I Hab a Code

I went to work wiff a bild code dis borning — sore throat, ruddy doze, little headache — hopig that doig sub work would bake be feel better. Idstead, it just got worse. So I took sub sick tibe and cabe hobe early.

It seebs like I haved't been sick in a log tibe. I subbose dow dat I dod't lib wid by kids eddy-bore, I'b dot exposed to so bany biruses and udder binuscule balignancies. But, I subbose I could-d't aboid it foreber.

Quarterlife

Quarterlife hit network TV tonight. I wonder what effect it will have on the blogosphere. Will people like me remember their half-forgotten blogs, come online, and try to make something of it.

The show certainly made me realize that I don't write as often as I need to. Hell, I hardly write at all. I used to dream of being a writer. I don't have dreams very much anymore. I just feel like that dreaming part of my is atrophying as I spend my time trying to make enough money to pay the bills, the child support, the rent, the car lease. And I know it's my own fault. I have no self-control. It's why I'm fat and lazy, two things I don't want to be but I just can't seem to find the motivation to do anything.

I don't know who I am or who I want to be anymore. Nothing seems to fit anymore.

I'm nearly divorced now. The papers arrived at the house on the Friday. They were there unopened when I went to pick up the boys for the weekend. I skimmed through them and signed them. S was going to sign them and send them back to Ms. Lawyer on Monday, yesterday. So, maybe later this week I'll be the so-called free man.

But it really won't make much difference, will it?

Idiot Phishers

I received an e-mail from "The Bank of America" about problems with my account. Here's what the text looked like:

Your Online Banking is Blocked

Because of unusual number of invalid login attempts on you account, we had to believe that, their might be some security problem on you account. So we have decided to put an extra verification process to ensure your identity and your account security. Please click on sign in to Online Banking to continue to the verification process and ensure your account security. It is all about your security. Thank you, and visit the customer service section.

Now, really. Is this going to fool anyone? The first sentence has so many errors in it ("unusual number" instead of "an unusual number"; "you account"; "their might be" instead of "there might be", as well as an unnecessary comma beforehand; "you account") that it's difficult to read.

A closer look shows that all the links go to some space at "charliegraham.com" except for the link on the phrase "Equal Housing Lender," which apparently actually does link to the Bank of America Web site.

One more dead giveaway: In the lower right was the Olympic insignia over the phrase "Official Sponsor of 2000-2004 US Olympic Teams." This calls to mind the cars I occasionally see puttering around proudly emblazoned with "Gore/Lieberman in 2000" bumper stickers.

I used to think that "phishing" was an intentional spelling derived from old Phone Phreaks. Now I wonder whether it's spelled that way simply because actual phishers can't spell worth a damn.

HSP Gone?

D's steroids seem to have done the trick. The swelling is gone, the rash is gone, the fevers are gone. He's a bit hyper, though. Well, a lot hyper, really, but only for a couple hours at a time.

He's still on the steroids, and we'll wean him off over the next week. If no rash or swelling comes back, he'll get the "all clear."

I don't know if I should be worried about the little baby mustache he's growing, and I feel a little guilty that his batting average has gone way up since he started his steroid treatments . . .

HSP Update

D's HSP was causing a rash (which thankfully didn't itch), occasional low-grade fevers, and swelling in the extremities. HSP causes tiny blockages in the smallest capillaries, which cause those capillaries to burst — which makes ugly bruise-looking discolorations on his skin. But, as soon as the capillaries burst, the body starts healing itself, and they go away within a couple of days. But because it affects the small capillaries, it could affect his liver and kidneys, which are full of 'em.

So for the first week, that was the extent of D's symptoms. He was generally a happy little boy who occasionally needed some Tylenol. His liver and kidneys were fine.

Last night his, well, little boy parts were swollen. A horrible thought, but not necessarily something that got us overly worried. He started vomiting in the middle of the night last night, though, which is one of the warning signs of complications — it could be affecting his GI tract.

