Fear the Crab

I’m still sick, though it’s bearable. My nose is less runny, but my chest is more clogged, and I seem to spend more time coughing out phlegm than I do breathing. The good news is that I’m getting it all out; I’m just making myself miserable doing it (and I’ll be the rest of the house loves hearing me hack).

I’m still awake, which is bad at this hour because I need to go to school tomorrow morning. Despite having dropped the class, we’re actually going over important material I will see later on in life. I can’t afford to miss these sessions, at least for the next few weeks.

Speaking of the math class, I discovered yesterday that my latest assignment bumped my score up to 50.97, which is above passing (though just barely). Then the professor announced that the next exam (on Nov 26th) will be open-book open-notes. It galls me to think that I may not have needed to drop the class after all, but at least this way, there’s no risk in me failing any assignment or test, and that means less white hairs from worrying whether or not I’d pass.

I’m still sick, though I was able to go to school. Waking up was not hard, but halfway through the day the phlegm decided to attack from two sides, clogging up both my head and lungs. So I had a sinus headache and couldn’t breathe.

Yay.

This morning I had to kill a 4″ flying cockroach, which would qualify for the Bambucha award in my book. I whacked it 15-20 times with a rolled-up newspaper, shoved its gross carcass between two inserts, took the entire paper outside, and danced a speed-induced Macarena on it, because those suckers just don’t die. I remember the last time I whacked a roach until I saw guts and broke off two of its legs. I dumped it in the trash, and the next morning my dad found it crawling along the kitchen floor.

Yay.

I’m still sick. I’m glad I didn’t go to work today. My nose has been runny all day, and the plugged-up sinuses gave me a major headache. Now I get to look forward to a phlegm-filled day at school tomorrow, since I still have to go in and learn the material.

I feel like shit. I’m not going to work tomorrow.

I bought my truck today! I got a great deal, and all the options I wanted, and everything fits into my budget. It’ll take at least a month or so before the truck gets here, as it’s the new 2003 model. Toyota City is going to call me when the truck arrives, and at that point I will bring my current car in for appraisal towards the trade-in. After that it’ll take perhaps a week to install the dealer options, and then I get to take it home. I must remember to fix that air conditioner compressor before the truck gets here, otherwise that will really lower the trade-in amount. Once that truck is mine, I need to make arrangements for some window tint, dash cover, and a car cover. I’m not sure where I can look to get a car cover, especially one made for a truck, but I’m certain there’s somebody out there who can tell me, or at least point me in the right direction.

I made the decision to try and quit smoking. There’s news that beginning in October, the price will go up by $1. That means it’ll cost at least $5.75 for a pack, and that’s usually at the local mom-and-pop liquor stores. Department/convenience stores will probably see a 10 to 25 cent markup. If that’s not bad enough, this is only the first phase of the cigarette tax. The plan is to hike the price of tobacco up to $8 a pack. If that’s not incentive to quit smoking, the deprecation of health certainly is. Maile, George and I all plan to try and help each other quit, which I think will be a really big boost in confidence and willpower. By supporting each other, hopefully we’ll be able to resist the urges of lighting up whenever we feel like it.

One of the problems I seem to have with cigarettes is that smoking seems to be part of my daily routine. On average, I smoke a cigarette on my way to work, one right before work, one during a “bathroom break,” three on my normal break, and one on my way home from work. Add to that a smoke or two at home, and I’m close to half a pack per day. Perhaps that’s not as bad as many of the horror stories about 3-4 packs a day, but in my eyes (or lungs, as the case may be), it’s still not healthy.

On a related note, I made an observation that, while many non-smokers see smokers as being rude and obnoxious people, it seems a vast majority of smokers are very VERY polite to one another. I’m sure this isn’t always the case, but I’ve heard and experienced moments where someone will approach a smoker and ask to bum a cigarette. Very rarely will that smoker refuse. There’s also occasions where someone will have trouble lighting up their cigarette, and I’ll walk over and offer my lighter. This smoker is a complete stranger, someone I’ve never met before and I’ll probably never see again, but there I am lighting up their cancer stick. It’s almost strange enough to make you think that if every single person in the world smoked, we’d have world peace! We’d feel kinship with one another regardless of race or religion, because we’re all in the same boat of taking that big drag of nicotine. I can imagine someone from the al-Qaeda smoking a cigarette, when an American GI comes up and asks to bum one, or borrow a lighter.

