On September 19, 2008, at Barrows Neurological, St. Joes Hospital, Phoenix, I had brain surgery, or microvascular decompression. Two neurosurgeons, Drs. Andrew Shetter and Joseph Zabramski performed this high risk procedure. These guys were brilliant and the surgery was 100% successful. But a couple of days post op I developed multiple complications, including pneumonia. On my third trip back into intensive care I felt... spent. I told the attending nurse that I didn't want to be re-intubated. The nurse called my wife and told her what I wanted.... After four weeks of hospitalization and five more weeks of intense therapy and recovery at home, I returned to my job with the State of Arizona. Barack Obama had just been elected President of the United States. An ever worsening economic crisis was gripping this country. The historically predictable causes for this crisis had been forewarned by renowned scholars. For now, consider the health of a US economy that's been moving away from... producing real products... to one which exchanges paper -- buying and selling... corporate and consumer debt... making financial bets, i.e., hedging. Contemporaneously... erode this economy's middle class while concentrating its wealth into fewer hands. That's what's been happening in the US over the last 40+ years. It's an historical flashing red light for the end of an empire. Guess which empire. On May 18, 2009, I was advised that due to budgetary constraints, the Arizona Office for Americans with Disabilities was to be permanently closed. My job as Executive Director would terminate. Like many of you who read this, I'm looking for another job. That's life. The rest is inside. Jacuzzis creative memoir of growing up disabled in a family of Italian inventors is filled with history, romance, and globe-trekking adventure. Business coach, manager, and ADA advocate, Ken has lived an incredible life!

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