Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Human rights are not a matter of opinion!

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

Petty moves from a petty man.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

No Kings: Americans standing in the way of bad history saying “Oh, Fuck No!”

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Day Six of the Plague

Reader Interactions

164Comments

  5. 5.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I had it between Christmas and New Year, and a few days into January. It’s miserable. Hope you feel better soon.

  6. 6.

    aimai

    I’ve had a long run of stuff: broken foot, torn meniscus, broken toe, stomach flu, chest cold. Now my daughter’s winter boots have fallen apart and she is taking mine to school, and I will have to wear some ten year old boots that leak like mad because: I’m the mommy. Le sigh.

  7. 7.

    khead

    Are you well enough to play Ultimate General, Civil War Cole? Because I forked over some cash after your tweet last week and wanted to say thanks for the push. That game is rather addictive.

  9. 9.

    Percysowner

    I had the awful between Christmas and New Year’s. Sadly mine turned into bronchitis. I feel fine but I’m still coughing.

  11. 11.

    SFAW

    I hope you feel better, soon, John.

    Re: the GIF (or whatever): is that Shitgibbon in front of Lincoln? And is he saluting? I was under the impression that it was considered poor form for a civilian to salute, even if he is Shitgibbon-in-Chief. Of course, since I’ve never served, I realize I could be completely full of shit (i.e., more so than normal).

  14. 14.

    hovercraft

    Speaking of the plague, last week my pediatrician called to tell me that the 10 year old’s Strep Throat had morphed into Scarlet Fever, he was already on antibiotics, so there was no change to the treatment. I just thought it was funny because I had been watching Mercy Street and they were in the midst of an epidemic. Weird.
    He’s fine now, who knew that Scarlet Fever was still a thing in this day and age.

  16. 16.

    Pogonip

    I had to go to urgent care last week, my dr was booked solid, and when I got there the entire waiting room sounded as bad as I, or worse. The version going around West Deplorable usually leads to bronchitis and is highly contagious. So I got to stay home for several days, but was too sick to enjoy it.

    Everyone get well soon!

  17. 17.

    Pogonip

    @Percysowner: The pharmacy gave me a different cough pill brand than the Mylan they usually give out. This time it was Teva. I haven’t coughed in 3 days. (The brand name will be somewhere on all the paperwork, usually in itty-bitty type.)

  20. 20.

    hovercraft

    I forgot to add, I funkin love that GIF. You just know that given his addiction to the media and social media, these memes and the hate directed his way is just driving him nuts. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, he won, where is the love, the adulation, the respect? Why does everyone hate him so much, he won which means America won, why aren’t you acting like it?

  21. 21.

    Spanky

    I’m OK, but a friend who went to urgent care on Friday for stomach cramps turned out to have colon cancer. They operated yesterday and we’ll have to see what the tests return tomorrow.

    A cold I think I can handle, even (maybe) if it morphs into something more serious.

  22. 22.

    Shana

    @Wapiti: Because he doesn’t know any better what’s appropriate and what’s not appropriate. I have a feeling I’m going to be writing this same thing a lot over the next 4 years, or less if we’re lucky.

  23. 23.

    dmsilev

    @Wapiti: Because he’s a moron who hasn’t bothered to learn protocol, one of many many things that he hasn’t bothered to learn about.

    Just in case you were actually asking.

  24. 24.

    wvng

    I’m on day six too, started antibiotics midday Saturday and saw some improvement in 10 hours, at least the fever dropped from 103 to 101 then 100. As always, I have no way to know it the improvements happened because of the antibiotics, but I’ll sure take the improvements. I hope it helps you, John.

  25. 25.

    Singing Truth to Power

    I thought I had altitude sickness last week – but no – it’s pneumonia! Do you know how far up your nose they stick that swab to check for influenza? Feel better soon, John –

  26. 26.

    Nicole

    Yuck. My husband has been miserable since Friday with something. I thought he just caught whatever the six-year-old and I had (and still have, in that we both still have a cough), but now I’m worried he brought something new into the apartment because he’s got symptoms we didn’t get.

