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250 Silly stuff because why not?

2/15/2023

The other day, I was just glancing through some of the stuff I have collected for possible use in these posts and found several which don’t really seem to fit any obvious theme or have any especially thought-provoking qualities, but just struck me as amusing. That being the case, I thought I’d do a post about the sort of odd stuff that had struck me as silly. Why not? It’s MY blog, after all. I hope at least some other people find these items somewhat amusing, as I did. So, anyway, here’s some odds and ends just because they seemed funny to my weird sense of humor.

I don’t much care for the “Elf on the Shelf” idea, products, or books. They’ve always struck me as rather petty, somewhat mean, and not really great parenting, so I got a big laugh when I found this, especially since I’ve always been something of a “cat” person and this cat looks a bit like our Bellatrix.

Speaking of being a “mean” parent, how’s this for at least borderline holiday cruelty?

Okay, I’m no smarter than most people, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate good advice. This comment from “Vince the Sign Guy,” for example, seemed worth a repeat.

Another comment which is (perhaps) worthy of consideration is the following…

As people who know me are aware, I spent my career attempting to teach my students something about good design and trying to be the best scenic and lighting designer I could be. I never pretended to be great, although I think I did have some reasonable successes, which IMHO makes me qualified to agree with the caption I saw for this picture suggesting that, “Design IS Dead!” After all, if it weren’t, shouldn’t there be at least SOME reasonably obvious distinctions between SUVs from different manufacturers? I find this wonderfully silly (if also a bit depressing).

Leaving the automotive industry to try to find a way to convince us that there really IS a difference between brands aside, I’m left with another “question of importance” to ponder. Cooking, food, and cleanup seem to be major sources of amusement, frustration, and other forms of silliness for many people, so here are a couple of at least vaguely cooking-related things.

Then, there’s also…

Okay, I’ll admit it. I LIKE puns. I know that many people would say this was a BAD thing, but I do, anyway. If you don’t care for them, I don’t care! Get over it. I think they’re funny!

This, next, one isn’t a pun (you may be glad to discover), and I hasten to admit that I’ve never been THIS much of a disaster in the kitchen, although I have never really claimed to be a suitable “chef” for anyone except myself. Still, I did think this was appropriately silly.

Okay, that’s at least enough of that sort of thing. Being a practitioner of “Nothing exceeds like excess,” however, I won’t stop without a Shakespeare-related comment. I confess that I may be at least occasionally guilty of falling into this trap, but that’s the price I have to pay for the hours of pleasure Will has given me.

I expect to be back in a couple of weeks. Consider yourself warned! Of course, there’s always the chance that I MIGHT make better sense next time! Want to bet?

🖖🏼 LLAP,

Dr. B

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
— Nelson Mandela

“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic; capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.”
― Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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249 Health Stuff! Ick!

2/1/2023

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Well, it’s been an interesting last couple of weeks. On Tuesday, January 17th, I had a tooth which the dentist said should come out, extracted. It all seemed routine, except that I felt a bit crummy the rest of that day, so I, basically, spent it in bed. The next day, I felt a good deal better, so I posted my blog #248 and got on with my life. It seemed wise for me to inform my “Knee guy” about the extraction, however, as there had been what the dentist called a “minor” infection, and joint replacements and infections don’t get along well, I’m told. (Who knew?) The knee guy put me on an antibiotic (just in case) but, that took until Thursday to get started. By then, there was no question to me that I was sick, but I still figured it was a reaction to the extraction and the antibiotic. However, by late that day, Bonnie was quite sick. So, we both took at-home COVID tests and both of us were positive.

So, in spite of RINO assurances that “It’s really all over.”, and the full dose of vaccines and boosters, we got COVID. That means that we probably were exposed the previous weekend when we had our couples’ dinner group, I had my Sherlock meeting, Bonnie went to thing Sat. afternoon, and we went to a Symphony concert that evening. This has led to various health-related complications, especially for me, as I WAS going to have my RIGHT knee replaced in mid-February, (now been postponed until mid-April). However, we are both feeling better now and I don’t doubt that the worst is behind us. I’ve been eating almost nothing, so I have lost close to 20 lbs, but I don’t suggest this as a weight-loss program. I’m tired of not having any appetite, nor energy. I do believe that I (WE) are essentially well, but it has been pretty quiet around here for longer than I would like.

