Talked to the boss. She's being very nice. I don't know if I'll be docked or not, but she definitely doesn't expect me to come in when I'm this sick. So it's looking like I may be back on Thursday. Maybe.

Laga, thanks, but you and ND should still get together. My sick doesn't need to hold you two back.

It can be really bad Kristen. I had it, well I had bronchitis and didn't take care of myself and then had pnemounia. I was sick for a month, just about, and then I went back to work right away and nearly passed out and had to spend another bit of time recovering.

So take care of yourself now so it doesn't linger.

Kristin, does your school offer short-term disability for being sick more than five days in a row?

You know, my workplace is finally looking up. We did the 'Yay Change!' seminar last week, complete with beanbags and teambuilding exercises that saw me escaping the room whenever possible. And we designed our corporate culture through the reliable process of 80-person committee (we favour achievement! Who knew?). But you will be happy to know that our organisation is not just a carbon copy of every other passionate t shudder , client-driven, teamwork-lovin', communication-communicatin' corporate structure out there. For in my section, this change process is now known as Operation Carnivorous Duck.

KT, glad to hear boss is cool, as I suspected.

So, chiming in (sort of) with all this hair talk - anyone got any advice wrt hair loss? 'Cause the damn stuff is falling out. It's SCARILY thin by this point - I mean, after The Great Scary Hairloss Scare some six years or so ago it's never gone back to its original masses-of-hair-that-breaks-hairbrushes-on-a-regular-basis thickness, but it's been okay. But now it's getting thinner AGAIN, and while I don't THINK it's yet obvious to other people...it's getting there too damn fast. I don't dare colour it again - nervous that there's a link after all, since it's only this year I've gone back to colouring it, so now the roots will just have to grow back in. But I'd be grateful for any suggestions for products/dietary supplements people have experience with?

Because, really, I'm not relishing the prospect of bald.

If it happens, I'll get a selection of interesting wigs, and make it be a Thing - but, really, would so much rather just have my hair.

t /gloomy

I have a $50 Amazon gift certificate that I got for earning points on my credit card. I'm trying to decide how responsible I should be with it. There's very responsible: buy in bulk some food stuff I use a lot of. Very irresponsible: pretty hardcover edition of books I already own in paperback. Middle level of responsibility: Pyrex storage containers, or half the cost of a sewing machine.

I've already made a resolution not to buy any new books until I finish my to-be-read pile, so no books unless I need a textbook or something, which I currently don't. I could buy some cooking stuff -- I need a new frying pan, and I've been thinking about getting a cast-iron griddle, but oddly, my iron level is high, so I ought to hold off on that. (My blood tests have just been confusing my doctors lately. Vegetarian, no eggs, not much milk, and yet my iron and calcium levels are both too high.)

Fay, unless there's female pattern baldness in your family I don't think you need to worry too much.

Hair does thin out as people get older. I think you're just used to it being So Thick that it's frightening that it's getting towards the median. But unless you have actual bald patches it's probably just normal attrition.

Didn't a very similar conversation happen here recently?

Aren't prenatal vitamins supposed to make your hair super?