  27. 27.

    dmsilev

    @Spanky: Yuck. Best wishes to your friend. That’s basically the same thing that happened with my dad: had a cough that didn’t go away, saw the doctor, CT scan showed a mass, a few days later he’s in the hospital being prepped for chemo.

    (so far, so good; we’ll get a better sense of how the treatment is progressing in about a week when he gets a PET scan)

  28. 28.

    Gravenstone

    @hovercraft: A couple of years ago my girlfriend’s daughter went from strep to scarlet and all the way to rheumatic fever. So yeah, still things in this day and age of “modern” medicine.

  34. 34.

    Adam L Silverman

    The good news is if this is day six, you’re up to boils. The bad news is violent and possibly fiery hail is up next.

  36. 36.

    PsiFighter37

    According to this link from a local paper, Trump is going back to Mar-A-Lago for a third straight weekend. What a lazy fucking asshole. Of course, there are no Republican complaints about this because IOKIYAR.

  37. 37.

    Adam L Silverman

    @khead: Do not challenge MG Buford at the edge of McPhearson’s Wood at Gettysburg. Or attempt to charge across the wheat field to the high water mark. It does not end well.

  39. 39.

    efgoldman

    @hovercraft:

    my pediatrician called to tell me that the 10 year old’s Strep Throat had morphed into Scarlet Fever

    My dad caught Scarlet Fever as a toddler, some time before 1920. That may be the reason he was 5’2″ and all his brothers were 5’10” to 6′. His legs were stunted.

  40. 40.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Wapiti:

    Sorry for the military outburst, but why the fuck is Trump saluting? They’re both civilians.

    Is that a thing, anyhow? To salute a statue?

  41. 41.

    dmsilev

    @PsiFighter37: I wonder how much he’s charging the government for housing the Secret Service and the rest of his entourage. Not “is he charging”, since that’s a given, but how much.

  44. 44.

    Jeffro

    It’s all going to happen fast and furious this week – Trump was warned that Flynn was vulnerable to Russian blackmail due to his conversations with them.

    Flynn seems to be loyal to his causes…I think it’s more likely than not that he exits stage Lenin and takes the fall for this one. Excited to see how Priebus and Spicer try to spin it. I’m guessing they’ll say Flynn was doing nothing more than trying to temper Russia’s reactions in the face of an ill-advised move by Obama, yadda yadda yadda and wait to see if the interest in Russia dies down again.

    Let’s not let that happen!

  48. 48.

    Jeffro

    (meaning, let’s make it an integral part of every MoC’s town hall meetings from now until 2018: “Why aren’t you demanding a full investigation of how far back Flynn was colluding with a hostile foreign power?!?!?”)

  49. 49.

    Jeffro

    In the waning days of the Obama administration, James R. Clapper Jr., who was the director of national intelligence, and John Brennan, the CIA director at the time, shared Yates’s concerns and concurred with her recommendation to inform the Trump White House. They feared that “Flynn had put himself in a compromising position” and thought that Pence had a right to know that he had been misled, according to one of the officials, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

    A senior Trump administration official said that the White House was aware of the matter, adding that “we’ve been working on this for weeks.”

    The current and former officials said that although they believed that Pence was misled about the contents of Flynn’s communications with the Russian ambassador, they couldn’t rule out that Flynn was acting with the knowledge of others in the transition.

    Now that there’s an interesting tidbit…

  50. 50.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @delk:

    I’m celebrating Valentine’s Day by having a brain MRI performed.

    I wish you only well, and hope it’s a nothing. Forty-one years ago, I celebrated Valentine’s Day by having an abortion. Legally and safely and without incident and completely by my deliberate choice, I might add.

  51. 51.

    Major Major Major Major

    I know everybody here’s been saying that we’ll be at “what did trump/Pence know and when did they know it” territory soon but I did not expect it to be as soon as it’s looking like it might be.