“Sure, friend!” the al-Qaeda will say.
“Thanks, man,” the GI will say. “Hey, where’s an ashtray around here?”
The al-Qaeda will answer, “It’s a fuckin’ desert; throw it anywhere!”

“Imagine all the people.. sharing a drag or threeee oo hoo oo oo o..”

She still has to see a doctor next week to ensure it’s not something serious. This has relieved me tremendously; I almost burped my stomach out this morning, and I think it was because I’ve been so worried about the whole situation. I can now only hope that her next clinical visit will show nothing’s wrong, and also that the experience won’t be as painful as the last one.

I polished my boots tonight at George’s house. It was the first time I had ever taken a brush and wax to any of my footwear, but it’s a lot more simple than I had originally thought it would be. I think I was feeling a little anxious about the whole thing, not only because it was the first time I had done it, but because it’s nerve-racking when you’re doing something you’ve never done before to something you’ve invested some money into. It’s like trying out a brand new bottle of carwash for a brand new automobile. In the end it was all for naught, and now my boots look a bit more like how I bought them. I did notice, however, that the crease that normally comes from everyday wear on the right boot isn’t as “crisp” as the left, and that seems to make the left boot a bit more cleaner. Well, so long as I keep up the maintenance every couple of weeks or so, I shouldn’t have to worry. Now if I could only keep that mindset for my car…

Maile told me she had to go to the emergency room because of pain in her stomach and back. She believes it was acid reflux (sp?), but the doctors at Kaiser took some blood tests to ensure it wasn’t gall stones. Maile’s experience at the hospital was less than what those commercials would have you believe. The staff were abrupt and rude, and the nurse that took Maile’s blood made the ordeal literally painful. In addition to perhaps hitting a nerve while looking for a vein, they screwed up the sample somehow, forcing Maile to wait even longer for a second test to be conducted. At least the second time around, a lab nurse came by and did an excellent job extracting the blood, with no pain at all.

I’m still worried about her health, and I wish there was something I could do to help her. I don’t think I’ll get any homework done tonight, not with everything running through my head.

This morning I woke up with a very sore stomach, the kind that makes you double over into a fetal position and not want to move, except you have to move because if you stay still the pain takes over your lower eyelids and makes you scream like a baby. Well, maybe it wasn’t THAT bad, but it was horrible. I almost used it as an excuse to call in sick to work. In the end it turned out for the better, because I did absolutely nothing at work. If I had stayed home, I would have done the same thing; I just wouldn’t have gotten paid for it.

The only thing that happened at work was the realization that sometimes, when you’ve grown up and matured into a true adult, suddenly the people you used to know are still thinking like little kids, and as a result are not as pleasant to know anymore.

I watched Animal Precinct tonight, and every time I see that show I am amazed and appalled at the ignorance and stupidity people have in this world. It is horrifying what these so-called “pet owners” do to their charges. Tonight’s episode there was a case where owners tied up 13 newborn puppies into garbage bags and threw them into the trash for the garbagemen to pick up. If a neighbor hadn’t heard the crying from inside the can, all of the puppies would likely have been lost. In the end, however, only 2 of the 13 survived. The owners were, naturally, arrested. There was also a case of a dog being muzzled with what looked like a coffee can, and even a dog that had its throat cut wide open with a knife. The show is not for the faint-of-heart, but at least those stinky ignorant dirt-people get what they deserve.

No cavities. I also had no return appointment for my next six-month checkup. I wonder if I’m supposed to call, or they will call me?

I found out what was wrong with all those spec codes on CheesyMUD. Seems I forgot one itty-bitty = sign and that threw off the entire thing. I guess it’s the same as what a little atom can do when it’s split in two.

However, now it seems as though none of the code I made before is working. I’m not sure if it’s another mistake I made, or if something else is happening. I’ll have to ask Kyrol about that.

I finally experienced the air conditioner I bought for Maile for her bedroom, and it came in really handy today. The only way to beat a hot muggy day is to spend it entirely in cool comfort with a queen-sized bed and a great dane.