I could form the Avengers of infections...

Dear Super Bugs,

Please leave me alone. Go away. Shoo. Most people never have one of you. Now I have a second. Enough.

No love,
Thistle


So, somewhat unsurprisingly, I have MRSA Staph in my infected toe. Luckily there are two antibiotics which work against it, one of which I'm already on. I'm going to see the podiatrist sometime today -- no idea when, they're fitting me in as an emergency.

How many more super bugs do I need before I could form a club?

I can now only count to 19 and a half.

Home from the doctor. Like the last time I had an ingrown toenail, she cut half of it off. Unlike last time, she put acid on it to kill the root so it won't grow back.

- It hurts a lot more than last time. It feels like it's on fire. OW.
- Yay it not growing back. Now I have just three potential spots for ingrown nails instead of four (I seem to only get them on the corners of my big toes).

I have to wear open-toed shoes for a week.

- I don't own a pair of open-toed shoes, other than flipflops (which would hurt like hell to put on). Luckily they gave me a throw-away open shoe-type thing. It's giant and ugly, but it'll work.

I'm so sick of doctors and appointments, and I still have so much I need to do. I'm supposed to see the dentist at the end of the month, same day my car has to go in (so one needs to be rescheduled). Cat has to go to the vet. I still need to see the therapist and get the sleep study done as requirements for my surgery, as well as attending another three hour information class one evening. I have to see the nutritionist five more times in the next five months. Not to mention near-weekly follow-up appointments to check my leg.

My mantra is "At least I have insurance". It helps some.

Something positive

If you skipped over Google's homepage today, you should check it out.

Especially if you like stories.
Especially if you listen to NPR.

The homepage is hosted by Ira Glass (This American Life on NPR -- long stories about people), and the stories are just like the StoryCorps segments on NPR (very short stories about an event in a person's life).

In addition to recommending the Google page, I highly recommend checking out StoryCorps (though a warning: Some of the stories will probably make you cry). This American Life is great, too.

I was all stressed out today and just didn't have the time to explore the homepage. Now I'm glad I did. Some of the stories are "heavy" (as Ira says -- very emotional, sad), but it's so worth it. A lot of them had me sniffling, but the middle blue one really got the tears flowing. (I'd suggest listening to them in order though!)

Edit: There's a How the Google Doodle was Made video, which is interesting not just for how it was made, but for all the glimpses of what life at Google is like (so many dogs!).