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Cruller Economics 2001-08-09 I went to bed early-ish last night--at 9:30 or so. At approximately 10:30 I sat bolt upright in bed and said, "Oh My God!" Francisco woke up and said, "What? What?" I then tried to explain to him that the time-release antibiotic sacs that had been implanted into my throat were leaking, so the medicine wasn't going to be time-released anymore. Poor Francisco. He kind of flopped onto his pillow and lapsed back into unconsciousness. I got up to use the bathroom and realized that the whole throat medicine sac thing was a new variation on the "choking on inappropriate objects I swallowed" dreams. (...as chronicled in past entries) But see, it took me that long. It took at least 2 minutes for me to remember that I had not had any medicinal sacs implanted into my throat, and therefore they could not be leaking. I tell you, my nighttime slumber is anything but peaceful. Fortunately Francisco didn't remember me waking him up, so at least his sleep wasn't too disturbed by the episode. I heard such an interesting thing on Headline News this morning. You know how women's hemlines used to be an economic indicator? Like, skirts would be short during times of prosperity and long during times of economic hardship? Well, the length of hemlines is no longer tied to the economy, but you know what is? The sale and consumption of beer, cigarettes, and donuts. For real. When the economy is bad, people drink more beer, smoke more cigarettes, and eat more donuts. And right now Philip Morris and Krispy Kreme stocks are rising (as, probably, are the stocks of beer companies, but I don't know their corporate names). Is that interesting or is it just me? Mmm...Krispy Kreme... I am reading the Best book right now. It is a book about the 1918 flu and the search for the virus that caused it. I knew little to nothing about the 1918 flu, but it is fascinating. Did you know the 1918 flu epidemic killed anywhere from 20-100 million people worldwide? No one is really sure how many people died from it, and that is mainly due to WWI. WWI was going on at the time, so things were already chaotic and deaths went unrecorded, plus many countries kept the number of sick or dead a secret, to try and maintain an image of national strength. It was a major pandemic, and that is why researchers are trying to figure out what virus caused it and make a vaccine, because if that virus ever re-surfaced, millions and millions of people would die. They don't think it's really a flu, per se, but that's what it was called at the time, and most of the people who died were people in the prime of their lives. Usually older people and the very young are the most susceptible to dying from diseases, but not in 1918. I called my mom last night to ask what my great-aunt Laura died of. I knew she died young, but my mom said it was a heart condition, not the flu--Laura had a weak heart from rheumatic fever. My mom then said, "Why? Are you sick?" She cracks me up. I told her that I was just asking to see if it was the 1918 flu that killed Laura, and my mom said, "No, but your great-uncle John died of that." She told me he got sick and his mother went to take care of him and within a few days he was dead. That makes it sound like his mother's presence killed him, but that's not what I meant. Anyway, it's a nasty disease--people basically drowned because their lungs filled up with fluid. I wish I still had living family members who witnessed the 1918 flu, but I don't. Well, there's step-Grandma Gladys, but she can hardly remember if she ate breakfast, so probably she would be unable to recall what the 1918 flu was like. If you still have older relatives living, you should ask them about 1918, because that was some crazy shit. I went on about that too long, didn't I. I really love icky diseases; I get totally enthralled. Sunburn update: Improvement, but bosom region still tender. Beginning to itch, which is maddening, but better than searing pain. Should be healed by next week. That is all. Boy returns tonight--his plane arrives at about 11:30. I am very excited and happy he's coming home. I will be taking tomorrow off work, so I probably won't be updating the old diary until Monday. I hope you all have a terrific weekend!! Love,
come over some time & see me - 2011-02-25 |
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