My ears are clearing up a little. Finally. The right one still has some occasional issues but I go through parts of the day where I have my good old hearing skills back. Wow, has this whole thing been really annoying.

I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!

Grrr ... My ears are so plugged right now. Actually, they aren't plugged. They are the opposite of plugged. There is a vacuum between my eustachian tube and my ear drum (Figure 1). I feel like my voice is trapped inside my head. Sweet Lord, why won't my ears pop!? It has been this way for 6 days and I need some relief so I am asking for suggestions. Don't suggest Sudafed or guaifenesin (Mucinex) - been there, tried that, no luck.

Figure 1.

Here is something totally random, but made me chuckle just now. I am at the computer at my Kechi weekend vacation home (sounds better when I talk about my dual life like that) and I see a CD titled "Yeast Movies" near the keyboard. What could be more exciting? I was thinking of going to Quantum of Solace tonight, but maybe I will just stay in and watch "Yeast Movies" with my lover. Yep, nothin' says lovin' like yeast.

Sarah Palin

My friend, Ingrid, sent me this fun little link to a site that imagines Sarah Palin as president. If you move your cursor over certain parts of the screen and click on things Sarah makes comments or there is a visual effect.

While in Virginia

Last week I was in Alexandria, Virginia (just south of Washington, DC) for a work seminar about federal laws and archaeology. It was pretty much a repeat of a class I took my last semester at WSU, butstill a good experience because hearing that information a second time around only helps it stay implanted in my head. I understood the material a lot better this time around too.

I have two side note stories about things that happened to me while I was in VA. The first day, when I got to the motel in the evening I got bored so I decided to check out the motel fitness room. I was on the treadmill when this lady came in and got on a machine next to me. She kept making out-of-breath noises that sounded uncomfortably sexual. We were watching the TV in the fitness room and a political commercial came on. All of a sudden the lady blurted out "You're voting for Obama, right?" I was really taken aback by her boldness so the first thing that came out of my mouth was "uh" and then she blurted right in with "You're not? Are you still undecided?! I can't believe it." Woah, lady, lay off!! I assured her that I was going to vote for Obama and I was even going to do it early because I could not on Tuesday.

The next thing we started talking about was breast implants. I'm serious. We were watching Samantha Who? with Christina Applegate, who recently had a masectomy. This lady (who, by the way was from LA, blond, thin, and had large breasts) said she thought Applegate probably got breast implants. Then she told me that she just got saline implants. She was so excited to inform me that she went from a 36 C, which is big in my opinion, to some DD size, which is just excessive. I did not even ask her why she did it, but she proceeded to tell me that she just had to. "I'm 40, I had to," she said. "If you live in LA or Florida, you just have to. Everyone does." I really did not want to get into an argument with random lady on an elliptical machine so I just nodded my head in agreement.

The second story involves an interaction with a homeless guy in a restaurant. After the seminar got over one day I got supper at this cafeteria-style place and sat down at a window bar to eat and read through a report for work. After a while, a homeless man sat next to me. He started talking to me. That was fine, except for the fact that he just went on and on. Finally, I got a phone call and answered (thanks for calling Mom!). While I was on the phone I noticed what he was eating. Because this was a cafeteria they had a drinks and condiments section. The man, named Fox, got a cup of hot water and pulled out a packet of oatmeal from his coat pocket. Then he went up to get little tiny pieces of free bread and packets of jelly and peanut butter. He made mini peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches. How creative. He even offered me one ... but I declined.

I should also mention that I got to see Kristine for a night and we had a wonderful time eating Greek food, going on a haunted house walking tour and drinking wine. What a gracious hostess. She let me try her homeade apple pie. Well, it was all wonderful until she realized some of her credit cards were missing. I hope that badness has been rectified since last week.