I'm Dappled And Drowsy And Ready To Sleep

Seriously?! I just spent the last 20 minutes on a rather long and somewhat rambling post, and it just disappeared. All of it. GRRRRRR!!!! So here are some more musings for your reading pleasure, or not. Whatever. Here's the gist of what was lost: you're getting the Reader's Digest version, because I can't be bothered to retype it. Benji has RSV. I'm feeling pretty guilty about that, because I didn't think it was that bad and I didn't think we needed to take him to the doctor earlier and/or keep him away from other kiddos. I'm really sorry if his cousins get sick--you can blame it on me. We'll try to keep him under wraps for the next couple of weeks, until he gets better. Blech. I'm at work right now, and I wish I could go home. I'm supposed to be working full-time, but I haven't done that for a few weeks (since the beginning of this whole flu/pneumonia/RSV crap that has hit my little family). I usually work 3x12-hour shifts during the week, but I have been called off a few times and I have left early a few times. I need to stay, however tempting it is to go home. You know the 'Earth Hour' thing that happened last Saturday? Well, we went out with some friends, and on our way out the door, Allen made sure that all of our lights (and the TV) were left on. He says that more energy would be wasted with the ramping down and ramping up of the power grids than what would be used normally. I don't know if he's right or not; he has a tendency to exaggerate sometimes (e.g., the other day he said he knows more about medications than most doctors. Uh, sure babe. The things he does to prove that he's a non-conformist just make me shake my head sometimes. Allen is quite a fan of Glenn Beck; not only does he download the radio show, but he watches Glenn's webcam to make sure he doesn't miss anything during the commercial breaks. Glenn has started this movement/rally thing called "We Surround Them," that is an attempt to give power back to the people. Allen even took Benji to a rally here in SLC a couple of weeks ago (I was at work at the time, or the boy wouldn't have gone! Maybe I can blame the RSV on Glenn Beck!). I think it's a good thing that some people are trying to stand up to the government, to let politicians know that it's not okay for this government to turn this country into a socialist society. I don't think that any one person is to blame for the economic derailment, but all of these bailouts and take-overs and stimulus plans are just very expensive band-aids for a problem that needs surgery. The malignant companies and cancerous loans need to be removed. Everything looks okay from the outside, but the heart and soul of this nation are being eaten away. It's going to be painful--some companies, even big ones, will have to fail, and the recovery will be long and arduous. But unless we get rid of the offending disease, the whole organism will die. The United States will crumble. I believe we can overcome this. I believe that there are good intentions behind the bail-out packages, but there are too many people trying to fix things. President Obama is the surgeon, and I think he would do a good job if so many people weren't telling him what to do. Unfortunately, Obama is still very new, like a first-year resident fresh out of medical school; he just won't know how to deal with certain situations. He has plenty of book smarts, and of course he's relying on other, more knowledgeable physicians to help diagnose and treat the problem(s). It's like bringing in 20 consulting physicians to manage a very complicated patient: Geithner says this, Bernanke says that, Pelosi says something else. I can only take this metaphor so far, but I think the patient is so complicated, the humane thing to do would be to let him die. Since we can't do that, it's just going to be a very long road to recovery. I'm glad my mother is in good medical hands. She has been diagnosed with a pituitary tumor, which will need to be removed surgically. The pituitary is right in the middle of the brain, and the surgeon has to go through the nose to excise it. It is scary, but she'll be having her surgery at my hospital, so I can control a few factors--her anesthesiologist, her nurses, etc. I trust (most of) the people I work with, and she will receive excellent care here. Even so, we'd appreciate your prayers in the meantime. Most everyone says she'll be fine. Let's hope Heavenly Father agrees.