Shir, tons of ~ma to your dad, and your whole family! (you included). It's not an easy time.

We're not emotional; we're very, very opinionative.

Yup. It took me about three years to work that out, re: my Girl. It's a very healthy approach to life. It's just quite an adjustment for me, after 30 years of English politeness and Irish repression. My family is *fun*...

~ma for your dad, and your grandfather.

Thanks, all.

It's a very healthy approach to life.

Try telling that to the lost tourists of Israel... At least the locals here know not to take a "yeah, just turn to the left, it's there" statement as The Truth So Help Me God.

Tep, that stuff does indeed rock, but be aware you'll need to go off it at least 12 hours before going in for the pee test that will get you antibiotics, because it masks the UTI.

It is one of the best drugs ever made, however.

It's an azo dye, so it can screw up the pee test. But since there's no way I could even see my doctor before 9 a.m. Tuesday (and realistically, more like post-noon Tuesday), then hopefully it'll make the rest of my weekend much more tolerable.

I also have mass quantities of cranberry juice (as an aside, do you know how hard it is to find real unsweetened cranberry juice, not cranberry juice "cocktail," which is loaded with sugar and very little cranberry?), which is probably closing the barn door after the horse ran through my urethra, but it can't hurt. I know that forcing large amounts of fluids will make me pee a lot, which can only help by flushing out some of the bacteria.

...which might make things dicey if we go see Star Trek. Dang.

Unrelatedly, we tried to go to Taco Bell to get the kids' meal b/c the toy is luchadores you put on your thumbs to thumb-wrestle, and the Taco Bell drive-thru voice over the squawk-box said that their kids' meals didn't come with toys. FAIL.

And wow, is real unsweetened cranberry juice TART!!!

I need some vodka.

kills the pain, helps with healing. Works for me.

And wow, is real unsweetened cranberry juice TART!!!

It is. I drink it diluted with a lot of water. Like, 7:1.

And, related to the Taco Bell debacle, here is the unedited transcript of a conversation that occurred right afterward:

Me (in really horrible Mexican accent, waggling my thumb): Si, senor, I am el luchadore magnifico!

Me (in same horrible Mexican accent, waggling my other thumb): No mas, muchacho. I weel beat you down!

Me (back to thumb #1): No! No wan can keel El Fuego!

The Boy (waggling his thumb): Arrrrrrrr!

. . .

Me: That was a pirate! Pirates aren't luchadores!

The Boy: There could be luchadore pirates!

Me: No. No, there could not be. It simply wouldn't happen!

The Boy: I think there could be if they wanted to.

Me: ...I can't talk to you when you're like this.

MASSIVE DORKS.

Buffista sprog? [link]

Buffista sprog?

Little genius!

And also, what's up with schools banning books now??