  55. 55.

    efgoldman

    @Adam L Silverman: Could Flynn (or others) possibly be indictable over this business? Not that I’d expect any RWNJ AG or USA to do it.
    But strictly a civilian, matter, right? He’s retired from active service?

  59. 59.

    CaseyL

    Washington state has a record number of flu deaths this year, but I haven’t heard anything about Scarlet Fever. And, yeah, I didn’t know that was still around, or still called that.

    Take care, all you (physically) sick people! Get well soon, and try not to spread whatever you have around too much!

  60. 60.

    Zinsky

    @Iowa Old Lady: I agree, IOL. I think the armchair generals on this blog need to get out of their comfy recliners and get a little exercise once in a while. They might not get sick so often, because exercise strengthens your immune system. Try it sometime…

  61. 61.

    Miss Bianca

    @efgoldman: at least he survived. My great-uncle died of scarlet fever when he was 10. According to family lore, my great-grandmother was so devastated she was never the same afterwards.

  62. 62.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    House OversightDems ‏@ OversightDems 2h2 hours ago

    BREAKING: All OGR Dems 2 Chaffetz: Investigate Flynn or Step Aside to Allow Committee to Vote on Oversight Steps

  63. 63.

    efgoldman

    @delk:

    I have a bone scan ordered after the MRI.

    As we noted with raven last week: these tests are a pain in the ass, but they are all non-invasive.

  68. 68.

    Mike J

    @dmsilev:

    Because he’s a moron who hasn’t bothered to learn protocol,

    The White House released a statement today in which they misspelled the name of Colombia.

  70. 70.

    Suzanne

    @SiubhanDuinne: That is a good way to “celebrate” the most overrated holiday. I will probably celebrate it by working late.

    I actually like the idea of having a day to remember the blessings that romantic love brings to our lives and our culture, but I also reflexively don’t like things that other people like. So I am torn.

  73. 73.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jeffro: @Jeffro: The only two questions that needs to be asked at this point, as I wrote during the transition, are what did the President know and when did he know it? That’s it. And remember, LTG Flynn does not go quietly when he’s pushed out. He’s where he is now because he came to believe he was professionally destroyed because President Obama didn’t like him.

  74. 74.

    hovercraft

    @Gravenstone:
    Fortunately he is fine the antibiotics did the job, he’s back in school. He’s the antithesis of your average male patient, though, he becomes less energetic, loses his appetite, but rarely complains, except when you remind him he’s supposed to be sick, then he’ll play sick for about a minute.

    She ducks and hides.

  78. 78.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Miss Bianca:

    at least he survived. My great-uncle died of scarlet fever when he was 10.

    I have photos of my great-aunt as a little girl (6-ish, maybe? — sometime in the mid1890s). She had just recovered from scarlet fever and for reasons I never quite understood, they had to cut off her hair. It looks like a nightmarish haystack in the pictures, but she ended up a rather spectacular redhead and caused all kinds of merry hell as a WWI Red Cross nurse in France, 1917-18.

  80. 80.

    ? Martin

    @efgoldman: If what we are being told by WaPo is true, then yes, he could be indicted. I doubt very much it would happen (even with Dems running the show) but I think per the letter of the law he’s crossed that line.

    I think it’s very apparent that had Clinton been elected and this happened, the House would already be picking their impeachment subcommittee.

  83. 83.

    Adam L Silverman

    @efgoldman: Depending on what the contacts were with the Russians and what information was conveyed, he could face criminal charges. As for the military side, he’s only been retired about 2 years. He’s subject to recall. And retired general officers/flag officers receiving foreign payments or gifts is sort of a funky, grey area. Which is why a bunch of Congressional Democrats have asked the DOD for an investigation of some of Flynn’s post retirement activities.

  84. 84.

