SG--we ARE pulling for dad...tell him, it'll cheer him up! (or, send him over the edge, depending on how he feels about Yanks!
And I'd watch your cats, too. It'd just take me a while to get to your place! (step one: cross that pond...)
I'll be honest-most people bug me or bore me. I don't like to be around many of them and those that I do like being around, it's not for a long time. I didn't always used to be this way--I chalk it up to my life experiences, my work experiences and my experiences with organized religion. Yep, those three things kinda messed me up to the point of near-misanthropy.