Teach a Man To Fish

So I was thinking about partisan politics and I was getting myself all worked up. The left is center, the right is nuts, and I seem to be the only one that thinks like me. Obama fights terror by ignoring the borders of sovereign countries and droning a missile into some guys ass. You may even be thinking, " What's the big deal? He snuffed a terrorist, get over it." OK, if you are cool with that would you have been cool with the British air force bombing South Boston back in the 70's. WTF are you talking about Blue Collar? I'm talking about terrorists, murderous muslim IRA terrorists, living with their peeps in a sovereign nation that was not at war with the nation that had been victimized by their murderous activities. I'm talking about that victimized nation saying, "Wanted Dead or Alive" then blowing the living crap out of them and too bad if you happened to be living on D Street when it happened. I'm not talking Apples and Oranges, I'm talking Apples and Apples and as you know from my last post I know my apples. I am sick to death of honor-less slaughter and justified criminality. Obama assassinates people the government has deemed a risk ( and how could that ever go wrong) while the anti-government right wing frets that W's torture of prisoners doesn't get the proper credit it deserves. What happened to us?

So then I'm sitting at Al's diner enjoying a humungous barnyard sandwich (ham, sausage, bacon, Mmm bacon! 3 eggs over on a Piro's Italian stick with plenty of black pepper and tabasco. My butt hates me almost as much as my arteries do). When I saw an interesting article on the front page of the Sunday Globe. Seems the intrepid Globe spotlight reporters went to over 70 restaurants, copped some of their fish, and had it tested in a lab. Over 40% of the samples weren't the species that were listed on the menu.

Now you might not even care as long as it tastes good, or you might be angry at the government for not regulating the restaurant industry properly ( although regulation is bad as any talk radio listener can tell you and the government is too busy blowing people up to check the local sushi bar) but me? My take on reading the story is that the Globe got bored. There is no mention of people calling to complain about getting substitute fish. No mention of the heartbreak of finding Mrs Paul's fish sticks under your burre blanc sauce instead of chilean sea bass. Not a word from the aficionados of the food network, who revel in the purchase of the "proper ingredients" for an "authentic" dining experience. $32 dollars for pan seared Dover soul? The best is worth extra of course! Why didn't anyone complain? Because a nation of Dumb asses revel in appearance and perception while never bothering to actually think or learn.

Looks like a democrat, thinks like a republican, fancies himself an independent.

How are we ever going to get our priorities straight on the world stage when can't even eat diner without getting our heads stuck up our asses? "That's not me!" you say? Of course it is. We're all too willing to be ridiculous food snobs, or music snobs, or designer snobs, braying about the value of something authentic, high quality, it's worth the money, blah, blah, blah, when we can't actually tell the difference between the silk purse and the sows ear.

I'm telling you it's Louis Vuitton!

Fact: The quality inspectors for Louis Vuitton bags cannot tell the difference between their bags and cheap counterfeit knockoffs. Fact: A study of wine tasting professionals had them rating the same wine differently when they were given different asking prices. ( Surprisingly the higher the price the higher the rating) Fact, walk into your jeweler with a highly polished industrial diamond and he can't tell you, no matter how hard he looks, if it came from a machine or the ground. Fact: the vast majority of people will prefer Mrs Butterworths maple flavored syrup over actual maple syrup. This has nothing to do with the unsophisticated palates of the masses and everything to do with the fact that real maple syrup is much thinner than the fake stuff and also has a distinct tree taste underneath the maple. Fact: that Dover sole you paid $25 a pound for could have been $7 a pound flounder and if you were a good cook ( actually if you were a bad cook too) it wouldn't make a particle of difference as far as your enjoyment of your dinner was concerned. Now the Globe is saying there was a 50/50 chance it was flounder, still glad you paid $25 per pound? Don't even get me started on art, or jazz, or pop culture. Get over yourselves.

The easiest way to do that is to eat something wicked good and by wicked good I don't mean expensive I mean cooked well, the right method for the right ingredients. It's fall, the weather is getting colder, which makes me think I might skip Al's this Sunday for Maggie's out on Plum Island. They have fish cakes for breakfast, Mmmm fish cakes. New England cold weather food and all you need is whatever flaky fleshed fish is the cheapest.

