No doubt everyone is hearing about the "Norovirus" which is striking all over the U.S. right now, is highly contagious and is being referred to as a "very common virus."

I said to Menace "If this fucking virus is SO common, how come I am almost 50 years old and have never heard of it until THIS YEAR?" The answer is simple! Because the name "Norovirus" was only *just* approved for use with this family of viruses which was previously referred to as "stomach flu" or "gastro enteritis." OH! OK! NOW we all know what it is!

( Here are some more facts from the CDC which might help you all keep yourselves and your families from getting the stomach flu this year!Collapse )

The subject is medication...

( Wanna know?Collapse )

Terri's tube, morals, lies, and justice Op-Ed
By brettd
Fri Mar 25th, 2005 at 09:33:53 AM EST

FOR weeks, Terri Schiavo has been featured prominently in local, regional and national news.

( FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENEDCollapse )

Remind me to never get sick or hurt in Oakland. And for some reason, IF I should get sick or hurt here in spite of all my best intentions, please call me a cab because I could bleed to death waiting on an ambulance. We heard a siren.

Now, just for background, in this town (known as "The Killing Fields") sirens are going all day and night. Nothing unusual. This particular siren was different in that it slowed and then stopped right outside.

Casey ran outside to see what was amiss so close to the witch's compound, and came back inside fussing about how the fire engine and paramedics were driving around out there looking for their victim. I guess no one ever told them that houses in the city have NUMBERS on them to help people locate addresses.

Some time AFTER the fire department was looking for the address in need, we heard the ambulance coming from a ways off. Judging by the sound of things, THEY found the place quicker. I guess someone told them about those house numbers.

Warning: Whine content ahead!

Ok, so a couple of days ago I took another nasty spill. I got up in the night, heading for the bathroom and just pitched over sideways. I went down hard (as usual) on my shoulder and got both my forearms banged up. The entire right side of me has bruises where my curves stick out.

I hate this disease. I saw the doctor Thursday. This one was the primary care doc. She yelled at me, bossed me around a bit and sent me home with the pronouncement that nothing was permanently damaged...this time. DUH. I walked in there, didn't I? Sometimes I wonder where they hire these doctors from. She wanted to know why she didn't get my lab tests back. I told her the dog ate my lab slips. She was not amused. I really think I'm gonna ask for a doctor with a sense of humor. And a personality if they can find one.

I'm tired of them upp-ing the dosages of pills to control my body. My body (even with the meds) is continuously involved in unauthorized activities. My legs twitch and jerk all night, my hands will suddenly fling things across the room or reach out and knock things over. Some days I spend all day just picking up all the things I've knocked over, spilled and dropped. Sometimes it gets funny. The hallucinations can be amusing.

I pretty much stay on an even keel emotionally. Casey is so supportive and understanding, even when I get bitchy. I am so fortunate to have found such a wonderful partner to spend my life with. I guess the worst part is the pain. Either I have body parts that are numb and tingly or wracked with pain. Sometimes it's really hard to get up and face a busy day with a game face on when you know the day will bring on the chronic fatigue and pain that will force me to take the drugs for pain and spasms.

I detest not being able to work. I hate that I have gotten too blind and my distance judgement is so faulty that I can't drive anymore. I don't want to do this anymore. I want to wake up normal again.

Ugh. I am depressing myself. Time to shaddap, eh?

Statement on Marriage and the Family from the American Anthropological Association

Arlington, Virginia; The Executive Board of the American Anthropological Association, the world's largest organization of anthropologists, the people who study culture, releases the following statement in response to President Bush's call for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage as a threat to civilization.

"The results of more than a century of anthropological research on households, kinship relationships, and families, across cultures and through time, provide no support whatsoever for the view that either civilization or viable social orders depend upon marriage as an exclusively heterosexual institution. Rather, anthropological research supports the conclusion that a vast array of family types, including families built upon same-sex partnerships, can contribute to stable and humane societies.

The Executive Board of the American Anthropological Association strongly opposes a constitutional amendment limiting marriage to heterosexual couples."

From their website: American Anthropological Assn Marriage Statement

The news article that alerted me to this: SF Gate Article

"To tie two recent Instapundit threads together, I don't see much difference between anti-cloning and anti-genetic engineering laws on one hand and the old anti-miscegenation laws on the other. In both cases the Law declares that certain types of families and certain types of offspring are Officially Undesirable. ( More HereCollapse )

Sammie is a crabby girl today. Day after shot is never my favorite time, but today it seems as though there is too much kafka to be tolerated. Hmm.

Well, anyhow Casey's surgery went well, and that's a very good thing. According to Nurse Bernie the angel, everything looked just like it is supposed to, with the exception of a small ulcer. They took two biopsies and we'll get those results in a few days.

I'm feeling really restless today. I'm wanting to be goose-stepping* but my neck and back muscles are all in lockdown mode. The floor is way too far away to pick things up from today. I suppose it will just have to wait. I wonder if I could find an attorney who would sue the makers of hospital waiting room chairs? UGH...ok, so now I'm whining. I think I'll go drink my coffee and find an attitude adjustment. Love to all on my friend's list.

Definitions
*Goose-stepping : Verb: Used for fits of endless tidying and cleaning that turn into obsessive overhauling of everything you touch. (Dictionary of my Mom)

Casey is in the hospital, and it's lonely here without him. The hours drag by, and they are way too quiet. The kids have been great, checking on me and seeing if I need anything. I do, but not anything they can pick up at the market. I need my sweetie. I need my friend. I'm missing my morning hugs and kisses, and I am missing the sharing of jokes and food and coffee time. I'm missing my lover. I am missing my friend. I am missing the way Casey sees the world in a whole different way, one that makes me think and re-think my own way of observing and evaluating the commonplace things around me. I am afraid here alone. Funny, but with Casey, I am never afraid, no matter what dangers are around.

It feels strange going to the coffee pot and only bringing back one cup. It feels odd watching the news alone too. I feel like part of me is missing, a happy part, a warm part. I hope he comes home soon.