I got to see my doc yesterday, with the whole family attending (she was able to send the girls to her office to use the fancy colored markers on the whiteboard when they got too rambunctious). I could be having a spodylitis flareup, or a rheumatoid arthritis flareup, or something in between, or something all my own. But we do have a plan.

Some steroids to kill the pain and inflammation, more Plaquonil to depress my immune system, no flu shot to trigger my immune system, and soon antivirals to keep me from getting the flu and some Tamilflu in reserve. Bring on that Avian flu!

If this doesn't do it, we can look forward to Minocen, methotrexate, sulazadine, a rheumatologist, and maybe a hoverround. I might need a sidecar rigged as a flatbed.

While I was voting last week, I realized the woman behind me was my nieghbor, and we owed her Girl Scout cookies. So we chatted, I offered her a ride home (she walked, but I came straight from work so I had the car), and she approved of my listening to the alternative station playing Death Cab. End result, two boxes of cookies out of our house.

I don't recall if I ever mentioned the side jumping truck that leapt out at Mrs. Ha one day and shattered the passenger side mirror. I ordered another from ebay, figuring that any 2000 Windstart passenger mirror would work, and after Mrs. Ha was complaining about the poor visibility, and the Haynes manual said it was only three bolts, I went out into the dark cold and windy evening to replace it. Fifteen minutes, I figured.

It would have been fifteen minutes, except that I had to take off the inside door panel, and figure out how to mate a six connector five wire lead from the mirror to the three connect four wire lead on the door. Oops, I guess we didn't have heated side mirrors.

After a bit of troubleshooting and such (first time I ever ran a car while drinking a bottle of beer) I was able to figure out how to wire the mirror sort of correctly (up and down is still reversed). It wasn't easy using heat shrink tubing with a Bic in the wind. I reckon it was about two hours all together.

Mrs. Ha's early morning lab work is nearly done (she has to be there at 5 in the morning), thank goodness, as she didn't change her bedtime much. Next up is normal daytime hours at an outpatient lab. She might be hired by December, hooray, we can balance our budget.
Finally, I guessed exactly what my salad would cost at lunch, and got it for free. Woot, I should buy a lottery ticket.