Thank you, amyth.

smonster, it sounds like he's trying to please you - nice dinner, something silver that's actually useful. So ... enjoy the dinner, the company, and use the wine stopper (you actually have wine left in the bottle? huh). I guess I'm saying enjoy the good and don't try to figure out what's going on in his mind.

What's going on in anyone else's mind is always a mystery and rarely what I expect it is. Todd's advice is sound.

sj, I would, if the assistant continues to be an ass-istant, call three days in a row: Hi, this is sj, logging the required second-day call to reach Dr. Wassname. Hi, this is sj, logging the required third-day call to reach Dr. Wassname. Having completed the hoop-jumping, I'll expect Dr. Wassname to get back to me today. Thank you for your assistance. Asshat.

But then I never claimed to be nice. Or logical. Or nice.

Beverly, I have done all that, minus the asshat. I am going to call back in a couple minutes. I'm not waiting until tomorrow.

sj! I'm surprised, I thought you were nicer than that!

Seriously, strip the hide off her. Nobody should bodyguard a doctor from his or her patients that much.

sj, keep pestering. That is urgent.

Yay, amyth! That's so awesome.

I know it wasn't mean to, but this made me laff a little.

Actually, it kind of was!

And those gifts mean commitment?

No. A wine stopper is something I would give as a hostess gift. It seems... a bit impersonal? Or it did, until I made sense of it.

Look, I don't hate it. It's pretty. It's useful. It has violent possibilities. I do love a fleur de lis.

I guess I'm saying enjoy the good and don't try to figure out what's going on in his mind.

I see the wisdom in this, and yet my personality is such that if I understand why he does a certain thing (like wait until the last minute to make plans, or cancel on me, or whatever) it reduces my stress and insecurity immensely. We have really, really different temperaments, so my logic is not his and vice versa about certain things.

Anyway. Enough of that. I do enjoy the good, for it is very, very good.

smonster, I hope we can do a birthday exchange or at the very least (this is more realistic) talk on the phone before I leave for France. Maybe we can make a phone date for this weekend?

sj! I'm surprised, I thought you were nicer than that!

Me? NSM. Although it is a common assumption.

I just called back. The assistant said, "Oh, I was just about to call you!" Ha! Anyway, she is now finally going to talk to my doctor, figure out if she wants to call in a new prescription or if I have to come back in (seriously?). She swears she will call me back today. If she doesn't, I swear heads will roll tomorrow.

amyth, yeah. send me a text or email and we'll figure out a good time for both of us.

Oh, sj, what a PITA for you. I hope that you do hear back quickly.

I'm here in Daniel's hospital room... we had lunch together, and he is now giving in to the pain meds given right before he ate (I had to wake him up a couple of times so he would not fall asleep in his cottage cheese). I am soooooooo glad I brought lots of fresh veggies (and some small containers of Ranch dip) and some roast turkey lunch meat. The broccoli salad they gave him was one that a coworker makes and is absolutely delightful, except she obviously does not work for the hospital food service. So it was something other than delightful. And I'm continually astounded that they consider the amounts of vegetables and protein they give him even remotely adequate for a large man who is fighting a massive infection. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't it take a fair bit of protein, among other things, to build white blood cells?

On the upside, Daniel tells me the doc said his leg is improving. It looks more icky, but I keep reminding myself it is just part of the process.