- I've been battling a raging ear infection since Saturday. It came on very quickly with none of the preceding factors usually associated with ear infections: runny noses, sore throats, achy joints. One minute I was fine. The next, my ear was throbbing. Sunday morning, I awoke after a very fitful night of rest and made my way to Wal-mart (note to self: need to do shopping at 6 am. Store is empty of idiots and cashiers seem smarter) to buy some hydrogen peroxide to ease the pain. The pain was lifted for a while, but of course I was too sick to go to church, so I had to stay home, in bed, while Wade and Josh went. Luckily, I wasn't too sick to enjoy dinner at the in-laws. The best of both worlds. In any case, I was holding out going to the doctor's until today, because I already had a regularly scheduled appointment with the OB and I figured if I needed antibiotics, she'd be able to write me a prescription and I'd save my $40 InstaCare co-pay. I researched some more on the internet and found vinegar to also be a viable remedy. The pain has subsided quite a bit and the ear is only a little tender. However, while at the doctor's office today, I did ask her about it. Her response--and in her defense, she is a OB/GYN and not a family practitioner--was to get on the internet and look up ear infections...like I did on Saturday. We came to the same conclusion that vinegar would be the best solution to my ailment. And that, my friends, is why I have resorted to using the internet as my primary care physician unless (a) I need help extracting something out of my body (b) I'm bleeding (c) the internet tells me to go straight to the emergency room. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200 (one has to be careful when abiding by this rule because if you search hard enough every symptom will have at least one posting urging you to call 911).
(as a sidenote, I would like the record to show that I would never resort to using the internet as my child's preferred physician. If it were Josh in agony with an earache on Saturday night, I would've gladly given my left leg (I need the right one to drive) to have his pain eased by caring and loving doctors at the InstaCare 40 minutes from home and I even would've waited in line at the Walgreen's pharamacy to have his prescription filled before heading back home.)
- When researching viable remedies to common ailments, there are a lot of forums to wade through. Clearly it would be optimal if there was a website that was backed by the AMA listing at-home remedies that actually worked, but I see the illogicities in this. Who would fill the emergency rooms and doctor offices? However, when a question is posted such as "Does anyone know if __________ will help my _________?" It doesn't help anyone--poster, researcher, medical student--if you respond by saying: "I don't know. I've never tried it." Do we care that 1.5 billion people have never heard of this particular remedy before? Do we care that YOU haven't tried it? No! We don't. We only care about those people who have tried it and whether it failed for them or not. Who are these people that have the time to troll sites and insert that they haven't tried a particular solution?
- There needs to be a revamp in how elections are run here in the United States. There should be some other requirements besides being a U.S. citizen and over the age of 18. Maybe that you can match the name of the candidate with their picture. Or that you know the capital of your home state. Something to weed out the truly moronic people from upsetting the balance.
- Speaking of election time--and I could wax on and on about this, so I'll try to keep it short--just because you get paid an obscene amount of money to act like someone/something else doesn't give you the credentials to be stumping for either side of the fence. I know no more about you then my neighbor, but at least he has something intelligent to say. I'm not paying $8 for a movie ticket because I care about your political views. You aren't paying me because you like mine. So let's keep it that way. You do your job and I'll do mine and we'll both do our research and vote for the candidate that we feel represents us the best. Go Mickey Mouse!
- Next football season, we are so getting cable!
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