    Ruckus

    If you want to get better just sit and look at that gif you posted. LMAO.
    Due to some issues that I have the VA docs just went from – this stuff should help you and it has almost no side effects (but is not really working) to – here, try this scheduled drug and see if it helps without causing you to be a babbling idiot or fall down, a lot. Not as bad as the last thing they tried which gave me some not so nice hallucinations (apparently only 2-3% of patients have any side effects, the old guy who prescribed had never had a patient with side effects and didn’t believe me) So now I’m on 7 different meds per day. Nothing curative, just maintenance stuff which loses effectiveness as time goes on, so I’ve got that going for me.
    It is nice to be getting old. Can not imagine what it would be like to be homeless and without healthcare at this point in my life. Just voted for LA county prop H, which raises sales tax 1/2% specifically to help the homeless. Don’t know if it will do any good but every little bit helps.

  86. 86.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Zinsky: I’m in the gym a minimum of four days a week for a minimum of 90 minutes at a time I walk the dogs several miles a week. And I teach martial arts. I was very ill for most of last week. Hit fast midday Monday and knocked me on my tuchas through Thursday.

  88. 88.

    delk

    @efgoldman: Yeah, I know the are non-invasive and truly a pain in the ass. I have 10 different doctor appointments in February (not counting my weekly psychologist session). Hopefully they will find the problem. That said, I feel the better than I have in over a year.

  89. 89.

    Adam L Silverman

    @raven: Given that he uses an unsecured, out of date and as a result out of updating specs Android phone, I’m sure there’s a transcript or two in the IC that could confirm or deny that.

  94. 94.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    Feel better Cole and all others who’ve got this crud. @ delk: I hope they can get to an answer and a good treatment. As OhioMom notes, MRIs are noisy, and ear plugs are a must; some docs will get you an oral benzo, which can really help claustrophobic peeps.

    Speaking of Lincoln, I saw this gem on twitter:

    John Fugelsang Feb 12

    Somewhere in Heaven…
    Abraham Lincoln: The ppl who claim to be
    my followers just totally misquoted me.
    Jesus: You don’t say.

  95. 95.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mike J:

    Seriously? Do they even believe in basic SpellCheck? There was also some kind of official portrait with a noticeable misspelling, and they had to pull it from the official site. These people take carelessness, incompetence, and don’t-give-a-shitness to entirely new levels.

  98. 98.

    Miss Bianca

    @SiubhanDuinne: yes, that used to be a thing, cutting off the hair when you had a high fever- I wonder why?

    Only a couple pictures of Alan survive – not sure what happened to the life-sized oil painting that had been in my grandmother’s house, but I still have a photo of him – he was a darling! I remember being so freaked out when I found out that the little boy in the pictures had died so young – think I was 10 myself when I heard it.

  103. 103.

    efgoldman

    @Ohio Mom:

    They are noisy. I asked for ear plugs.

    When I’ve had them, they gave me muff-like headphones/ear protectors. It’s also how they communicate with the patient (because the techs can’t be in the same room).

  105. 105.

    hovercraft

    @Major Major Major Major:

    everybody here’s been saying that we’ll be at “what did trump/Pence know and when did they know it”

    Problem is he knows nothing, so even if he knew about the calls, he probably didn’t know enough to see the problem. I’m not giving him a pass, he would be out there screaming at the top of his voice if the shoe was on the other foot. My point is that he is just a moron who repeats shit he hears other people saying without understanding what they mean. He’s ignorant enough to believe that when Nixon said “when the president does it it’s not illegal”, is the way our government actually works. From what I understand the Obama team warned them, they could have dumped him before they took office but chose not to. That is the Shitgibbon refusing to ever back down and appear “weak.” So now he just looks like an incompetent fool instead.

  106. 106.

    Ruckus

    @SFAW:
    Navy here, I never did like saluting, especially under way. But then I also didn’t like being treated like a fourth class citizen by morons that knew far less than I did about the job they were supposed to be supervising me for. But it was part of the gig so that’s what we did.
    That said seeing this asshole salute Lincoln really does rankle. This asshole is unfit to scrape the dogshit off Lincoln’s shoes, let alone actually be thinking he can fill them.

  108. 108.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @zhena gogolia:

    Anna Karenina has her hair all cut off when she gets puerperal fever. I’m not sure what that was all about.

