Is There A Doctor In The House?

People who know me personally are aware that I only take sick kids to the doctor when I absolutely have to.  I don't take temperatures, I don't worry about strep.  If a kid is sick, he lies around until he gets better, unless he has a high fever/pain that doesn't respond to Motrin.  (Yes, I know, I'm a dead ringer for Florence Nightingale.) 

Usually, this laidback attitude pays off; but there was the time I did finally bestir myself to take a 4-year-old David into the doctor for what seemed to be the absolutely worst case of pinkeye I had ever seen.  I mean, his face was sort of swollen and he was just lying there, not moving, in the easy chair.  Turns out he had pneumonia, poor kid.  Yeah.  Sort of called that one wrong, didn't I?

 All of which leads to today's problem: Brian had a cold 3 weeks ago (see how useful keeping a blog is?), and he is still coughing.  Perfectly fine otherwise, but every morning I hear him hacking away like a 3-pack-a-day smoker.  It comes back in the evening around bedtime.  Oh, and if he tries to run, he coughs then, too.  It's not wheezing or asthmatic sounding; it sounds like there is some gunk sitting down there that he is trying to get up.  And he is still blowing his nose all the time.


So?  What to do?  No fever, no real complaints (he's a naturally cheerful guy), so it can't be walking pneumonia, can it?  I'm not calling the advice nurse, because she would just tell me to bring the kid in, to play it safe.  I hate to bring him to the doctor unnecessarily, because Lord knows what mysterious disease he'll pick up there.  And I'd feel stupid having the doctor tell me that the kid just has a cold.  I'm supposed to know what I am doing by now, for heaven's sake.   Am I wrong in assuming that, if it was bacterial pneumonia, he would have a fever?

[Sigh. I Googled for a nurse hat image and got an absolute eyeful.  "Buxom" doesn't even begin to describe it.]



[Nurse hat image: GraphicsHunt]

United We Stand

My thoughts are with Wisconsin today. 

While I consider myself a moderate who is all for cutting wasteful government spending, I don't understand how doing so entails banning collective bargaining rights for workers, public or private.  Maybe the Wisconsin legislators (and its governor) think that these rights pertain only to what workers are paid and that, by removing these rights, public sector workers will be forced to adhere to a market-determined payscale more in line with fiscal reality.  But then we have to face the fact that the Wisconsin legislators and governor are woefully misinformed about the full consequences of collective bargaining, consequences that extend far beyond the simple issue of pay increases and pensions.

You see, collective bargaining rights are what make sure that, when you are hospitalized, the nurse in charge of your medications and, really, your life, is not assigned so many patients that she can no longer do her job effectively.  Collective bargaining rights are what guarantee that your child will not be in a classroom containing more than, say, 25 students.  Collective bargaining rights ensure that the fireman who is trying to save your home is properly trained and fully rested.

These don't look like lazy public workers to me.

We would all like to believe that these issues would be addressed anyway, in the name of common sense.  But, when unbridled capitalism rules, common sense is not in charge.  Profit is.  Capitalism, while an excellent system for controlling the production and flow of goods and services, does need some boundaries; and mechanisms such as reasonable government regulation and collective bargaining provide those boundaries.

Are there corruption and abuses in unions?  Sure!  Hey, I grew up in NJ, for heaven's sake.  I spent my formative years reading about Jimmy Hoffa.  Go after corruption in unions, by all means.  But collective bargaining is not, de facto, corrupt.

 Are there employers who treat their non-unionized employees well?  Of course.  But one of the reasons they do so is because they have the threat of a union hanging over their heads, as it were.  My local grocery store pays its cashiers 10 dollars an hour, well above minimum wage.  Why?  Because it doesn't want its employees to become so dissatisfied that they band together and collectively bargain for decent wages and benefits.  Remove that possibility, and watch those wages fall.

I do agree with Jenn at Juggling Life that a lot of this enmity towards collective bargaining and other union rights stems from envy and resentment, resentment felt by non-unionized workers who are being shafted left and right by their employers. I heard one Walker supporter interviewed on the radio the other day.  She said, essentially, "These public workers have pensions and I don't.  Why should I have to keep on working hard and they don't?  That's not fair."