Now a traditional New England fish cake would actually be a cod cake, but if you read the Globe article the cod you buy is often substituted with cheaper pollock or whiting. So we're going to go right for the pollock to start with. If you want to get extravagant and jazz up your fish cakes buy a pound of Finnan Haddie (smoked haddock for those of you that didn't know) it will cost you $15 or $16 dollars a pound but a third of a pound will add a ton of flavor to your cod cakes and you can put the left overs in a big bucket of fish chowder.

1. Start with a pot of well salted water, it should taste like the ocean. Poach a pound of Pollock or Whiting until it breaks easily with a fork. (now to poach you want your water just at a simmer. There should only be a few random bubbles breaking the surface).
2. Set the fresh fish aside then poach the Finnan Haddie if you are using it. When it starts to flake set it aside.
3. Turn the heat up to high. Add 2 potatoes peeled and cut into uniform pieces. The smaller the better because we are trying to capture some of that fishy goodness that we lost to the poaching water.
4. While the potatoes cook flake all the fish.
5. Mash the potatoes with a tablespoon full of butter. Mmmm, butter!
6. Add a tablespoon of sniped chives, a tablespoon of chopped parsley, a finely minced shallot, 2 beaten medium or 1 beaten extra large egg and 2 or 3 shakes of your favorite hot sauce. Tabasco is fine.
7. Mix thoroughly.
8. Add the fish. Fold it in, easy, you want some texture. Mmmm, texture!
9. Dig in with your hands, make 6 or 8 burger sized cakes.
10. Coat the cakes with either seasoned flour (salt, pepper, cayenne) seasoned fine ground corn meal (salt, pepper, cayenne) or bread crumbs.
11. Let the firm up in the fridge for at least an hour, or over-night if you are having them for breakfast.
12. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter (combining them raises the smoke point of the butter) in a non-stick frying pan. (cast iron for the brave, these can be sticky so if you use your cast iron pan the oil has to be shimmering and you have to wait until a crust forms or they will stick).
13. Move them to a 200 degree oven if they need to stay warm while you prepare other stuff.
14. Now I would serve these with homemade baked beans, some over easy eggs, lemon and more hot sauce, or turn them into muffin-less benedict with Canadian bacon on the plate, then the fish cake, then a poached egg, then some hollandaise. Hell yeah you can still have some beans!

I'm not a fool. I know there are a lot of people in this world that want America dead. I also know that playing fair, or being one of the righteous,  does not equal success, or even survival, in this life. Still, doesn't some nation, somebody, have to try if we are ever going to be better. In the 70's South Boston was crawling with IRA and that worked out with no fly overs from the British. Shouldn't we at least be thinking about it? Are we just a bunch of shallow dumb-asses? Or am I just a damn dirty hippy? A hippy with delicious fish cakes.

Apples!

I love me some apples. They are easily the big wazhoo of the produce world. They have a longer season than oranges, keep better than peaches, don't skunk as quickly as pears, there is no health concerns from incontinent farm hands like there is with melons, you aren't going to break out in hives like you might from strawberries, unlike plums and nectarines they are pretty much loved by everyone, and you can do a million things with them besides enjoy their awesomeness straight up. Plus you can nullify all those darned health benefits with just a little imagination. Mmmm, imagination! Finally apples are probably one of the last foods you can enjoy locally without paying a fortune. Beef is from Colorado, tomatoes are from Mexico, pork is from South Carolina, chicken is from factories, oranges are from Florida when they are not from California when they are not from Chile, shrimp is from China, 90% of most peoples food is from packages. So why are we so fat when the food we eat tastes so dull? If I'm going to be fat it better be  from uncontrolled deliciousness.

America, the streets are paved with...food?

So I went apple picking Sunday. I've been sick so I had to put it off till now and now is almost too late. Seasons passing and such, damned clocks. Plus it is incredibly hard to get anyone to go apple picking with you. Men think its gay ( sorry gay people, but they do), going by yourself seems weird ( families rightfully hurry the children past the lone man in the apple orchard) women either want to bring all of the kids ( which is fine, I even recommend it, just leave me out of it) or turn it into an event that involves shopping, dinner, hayrides, crafts, and potpourri. ( Always with the God damn potpourri).  I just want to go out, get a big bag of fresh apples, eat the equivalent of a second big bag of fresh apples, then maybe pick up some cider and some hot cider donuts, Mmm cider donuts, and... Oh yeah,  help the Everett people lost in the freaking corn maze. ( blame it on GPS, Massachusetts had its' first corn maze crisis this year) .

