Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Ahoy!

Hi to various and sundry who may be wondering if I have fallen off of the face of the globe.

I haven't.

But I have been travelling. I enjoyed an extended stay in Mitford, North Carolina. And now I'm in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Drop me a line and I'll send you a postcard. Cheaper yet, run to the library and grab all it takes to join me.

I'll be back.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Some Helpful Hints

If my pulse readings were reliable indicators, I died twice last weekend in the emergency room. But, obviously, I am living, breathing, walking, and telling you about it. Yes, I've had an exciting week. I'd say it was exciting in the worst sense of the word, but "worst" would be if I was not living, breathing, walking, or telling you about it, right?

I reached a semi-dramatic beginning of the end of a quite long downward spiral in my health last weekend and started this week with a nothing-too-serious sort of diagnosis and a hopeful prognosis. So no worrying about me.

But if you want to know about emergency rooms, I now have experience to share. I recommend keeping warm, for one. If you are not shaking like a leaf in a hurricane, your pulse reading will not register an initial indicator of "dead." I also recommend taking parents along. After the initial fuss is over and the resting in a hospital bed waiting for answers begins, you should not be too bored if they are there.

My parents found my heart monitor especially fascinating. "Get upset, Katie," Mom urged, eyes glued to the monitor, "think of something really sad." "Ok, now think peaceful thoughts," eyes still on the monitor. "Katie," Dad suggested excitedly, "gasp like you're startled!...Yeah! Look at that peak! Do it again!"

I think Dad missed his calling, based on what I learned Saturday night. He should have been a Dr. Or at least a nurse. He sat in the "Staff Only!" chair, jiggled the bed as I was falling asleep, plugged the heart monitor back in when the nurse forgot, explained to me with pleasurable drama how INCREDIBLY HUGE the IV cathater was going to be, and ultimately provided the diagnosis with admirable gravity: "I know what's wrong with you, Katie. You have...a massive brain enigma."

Mom, meanwhile, caused my second death alert by cutting off my circulation (briefly!) right above the pulse monitor just for the fun of seeing the reading drop to 0.

The moral of the story is that you should not worry if you have no measurable pulse. It is possible to live, breath, walk, and tell about it afterwards.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Frugal Living, Anyone?

According to a new study released from the Netherlands, dying young is one way to save money. (Apparently, people tend to spend less over the course of their lifetime when that lifetime is shorter.)

Just thought you'd like to know that.