Alan’s Army

<Sorry, its now Friday morning and I just found the below on my BB unsent from my typing yesterday afternoon. Alan’s bloodwork was all fine, MRI results are due on Monday or Tuesday next week>A Quickie:I’m parked on a street in middle of Philly, just dropped Alan and Ginny off at the MRI place on Spruce St. After that we go over to the oncologist’s for a checkup.

Alan’s two week assessment with the NJ Commission for the Blind went pretty well. His case worker comes to the house on Tuesday morning to give us the results and next steps.

A piece of text-to-speech software called JAWS worked very well for Alan while there, so thanks to the hard work and generosity of Boy Scout Troop 46 we ordered that software as well as a laptop from Dell. Figuring Alan would be more likely to bump it off a table or spill something on it, and wanting it to last a long time from a productivity perspective, I speced-out and ordered a top-of-the-line and fully armored laptop (Dell E6400 XFR.) It wasn’t at all cheap, but my friends at Dell were very kind and got Alan a great price which reduced the hefty price tag by $2K. It is heavy and looks like it belongs on a battlefield (it’s actually ballistic armor) but it should hold up to any “accidents” that may occur.

Both the Software and Laptop have arrived and I just need to find time to install everything. Hopefully before long you will all be able to receive an update directly from Alan himself.

We were in Maine at Bear Spring Camps from July 4-18 and despite some lousy weather, it was great to be back there. The wildlife was abundant and we got some great photos of Ducks, Loons, Osprey, Great Blue Herons, and Bald Eagles. When I get some time I will give some photos to Larry to put up on the website. While there we played a little Disc Golf and spent time with our friends the Enmans.

<OK, now at doctors with MRI in-hand and we are waiting for the oncologist and bloodwork results.>

Amber arrived in Birmingham, England yesterday morning to start a 10-day missions trip with 10 other teens from church. After three such trips with Alan to Mexico back in the late 90’s, it is odd to now be a parent saying good-bye to Amber as she goes off on her own missions trip.

Please pray for safe travels for Amber and the group and that their efforts would be successful and bear fruit.

Another update forthcoming once we have recommendations from the NJ Commission for the Blind.

God Bless,

Andrew