So you chumped your friends into going apple picking with you, you have a large bag to fill, and there are twenty kinds of apples to choose from, what do you do? You pull out a squirt bottle ( one pint water, eighth of a teaspoon bleach, what! You have to wash them before you eat them) and some napkins and you sample the wares. Duh, of course they are all apple flavored, they're all apples. Didn't you ever wonder why there are so many different varieties? They taste different, they have different textures, they're useful for different kinds of eating. Now's your chance to compare, you can't compare when you have a bag from the supermarket that only has one kind in it, and supermarkets frown on sampling ( I found that out as a child during the big market altercation of 1968. Sorry Food Fair, sorry New Jersey, I was just a kid). You are in an orchard, carpe deium.

Red Delicious, Yuck!

The apple everyone thinks of when they think of apples. This is why they suck. Sweet with no real apple flavor they don't hold up well to cooking. They also go mealy on you if you don't eat them right away. Don't waste the room in your bag.

Golden Delicious

Tastes better than the Red Delicious even if it is still ungodly sweet. It also doesn't hold up well. Makes a great apple butter, Mmmm butter, though.

1. Peel, core and finely dice 5 or 6 pounds of golden delicious apples.
2. Add 4 cups sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground clove.
3. Put the whole mess in a crock pot.
4. Cover and cook on high for an hour.
5. Turn to low and cook at least 12 more hours.
6. Uncover and cook on high for another hour. Whisk if you want them smooth. Time this so it is not 3AM. Duh!
7. Cool the apples, place in sterile covered containers. Of course sterile, Duh!

This stuff will keep for weeks in the fridge, makes a sort of healthy spread for bread and toast, can be used as a substitute for butter in vegan baking, or used as a condiment with a big grilled pork chop.

Braeburn, now we're getting somewhere.

Firm flesh that gives a burst of sweet upon first bite then tarts up as you eat more Braburns are indistinguishable from my first girlfriend. A perfect lunch box apple their smaller size makes them perfect candidates for caramel apples

1. Wash and dry a bunch of braeburn apples.
2. Put one pound of caramels in a microwave safe bowl. (unwrap them please)
3. Add a couple tablespoons of whole milk.
4. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir, repeat, until you have pourable (sort of ) caramel.
5. Jab a pointed stick into the apples bottom ( a practice that caused my first girlfriend to break up with me). Then while tipping the bowl roll the apple in the caramel.
6. The caramel is still pretty sticky so nows the time to roll the apples in crushed cookies, chopped nuts, coconut, candy bits, etc, if you are so inclined.
7. Or just put them on a tray covered with no stick foil. It works way better than wax paper.
8. Tuck 'em in the fridge so the caramel hardens.

Now for most people that would be enough. Nah! Let them harden.

1. Take one pound chocolate chips, or chop one pound of bittersweet chocolate and place in a microwave proof bowl.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of light corn syrup.
3. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir, repeat until you have a pourable chocolate coating.
4. Then tip the bowl and roll the apples in the coating.
5. The coating will set pretty quickly, so if you want to roll the apples in crushed cookies, chopped nuts, coconut, candy bits, etc, work fast.

If you work fast they will look like...

Remember, Americans need more fruit in their diet.

Granny Smith, for when you want to make pie.

I can't make pie. My pie crust sucks. If I did make pie I would use Grannys. Firm flesh that will stand up to heat, tart taste that won't become cloying from added sugar, and loads of pectin so the pie comes out in slices instead of glops. You didn't know why your pies are runny? All fruit contains pectin. It's the stuff that makes fruit jellies jellify ( not a real word but you know what I mean).  Of coarse you could just skip the pie and go for...

Remember, Americans need more fruit in their diet.

1. Peel and core 4 or 5 Granny Smith apples.
2. Fry the apples over medium heat in butter, Mmmm butter!, until they start to brown. Then throw in a fist full of brown sugar, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and a pinch of salt.
3. Butter, Mmmm butter!, a 9 by 13 inch pan.
4. Add the apples.
5. In a bowl mix a cup of oatmeal, a cup of brown sugar, a half cup of flower and a cup of softened butter, Mmmm butter! When the stuff starts looking like wet sand fold in a big handful of toasted nuts. I don't care what kind, it's not a big deal.
6. Spread the crisp mix over the apples.
7. Bake in a 375 degree oven for twenty minutes, drizzle with honey, and bake for 20 minutes more.

I'm thinking vanilla ice cream. Maybe whipped cream. Why not both?