Things MUST be improving, however, as I have actually started reading again and felt like working on this blog post today (Wed., Feb 1). AND se are both starting to eat something like “real,” normal meals, which I take as a good sign. I mean, I like Jello, but it’s not very exciting after several days.

In any event, all of this thinking about health and doctor-related stuff suggested to me that I look at my file of Health-related cartoons to see what I’ve have squirreled away on those sorts of topics. Here’s some of what I found…

Of course, the whole reason I was planning the knee surgery in the first place might have been alleviated if I had simply paid more attention to my friend, The Wizard of Id. On the other hand, I’m not sure that a doctor isn’t preferable to a mechanic to actually do the work, even if the basic idea IS somewhat similar.

Of course, the mechanic MIGHT be a less expensive way to go, although I’m happy to say that the USA is getting closer to actually achieving affordable health care, at least in parts of the country. The real problem, though, doesn’t just seem to be affordability (which most other civilized countries have solved), but access, which it seems that a privatized, for-profit health system does not appear likely to really consider dealing with adequately.

At least we haven’t yet gotten to THIS sort of thing being seriously considered, I don’t think.

I admit that I do consider myself lucky to actually have good health care available at a cost which I am fortunate enough to be able to afford because I live in an area which has TWO major medical schools and several specialty hospitals, etc., etc., etc. AND, I have (with lots of fingers crossed) both Medicare and supplemental insurance as a part of my retirement. I’m not rich, but I am better off in this regard than a great many people.

Still, I do try to make some efforts to not totally ignore doing things which would contribute to continued generally acceptable health. For example,

And, when one of my doctors prescribes something, I DO make an effort to take it as prescribed and to have some awareness of what I am taking, why, and how to take it properly. I don’t think Bonnie has ever had to call me out as Edna does to Earl in this case, because she knows that I have at least some sense of what I am doing and when.

I’ve even been known to make some efforts to follow what seemed like reasonable instructions during the recent (and ongoing) period of COVID, although I will acknowledge that I’m not completely sold on the product advertised below on the website of the Royal National Theatre in London.

I also think that it’s unlikely that the my doctor at OrthoNebraska is likely to follow the suggestion of Wiley in this Non Sequitur strip and rely on the latest advancement in Anesthesiology. I’ll confess that this approach MIGHT actually work, but I think I would prefer not to be the one to test it.

Still, my previous experience with my left knee strongly suggests that I will, almost certainly, be prescribed a limited supply of the “good” drugs for the period immediately following surgery. It’s what happened last time, so it seems likely that it’s going to happen again. I will also state that I stopped taking that stuff as quickly as I felt I could stand it and did NOT finish out the prescription. I don’t claim any special virtue for that, I just know enough to know that I really do NOT want that stuff in me any longer than is medically necessary for control of the situation. I’ve never really liked the idea that

I fully expect to return in a couple of weeks with some sort of posting of odds and ends which have struck me as (potentially) amusing, or at least of some possible interest. That doesn’t seem like it ought to be too hard to do, since the national and international news all seems to be focused on how Fascist oligarchs are taking their rightful places as the leaders of the world, since the democracies are failing because they have the temerity to think that “people is peoples” and the world MIGHT function better of we tried to create a society where the most important concept wasn’t always “What’s in it for me?”

Yeah, I know, I’m a liberal dreamer. Funny thing is, though, most of the people civilized society SAYS it admires most seem to be such people. I guess we’re all supposed to just know that happiness is a “zero-sum” game, so, in order for me to be happy, I have to make sure that I get YOUR share, too. Seems like a pretty crummy way to live. I wonder if that notion could be challenged? Time will tell, I suppose….

In the meantime, I’ll be back in a couple of weeks. Hopefully, I’ll be healthier, perhaps I’ll even be happier. I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see.

Take care of yourself and be good (or at least, careful).

🖖🏼 LLAP,

Dr. B

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”
— Nelson Mandela

“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic; capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.” ― Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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250 Silly stuff because why not?

249 Health Stuff! Ick!

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