The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

@DanRiehl Update 27 October 2012

Posted on | October 27, 2012 | 29 Comments

by Smitty

FAIRFAX, VA–I trundled around in Fairfax Station for three hours this morning. Nice McMansions, including a family named Riehl that allowed no relationship to Famous Blogger Dan. After lunch at the excellent Four Sisters, I headed over to see the Carnivorous Conservative.

INOVA Fairfax is a mad place. You park in the Gray Lot, walk through one building, take an elevator up, walk through a connecting hallway, and into the main tower. Dan had been moved from Intensive Care to a slightly less intensive area one floor up.  Whether the name of his new digs are ‘Intermediate’ or ‘Medical’ care was unclear, but he’s gone from the second to the third floor in the tower.

And joy was had, then uploaded to Twitter:

Dan is improving. He didn’t care to delve into the specifics of his condition, but I was to understand that he was fairly close to done with life on Wednesday, when he checked in. Seeing him conscious, he looked a couple of orders of magnitude better than yesterday in the ICU. The moral support of the blogs and Twitter and friends is helping. Stacy McCain called after seeing the second tweet listed here, and offered encouragement, but holding a phone conversation ran Dan out of breath rather rapidly.

If the Hurricane Sandra hasn’t cleaned the stores out entirely, I’ll see about liberating a case of Diet Coke and then check in on Dan tomorrow afternoon. It’s the least I can do. As a commenter on an earlier post noted, you’re dropping a mortgage payment a day for the privilege of being in a hospital. So do remember Dan Riehl’s tipjar in the right column on his blog.

Comments

29 Responses to “@DanRiehl Update 27 October 2012”

  1. Daezy
    October 27th, 2012 @ 10:15 pm

    Hallelujah! Godspeed, Dan. Looking good, and we all miss you. Be very well, and hurry back. LotsOfLove (LOL)

  2. STORM CANCELS ROMNEY VIRGINIA EVENTS; OHIO, HERE WE COME UPDATE: BOOM! Mitt Romney Endorsed by Des Moines Register : The Other McCain
    October 27th, 2012 @ 10:16 pm

