Cough up

So today I finally gave in and went to see a doctor. I haven't seen one here before on my own account, so of course I had to go through the whole 'Who's your insurance provider?' routine, with four pages of forms to fill out mostly making sure I'd pay up. As a child of the NHS I find that so off-putting, it almost feels as if they're frisking you for your wallet before they'll deign to ask what's wrong with you.

Anyway. Apparently I have strep throat, which my research tells me is not identical to tonsillitis (though the same research doesn't tell me how it's different). I'm now on antibiotics and should be feeling fine again very soon. Hooray.

This seems like a good opportunity to invite 'Doctor, doctor' jokes, should you wish to share them.

Fielding a suggestion

Another day feeling sorry for myself whenever I've tried to swallow. Ho hum.

I re-read Helen Fielding's Cause Celeb today. It's our next book group read - my suggestion. It was written before Bridget Jones' Diary and is thematically a bit more substantial, being about famine and celebrity fundraising, yet still pretty funny - somehow Fielding pulls that off, and I admire her for it (she fails completely to pull off terrorism-comedy in her Olivia Joules book, that one's awful). I don't know what American readers in the book group (ie everyone else) will make of it - it's riddled with British references which will be completely lost on them. We shall see...

Realty check

I spent most of today in bed with a throat infection. Darn it!

The Man snapped this recently somewhere in Massachussets. So there you go.

A walk in the woods

The Man writes...here is a view of Mount Greylock. I was part of an Anglo-American team that conquered this mighty 3491 foot peak on Sunday.

Note there are lots of trees.


Here is a typical view on the 2 hour ascent. Trees of course. At the risk of showing my ignorance, why is it that a 3000 foot peak here is covered in trees, right up to the very summit (where in this case the trees have been conveniently felled to make a large car park) whereas a similar peak in the UK would be almost completely bare? Is it because all the trees in Britain have been cleared? Is it the latitude? Soil? Wind?

The 2000 mile long Appalachian Trail passes over the summit, and the views are supposed to encompass five states. However, on this Veterans Day, or Remembrance Day in the UK, it is appropriate to highlight the summit's most prominent feature: the 90 foot Veterans War Memorial Tower.

Dumpster dining

Today I helped chop fruit and veg for 'Food Not Bombs', a loose affiliation of peaceful types who set out to feed people (rather than bombing them, I guess). I've been introduced to the Albany wing by Exile #2. The produce in question came from a supermarket, and it was all stuff that would otherwise have been thrown out. We chopped enough apples, bananas, lettuce, pepper, squash etc to feed at least thirty people. Some of it was a bit bruised, but otherwise perfectly good.

It certainly gave me pause. A single day's 'waste' from one supermarket turned into so many healthy meals.

I also thought it could make a great consciousness-raising cooking reality show - every week present different celebrity chefs with a large quantity of very ripe veggies and challenge them to prepare a gourmet dinner for homeless people. Anyone out there friends with Jamie Oliver?

Another thing that happened today - I was the victim of a drive-by salvationist. Well, a walk-by one, anyway. A plain-clothes minister somehow got me in conversation outside Target, and before I knew what was happening he had me politely reciting a Bible text. 'There you go!' he said, looking very pleased with himself, 'Now you're saved!'

I'm sure there are some of you reading this who can confirm my hunch that there should be a bit more to it than that. I got on with buying sewing machine needles in JoAnne's, feeling none the holier.

Location, location, location

Recently I've been doing a counted cross-stitch embroidery. This is more occupational therapy than creative expression - it's really just stitching-by-numbers - but at least it's the sort of undemanding thing you can get on with while playing Monopoly with the Boy. Which is what I was doing this morning.

It's been another one of those days when blogs intersect. The Man set off first thing with the Exile and other work-related friends to hike up Mount Greylock, the highest mountain in Massachusetts. Here's the view from the top.

That just left me and the Boy, since the Girl was away at her sleepover.

Our Monopoly set is actually 'Albany in a Box', which becomes more fun as I grow more familiar with the area. The Boy and I competed fiercely for my favourite landmark, Nipper (even though it's the equivalent of Whitechapel on the London board), but when the Boy decided to buy the much more prestigious Historic Cherry Hill (the equivalent of Piccadilly, amazingly) I told him he was welcome to it.

We eventually collected the Girl, and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with the Exile's abandoned family. A good time was had by all.

Playdates and Ping-pong

A busy day of playdates for both children, then this evening we took the Girl over to a friend's for a sleepover and were invited to stay for a party. The hosts and all the other guests were Indian, and we were lucky enough to share in a vast sub-continental vegetarian feast. The Man was then soundly beaten at table-tennis by someone significantly older than himself, who could also do headstands.

The Boy was reluctant to be taken home, but once here crawled eagerly into bed. I think I'll soon do the same.