These are the things Dennis Lehane has taught me.

Just had to spend the morning crawling around under my desk to get my headset plugged back in. They had to swap out my UPS and didn't seem to realize they shouldn't have plugs left over. Equipment plugs are not like screws, people! Left overs are even more bad! And now my headset is beeping in my ear because the charge is low, and I'm going to be playing "How soon till the damned things dies and I have to grab the headset off the phone and tuck it uncomfortably between my head and shoulder while I troubleshoot.?"

And there are loads of nice areas in Dorchester! My sister bought a condo in Dot and my mother was like DORCHESTER??!? but her immediate neighborhood is actually kind of suburban, and even the walk to the T is not bad.

Oh yeah, 100% that. Tons of nice areas of Dot. It just doesn't go the other way -- it's not like there are bad pockets of Beacon Hill.

I am trying to pay an invoice for carpet-cleaning on our house in Washington, but the invoice doesn't have a mailing address for me to send a check to. That's insane, right?

Also, I don't know what I want for lunch.

I would like a tuna sandwich from Panera Bread, so maybe you could have that for me, Dana.

And no address is definitely weird.

it's not like there are bad pockets of Beacon Hill

I'm picturing a very proper Brahmin gang now.

I'm waiting for my sister to come out of surgery. She's getting one of the previous wounds cleaned out. Any work-this-time~ma would be appreciated.

Lots of ~ma for your sister, Burrell.

My doctor has scheduled me for an epidural tomorrow, in order to relax the muscles in my neck & shoulder. They're visibly cramped and not a small part of the sometimes quite intense pain.

I'd cross my fingers, but I'm trying to relax.

My pain psychologist recommended neurofeedback, which I've nothing against trying, since I'd done some of it before for the migraines, and it might have been going somewhere. The evaluation consultation consisted of her explaining neurofeedback (which I told her I already understood from a patient's point of view) and a sales video, and me not asking her any questions, and her telling me that a) it takes at least two sessions a week, but more is better b) it costs $140 per session c) insurance doesn't usually cover it, and then me saying goodbye.

Progress is measured in blocks of 20 appointments! No dipping your toe in on this one. So, nice idea, but not simple to implement. Plus I need to look up this EEG Info application.

That's nuts, ita. Who could afford that?