Umlaut Däy!

It's really sad when neon controllers have their own little display in the components section at the computer store.

*****

I just discovered something odd. If I pet Flaster the normal way for a few minutes, then suddenly pet very, very slowly, so that it takes 30 seconds or so to stroke from between his eyes back to his shoulder, it seems to hypnotize him. His mouth falls open, his eyes shrink to slits, and he hunches his head down. After a couple repetitions he put his paw up to stop me, so it's probably something I shouldn't do, but interesting nonetheless.

*****

I had been meaning to go to the last day of the Stoat Fair today, but I'm going to skip it. I was badly sick (fever and chills) Thursday and Friday, and got tired going to the store yesterday, so it's prolly not worth it.

I went last weekend, and had a pretty good time, although I didn't get to see everything. I did wind up with two new Hot Wheels cars: a Ferrari 330 P4 with the closed top, and Ritchie Ginther's 156 'sharknose', painted up for the 1961 Monaco race. Now I've a pair of 156s - Ginther's, and Phil Hill's '61 Monza entry. When I was little Mattel didn't used to put that level of attention into getting the colours amd markings right, that you could tell whose car it was, and what race it was prepped for. I think the internet has a lot to do with that. It's much easier to chase that sort of information down these days.

*****

I did finally go to see "Surf's Up" today, which was remarkably good. That stands as one of the better movies of any sort I've seen in a while. It's humane, and affectionate, with actual character development. One cares about the characters, instead of just hoping to see them suffer slapstick indignities.

*****

The FlasterCat turned his nose up at ham, and wanted Qat füd instead. He never ceases to amaze me.

Adventure with Iodine

So, as I previously related, I was ill Thursday and Friday. By Sunday I felt pretty good, except that before I went to bed Sunday night, I had a bit of tenderness in the canal of my right ear. It was like what's often called "swimmer's ear", probably just an opportunistic fungus or bacterial infection that had taken hold while I was sick and my immunity was depressed.

I reviewed my options:

I could just let it go, and it would clear up by itself in a few days, as it always does. That's surrendering to circumstance like a Frenchman would, though.

I could treat it with Neosporin, and if it was some particularly feeble strain of bacteria, it might succumb. Not much better than option #1.

I could put tincture of iodine in my ear! That'll kill anything! What a great idea!

My decision tree had reached its end. I put in the first drop of iodine. It's cold, then warms up as I feel it spead through my ear. That's actually pretty pleasant. I put in a second, just to be sure I've coated everything. I can hear the hissing, roaring sound of the fluid in my ear as the iodine works in. The warmth builds, and starts to prickle just a bit, like the dry heat from a fire. Then suddenly ZOMG! HOT! ACK! My entire ear is on fire, and I can feel the ominous warmth spreading down my Eustachian tube. I blotted out what I could with a square of toilet paper, but it was too late for that. Suddenly I could taste and smell iodine too, like the smell of the ocean with a sharp, biting edge. Sensations and thoughts of iodine filled my world. I recall wondering how I was going to explain this if I had to go to the emergency room.

Tonight my ear is still sore, perhaps a bit worse than yesterday, but it's the even, surface soreness of irritation. There's no infection left. There's a qualitative difference in the pain that makes that apparent. I can take grim satisfaction in that, and in the fact that I'm probably not ever going to have a goiter. I wonder sometimes how I lived to middle age.