), or you may just want them filed in your personal gallery (choose 'Member Galleries'), which is created when you create your account. A copy of every picture you upload is also placed in your personal gallery. A member must have created an account and be logged in, in order to view pictures in the Member Galleries.
The gallery is moderated, and uploaded pictures are put on hold until Chuck checks to make sure there's nothing obviously inappropriate, and clears them. We use an easy-going, PG-13 sort of standard, along with, we hope, some common sense on your part. Have much fun, but at least a little consideration, too. Don't post pictures of yourself, or others, that would be damaging if they "got loose" in the world (duh!). Don't post pics that you know will offend or humiliate another Club member. Try not to be over-sensitive, but if a picture winds up on the site that you think crosses the line, please let us know - things slip through, sometimes. If someone posts a picture of you that you want taken down, let us know. It's gone.
OK, enough with the disclaimers - we've never had any serious problems with that stuff, anyway. Upload 'em if you've got 'em! And let's start carrying our cameras, and bring the Photo Galley (which was pretty dormant, last year) back to life.