Vaguely related to Aimee's Em and Susan's AB and therefore topical (as if anything isn't topical, but it made me giggle to see it juxtiposed)

Hey, man, where are my pants? I have my hippo dignity!

popped up in the corner while I was reading about her refusal to wear pants.

Loving the stories of homecooked foods. Now, who wants to come over here and cook for me? For I am meara or she is me. I like to cook, yet I so very rarely do.

In meme news, I tried to call the military finance center in Cleveland to get a copy of my W2, only to get a message saying the wait time was 23 minutes. Fuck that. I'm considering sending in a copy of last years W2 and telling the tax folk, hey, it never changes, it's the same amount every year and since those incompetent jerks have done this to me three times now, you go scream at them for not sending me a W2. I got better things to do.

Brought to you by the letters F and U.

t /crankypants

I was catching up on my reading of eWeek, and lo and behold who should show up but our own Jilli.

zooms to the office copy of eWeek.

Feb 18th issue.

OKay, I have a fairly bizarre question that I would like y'all's opinion on. I'm feeling crappy this morning, including chills and headache, so I took my temperature: 98.3. A few days ago I was feeling not quite so crappy as today and my temperature was 97.9. Am I running a fever?

If you are, it's not a dangerous level, yet.

I know some people run cooler than average.

Either that or you were in a hypothermic state for a bit.

Or maybe now you are burning off a low grade infection. Maybe even a sinus infection, thus the headache.

My sinuses have been killing me all week. Slight fever = yay, immune system working? or go see dr. about antibiotics?

Thanks for the reassurance. I know my normal body temperature is lower than average, but I don't know what it actually is. I should write it down next time I am healthy.

-t, do you know what temp you run when not sick? If you usually run low, and your temp is now up by a couple of degrees, then you've got a fever. If you usually run 98.ish and it's a bit low, then you perhaps what you really need is to eat some carbs, because your body is low on fuel. There are other possible issues, I'm sure, but that's what I can think of.

I usually run 97-something, I think, so it's not much more than a degree high, if that. I'll have to remember to take my temperature when I'm not sick so I know for sure. Took some ibuprofin and will now go back to bed, I think.

-t, you should see a doctor and get the antibiotics. While it's true that your immune system might be working on the problem, it can be a long painful process because bacteria thrive in sinus cavities, especially if they're camping in that one sinus that drains only when you're upside-down. You'll be more comfortable more quickly if you blast them with a little Cipro.

My mother, a once upon a time nurse, used to correct us if we'd say we had a fever for anything less than 101 degrees. Below that she'd make us say, "I have an elevation in temperature." The brainwashing seems to have worked, because to this day I don't consider myself to have a fever unless I'm above that benchmark -- I might be sick, but I don't have a fever.

Jilli, have you seen these designs? [link] There is at least one other interesting outfit to look at if you scroll down some.

I tried to take my temperature this morning, only to find out that my digital thermometer had somehow converted itself to display only in Celsius. Since my brain was WAY too foggy to try and do that kind of math at 6:30 in the morning, I decided it didn't actually matter and I should just call in sick and go back to bed.