even with maximum dose of painkiller I'm allowed hurts too bad to sleep. feels like my head is being pressed in a slowly closing vise, like someone is driving redhot nails and screws into my skull, like i fell asleep on a fire ant nest and they're crawling though my hair biting and stinging, like every nerve has been laid bare so that every air ( Read more... )

Laurie has gone to the birthday party which was the original reason for this vacation trip in the first place. I have remained in the hotel room. I am in no shape to be social, and the at the party there will be both people who have never had chickenpox and people with compromised immune systems. So I rest in the hotel room alone, watching TV ( Read more... )

it's not dermatitis, it's not sunburn or an ear infection.

It's shingles.

just got back from the emergency room with confirmation of the diagnosis and assorted prescriptions.

well fuck.

looks like I'm in for 3-5 weeks of pain, itching, and limited social contact.

The waitress at the Thai restaurant was so disappointed that we wouldn't take the coupon for 15% off our next visit. It wasn't that the food wasn't good, it was some of the best Thai we've ever had. But when are we ever coming back to Fresno? Certainly not before these coupons expire ( Read more... )

Pain in my ear seems to be better. Pain in my scalp seems to be dermatitis. I had it under control for years back east, but the heat and dryness of Vegas brought it back. argh. Annoying, but nonfatal. More proof I'm not a desert creature ( Read more... )

The one thing I hate worse than having water in my ears, is having an ear infection. I'm hoping that this icepick pain in my ear is just sinus trouble. I don't have time to go to the emergency room on this trip ( Read more... )

Alien Fresh Jerky. Weird little store in the desert. The jerky was mediocre, but we just had to stop to check the store out. Plus, we needed to use their restroom ( Read more... )

...and some cool drenching rain would feel wonderful right now. My ancestry is of Northern Europe. I'm genetically predisposed to live in a dimly-lit bog, not somewhere hot and sunny. The daystar, it burns! And so do I, even with sunscreen. It was a relief to get to the Sierra Nevada, where the smoke from the brush fires actually gave some ( Read more... )

My nephew is officially adorable. And he already has the Lindsey hair (poor kid.) My brother wasn't amused at the suggestion that the kid needs a tattoo, but he did like the idea for a remote-controlled motorized stroller with camera attachment ( Read more... )

So it occurs to me, after tossing yet another pile of useless invention salvage onto a vendor in City of Heroes, that your average MMORPG world is stunningly wasteful of resources. Think about it - grinding up levels you'll kill thousands of rats, boars, beech leets, mutants, or whatever your game has as cannon fodder. These will all be left to ( Read more... )