Gala's 

Gala's are excellent at holding their shape so they make for a great side dish. Suppose you had a big grilled pork chop and you wanted something a little more substantial than apple butter. You could cut a bunch of gala apples in half, paint their cut side with melted butter, then throw them on the grill. Give them 3 minutes then turn 90 degrees and grill 3 minutes more. You should have a nice cross hatch pattern now. Flip them over, sprinkle them with fresh thyme, then shredded jack cheese. Close the lid until the cheese in all bubbly. Serve with the pork and maybe sweet and sour red cabbage.

Remember, Americans need more fruit in their diet.

Apples, who says they have to be good for you?
It's time for Octoberfest.

100 Posts!

So it looks like I am going to live to blog again. When I started doing this I actually thought that my shining intellect, quick wit, and impeccable culinary skills would soon make me a web sensation. Instead I am only 2,534,276, page reads from being as popular as "Kitten Falls Off of TV". That's alright. I was a Red Sox fan from 1966 to 2002. It made me smart enough to know that failing is what mostly happens, but it makes winning once in a while all the sweeter. Besides, I have to keep doing this blog, it gives me a way to vent.

Angry goofy people in funny clothes. Where have I seen that before...?

Is everyone in America a self absorbed tool?

When people in other countries protest they come armed for bear, because they want to rip the roof off that sucker. Mubarak, he's got to go! Chinese government screw your tanks! Gaddafi you're a dead man! Life and death hangs in the balance and real change means maybe the collapse of the whole political system. In the USA vaguely disappointed people fuss because things aren't going exactly as they envisioned them. The media shows up, finds the dumbest most narcissistic buffoon in the crowd, makes them the spokes-person for the whole movement, and pretty soon we are listening to a teenager dressed as a sea turtle or an old timer dressed like Paul Revere explaining Macro Economics. Better still the teen and the old timer are mad about the same things but are enemies to each other because... well, because they're stupid.

The NRA has it right. Start writing letters. Start sending e-mails. Then back it up with your vote. We want congress to regulate derivatives. We want our money that was invested in the TARP to be invested in American jobs. We want you to go in a room and not come out until everyone has affordable health care. We want Larocco to shut up about politics and do more recipes. Protests and sit-ins are perfect for single issue fights. 8 Hour day! End the War! Not for fighting a vague malaise about the direction the country is taking.

I would like to point out that while all the occupy Wall Street stuff was going down Obama executed an American citizen who had never been convicted of anything with a drone strike in a neutral foreign country. We go where we want and we kill who we want just because. OK, he was a bad man, but do you really want the president to have that power? All you small government right wingers?...anybody? How about you lefties that called Bush a Fascist?...Hello?

The people in charge are laughing at us and nothing anybody has done this week changes that.

I'm not some kind of to pure for the real world dreamer either. I'll be working for Elizabeth Warren this election cycle, even though she was picked and paid for by the White House and the DNC to get Kennedy's seat back from Scott Brown. Can't leave things up to the natives can we? The MA tribe has always been good for democrats...well until recently. Even when I like a candidate I don't want other people picking them for me, but liking something and making it work are two different things.

This is kind of a weak post, but hey, I've been sick. Next week, Apples! Until then I've picked out a few posts that I liked. Here they are...

http://downhill411.blogspot.com/2011/05/business-as-usual.html

http://downhill411.blogspot.com/2011/03/party.html

http://downhill411.blogspot.com/2011/07/great-idea.html

http://downhill411.blogspot.com/2011/04/it-was-long-week.html

http://downhill411.blogspot.com/2011/04/work-part-2.html

http://downhill411.blogspot.com/2011/09/hard-work.html

http://downhill411.blogspot.com/2011/07/important-stuff.html

It's Just a Cough.

Well, it's October 3. I was going to post about apples. I was going to post about the Berkley Jazz festival. I was going to post about the Red Sox. I definitely wasn't going to post about health care. That was all before the cough. Calling it a cough makes it sound bigger than it is though; actually it is more of a cou... just a little tickle really. It first made itself known in a meaningful way around September 15. I worked that day, felt very mild flue like symptoms, then started to cou... when I tried to go to sleep. Cou...Cou...Cou... it was a tickle, a minor nuisance, but it kept me up all night. I didn't even have anything to treat it with. Hell I haven't been sick in 3 years at least. I'd get something tomorrow.

