We Don't Live There, But Maybe We Should Pay Rent

 "Mom, this kitten stinks!"  Little Girl was holding the offending little guy with one hand and her nose with the other.

Well, i'm not sure why.  After all, he only plays in the litter box, i noted drily.

"Well, we're going to give him a bath," she said.

Be careful, i told her.

By we, she meant she and Bigger Girl.  About ten minutes later, the howls that emerged from upstairs let me know that someone hadn't been quite careful enough.

"Ow, ow, ow!"  Little Girl came yelling into the kitchen, blood dripping from her left hand.  Yes, she, like all 4 of my kids and my Sweetie, is a Southpaw.

"Well, he doesn't like the blow dryer," she said.  "Look!  He bit all the way through the nail!"

In fact, part of the nail had come off, and there was swelling under the nail that was left.

Okay, i told her, time to go to the mini ER across the highway.

"Do we have to?" she asked.

Remember me in the hospital?  You don't want to end up with an infection.  Pasteurella is no fun.

So i dug out her insurance card and off we went.  Through the familiar doors and into the waiting area, i smiled at the receptionist and told her it was good to see her again.

"Another emergency?" she asked as she made copies of the insurance card and my ID.

Maybe we should pay rent, i noted, as she laughed and handed me the paperwork.

The doctor agreed that we had done the right thing coming in.  "I have a feral cat at my house," he said.  "It's crazy, like all cats.  That's why people and cats get along so well, we are all crazy."

He was very talkative, and told of a neighbor cat that doesn't like the feral he feeds.  "The neighbor's cat bit my leg once because he smelled the feral cat on me.  Even I went on the antibiotic as a precaution.  Oh, and I'm just going to send it as an e-script so they will have it when you get there."

Discharge instructions were the usual, soak in Epsom salts a few times a day, keep it well swathed in antibiotic cream and take the meds as directed.

For once the pharmacy wasn't too busy.  They had just gotten the e-script and it was filled in under 10 minutes.  She was quite appalled when she saw the size of the pills she is going to have to swallow.  "Those things are huge!  I'll choke!" she sputtered.

No, you won't, i told her, you swallow pieces of food bigger than that.

"But these are pills!" she argued.  We managed to get one into her anyway, with me coaching her through not leaning her head back in an unnatural position to swallow.  That's where people go wrong and choke on pills, you have to swallow just as if it's another bit of food going down.

Back at home, i showed her where the Epsom is, how to mix it, and she put the antibiotic salve and bandage on it herself.  "School is not going to be fun, trying to write with my index finger hurting," she noted, and i sympathize.

Little Girl even got to go to the Youth Group meeting at church as usual, that's how quickly it was all over.  Now we just have to pray the antibiotic does its job.


Today is:

A&W Rootbeer Mug Day -- see if you can frost your mug like they did

Birth of Baha'u'llah -- Baha'i

Birth of Sun Yat-Sen, Doctors Day, and Cultural Renaissance Day -- Taiwan

Chicken Soup for the Soul Day -- "Changing the world, one story at a time."

Constitution Day -- Azerbaijan

Dia del Cartero -- Mexico (Postman's Day; postal carriers are shown appreciation with small gifts left in mailboxes)

Heir to the Throne Day -- Tuvalu (Prince of Wales' Birthday celebration)

Journee Nationale Maore -- Comoros (Admission to the UN Day)

Khalkeia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival of smiths, associated with Hephaestus and Athena; date approximate)

National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week -- US (remembering those who have little or nothing during the upcoming holiday celebrations, and making time to share our bounty with them)

National Young Readers' Week -- sponsored by the BookIt! Program

National Pizza with the Works Except Anchovies Day

National Youth Day -- East Timor

St. Emillian's Day (Patron of Spain, finding lost objects)

St. Josaphat's Day (Patron of Edmonton, Alberta; Toronto, Ontario; Ukraine)

Tewa Buffalo Dance -- Native American Tewa of the Tesuque Pueblo rites on the feast day of their Patron, San Diego, to honor Mother Earth, Father Sky, the four directions, and the elements; through the 15th

Triple Crown of Surfing -- Oahu, HI, US (3 separate events, through Dec. 20)

Veterans Day -- US (obs.)


Anniversaries Today:

The Arches National Park established, 1971


Birthdays Today:

Sammy Sosa, 1968
Michael Moorer, 1967
David Schwimmer, 1966
Nadia Comaneci, 1961
Neil Young, 1945
Al Michaels, 1944
Wallace Shawn, 1943
Grace Kelly, 1929
Jo Stafford, 1918
Sun Yat-sen, 1866
Auguste Rodin, 1840
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1815


Today in History:

Tibetan troops occupy Chang'an, the capital of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, for fifteen days starting today, 764
Plymouth, England, becomes the first town incorporated by the English Parliament, 1439
Sir James Young Simpson, a British physician, is the first to use chloroform as an anaesthetic, 1847
Jules Leotard performs 1st Flying Trapeze circus act (Paris); he also designed garment that bears his name, 1859
World's Fair in Paris opens, 1900
The first movie stunt: man jumps into Hudson river from a burning balloon, 1910
Norway holds a referendum in favor of monarchy over republic, 1905
Robert Scott's diary and body are found in Antarctica, 1912
Austria becomes a republic, 1918
The first underwater tunnel, the Holland Tunnel connecting NY to NJ opens, 1927
The first photo of whatever is in Loch Ness is taken, 1933
Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia join the United Nations, 1956
Equatorial Guinea joins the United Nations, 1968
The Comoros joins the United Nations, 1975
The NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to Saturn and takes the first images of its rings, 1980
The Space Shuttle Columbia becomes the first time a manned spacecraft launched into space twice, 1981
Crown Prince Akihito is formally installed as Emperor Akihito of Japan, becoming the 125th Japanese monarch, 1990
Tim Berners-Lee publishes a formal proposal for the World Wide Web, 1990
Shanghai Transrapid sets up a new world speed record (501 kilometres per hour (311 mph)) for commercial railway systems, 2003
The Comparative Toxicogenomics Database is launched on the web and revolutionizes chemical-gene-disease information for research scientists, 2004