    That was nasty, and often deadly, so I understand, but it happened to women in the immediate aftermath of childbirth, not to six-year-old girls. Would have to do more research or ask a doctor if there’s a relationship between the two types of “fever.” Don’t know why the haircuts.

  112. 112.

    schrodingers_cat

    @raven: Did you like it? I found most of the younger Indian actors highly irritating. Mr. Dalal was not a plausible Parsi. The Jewel in the Crown, based on the Raj Quartet is a much better series in this genre, in my opinion.

    ETA: This seemed like a soapier version of Raj nostalgia, kinda like Downton, but set in India.

  113. 113.

    delk

    @Ohio Mom: I have had many MRI’s. Over a dozen. My orthopedic place has brand new machines that are a bit more quiet. They have headphones with Spotify or Pandora. I count the songs to give me a rough idea of the time.

  114. 114.

    efgoldman

    @Ruckus:

    apparently only 2-3% of patients have any side effects, the old guy who prescribed had never had a patient with side effects

    Twice I was prescribed Norvasc, a very very common and usually harmless BP control drug. Twice three days of it and I was in the hospital with congestive heart failure, once in RI and one in VA. Neither cardiology department had ever seen that before. Now it’s in big red letters at the top of my record under “allergies.”

  115. 115.

    Major Major Major Major

    My friend found a picture of Flynn talking to Pence that looks like an awkward still from Arrested Development and captioned it “There’s a good chance I may have committed some light treason,” wish I could link at the moment but I’m still on my suicide-delayed train. Anywho it cracked me up.

    ETA: I also learned over lunch that Trump is taking Propecia, which just seems like a horrible fucking idea given the potential complications, does the president get to take whatever medicine they want even if it’s a pointless risk like that?

  117. 117.

    Ruckus

    @delk:
    Be right behind you with a C-Spin MRI. Already had the brain one over a year ago. I find out in April if I’m making any progress with the cancer. May not know for sure for 6 more months.

  118. 118.

    efgoldman

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Do they even believe in basic SpellCheck? There was also some kind of official portrait with a noticeable misspelling

    They blinged blamed auto correct.

  122. 122.

    Tehanu

    Apparently in the 19th century they thought that cutting off hair could reduce fever. It was done to one of Laura’s sisters in one of the Little House on the Prairie books, and I vaguely remember somebody in one of Louisa May Alcott’s books too.

  123. 123.

    joel hanes

    Crabby at work all day. Headache.
    Went home — it’s my daughter’s birthday, the house is full of women I usually hug
    Gargled — damn, feels and looks like a throat infection
    No hugs for me, now hiding in bedroom while they do dinner and go to the movie together without me
    Fuck.

  124. 124.

    Lizzy L

    First two paragraphs from NYT Breaking News story:

    The Justice Department warned the White House that Mr. Flynn had misled senior Trump administration officials about whether he had discussed American sanctions against Vladimir V. Putin’s regime during a phone call with Russia’s ambassador to the United States weeks before the inauguration, and that he could be open to blackmail by Russia, said a former senior official.

    At the same time, Mr. Pence has told administration officials that he believes Mr. Flynn lied to him by saying he had not discussed the topic of sanctions on a call with the ambassador in late December. Even the mere discussion of policy — and the apparent attempt to assuage the concerns of an American adversary before Mr. Flynn took office — represents a remarkable breach of protocol.

  125. 125.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @efgoldman:

    They blinged blamed auto correct.

    Well, I do that, too, when I’m writing a quick comment on Balloon Juice or a hasty note to a friend on Facebook Messenger. BUT NOT WHEN IT’S MY OFFICIAL PRESIFUCKINGDENTIAL PORTRAIT!!

    ‘Scuse shouty, but these people are incompetent af and I will loudly point that out every chance I get.

  128. 128.

    Eric S.

    @Ohio Mom: I was shocked at my first MRI. Amazingly loud. On my 3rd, I fell asleep but I’m pretty sure that was the affects of beer the night before.

  130. 130.

    joel hanes

    in the 19th century they thought that cutting off hair could reduce fever.