Sept 16th, 6PM: I almost didn't go to the CVS. I felt fine all day. A little tired from no sleep maybe but not bad. Figured I'd fall asleep exhausted and everything would be fine the next day. I went anyway. What do you do though? There are like 40 different over the counter medicines and treatments for a cough and none for a Cou... how do you choose? I looked all over for someone official but the best I could do was a lady behind the cash register who also works at the Market Basket. Where are the shaman and the witch doctors when you need them? She said Nyquil. OK Nyquil it is. It'll be fine. I dose myself with some 40 proof healing and this little nuisance is history.

Sept 16th, 11PM: Cou...Cou...Cou... Time for more Nyquil.

Sept 17th, 1AM: Cou...Cou...Cou... I got to wait the directions say 4 hours.

Sept 17th, 3AM: Cou...Cou...Cou... Can't take the stuff now I have to go to work. So what, I tough it out then bring in the heavy guns tomorrow. Who needs sleep.

Sept 17th, 7AM: It's a Saturday job, but it is an easy one. That's good because the Cou...Cou...Cou... has followed me into the daylight. It still isn't much though. It doesn't even make my throat hurt. The only other symptom is being really, really tired from no sleep.

Sept 17th, 5 PM: I go back to CVS. This time I look more carefully and realize there is cough suppressant Nyquil and regular Nyquil. I also buy Hall mentholated cough drops. Bringing out the big guns.

Sept 17th, 6 PM: The cough drop finishes off my Cou... almost as soon as it starts to de-solve. High Five, problem solved. I won't even need the Nyquil.

Sept 17th, 6:30PM: As soon as the drop is gone the Cou... is back. Crap.

Sept 17th, 8PM: Nyquil and bed. I am exhausted.

Sept 17th, 9PM: Cou...Cou...Cou...

Sept 17th, 10 PM: Cou...Cou...Cou....

Sept 18th, 12PM: Cou...Cou...Cou... More Nyquil. Try and find a position where the Cou... doesn't come. Sitting up is best, with a drop in my mouth. What if I fall asleep and swallow? I don't want to die one of those joke deaths that earns you a headline in the Enquirer. I drag a living-room chair into my bedroom.

Sept 18th, 9AM: This is cool. I'll  just make like it's a sick day even though it is a Sunday. Plenty of hot liquids, cough drop every hour, I'll be fine for work tomorrow. I can catch up on my TV. Sox lose, Pats win. Not a bad day.

Sept 18th, 8 PM: A friend recommends Theraflue. I don't fell like running to CVS right now so I'll wait until tomorrow. No real coughing all day anyway. I've got this thing licked. Finally.

Sept 18th, 9PM: Cou...Cou...Cou... "Oh come on! Are you kidding me!" Cou...Cou...Cou...

Sept 18th, 11PM: It stops when I get in the chair, but the chair isn't comfortable enough for me to sleep in. I try to build something out of cushions on the bed. No luck. My engineering skills aren't up to the task.

Sept 19th, 2AM: Cou...Cou...Cou... I'm sitting in my chair ...awake. The night is crawling by.

Sept 19th, 6AM: I don't miss work. I just don't. I went 8 years once without taking a sick day. Besides, I don't feel sick. I'm just really, really , really run down. A little theraflue, a little sleep, and I'll be fine.

Sept 19th, 8PM: Ah, Theraflue, very lemony. The steamy liquid getting in every which way. Finally.

Sept 19th, PM: Cou...Cou...Cou... it's not even a cough God Damn it! It's a tickle!

Sept 20th, PM: Cou...Cou...Cou..."OK, OK I'll go to the doctor, just please can I sleep, please?" I don't even know who I'm begging to, but whoever it is they aren't listening.

Sept 21th, 6AM: I call out from work. I just started this job so I don't even have any sick days yet. Sweet, $250 out the window.

Sept 21th, 8AM: I find out my Doctor's office doesn't open until 9AM.  Real hours for a real job. I have forgotten what that is like.

Sept 21th, 9AM: "The Doctor can't see you until tomorrow, would you like to schedule an appointment" "It will cost me a lot of money if I miss another days work can I go to an emergency room or a walk in center?"

Sept 21th, 11AM: Oops, the copay at the emergency room is $150 not $20 like at the doctors office. It'll be worth it, I have to sleep.

Sept 21, 2PM: That was a long, long wait, and I'm pretty sure the doctor that looks at me is the same guy who cuts the deli meats at the White Hen Pantry on route 110, but now I have antibiotics, Robotussin, the prescription kind I'll have you know, and an inhaler. $60 copays worth of modern medical wonder. Can sleep be far behind?

Sept 21, 11PM: Cou...Cou...Cou...

