Iffy-ness

A short list of some iffy things:

• drinking milk five days after its best before date;
• the Canadian Government's decision to procure the F-35 Strike Fighter;
• Sidney Crosby;
• "Watch me put this hankie in my left nostril and pull it out my right one!"
• Gas prices;
• Being convinced to switch gas companies by some guy that showed up at your door with a clipboard;
• Frying eggs on a George Foreman Grill;
• Car salesmen;
• Insurance companies;
• Your doctor telling you this procedure will just feel like a mosquitoe bite;
• "Do these pants make my butt look big?"
• Texting while driving;
• "My wife/husband and I are seperated."
• "This will hurt me more than it will hurt you."

Ear Infections

At 43 I'm a bit old to be getting ear infections, but that's exactly what I ended up with last week.  Again.  I don't remember ever having one as a child, but then in my 20s, I was suddenly getting several every year.  Eventually I got referred to an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist who placed some tubes in my ears to ensure pressure between my ears was equalized and to provide drainage for fluids that would have otherwise accumulated behind my ear drum.  This helped, though I still suffer from the occasional ear infection, or just simple fluid build-up.

So, last Wednesday I awoke with the familiar pressure in my left ear, and it hurt.  My wife, Kate, had a couple of appointments at the hospital that day, so I couldn't go to a clinic until later that afternoon.  I was prescribed some anti-biotic pills and drops, but alas, they came too late.  Later that evening I felt the pain of my eardrum bursting along with the tell-tale bleeding from the ear.  Good thing I'm married, because I doubt the look would be very attractive to the opposite sex.  My left eardrum has "perforated" several time, with a concomitant decline in my hearing each time.  I'll probably be deaf in that ear by the time I'm 60.

So, for several days afterwards I was oozing some gelatinous goop.  I told my nine year-old that it looked like custard but that it sure didn't taste like custard.  That's one uptight little kid we have.  She found it no funnier later in the day when she asked if she could have a snack and I suggested a spot of ear custard.

Well, post-A-Z Challenge has left me scurrying about for topics.  I've read that when faced with writer's block, the best approach is to just write about any old thing at all.  Hopefully this will knock some more substantive topics loose for my next post.

A-Z Challenge Wrap-Up

This was indeed a challenge in many ways.  I planned and wrote many of my posts well in advance of April and I would recommend this approach to anyone thinking of signing up next year.  The last week and a bit was the hardest for me.  I began the week not having written any of the posts, largely because I struggled to come up with topics for "w", "x", "y" amd "z", and on the whole, I would say they were my weakest posts.  I'm also finding that the challenge has used up my store of ideas for posts and now I am scrambling around for something to write.  So, what can I do now?

Overall, though, the experience was positive.  Aside from some statistical benefits like getting more followers and a ton of page hits from A-Zers, I got to meet a lot of interesting people who left comments and I similarly visited many other interesting blogs of those who participated.

I cannot say enough about the people who co-hosted the challengs this year.  I appreciate all the hard work they did, with a special shout-out to Jenny of the Pearson Report, who visited several times and left encouraging words.

Will I do it again next year?  I'll have to see where I'm at when the time comes, but I think I would.  The challenge was, on the whole, fun.