This morning's blood work showed that his blood was in "okay" ranges, but that it had changed since his blood draw on Dec. 1. His hemoglobin count was on the low end of acceptable, whereas before it was on the high end. This could just be a result of mild dehydration — he wasn't able to keep much down this morning and so hasn't had much to drink in the last 18 hours. (He also hasn't gone to the bathroom in about that time.)

They're putting him on low-dose steroids, but not checking him into the hospital. A side effect of the steroids is that it can make him hungry and hyper — I've never hoped for a hyper child until this day. So the next 24 hours is wait and see.

---

It didn’t take long after downing his steroid that D found his hungry, hyper side. Since then he’s eaten, drank, peed, and combusted. I got this info second-hand from his mother, but while she was explaining on the phone the current situation, I could hear him practically screaming with laughter and excitement in the background. Twice she had to stop talking to me to tend to D -- once to say “Grampa is here! Please don’t knock him down!” and once to say “Grampa is not a target!” So far so good.

The first snowfall of the season

HSP: Henoch-Schönlein Purpura

D, the younger child, was diagnosed with HSP over the weekend. Purpura is Latin for purple, and that is tacked on because what starts off as a reddish rash turns purple.

I did some Christmas shopping with the boys in the morning on Saturday. Then, at around 2:30, while we were watching Star Wars III, D started complaining about his feet hurting. He had been complaining about his legs, but since he's almost 5 and asks for a food every half-hour, I figured it was just his bones growing.

But I took a look at his feet. Both were swollen, and he was limping on the left.

So I took him to a MedCheck, and they sent us to the ER. D was fun and smiley and adorable through most of this. Right up until they pulled out the needles. He went nuts about them taking blood out of his arm, but they also decided to go ahead and put an IV tube in there in case he needed to be checked in.

It broke my heart to hear my little boy repeating "Please take it out!" over and over.

A little later, a nurse wheeled in a TV and we watched A Bug's Life and D forgot about the IV. After we got the diagnosis, we started talking about going home, and D was afraid to let them take the IV out. He got over that a lot quicker, though.

Now his feet look horrible. The swelling has gone down, but he has a rash all over his feet and his legs and patootie. But he's still in good spirits and enjoying spending some time with his dad.

Where Are the Heroes?

Marion Jones admitted to doping last week. She's been stripped of all medals going back to, I think September 2001.

I liked Marion Jones. She seemed like a perfect role model for all sorts of athletes. She was likeable, successful, pretty, and well-spoken, and she seemed down-to-earth. I remember thinking, back during the Olympics, that we need more people like her. More people we could look up to and emulate.

And now this. Personally, I think Jones's doping scandal is worse than Sammy Sosa's. Few people have ever looked to Sammy Sosa, both inside and outside the stadium, and thought "I want to be like him." But Marion Jones was, or seemed to be, a good person and a good athlete. I'm sure she was a hero to a lot of little girls.

And now look. It's no wonder that superheroes — X-Men, Fantastic Four, Spiderman, Superman, even Ghost Rider, and now "Heroes" — are making such a comeback. It has become apparent that there are so very few "regular humans" out there in the real world that one can actually look up to. Only the superhuman seem to have a decent moral compass.

Surprise Marriage

I found out yesterday that, over the weekend, my best friend got married in Las Vegas. Although it wasn't unexpected, I feel strangely conflicted about it. On the one hand, I'm happy that she's at such a great point in her life — a new house, a new husband, a secure job. On the other hand, that's one less single friend — and I know from experience that singles and couples don't always mix well — and one less great single woman off the market.

I suppose I'm mostly just jealous, though. I see how great her life looks right now and how happy she is, and then I go home, alone, to a cold, silent apartment.

Plus, it's my birthday and I'm feeling old...

It Isn't Just the Stores

This morning, on the way into work, I saw a light-up nativity scene is someone's front yard. Three and a half weeks before Thanksgiving.

(sigh)