    Still plausible.
    Those who dwell in the North know that most heat loss is through the top of the head, and that if your feet and hands are cold, you should first put on a nice warm hat.

    Laura’s sister Mary had scarlet fever, with fever temperatures so high she was delirious — so probably above 102 F. In such a case, anything you can do to bring down the fever is a good idea, because prolonged high fever can cause neurological damage — sponge-bathing with cool water, for example. And in the event, Mary Ingalls’s fever blinded her.

  131. 131.

    Gravenstone

    @delk:

    They have headphones with Spotify or Pandora.

    Damn, made me look that up – since you can’t use traditional magnetic speakers in an MRI. Figured they had to be some sort of acoustic device. Now I know.

  132. 132.

    Gelfling 545

    @SiubhanDuinne: since both my kids got it some uears back, I knew it was a thing. They fortunately had no lasting effects. My brother went into rheumatic fever but that was in the 50s. I haven’t heard of a lot of cases since.

  133. 133.

    Gravenstone

    @Tehanu: To be fair, removing the hair would make the head a more efficient radiator as a means of lowering the body temperature. Still, a wee bit of overreaction.

  134. 134.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Tehanu:

    I expect it was more comfortable for the fever-sufferer (long hair gets sticky and itchy and just plain annoying), and probably a great deal more convenient for the mother or whoever was doing the nursing.

  135. 135.

    Ruckus

    @delk:
    Tried to edit #116 to tell you good luck.
    Was also going to list all the tests I’ve had in the last 3 yrs or am scheduled to have in the next 3 months but really, who needs to know.
    Anyway Good Luck!

  136. 136.

    JosieJ (not Josie)

    @delk:

    I had a full bone scan years ago. It’s not difficult to endure, as long as you remember to visit the loo beforehand! I forgot and spent a most unpleasant hour wrapped up like a mummy (so I couldn’t move) with a full bladder! I don’t know if they still wrap you up like that–as I said, this was years ago.

  138. 138.

    Ruckus

    @Adam L Silverman:
    They don’t do it in the navy any more either. Although I do remember one particular captain that seemed to deserve it. His rank was Asshole Deluxe. Or maybe that was his name.

  140. 140.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    On the topic of VP Putin’s Circus Peanut and dossiers:

    John Schindler‏(@20committee):
    Correct
    Rick Wilson:
    He already has.
    David Weinstein:
    @TheRickWilson What is the % chance that #Trump will use Russian intelligence to spy on US political opponents?

  141. 141.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I also learned over lunch that Trump is taking Propecia, which just seems like a horrible fucking idea given the potential complications

    I saw that a few days ago — his so-called “doctor” apparently takes it too, hence his own incredible soft, wavy, flowing mane — but I know nothing about what the potential complications are. Off to consult Mister Google, unless you or someone wants to enlighten me.

  142. 142.

    hovercraft

    @Miss Bianca:
    They probably cut the hair to help cool the body, that’s my best guess, but then again they also bled and purged people so there may have not been any good reason to do it other than quackery.

  143. 143.

    Ruckus

    @efgoldman:
    The VA has listed all of my failed meds under my allergies list. That triggers the inability for them to prescribe it again. Nice system.

  145. 145.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Well, I found this list of the “less serious” side effects:

    impotence,
    loss of interest in sex,
    trouble having an orgasm,
    abnormal ejaculation,
    swelling in your hands or feet,
    swelling or tenderness in your breasts,
    dizziness,
    weakness,
    feeling like you might pass out,
    headache,
    runny nose, or
    skin rash.

    Okay, I can see why #5 might actually be a feature, not a bug, for Lord Smallgloves.

  146. 146.

    hovercraft

    @raven:
    It’s true that he’s about as effective as the last two presidents have been in getting NK to stop the missiles launches, ( Clinton made some headway, but then W had to go fuck that up, funny how the “tough” guys make the situation worse ), I’m grateful that he didn’t just fire off a couple of nukes to show his toughness.