The question she should be asking is, "Why, after working all my life, do I have nothing and they have their pensions?"  And the answer would be that she did not have collective bargaining.  She had no rights.  She worked her butt off, with no guarantees ever.  And that is what is not fair.

Grounds For Desertion

My husband left me again.  This scenario is getting old.  And Theo is in Tunisia, on some ROTC humanitarian cross-cultural learning thing.  I know he is there, because he posted pictures to Facebook that have the Mediterranean Sea in the background.  Tough life.

Dinnertime!

Let's see, Larry's away on business...Theo's gone...

I'm thinking we'll be having pizza for dinner.  Repeatedly.  And Lord help us all if any bats show up in my living room while Larry's away, like last year.  In fact, Theo and Larry chased one out of the basement just a few weeks ago.


I know!  The fun never stops around here.

So, tonight I did something I haven't done in years - I watched a movie all by myself.***  You see, it's hard for me to enjoy watching a movie at home because our TV is downstairs in the family room -- the family room that is always a mess, what with the toys and games and the hulking brown cabinet and the extra filing cabinets jammed with I-don't-know-what that Larry refuses to get rid of.  Oh, and the rarely-used exercise bike that makes me feel guilty...

Tell me, where do these folks stick their extra junk?

You know, I see other people's family rooms that look so fun to sit in, with their big TV's and comfy couches and NO JUNK, and I always wonder how they manage to get them that way.  I guess I should just move the TV up to the living room, which tends to be fairly uncluttered (because I throw everything downstairs); but then we wouldn't be able to watch anything rated higher than "G," lest our young innocents hear the cinematic goings-on up in their bedrooms.

Apparently, watching a movie around here is as complicated as getting some exercise.


***Well, I needed David's help to get the DVD-thingie started; but after that, I was on my own.  He refused to watch anything labeled a "romantic comedy" - even a quirky Woody Allen one.  Midnight in Paris - it was great.  I highly recommend it.  Unless you're David, of course...


[pizza image: Pizza Brothers]

[family room image: Life123]

Who Says Money Can't Buy Happiness?

Well, I think I managed to traumatize my youngest last night.  But it's her fault for peeing in my brand-new bed...my second brand-new bed, actually, since I finally got around to exchanging the too-soft mattress for something that, while more expensive, feels like heaven.  It was worth every penny.

This is how happy I am...

I heart my new mattress.  I do.  And I heart Mattress Discounters, who waived the 15% restocking fee when I informed them that this was the ninth mattress I have bought from them.

Nine.  That's a lot.

Anywhoo, Susie was in our bed last night (so what else is new?), and at some point she got up for a drink of water.  When she lay back down, I reached over to snuggle her and realized her pants were wet.

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my pristine, never-peed-or-barfed-on new mattress?

Naturally, I screamed.  Poor Susie - she jumped out of the bed and stood there, wet and shaking with shock, while I stripped back the (also expensive) mattress cover and felt around anxiously to see if it had leaked.

So now I heart my new mattress cover, also, because it worked.  Worth every penny...


[Stacked mattresses image: Design2Share]

Why I Am Hoarding Bug Repellent

Oh, awesome.  Just when I was running out of ways to feed my hypochondriacal tendencies, along comes this spiffy news item about a burgeoning epidemic in the Americas caused (wouldn't you know it?) by a lowly insect.

"It likes to bite you on the face," CNN reported. "It's called the kissing bug. When it ingests your blood, it excretes the parasite at the same time. When you wake up and scratch the itch, the parasite moves into the wound and you're infected."

Obligatory magnified bug photo

So, let's see.  This disease (called Chagas - I don't know why) involves a bug that not only bites you, it also poops on you.  Have I mentioned that I already hate bugs?  Oh, yes, I have.   Many times, in fact.  Well, now I hates them even more. 

But wait! There's more!  According to the New York Times, in the end stage of this disease, your heart or your intestines just might explode. 

Like I said, awesome.  Pass the DEET, will ya?


[Bug image: New York Times]