The Family Letter

Okay, this is one extremely cool weed. Read all about it here if the video didn't work for you.

In a way I think I should give credit for finding this quiz to Susie. She did the "What Kind of Intellegence Are You?" quiz, and I followed the link and did it to. I'm not sure I agree with the results (linguistic intelligence), so I'm not posting it here. I did, however, find this quiz fun and interesting. Those who know me know I'm a fully entrenched cat person, and quite indifferent to dogs. Okay, I have a mild dislike of dogs. I don't mind visiting them, but I'd never adopt one, and would rather never have to take care of one. So I figured I'd come out cat for sure.

Not really. Like so many other things in my life, I'm walking right down the middle.

You Are: 50% Dog, 50% Cat

You are a nice blend of cat and dog. You're playful but not too needy. And you're friendly but careful. And while you have your moody moments, you're too happy to stay upset for long.

So, after probably a decade or more since the last visit to an allergist, I finally decided it was time to check in and get checked up. For the most part the drugs (Allegra, in this case) that my family doctor would prescribe were keeping up with Pennsylvania allergies–everything except maple season. They weren't doing too badly here in Hawaii, either, but periodically I'd hit a bad spell and they just wouldn't keep up. I also suspected that I was more allergic to Zoe than Ari¹

So I hit the insurance company web site and took the first allergist that had openings. Yep, that's my system. And so far it is working well. Got me an excellent eye doctor and, now, a good allergist. He's in the same building downtown as my family doctor and my pharmacy. Though a bit of a drive in city traffic, that puts everything in one spot.²

We chatted about history. He asked about asthma, which I've never tested positively for, either on the civilian side or with all the military physicals. He spared me the "blow in the tube" test that I never manage to do right, which was a relief. And then he poked holes in my back and put various allergens in them to see what I would react to.

No surprise: Dust mites, huuuuuge allergy. Which is probably my biggest problem here since they thrive in warm, humid conditions. I will be shopping for a mattress cover ASAP. I should run my AC more often but, to be honest, it has been two years since it was run… God only knows what's living inside! Blech.

What else? Grass was also high on the list. Two of three types. Some pollens, borderline on dogs (that must be psychological then). Remarkably, while I tested positive for cats, he said that was a very minor reactions. So Zoe can stay. Not that this was ever in doubt.

He changed my medication from a pill to a nose spray, which should give me stronger doses right to where it is needed. We'll see how that works. I might also be a good candidate for allergy shots in the future, a longer-term solution.

The funniest moment of the office visit was when he asked me if I was exposed to any chemicals or fumes at work. "You know, anything you might inhale in your profession. What do you do, anyway?"

"I'm clergy."

"Oh."

"So, yeah, I guess. Does incense count?"

1. Different breeds give off different amounts of dander. Ari was a calico, one of the least-dander-producing felines out there. [back]
2. Though he did mention that he's moving his practice closer to me. No argument there, either. [back]

I'm just kind of curious, especially since I know I have readers who span the spectrum from liberal to conservative… Even, gasp, moderates! Where do you all stand on Fallwell's legacy?

No matter where I stand, or what I thought of the man when he was alive, I'll be praying for his family. And he will be in the Prayers of the People on Sunday.

This is one of those odd posts, with several directions.

First, I got a new laptop two weeks ago.  I've been thinking about a MacBook Pro for a while now.  The old PowerBook G4 was working, but hard drive space was at a premium (all my photos were on an external drive) and it was really getting bogged down.  So I finally stopped waiting for a major update in hardware or software and just bit the bullet.  It was well worth getting.  Dual core Intel chip, 2 GB RAM, double the hard drive space I had.  Good stuff.  I'm spending less time waiting and more time working.  And, well, playing.

There have been a few annoying things.  The new MBP's have a different card slot (Expresscard/34), so the media reader I had in the old one doesn't fit.  So I've had to plug my digital camera in via cable, rather than putting the card right into the computer.  I'm considering investing in something likethis or perhaps this¹