    […] .recentcomments a{display:inline !important;padding:0 !important;margin:0 !important;}@import url( http://theothermccain.com/wp/wp-content/themes/elements-of-seo/style.css );HomeAbout Robert Stacy McCainAbout Smitty The Other McCain"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur KoestlerSTORM CANCELS ROMNEY VIRGINIA EVENTS; OHIO, HERE WE COME UPDATE: BOOM! Mitt Romney Endorsed by Des Moines RegisterPosted on | October 27, 2012 | 10 CommentsPress release from Romney-Ryan HQ:Boston, MA – On Sunday, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will continue the bus tour across the Buckeye State by attending Victory Events at Celina Fieldhouse in Celina, Ohio and the University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio, where they will be joined by Big & Rich. They will then attend a Victory Rally at the Marion County Fairgrounds Coliseum in Marion, Ohio. Please note that Mitt Romney’s events in Virginia have been postponed due to public safety concerns.Just got this word about an hour ago. I had been planning to attend the Romney rally in Haymarket, Virginia, but now have changed plans and will be going to Ohio instead.UPDATE: Here’s the NBC News report:The approach of Hurricane Sandy along the East Coast forced Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to scrap a planned campaign swing Sunday in Virginia, rerouting the GOP contender to the battleground state of Ohio instead. “I was looking forward to being in Virginia tomorrow but you know the hurricane is headed up there, and I just spoke with the governor, Governor [Bob] McDonnell, and the governor and I talked about that. He said, you know, the first responders really need to focus on preparation for the storm, so we’re not going to be able to be in Virginia tomorrow, we’re going to Ohio instead,” Romney told some 4000 supporters at a rally [in Kissimmee] Saturday.UPDATE II: Just calculated the drive time to Marion, Ohio, which will be the last of three stops on the Romney-Ryan Sunday tour of Ohio:Celina Fieldhouse 585 East Livingston Street, Celina, Ohio Doors Open: 11:30 AM EDT Invite Time: 1:30 PM EDTUniversity of Findlay Koehler Athletic Complex 1000 North Main Street, Findlay, Ohio Doors Open: 2:00 PM EDT Invite Time: 4:00 PM EDTMarion County Fairgrounds Coliseum 220 East Fairgrounds Street, Marion, Ohio Doors Open: 4:30 PM EDT Invite Time: 6:30 PM EDTI’d love to be at the Findlay event — which will feature country superstars Big & Rich in concert — but there’s just no way. Making it to Marion in time will be pushing it pretty hard.UPDATE III: So this is it, I guess. My plan had been to see Mitt in Virginia before heading to Ohio for a week, but now it’s an early departure to Ohio, thanks to a freak late-season hurricane.Ali Akbar will join me on this expedition, continuing a three-year adventure that goes back to when we first met during the legendary NY-23 campaign of Doug Hoffman in 2009. The Hoffman campaign — the first true test of the Tea Party movement as a political force — now seems like a million years ago. But then again, the Iowa caucuses seem like a million years ago, too, and that was only last January. It’s been a wild ride, and it promises to get wilder yet.By the way, Smitty went by to see Dan Riehl today. As my Twitter followers know, Dan is doing a bit better, and is now out of the ICU. He should continue to be in our prayers, and if you haven’t hit Dan’s tip jar yet, now’s the time to do it. I gave him another $25 today myself.All the signs and omens are propitious, you see, and I just got word that the Des Moines Register has endorsed Romney. “Preference cascade.”UPDATE IV: From the Des Moines Register endorsement:The Register’s editorial board, as it should, had a vigorous debate over this endorsement. Our discussion repeatedly circled back to the nation’s single most important challenge: pulling the economy out of the doldrums, getting more Americans back in the workforce in meaningful jobs with promising futures, and getting the federal government on a track to balance the budget in a bipartisan manner that the country demands. Which candidate could forge the compromises in Congress to achieve these goals? When the question is framed in those terms, Mitt Romney emerges the stronger candidate.It’s the first time they’ve endorsed a Republican in 40 years.UPDATE V: Notorious partisan cheerleader polling expert Nate Silver just went all-in, raising Obama’s chances of re-election to 74.4%.UPDATE VI: Smitty has an update on Dan Riehl’s condition. […]

  3. lonely conservative
    October 27th, 2012 @ 10:21 pm

    So glad to see Dan enjoying a Diet Coke. Will pray for a speedy recovery.

  4. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    October 27th, 2012 @ 10:25 pm

    Get well soon Dan! And yes we are continuing to fight.

  5. Adrienne
    October 27th, 2012 @ 10:25 pm

    Smitty – Bless you for bringing us updates. Many of us are so worried and care so much for Dan. News of his condition is little to none. Thank you…

  6. Dianna Deeley
    October 27th, 2012 @ 10:30 pm

    Thanks, Smitty.

  7. benning76
    October 27th, 2012 @ 11:02 pm

    I LOVE the special, hi-tech moustache protector! Gotta get me one. Hmmm …. wonder if it gets WiFi …

    Get Better, Dan!

    Thanks, Smitty!

  8. Jackie Wellfonder
    October 27th, 2012 @ 11:25 pm

    So glad he is doing better!

  9. Bob Belvedere
    October 27th, 2012 @ 11:33 pm

    Thanks, Chris.

  10. McGehee
    October 27th, 2012 @ 11:46 pm

    I knew Dan was too cantankerous to go quietly. The Grim Reaper is elsewhere in the tower hoping all his fractures will knit quickly.

  11. Monitor2112
    October 28th, 2012 @ 4:06 am

    Alright! Glad to hear he is on his way back. I’ll continue to pray for a speedy recovery, as will the entire congregation at my church.