Sept 22, 12PM: OK, OK I'm sitting in the chair.

Sept 22, 12:05 AM: Cou...Cou...Cou... Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

Sept 22, 12:06 AM: I trash my room... with malice... just because...

Sept 22, 1AM: Cou...Cou...Cou...

Sept 22, 6AM: How bad can work be? I'm not even sick. I just have a tickle in my throat.

Sept 22, 11AM: Bad, really bad. The other guys must really like me because they are doing my work for me. I'm detached and groggy, I won't drive or operate machinery. I showed up and they can charge for me, but I can't do any actual work.

Sept 22, 10PM: Cou...Cou...Cou...

Sept 22, 11AM: Cou...Cou...Cou...

Sept 23 2AM: Cou...Cou...Cou... Now sitting up doesn't matter any more the Cou... keeps on coming. Screw you God! I still won't worship you!

Sept 23 2:30 AM: Please God, please! Just a little sleep?

Sept 23 2:40 AM: Cou... Cou... Cou... Shit!SHIT!SHIT!SHIT!

Sept 23 6AM: Off to work. I'm fine.

Sept 23 7AM: No, no I'm not.

Sept 23 9PM- Sept 25th 11PM: Cou... Cou... Cou... @%&#$@!* Cough $%^@!@#$###@ Red Sox &^((!@@#$@%#$%^& Patriots !@@#$$#$$%%^%^^&&(!@!@!@##$$@##$% I'm fine! I'm fine! I just need to sleep!

Sept 26 12PM: Cou... Cou... Cou...

Sept 26 5 AM: THAT'S IT. I'M CALLING OUT! I'M GOING TO MY OWN DOCTOR!

Sept 26 9AM: The Doctor can't see you until tomorrow. Maybe the emergenc... Sir! I'm hanging up!

Sept 26 9:10AM: ...yeah, I'm really sorry. I know.... I'm reallly realllly sorry. Tomorrow at 2 PM. Thank you.

Sept 26 11PM: Cou... Cou... Cou... Just sit still. You can sleep. Calm, calm, Cou... Cou... Cou... Count sheep or something, just relax. You... will... finally... have... to... slee... Cou... Cou... Cou...

Sept 27 2PM: I've got you now. I've got more anti-biotics, I've got an inhailor, I had a chest X-ray, I've got cough syrup that required picture ID. Of course more anti-biotics will finish off what ever good bacteria I have in my system which means my next trip to the bathroom will be like trying to pass a brick. The Dr said to lay off the inhaler if it makes me jittery ( like too much coffee jittery? I have to sleep. Please, I have to sleep) How much will the X-ray cost? They didn't ask for a copay. Well, at least I have the party version of cough syrup...

Sept 27 10PM: ... if your idea of a party is dizziness and nausea. How can you possibly get hooked on this... look out toilet here I come?

Sept 27 11PM: Cou...Cou...Cou... cou... co... c... Zzzzzzz!

Sept 27 11:30PM: BOOM! Screw it, I'm not even going to clean it up. Zzzzz!

Sept 28 6 AM: Slept pretty good. A shower, then work. I can burn the mattress when I get home.

Sept 28 10AM: Damn that inhaler works well. Finally that dry raspy almost cough is giving way to...

Sept 28 10:15AM: Oh God! Where is all that goop  coming from? Why aren't I dead?

Sept 28 5 PM: This has to be the cure. Suddenly I actually feel sick. So sick there is no way I'm taking that cough syrup again.

Sept 28 10PM: Cough...Cough...Cough.... expectorate... Cough...Cough...Cough...

Sept 28 11PM: All right, maybe a little cough syrup.

Sept 29 12PM: Oh... My... God... You... Have... To... Be... Kidding... Me...!

Sept 29th 1AM: Zzzzzz, yeah, progress!

Sept 29th 6AM: I feel great. I'm, cured!

Sept 29th 5PM: Tired? sure. Beat up? Definitely. Beat it? You bet!

Sept 29th 10PM: Cou... Cou... Cou...


It is now October 3. I have lost $750 in wages, $290 in copays, I still don't have a cost for the X-ray. I can't taste my food. I finally slept the night through without narcotics and nausea last night. Three weeks of my life are gone. There are no ways to make informed decisions about health care. When you are really sick you become the most selfish bastard in the world. Sleep deprivation is absolutely torture. People rally around you when you are really in need, too bad they can't do anything for you and you are too sour and ungrateful to care. My doctor can go screw. It was just a tickle.