  147. 147.

    daverave

    I just came down with chills, aches and tremors about 3 hours ago…. oh boy! Now I have to go to the airport to pick up my wife. I hope she can drive home. And I hope Oroville doesn’t give way in the next few hours, also, too.

  149. 149.

    Ruckus

    @Aleta:
    We don’t know. It’s possible but they looked and continue to look at MS. If the C-Spine comes back benign then I think that lends a lot of weight to go the other way. But who knows, maybe I’m just an old fart. It’s not the only test that’s happening and I got the date wrong, it’s this Friday.

  150. 150.

    Ohio Mom

    @efgoldman: At my MRI, I had earphones, through which I heard the techs, and also through which was piped Frank Sinatra (that’s what the techs suggested; I noticed they offered gospel music to the older African American women entering the room as I was leaving).

    The music helped pass the time but the clanging was terrible so I asked for earplugs. I could still hear enough of Old Blue Eyes.

  152. 152.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Alzheimer’s, for starters. EDIT: sorry, not that, but loads of serious cognitive stuff.

    As Dorothy Parker or someone said, when told that Calvin Coolidge had died: “How can they tell?”

  154. 154.

    Singing Truth to Power

    @delk: For anyone facing an MRI who has claustrophobia, when I had the last one done, the tech put a cloth over my eyes. If I couldn’t see how small the tube was, it wasn’t an issue, and there was no claustrophobia.

  155. 155.

    Mnemosyne

    I was sick last week. Sore throat, fever, runny nose, cough, the whole 9 yards. I ended up taking two days off work.

    I’ve found in the past that if I try to push through it, I just make everything worse because it makes my asthma flare up, so now I try to rest up at the first sign of a cold and see if I can knock it out more quickly that way.

  156. 156.

    J R in WV

    When Mrs January had septic shock and was in MICU, they packed her in ice to lower her temperature. Big ice bags on her inner thighs. It musta helped, she lived w/o serious after effects. Indused coma, vent for 21 days.

    Near the end of her recovery the surgeon wanted to repair the leak causing her collapsed lung, and found she had necrotic tissue in the bottom lobe of her left lung. So the 20 minute minor procedure was more like 4 hours. But, again, complete recovery, OK at 7,000 feet in AZ, so good job at local teaching Hospital!

    Best of luck to everyone with health issues!!

    They do miracles every day now.

  160. 160.

    Calming Influence

    Fluids, God damn it! All you sick assholes drink plenty of fluids! I’m not fucking around here; I don’t want to see a comment in a couple of days that
    “Oh yeah, commenter x won’t be showing up here any more because she died of scarlet fever; if only she had imbibed more fucking FLUIDS…”

  161. 161.

    Death Panel Truck

    The wife and I went to pick up a prescription. We went to the drive-thru because the parking lot was packed. I wondered aloud why so many people were shopping at Walgreens at 7:30 p.m., and she reminded me that tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.

    I asked her, “You didn’t get me a card, did ya?” “No,” she replied. “Good,” I said, “because I didn’t get you one either.” “You know I love you, right?”

    “Of course, and you know I love you,” she said. We drove home and had dinner.

    This is the kind of conversation you can have with your spouse when you’ve been married for 27 years.

  162. 162.

    Larkspur

    @CaseyL: I had scarlatina as a child. I just looked it up and it’s another name for scarlet fever. All this time I thought it was just a kind of a mild, semi-related version of scarlet fever, like scarlet fever lite. Huh. It was summer and I couldn’t go out and play and was miserable, but not for that long.

    I am pleased to report that the case of shingles I got on Xmas Day resolved completely within about three weeks. Yay. I was fortunate. Feeling pretty good physically right now, knock wood (raps knuckles smartly on side of head).

  163. 163.

    Larkspur

    @Adam L Silverman: It’s none of my business, obviously, but you are so physically gigundous and so fit – I’m curious to know what your body fat percentage is. I’m guessing it’s in the mid to low teens.

  164. 164.

    Sanjuro

    I don’t see him saluting in the gif…I see him talking on a cell phone, which is an infinitely greater disrespect than improper saluting by a civilian.

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