A new medical issue has created the need for me to do some doctor shopping over the past month or so.  Typically, I practice as much “clinical abstinence” as possible (understandable given my line of work) but, unfortunately, I don’t have much choice in this matter.

I’m sure many of you heard about the FA-18 crash here in Virginia Beach on Friday.  The jet was part of VFA-106, the east coast FA-18 training squadron.  Thankfully, both of the pilots got out of the aircraft safely, but more importantly – and miraculously – nobody on the ground was killed or even seriously injured.  The crash site is about 10 miles from my house and folks in our neighborhood could see smoke rising from that area of the city.  Local hospitals stood up their mass casualty centers, thinking there would be dozens of fatalities and perhaps hundreds of injuries.  A few folks likened the crash site, where the jet impacted a large apartment complex, to a fiery inferno that reminded them of 9/11.

An experimental plane sputtered after take-off Monday, 2 April 2012 and crashed in the Publix grocery store in DeLand, FL (near Orlando). The pilot and passenger were badly injured. 100 people were in the store although only five were injured badly enough to be seen in hospital.