Category: peanut allergy

The gender slot

My wife and I were told that perhaps we need to get another roof on our house by a contractor who had done work on our house in the past. Since he was so busy that he was unlikely angling for the job, we thought his word had some credence. So, we have been investigating roofers. My wife called – she is a teacher and therefore home much of the summer – and got three quotes. She was talking to one of them, and he suggested that we probably just needed repairs and that the roof was structurally sound for another 10 years, so we were considering that option. He added, “If you DO decide to get the roof replaced in the future, HAVE YOUR HUSBAND CALL ME.” Now I had one brief conversation with him before, but the substantive conversations were all with my wife. Fact is, because she owned a house before we did, she almost certainly knows more about roofing than I do.” Must be a generation thing.

My daughter Lydia is allergic to peanuts, as I have indicated before. When Carol is off to college, there will be a couple birthday parties to which Lydia is invited and I’ll be taking her. One mom was a friend of mine before she was friends with Carol, but she e-mailed me: “What would be a good time to call Carol to speak with her more about her peanut allergy?” Now, I replied about all of the idiosyncracies of the allergy (allergens well-labeled on most products, need to avoid products processed in plants that may have had peanuts on the conveyor belt, etc.) Yup, even Lydia’s DAD is up on the particulatrs of Lydia’s allergies; we all deal with it every time we shop for groceries, eat at a restaurant or purchase something from a bakery.

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Am I Going Bats Again?


Long-time readers of this page know that our house, the one that we moved into in May 2000, has had a live bat within its walls in 2002. And 2003. And 2004. And 2005. And 2006. And 2007,despite efforts in the last several years to patch the places on the roofline where we suspect the creatures are getting into the living quarters.

Well, it’s the end of October, it’s cold, and it’s already SNOWED in Albany this week, FCOL, so I can say with some degree of confidence: in 2008, we were bat-free! Hurray!

Since it’s Halloween, Lydia’s going trick-or-treating with some kids from church. (No, I don’t worry about these “pagan” rituals threatening my Christian faith or whatnot.) We DO have to make sure we go through what she gets to pick out those candies with nuts or peanuts, since she is allergic to the latter, and the former are often processed in the same place as the latter. This means that her poor mother, my poor wife, will have to eat all the Snickers bars and Reese’s Pieces.

Meanwhile, thanks to Noggin, this is Lydia’s and my favorite Halloween song this year, based on something Evanier hates, but which I actually like in small quantities; Lydia has never had them.

or here.

Coverville discovered this One-man Thriller A Cappella with a unique twist.

20 Horror Movie Clichés.

Haunted library

Why Orange and Black?

YES WE CARVE!
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Perspectives

Item: I stopped at the nearby Price Chopper grocery store on the way home Friday night to pick up a handful of items, including a dozen apples. The apples were in the plastic bag I got from the produce section, and I was using the “ring-it-up-yourself” section of the checkout counter. Just after I had rung up the apples, the bag broke, with the apples scattering. Some young woman behind me kindly helped me pick them up, saying, “Don’t worry, I’m clean.”
Her perspective: She was either kidding OR she was assuring me that she didn’t have some skin-borne disease.
My perspective: Assuming she wasn’t kidding, and she didn’t appear to be, just what diseases was she talking about? I wasn’t worried about her, since she had self-certified her cleanliness, but should I be worried about others? I do wash the fruit in case there are pesticides or the like, but is that enough? As Paul Simon said, “Paranoia strikes deep in the heartland.”

Item: On Saturday, Carol went to a retreat, so I took Lydia to the state museum. On the fourth floor was a carousel, which we rode twice. There’s also, of all things, a Subway sandwich stand. We got a “meal deal” which we split, that included a couple cookies. I asked, “Is there any peanut butter…” The sales clerk said, “I’m sorry we don’t carry any.”
Her perspective: She thinks I’m disappointed that there are no peanut butter cookies.
My perspective: I wanted to make sure that there weren’t any peanut butter cookies because Lydia is allergic to peanut butter.

Item: Drivers are driving less on the Thruway, the Interstate system that runs from New York City to Kingston to Albany (I-87) then Albany to Utica to Syracuse to Rochester to Buffalo (I-90).
My perspective: Ah, less wear and tear on the roads. Good for them.
The Thruway Authority’s perspective: we’d better raise the rates 5% in January 2009, and another 5% in 2010. And while we’re at it, we’ll lower the E-Z Pass discount from 10% to 5% starting in June 2008.
The governor’s, the legislature’s and the public’s perspective: Outrage.

