Sara has been going through the same thing, Sox. For almost a month now, congested and coughing and on and off fever.

oh Amy. What are you doing for it? ... Allergies can give you fevers?

also - (completely different train) when are you coming to PA?

Allergies can give you fevers?

Yes. We discovered this after I missed 21 days of school in 8th grade. Mom wouldn't let me go, because fever! Then, it turned out, after seeing 500 specialists, I was finally sent to Mayo Clinic, and my amazing doctor there discovered it was severe allergies, and with severed allergies, you can run a fever.

DAMMIT. Liv woke me up at 5:30 a.m. this morning. And she just fell asleep on the couch. That is so unfair.

Oh, well, I have to wake her up in a half an hour so we can take O to the ped. She's going to be cranky.

I don't think the allergies are giving her a fever, really, but if she's like me, the allergies (and post-nasal drip, ick, blech) can turn to infection. But she's never run more than a 99 or 100 for a day or two, which is more *elevated temp* than *fever* in my book. So. Mostly we've just got her on decongestants. I've been stuffy and coughing for a couple weeks, too.

Stupid tree sex.

Hopefully in May, we'll be down to visit the folks, so! Once we get plans in place, I'll let you know so we can get together and plot world domination hang out.

Meanwhile OMGWTF, America?

Cyborg Army of Doom! What's wrong with that?!

AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!!

Nora, if that had happened to my brother, I think the very next thing that would have transpired would have involved police officers and then bail money.

Heh. I got a response from the owner theorizing that maybe they got a keg of La Chouffe instead. DUDE. NO. Not even a little bit like La Chouffe. I know La Chouffe. La Chouffe is a friend of mine and you sir, are not serving La Chouffe.

I told him that something screwy was obviously happening with his distributor. OMGWTF! Do they not have ANYONE there who knows ANYTHING about beer? This is not some esoteric minute difference here!

Anyway. Sorry for such extensive ranting about a pretty unimportant subject (to most, not me obviously!)

Ginger, ~ma to your neighbor.

Okay, this is quite possibly the awesomest thing I've read all day:

A recent study commissioned by pro-marriage groups suggested that single mothers were costing taxpayers $112 billion annually. Other economists have revealed that revenue from sales from vibrators, massagers, and other sexual aides pump billions more into the economy, and offset any costs for services provided to single mothers. Convincing these single mothers to marry would lead in a sharp decrease in tax revenue from sex toy sales.

Economist Dan Steely from San Francisco State provided the numbers for this study, which was sponsored by the Onan Institution, a think tank sponsored by a coalition of sex toy vendors. “It’s clear that the economic benefits of single mothers, whose vibrator consumption is easily 2-3 times greater than their married counterparts, suggests that an uptick in marriages could have disastrous effects on the economy.”

Other economists were skeptical of Steely’s results, but he used a simple method. “Sex toy sales were $500 million in 2001. 500 is much bigger than 112,” he reasoned. Major media outlets have accepted his methodology.

(And an aside - Dan Steely? That seriously his real name?)

[eta: On further reading, I'm pretty sure this was meant to be a joke. Oh well, it's still awesome.]

Apparently, when with the Pope, only the Pope can where white.

So, basically, the pope is always the bride and everyone else a bridesmaid? hopefully, the ugly dresses aren't mandatory ....

Sparky, if you're in Silver Spring, Snider's (on the corner of Georgia and Seminary) has a pretty good kosher selection IIRC.

Thanks, Jessica -- I'll look them up. I learned while house hunting that Silver Spring is all unincorporated and if it did incorporate, it would be something like the 4th largest city in America. So this could be way the hell out of my way, but definitely worth looking into.

Now I have to figure out how to get to the emissions testing place. Joy.

A recent study commissioned by pro-marriage groups suggested that single mothers were costing taxpayers $112 billion annually.

Does that include "single" mothers in nonmarried (by choice or othewise) relationships? What about single or "single" fathers?

In better news, I'm working from home today. So I get to avoid all the Pope-related traffic jams from the Mass that's being held too close to the office for comfort.