Diarist.net

Sunday,
November 26, 2000

Well, it's "official." Sort of. Florida Secretary of State, Katherine Harris, has fulfilled her obligation to La Familia Bush by certifying George W. as President-Elect. I guess she'll be getting that promised appointment of Ambassador to France ("Harris in Paris") after all. Meanwhile the vote recount continues...

And of course, I just couldn't resist commemorating this occasion with a bit of Photoshop dabbling. I hate sullying the image of Bert Lahr's beloved Cowardly Lion -- but I just couldn't resist. So here it is. It's my panacea. Get used to it -- four years' worth (...or two, if we're lucky. Heh).

This fall has been murder on my sinuses. I've gone through two boxes of Sudafed in one month already. It took me all of last year to use up one box. The year before, same thing. We had El Niño first, then La Niña -- I have no idea what we're going through now in California. All I know is I've got a ton of pressure clamped to the bridge of my nose every other day. I'll wake up in the middle of the night with one nostril completely stopped up. Yargh. So I stumble in the dark, grope for my box of Sudafed, pry open the foil with a fingernail, cursing under my breath as I drop a capsule, grope around the carpet for it. Then, with capsules in hand, stub my toe on the way to the bathroom for water. Then wait twenty minutes for the stuff to clear my air passages.

I've always had sinus problems but it seemed, for a couple of years anyway, that I'd won some sort of reprieve from the pressure. Now, it's baaaaack! And worse than ever. Even as I'm typing this, I can feel the pressure building along the sides of nose. I've already taken a dose this morning -- looks like I'll be needing another one in a few minutes. I've even started carrying a box of Sudafed with me in my hand bag where ever I go. Jeebus! Even my mom's been having sinus pressure -- and she's never had sinus problems before. She thought that she was coming down with one cold after another. I told her that it was sinuses after all. I advised her to get Sudafed -- and welcomed her into the "club."

Now that I'm not currently working in an office during the holidays, I'm no longer exposed to sweets of a chocolate nature and other high-caloric delights. For the last four years I've worked in the Marketing department of two brokerage firms. The keyword is: Marketing. Yes, kiddies, that means many, many gift baskets received during the holidays from insurance and mutual fund companies hoping to sway us with goodies and sweets. We're talking chocolate (milk, dark, white etc), gourmet popcorn, salami, cheese, crackers, more chocolate, caramels, even bagels and cream cheese! Lots and lots of goodies -- a literal buffet of caloric splendor. And of course, it's hard to resist when it's piling up in the empy cubicle next to yours. Oh yes. This begins just before Thanksgiving, and ends just after New Years. Lots of STUFF! SWEET STUFF!

But this season, it's just me. And who knows -- if I can get mostly contract work and telecommute, I won't have to worry about that avalanche of goodies...ever. Believe me, I don't miss it. Although I do miss an ex-coworker's mother's homemade peanut brittle...

I've been thinking of ideas for my Web portfolio site. I've only got a bare shell up -- and a bit of Flash animation for now. I've just registered a domain name, annehutchinswebdesign.com -- but I'm only "parking" it at Dreamhost.com for the moment. It'll be awhile before I can afford to have it hosted (I'm not using @Home's Webspace server for this domain -- it's not particulary reliable). So for now, it'll be on Tripod.com -- along with the annoying advertising banners.

This page webbed by Anne Hutchins. Yes I did it myself. Honest. Copyright © 2000. All rights reserved.