Item: John McCain goes to Selma, Alabama where on March 7, 1965, peaceful civil rights demonstrators were attacked by state and local lawmen.
McCain’s stated perspective: “I’m aware of the fact that there will be many people who will not vote for me. But I’m going to be the president of all the people and I will work for all of the people and I will listen to all of the people, whether they decide to vote for me or not.”
My perspective: I remember Selma ’65 quite well, since it occurred on my 12th birthday. As the Democrats continue to fight, my sense that McCain will win the general election, no matter who the Democratic nominee is, grows stronger by the day.
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The Lydster, Part 36: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Today’s Lydia’s 3rd birthday! Yet I have pictures from 2005. The best-laid plans…

Friend TFox says:
She’s a tall drink of water, as my mom would have said. You’ll have to start screening boyfriends before you know it! 🙂
What about a link to other famous folks born on her B-Day?

OK, here it is Who do we find?Poets, such as A. E. Housman (1859) and Robert Frost (1874)Other writers such as Joseph Campbell (1904), Tennessee Williams (1911), Erica Jong, (1942), and Bob Woodward (1943)Musical folks such as Rufus Thomas (1917), Diana Ross (1944), Steven Tyler of Aerosmith (1948), and Teddy Pendergrass (1950)
Performers such as Strother Martin (1919), Bob Elliott of Bob & Ray (1923), Leonard Nimoy (1931), Alan Arkin (1934), James Caan (1940), Vicki Lawrence (1949), Martin Short and Ernest Thomas (both 1950, same as Teddy Pendergrass), Jennifer Gray (1960), and T.R. Knight of Grey’s Anatomy (1973)Athletes such as Marcus Allen, football (1960, same as Jennifer Gray) and John Stockton, basketball (1962)But I was most interested to note that her birthday coincided with women of note:
Sandra Day O’Connor, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice (1930)
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House (1940, exactly the same age as James Caan!)
Elaine Chao, U.S. Secretary of Labor (1953)So, what does she want to do when she gets older? I’ll be fascinated to find out.
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Final JEOPARDY!, 3/13/07:
According to the Mayo Clinic, allergies to these are the USA’s most common cause of life-threatening allergic reaction.
All three contestants got it right.
The correct response: What are peanuts? I knew that, actually.

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March Rambling

Yesterday, I was walking home from the drugstore carrying a couple bags, including a couple prescriptions plus bottles of ginger ale and cranberry juice for Carol, who had a couple wisdom teeth removed yesterday morning. This guy in his car yells out his window, something “doing with those f*****’ bags?”, looking at me. Then he giggled and drove away. I’m not sure why, but I’ve been a victim of that “yell and drive” before, in Albany, at least twice with a racial overtone. Sure I can ignore it, but I’d lying if I told you it didn’t bother me, more as a reflection of the inanity of human beings, rather than any real damage done to me.

Still, if I weren’t carrying items that slowed me down, I might have tried to catch up with this dude and ask him why he was being such a [end place for the digestive tract for an equine].

In fact, one time when I was a target of yell and drive, I was on my bicycle, and I did go after the car, which caught a traffic light. I got up to the car, pounded my fist on the trunk once, then pulled over to the passenger side, where the yeller was. He got all “hey, man, only kidding, man, it was a joke, man” on me. I said nothing as the car pulled away. That WAS fun, though.
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There is this quite lovely woman I’ve seen on the bus. She is, as they say, “a woman of a certain age”, with gray hair. She had age lines but they looked (really) good on her. A couple days ago, I see her and she’s dyed her hair brown. Oddly, it made her look older, for the gray hairs, her face earned; the brunette ones, not so much.
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High lead levels found in some Albany schools. This is not only somewhat distressing, but also a bit surprising. One of the schools is brand new (opened in January 2007) and is the school Lydia is likely to attend in a couple years.
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There was an excellent story, written by a sixth grader, in the local paper about her peanut allergy. we’re going to make copies so that Lydia and the people around her will have a better idea what Lydia is/will be going through.
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Clutter and mess trump clean and neat: a story after my own desk, er, heart.
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Here’s a useful caffeine reference.
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My old pal David Brickman has one of his photos, “View of Arbor Hill Neighborhood looking North from Lark Street 1998,” which was purchased by the Albany Institute of History and Art last spring, now on exhibit in their “entry gallery,” where works from the vast permanent collection are showcased. If you are within reach, you can go to the Institute and have a look. Or, use the link to see the image on his website.
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My daughter woke up screaming at 4 am yesterday from a nightmare. SHE went back to sleep; I didn’t. Then last night, I stayed up watching basketball (I got 3 out of 4 -Memphis won by 1 – ouch) until 12:30 am. Need caffeine. More tomorrow.

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