Salamander
Fire Walking

I'll get the obligatory medical update over with quickly, so I can move on to less boring matters. I'm blimping up pretty rapidly at the moment. Yesterday I gained 4 pounds, which is a new personal record, and one I hope not to break any time in the near future. It's my own fault though. It was macaroni and cheese day at the company cafeteria. They serve it with stewed tomatoes, and if Nectar of the Gods comes in pasta form, this is it. I decided that cheating just once couldn't hurt, so I had the platter. It was wonderful. The glory lasted for half an hour. Then the expansion began. I swear I'm never doing this to myself again. There's a reason they've stuck me on a low salt diet, and I just have to resign myself to the fact that no matter how good some things taste, I'll only feel miserable afterwards if I try to eat them. It's not worth the trade off.

OK, onto other more important matters. Kitten is entranced by the duckling toy, but only so long as it's quacking. I think she's somewhat afraid to pick it up in her mouth to fetch it to me, though she's happy to chase it when I throw it for her. Maybe it's just as well. I rather like Ducky, and I think I'll let him take up residence on my computer desk for a while.

This weekend is predicted to be cool and wet. It would figure that all the good weather gets wasted on weekdays. It will be a good weekend to run errands. I need to do some grocery shopping, and I need a new coffee maker for my office. The Elder Sister's birthday is now only two weeks away, and I need to figure out what I'm getting for her as well. It all sounds very dull, very routine. I can use a nice quiet weekend like that. I do want to see "The Core", which is being released today. Maybe I can con The Socialist into going to the movies one night.

I've gone back on my promise to myself, and have again turned the radio in my office on to the news on NPR. I don't know why I do this to myself. I end up arguing out loud with half the "experts" that are being interviewed. This morning I had someone come into my office and say, "Oh, I heard you talking. I thought you were on the phone." I lied and said I was just reading an email I'd just written out loud to see how it sounded.

Judging from my reactions to events, I'm obviously not sitting quite so squarely on that fence anymore. Be that as it may, I have the utmost respect for anyone's views, either supporting or protesting the war, if those views are founded on attempts to understand the situation and some deep introspection. What I don't respect are the knee-jerk reactions of the "My country, right or wrong" crowd, nor those of the "Make love, not war" faction. This is a complicated situation, and deserves more than a color-by-number reaction.