The sun stood high above the distant Pacific. The day was bright, the sky blue and cloudless, the air, if you liked the smell of burnt carpets, perfect. Los Angeles.

- Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt

Could think of better days...

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today. Sleepiness, body aches, weakness, vertigo, shakiness... overlaying my business trip to Detroit. I thought it was a little funny when I entered my symptoms into WebMD and they suggested I had mono. Through some cleverness and many pestering phone calls I arranged get my blood drawn before I left, so if there's something to be done I should find out not long after I get back. I'm entering hour 10 of today's meeting, and am finally starting to have trouble maintaining a positive outlook on life. Lots and lots of Tylenol and a moderate amount of caffeine helps.

Today we re-scheduled the next meeting to overlap my birthday. According to the women's code, this is the last birthday I'm allowed to celebrate before I'm not supposed to celebrate birthdays anymore. That's too bad. I think I'll invite my favorite colleagues that come up here with me, but I have to be released from the endless wrap-up meetings first!

I related to you the beginning of what has become the Saga of Andrea's Wrist - my Worker's Comp claim and ensuing therapy for tendinitis. After 8 weeks of therapy and showing insufficient progress, the doctor referred me to a "hand specialist", who in turn ordered me an MRI. Easy peasy - my advice to you if you ever have one, bring your iPod because sometimes they can hook you up with crappy headphones and play your music while you wait. I tried to get a photo for this blog, but the office couldn't find a way to Xerox it for me. Anyway, the analysis was negative, but the specialist swore he felt a lump in there. When he looked at the films a second time, there it was. This explains why my wearing Skeletor made it worse, not better. What is it, you ask? Well, it could either be inflammation or a ganglion cyst, he says. I say: that sucks, but it's definitely not on my Top 10 list of Worst Places to Have a Lump. He wanted to shoot cortisone into my wrist joint (yulch!), but I weenied out of it by promising to lay off for a few weeks. By doing this, I realize I delayed the inevitable, but oh well. The needle's not going anywhere; it will be waiting for me when I get back to California.

Hey, good news: Loni from high school had her baby Friday 13th! No photos yet, though. I thought that was the last (for now) of my pregant friends, but just found out about another one today.

More good news: the meeting just ended! See you later, I have 7 dates for dinner!

Today's Views from my Balcony

Don't have anything special to say, just thought I'd share.