Turns out that on Saturday, when I was at work, I sort of scared my student worker. Apparently, I was concocting an eye infection and my left eye looked ... well, awful. It looked like classic pink-eye, but it didn't FEEL like it.
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| Weaving together |
After I assured her that I wasn't going to give it to her (she's a biology major - they know about bugs...), I texted my sister. See, the twins' christening was this past Sunday and I knew that eye infections were highly contagious.
My sister, the nurse, with all compassion (I'm sure) said to me: "You bring an eye infection here and I'll have to kill you." Well, yeah. Point taken.
I went to the local Quick Care (an oxymoron for all times) and yep, no "pink-eye" but definitely an eye infection. I got some drops and was told to check with my GP today, because they want to be careful of eye infections.
Sure enough, I missed the christening and just as sure enough, today I awoke with the OTHER eye infected. Confirmed by the doc, no meeting tonight for me, and I'm just sitting at home waiting for the drops to kick in.
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| Crochet filler |
Knitting...
The charity afghan is coming along. I'm on the next-to-last top row, so about 8 squares to go. I'm working on a crochet bit to fill in and it's going along pretty smoothly. I hope to set that aside in a bit and work on the sock.
I have to work on the afghan without my glasses (it's close work) so I can only work on it for a little while before my eyes hurt.
That's ok. I'm not going anywhere.
Politics...
I love Rex Huppke. If you don't know him, he's a columnist for the Chicago Tribune. He writes a workplace column, and he's kind of the anti-John Kass. And I usually like Kass, but he's rather on the conservative side. And he's a White Sox fan. But he's a good cook, and I have actually had a couple of conversations with him. He actually reviewed a couple of columns I wrote for the Joliet Herald, so I do feel a little kinship with him.
But I like Huppke's writing overall. His column today reflects the inherent craziness of the uber-gun-nut. I'd link it here, but I guess you have to be a DigitalPlus member... Bummer.
Anyway, as you may know, a columnist at Guns & Ammo magazine recently wrote an editorial - the December issue of the magazine featured this title: Let's talk limits. Do certain firearms regulations really constitute infringement? and the writer opined that perhaps there are some logical regulations that can and should be put on certain firearms.
Well. Of course, the loyal readers of Guns & Ammo went nuts. Absolutely NO restrictions, by golly. The Founding Fathers didn't want that.
Hang on -- what about that "well-regulated militia" phrase in the 2nd Amendment? Well, not so fast, you liberal hippie-commie...
Huppke did a hilarious take-off on this of course, and basically pokes holes in the fabric of the irrational thinking of the gun people.
The Founding Fathers didn't envision an Internet where you could, with relative ease and some anonymity, buy loads and loads of ammo and high-powered guns. Heck, the Founding Fathers barely conceived of anything other than a musket.
The upshot of this (ba-dum) is that Guns & Ammo fired the columnist (his name is Dick Metcalf in case you actually want to read his piece) and also the editor (Jim Bequette) for having the absolute chutzpah to actually PRINT Metcalf's column.
Sorry, but Metcalf's attempt to honestly evaluate the need for some regulation is just plain common sense, people. The firing is ridiculous, and doesn't bode well for an outsider to actually conceive of Guns & Ammo as anything but a hysterical mouthpiece for drooling crazies who think that an overly-armed, ill-trained people is exactly what the Founders wanted.
I can't see that. The Founders said "well-regulated militia" because they meant that. People need to calm down and actually think about what it is that phrase - and that Amendment - means to us.
There are no easy answers. But the easiest thing to see is that getting hysterical and demanding NO regulation isn't the best answer.
I should write Rex a note and offer to bake him cookies. That was an outstanding column today.
Reading...
I started Judith Lasater's book, Living Your Yoga, while I sat in Quick Care this morning waiting to get my eyes checked. It's a good book. I have to read it for my 200-hour certification and it moves along quickly.
I finished re-reading Daphne DuMaurier's classic Rebecca this morning. It's enough like the movie. But not. Read it if you get the chance.
I'm almost done re-reading Donna Farhi's Bringing Yoga to Life - again for the certification. I have to read 4 texts, and do a small report on each. I have one done. And Farhi's book is actually a repeat, so let's just say I have 2 of the four done.
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| November Snow |
Snow...
Yes, it snowed. Last night. Started as "snizzle" and ended up covering the grass and some of the cars. Here's what our garden looks like.
Kid #1, back from his vacation, texted me this a.m. to say that he can't remember a recent November snow.
I love it. I hope it's a portent of a snowy winter. Please don't pelt me with anything you have in your hand. I love winter, and I enjoy winter sports.
I think that living in a place with 4 actual seasons is a good thing, and with global warming, those seasons haven't been as distinct as usual. I miss that.
Speaking of global warming, please help send out some kind thoughts (and perhaps donations?) to the folks in the Philipines. They just got whalloped with a huge typhoon (read about it from BBC here) and it looks like there's another storm on its heels.
Living in Illinois, we know the devastation of a tornado. This storm was incredibly fierce, and according to most reliable climatologists, with the effects of global warming, storms will come up quicker and be more volatile - and vicious.
This storm highlights the dangers inherent in living in a Third World country. And yes, I'd classify the Philipines as Third World. They have tremendous poverty; this storm has shown clearly that they have virtually no infrastructure in place to handle such a horrible thing; and they have a depressed economy.
Please consider helping if you can.
Random Picture...
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| September |
Since it was about 26* this morning, I thought you would like this picture of my dashboard from about 2 months ago. As I left work, the temperature outside was 104*. It was an abnormally hot summer. There's that global warming thing again.
And no, not just because it was hot. Because it was late in the season for the hot. Because the storms we had this summer were outside the norm. And because the winter looks to be really wonky this year, in spite of my wish for a "normal" Illinois winter.
Of course, my car is parked in a lot that's open - there are no shade trees to speak of. Honey Locust trees are pretty, but useless. And sitting all day on asphalt? Well, yeah, it'll be hot. But that day, it was rather abnormal and I remember having trouble with the HVAC in our campus.
We're still having trouble! No heat -- or actually, SOME heat, but we need one of the rooftop units replaced or repaired. Not fun, but it gives me a chance to wear my sweaters and shawls. May as well show off the knitting, right?
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