Giving up/in
Listening to: An odd assortment of stuff
Reading: Soft Focus Jayne Ann Krentz
Weather: 60, rainy
Trivia:Does the children's song Ring-a-Ring o' Roses have a darker meaning?
We've all sung it or some variant of it at some time in our childhood; "Ring-a-ring o' roses / A pocket full of posies / A-tishoo! A tishoo! / We all fall down!" While this version first appeared in an 1881 edition of "Mother Goose," its origins are much older. And for all its apparent innocence and playfulness it's actually about something deadly serious - the Great Plague of London in 1664-65. The plague resulted in more than 70,000 deaths at a time when the city's entire population was only 460,000. The disease, caused by the bacillus Pasteurella pestis, was transmitted by fleas off of the city's prodigious rat population. The 'ring o' roses" refers to the circular red rash that was one of the plagues earliest symptoms. "Pocket full of posies" refers to the common herbal remedy people carried with them in the vain hope of warding off the fatal disease. "A-tishoo! A-tishoo! / We all fall down" tells of the plague's fatal sneeze, which preceded physical collapse; literally, the victim fell down dead. Next time the kids are outside jumping rope to this little ditty, it may be a good idea to keep its origins to yourself, at least until they're a little bit older.
Cool word:talisman (TAL-iss-mun) - A lucky charm; an engraved object believed to possess occult powers. "Gina had an old pen she carried compulsively everywhere she went in the office, seeming to feel it was some sort of talisman that, without, she would fail in her appointed tasks."
The cat was sick again at three this morning. Once again diarrhea and outside the box. The odor woke me up, so I had to get up and clean it immediately.
Then I started coughing and couldn’t stop. There was no going back to sleep because the second I tried to lay down I would start hacking and gasping. So I parked myself on the sofa – which has the lounge chair feature- and turned on the television to wait for a decent time to call in to work.
There was an interesting biography of Katharine Hepburn on MSNBC, so at least there was something to watch. I sort of managed to doze on and off until six and then called in to the substitute coordinator.
I went back to the couch to doze until I could call the vet.
I’m really worried about the cat. He’s been so off and on with this stomach/intestinal thing that I think the vet has missed something. So I called her at about eight o’clock and she wants me to drop him off for a couple of hours tomorrow so she can do a more thorough exam. It’ll be expensive.
It also means that I’ll be taking another day off. Which considering I feel like crap isn’t surprising.
I took myself to Dr. Feelgood where I had to wait for an hour and a half before he could see me. The waiting room was packed with people who all sounded like me. Coughing, sniffing, hacking.
He’s comment to me was "good thing you got here before it had a chance to turn into pneumonia". Oops. I never go to the doctor until I am near death. I keep thinking that I’ll shake whatever it is that I have. Guess I was wrong.
I ended up with prescriptions for an antibiotic (something that is very strong and couldn’t be given in generic form), a decongestant/ antihistamine, and very strong cough medicine with codeine.
Yep, I’m definitely now in that group of folks who are part of the flu statistics.
So I spent the rest of the day on the couch, coughing and dozing and watching craft or home shows. I really do feel lousy. Part has to do with not having slept last night I’m sure.
But at least I’m on the road to recovery.
I also had Dr. Feelgood check out my heel and learned that my self-diagnosis was correct. I have an acute inflamed Achilles tendon. Yippee. But I knew that, and the only thing they can do about it is take Advil, ice it and elevate it. Unless the pain becomes so intense that I can’t stand it and have to have surgery. I prefer to not do that, thanks.
So I guess I can say that in general it was a lousy day. I doubt if tomorrow will be much better. I’ll be a wreck about the cat.
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