Blam! Scatterbrained assortment of Topics!

I am unused to consistent hard work, or maybe more correctly, an increase in workload. This week has been a pile of different new tasks and persistent challenges that have thrown me off my schedule, and I’m fed up with change.  Bah.

I noticed that I was getting pretty surly and angry this afternoon as I thought about the laundry list of things still left to do (including laundry). I wanted to dig my heels in and yell NO!, but instead I muscled through it and made it out of the house. I now know exactly how Max feels when we ask a lot from him. Does this mean I have the tolerance of a two-year-old? Some days I do.

Let me put on my pseudo-science hat again. Every human being has a spot in the middle of their back that they can never scratch to their satisfaction. Even if you jury rig an elaborate back-scratching device and go to town, it will not feel as good as having a person do the job. Perhaps this is nature’s way of reminding you of the value of partnership. You may lose sight of the advantages of being in a relationship when you’re in the middle of a stupid fight over dirty dishes or what to watch on television, so the itch you can’t fix is a biological trick that  makes you think ‘oh well, at least you’re good for something’. As a side note, does reading about an itch you can’t scratch make your back itchy? If it does, I will try not to abuse the power.

 

 

A boy’s first job!

Today Max accompanied me up to the medical school to be a practice patient for the 2nd year med students, and he was great.

At first, I felt bad that we were being paid to give these doctors-in-training practice and not delivering. Max was feeling a little overwhelmed and shy, so he was reluctant to answer their questions. But one of the other parents there pointed out that this is exactly how children behave at doctor’s offices. If you want practice at pediatric medicine, Ta-Da! It’s a lot of patience, noise, and occasionally urine. So really we were giving them the real deal.

Of the 6 doctors who practiced taking a medical history and brief physical exams, 2 were really good, 3 were nervous, and one was a little to aggressive with her questioning (me, not Max. She was fine with him). I wonder if she considered a career in law previous to this journey of medicine, because she was cross-examining the heck out of me.  Just a touch abrasive too.

Even though the lad wanted to leave and head home a couple of times, he buckled down and made it through the hour and a half with flying colours. To celebrate, we made a stop at the donut store, and he picked out his own first paycheck, a chocolate chip cookie. I tipped him 3 timbits for a job well done.

Grumpy old Man Vacuums, curses at Xbox 360

Rage! Rage! Stupid Xbox can’t read the stupid disc of the game I want to keep playing! Oh, wretched consequence of enabling my boy to switch the dvds by himself (and also my own normal slovenly disc care). Oh well, less game for me means more blog for you.

All of humanity functions on two basic assumptions:

1)I vacuumed last time

2)It’s someone else’s turn to vacuum.

Even solitary bachelors can cling to the illogical belief that the floor will be vacuumed by someone else. Maybe vacuum fairies. And so the floor gathers a building pile of detritus and filth until someone finally loses their mind with dirt rage and cleans in a frenzy. I learned this pattern of delay and disgruntled cleaning from my friend and old roommate Matt, so I know who to thank when I am muttering and vacuuming up the kitchen right before bed. Is most of the mess mine, since I do all of the cooking and I am a slob when doing so? Yes. I am aware of the mess being my unacknowledged second child, but I still don’t like cleaning it.

Well, at least the floor is clean(er) and the Xbox is behaving more. Also, my unstoppable addiction to cashews has led to a week-long binge. We bought over a kilo of the delicious salty nuts last Saturday, and it is almost gone. For those keeping track of my dietary intake, that means I have consumed about 9 days worth of dietary fat in 5 days, and that’s assuming the rest of my diet has been fat-free. Damn your large sizes, Costco! You eliminated scarcity from the cashew consumption equation, and now I’m over-salted and greasy. Well, more so than usual.