Rhymes With Fuchsia

Monday, August 24, 2009

Recovering

Again, seems like I'm starting every post this way lately (every post that has words, anyway), thank you, everyone, for all your kind wishes. Taz and I came home from the hospital early Saturday afternoon, and he's had no ambition since, but he looks a whole lot better. Apparently this flu can dehydrate a person very fast, and all he needed was tons of fluids. I felt a bit silly, since we could have done that at home, but everyone including the hospital staff and his pediatrician has assured me that we didn't mess up and the hospital was the right place for him at that moment.

Meanwhile, I have a slight but definite sore throat; I called my doctor's office and got put on Tamiflu, no questions asked. So far I have no other symptoms, and Grant and Miss B are fine. I've been cleared to work at home this week, as our CEO is completely paranoid about germs. That's a good thing, as long as I don't become deathly ill, of course. And our babysitter is feeling much better and will probably be able to come tomorrow, so I can devote my full attention to getting some work done.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Just One Damned Thing After Another

We had to cut our sojourn in Rangeley short by a couple of days when our (wonderful, fabulous) babysitter came down with swine flu. Today Taz was extremely lethargic, showing no inclination to eat, talk, or move, so Grant took him to the doctor this afternoon and discovered that he has the flu too. He has none of the standard flu symptoms and seems to be dehydrated despite having had what I would normally think would be adequate fluids, so he's in the hospital (not Children's, fortunately, our local community hospital) overnight for observation, and I'm here with him.

Let's hear it for hospital wifi.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Insane



Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Heat



It's almost never hot here. What we would consider a lovely warm beach day is usually 75 degrees or so. Today, however, it is 80 degrees by the porch thermometer at the lodge, 87 by the bank thermometer in town. It is freakish.

We are not complaining.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Breakfast





Friday, August 14, 2009

Let Me Deepen That Hole For You

It's been a great vacation so far, and I hope you're enjoying the pictures. I'll have more of them soon, but I have to write about the real world briefly, because this has been gnawing at me ever since I read about it.

We all know the economy is bad, and we all know someone who's been out of work for a while, and several people who just got laid off, and scads of people who are worried. They have reason to be, because more and more employers are pulling credit reports on prospective employees and denying jobs to people with bad credit — which would be a lot of people who've been out of work for more than a few weeks. So once you get into a bit of a hole, forget about trying to dig yourself out.

But people who are deep in debt must be irresponsible types, ne'er-do-wells who can't handle a steady job, right? Well, no. According to a study by a pair of Eastern Kentucky University professors, there's no correlation between bad credit and poor job performance. In fact the correlation seems to go a bit the other way: people with bad credit are more likely to work harder.

If you think about it, most of us aren't that far away from debt disaster. All it would take would be a lost job, a bad housing market, a catastrophic illness. (I read a story some time ago about a man who died a week after being diagnosed with a brain tumor. In that week he ran up $250,000 in medical bills that his insurance didn't cover.)

It's hard to avoid wondering if this is just another way for the rich to make sure the poor get poorer. There oughta be a law. In fact I plan to take a short break from vacation sloth to write my congresscritters and suggest that they work on that when they get back from recess.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Rain



Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Sunset




Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Fog





Sunday, August 09, 2009

Celestial Season

Thank you so much, my lovely readers, for all your good wishes for Grant. It took him a while to bounce back from several days of pain, not to mention general anesthesia two days in a row, but he has returned to what passes with him for normal, minus a couple of pounds — and even that is good news, because he had been on a highly successful diet for a few months now, and with a little assist from the bristle broke through a major milestone, scale-wise. No, I am not giving numbers, but he's looking quite svelte these days. I may have to start an exercise program of my own.

Meanwhile, it's August, and you know what that means.





Need I say more?