  12. Zilla of the Resistance
    October 28th, 2012 @ 6:30 am

    I am so happy to see Dan is doing better! I hope he gets out of that place soon too. There is no place like home.

  13. SDN
    October 28th, 2012 @ 7:38 am

    Smitty, if he’ll give you the access, see what you can do about the major troll infestation on his blog, particularly in the comments for the Pasquale articles.

    I haven’t seen anything that vile since thor was last at proteinwisdom.

  14. Kim Priestap
    October 28th, 2012 @ 9:39 am

    Thank God!

  15. Mike G.
    October 28th, 2012 @ 10:14 am

    Mortgage payment a day?…What kind of house do you have? My recent overnight stay in our local hospital was in the neighborhood of 15,000 plus fees for doctors, CT scan, ect. And that wasn’t in the ICU, either. ( The biggest cost was the drugs.)

  16. Roderic Deane
    October 28th, 2012 @ 11:04 am

    Great to see him amongst the living and awake! Go Dan, go!

  17. Dan Riehl Update – What You Can Do – Red Alexandria
    October 28th, 2012 @ 11:20 am

    […] to this earlier post. Smitty at The Other McCain has posted a new update including this photo of Dan up and drinking a Diet […]

  18. Lee Hernly
    October 28th, 2012 @ 11:25 am

    Great to see Dan doing better. Prayers for a speedy recovery. Dan’s tip jar hit.

  19. Great News! | Daily Pundit
    October 28th, 2012 @ 12:30 pm

    […] Great News! Posted on October 28, 2012 9:30 am by Bill Quick @DanRiehl Update 27 October 2012 : The Other McCain […]

  20. Adrienne Ross
    October 28th, 2012 @ 1:56 pm

    Praying for Dan–and expecting the Lord Jesus’ healing power to manifest in Dan’s life.

    Thank you for the update.

  21. Bob Belvedere
    October 28th, 2012 @ 5:34 pm

    While I agree with your sentiments 100%, let’s not get carried away: Dan has never ‘looked good’.

  22. RichFader
    October 28th, 2012 @ 5:51 pm

    Diet? If I get that close to death, I want the good stuff. I’m just sayin’.

  23. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    October 28th, 2012 @ 6:55 pm

    The Mexican coca cola, the stuff made out of sugar not high fructose corn syrup.

  24. Always On Watch
    October 28th, 2012 @ 7:40 pm

    The second floor offers something called “stepped down care.” I know that because, in 2009, my husband was moved from the ICU for stroke care to stepped down care.”

    Often, one goes to a rehab facility when released from stepped down care. Maybe Riehl will be lucky and get to go home once he’s well enough to qualify for a regular room.

  25. Couranto
    October 28th, 2012 @ 10:53 pm

    I have Dan as one of my feeds on my little news aggregator at http://politipage.blogspot.com I had been wondering why the updates stopped. I am so happy to hear. Thank God!

  26. TBinSTL
    October 28th, 2012 @ 11:10 pm

    I’m a respiratory therapist on ICU rotation and I’ve gotta say its very encouraging to see him on just supplemental O2 and breathing on his own this quickly. I’d love to have a peek at his blood gasses but I’m sure he’s receiving the best of care. That facility has a fine rep in my professional circles….

  27. Charles Hammond Jr
    October 29th, 2012 @ 12:18 am

    I was about to raise a mug in honor of Dan Riehl’s life. I’m glad I have to put that off for a while longer.

    Instead I will raise a mug in order to wish Dan well and wish him a speedy recovery.

    **Raises Mug**

  28. Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
    October 29th, 2012 @ 12:26 pm
  29. Steve Schippert
    October 29th, 2012 @ 4:42 pm

    Thanks, Smitty. I’ll be stealing the text of this to post over at Dan’s to send his readers who’ve not already seen this.

    Dan gets deathly sick and sends a friggin’ hurricane back up to us in Jersey out of spite. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.