Yesterday I found out that my dad is going to have his heart replaced with an artificial one! I don't know anyone who has known anyone who has had one, and I'm more than a little freaked out. Evidently this is the usual procedure nowadays when someone needs a heart transplant that an artificial one is installed until a donor heart is obtained. I'm old enough to remember the first artificial heart recipient and how newsworthy that was--and now dad's doctors sound like it's nothing out of the ordinary. I'm incredibly grateful for the technology--it's amazing to imagine that my dad will be running on a battery-operated titanium pump, but I have no idea how that works. How to you change batteries? Will it make weird noises? Will he have a button marked "adrenalin mode" to give him super strength and stamina? Whether we like it or not, we're going to be finding out, but knowing my dad, he'll make it work by sheer force of will--the salmon run this year is supposed to be pretty good and there's no way he'd miss that! He'd hook his heart up to the car battery if it meant he could get another fish. Wish him well, internets!