May 10, 2004

    I would be playing some computer game right now, if not for the fact that I feel too tired and miserable and sick to do so.  Or, at least, to do so with any level of skill.   I felt the ominous proto-sore-throat feelings yesterday morning, but ignored them.  Now, it seems fairly certain that I've come down with strep...again. I'm going to the doctor's tomorrow anyway, so I'll see if I can have one of those nifty throat swabs done to confirm it. 

    It's one of those things that seems to happen just to piss you off.  I've been eating better, doing yoga, walking regularly, working out stress issues, drinking lots of water, and minimizing my (ergonomically bad) computer time.  And what do I get for it?  Repeated bouts of strep throat, a fungal throat infection, and abnormally annoying hay fever.  I've already dealt with the annoying side affects of ten days of penicillin, and I don't want to do it again.  Actually, I'm not even done with my penicillin regiment-- I have one pill left.  So far I've dealt with this by accusing Shorn of being a nonsystematic carrier, and re-infecting me.  So far that tactic has gotten me nothing, except for a husband who refuses to kiss me.  There must be a better way.

    On a brighter note, I have a very educational day.  I spent most of it touring Rossmoor condos and co-ops with my mother, which was a lot more enjoyable than I ever imagined it could be.  Rossmoor.  It blows the mind.  If you've lived in Contra Costa, you know what I mean.

    But, it was a good day, overall.  My mom likes the co-ops, and the place actually is pretty.  My mom could do her water aerobics, and my dad could have a plot in the community garden, and they could be happy little old people in the happy little old people village.  They could even buy a golf cart.  The bad part about the co-ops is that they are cash only, so my parents would have to take the full purchase price out of the equity of the house.  The good news is that start at $120,000. And my parents would have no mortgage payments--only $700/month in homeowners and property tax.  So that would cut their monthly housing payment in half.  And Shorn and I would get whatever cash was leftover from the sale of the house to put towards our own little happy shack.

    The first test of feasibility comes tomorrow when Mom takes Dad to see some of the places we saw today.  I think Dad will like them, but I'm not entirely sure.  He's remarkably unpredictable in his reaction to such things, and he doesn't usually voice his concerns until later.  So, tomorrow I'll find out. 

    So if anybody has any insight into co-ops or strep throat, let me know.  It would be nice to actually make some sense of these things.