March has already turned into a suck-fest of epic proportions.

My father, who’s eyesight has been steadily failing, suddenly lost most of the vision in his “good” eye. Although he can still see a bit, he’s probably legally blind now. This effectively marks an end to the independence he’s been able to maintain thus far. However, the silver lining is that now he is apparently willing to move into town closer to my brother and sister. We’ve all been worried about him, and the fact that we all live far enough away from him that it’s hard to drop by and check on him. So, all in all, probably a good thing. But still. Damn.

My daughter has been acting out in a spectacular fashion. The ongoing question is, is this her ADHD, or is it carbonated hormones? Either way her brother has been getting more than his share of verbal abuse, and the Wife is about to go postal on her.

Just one example: We noticed she trimmed the whiskers on one of the cats. This from a child who is an animal lover and knows full well how important whiskers are to a cat’s ability to navigate. She hasn’t done this in years. I’m flummoxed.

The founding partner in the firm where I work passed away last week. I didn’t work very closely with him, but he was an excellent attorney with very high professional standards and admirable priorities in both his work life and private life. I think he was primarily responsible for the atmosphere in the firm being as congenial as it is, and that is an enviable legacy. He will be missed.

And now my Xbox is making horrific noises, and sometimes shutting down with an accompanying system error. Granted, this is relatively trivial compared to the other things going on, but it falls under the “last straw” category. I will probably have to send it off to be repaired/replaced. Which I am surprisingly unwilling to do. And although I play with my clan as often as I can, I still SUCK at multiplayer. Sigh.

Well, I’m heading off to Newport tomorrow to spend the weekend with my two buddies. We are saying farewell to one of us as he migrates back to the Southern Hemisphere for an undetermined period of time. I anticipate significant amounts of drinking will be involved. As always, it will do me good to see the ocean.