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Amber Crayola Wax

Life at work was wholly average and predictable in all regards. I spent time in my back office with my pipe and my thoughts. I taught in two different courses. I worked on research with a few students. I ate lunch. I meandered around a bit on the Internet. A wholly average and predictable day. It was DAMN BEAUTIFUL! I loved the sense of normalcy.

My mother is doing well, and she seems to be gaining strength.

My father-in-law is also doing well. Keeping my fingers crossed, I am hopeful I shall be able to visit with him in the afternoon. I do not want to hope too greatlly for it, as it was a tremendous letdown last Friday when that did not transpire.

My work and effort on my new mantra of "I cannot change others, but I CAN CHANGE myself." seems to be a positive effort. There have been a few times where I caught myself feeling low, feeling misunderstood, feeling the weight of life crushing me.... and made a purposeful, concious decision to try to steer my perspective in such a way that I could a) feel better, b) attempt to more fully absorb the INTENT of other people's words as opposed to the LITERAL meaning of their words, and c) work hard to not allow my own hurts and blows from others transmit into sour or dour feelings emminating from me. I have liked the net effect of my "CHANGE MYSELF" efforts, that I plan to continue them next week and then write about these efforts again. For me, however, I must currently keep focus several times daily on this "CHANGE MYSELF" behavior because it has not yet become an ingrained response in me. Thus far, however, it shows promise.

After I left work for the day, I decided at the last moment to head to the local express medical center because of discomfort I was feeling in my ear. Since Sunday evening, my ear has felt blocked and I had lost roughly 75% - 80% of my hearing in that ear. I had presumed it was due to a plug of earwax... something I have never had before, but it seemed reasonable. I purchased a container of Murine Ear Wax Remover and tried it out Monday through Thursday morning. Unfortunately, it never seemed effective, and my hearing was not showing signs of returning. The bottle of ear wax remover said it could take up to three days to see results, so I was patient.

The physician examined me and heard my recent history (the extended hospital stay for my mother, the amoxicillin that proved uneffective for my chest cold, and the Zithromax that seemed to help greatly). He examined my ears, and then asked me if I had experienced very harsh bouts of coughing during recovery. I found that interesting, for my cough following the chest cold had seemed VERY, VERY MUCH harsher, and EXTREMELY different from my typical run-of-the-mill chest cold. I, of course, told the fellow, "Yes, my cough was harsher when compared to other colds.

He then told me I had a severe middle ear infection. Before he told me his reasons for his conclusion.... I myself had a realization.... I most likley (through the heavy coughing & sneezing of the last few weeks) had caused infection to penetrate and invade my middle ear via my Eustacian tubes. In case you were not aware, the Eustacian tube connects to an area within the medial end of the nasal cavity (and quite close to the oral cavity as well). This connection helps the middle ear regulate pressures induced due to elevation changes.

He prescribed a very strong oral dose of Cipro, a solution of liquid Cipro to place in the outer-ear region, and a perscription for Vicodin.

I have taken the doses of the oral and topically applied Cipro, and am planning upon taking the vicodin medication before bed. I have never had this pain reliever previously. However, from the few people I mentioned it to, and from what I have read on-line.... vicodin may prove to be very entertaining tonight. I am looking forward to feeling the effect and discerning its beauty and charms as I sleep.

PipeTobacco