Monday, February 28, 2011

Microbes 10 Humans 0


Last week Mrs. Marius started coughing. The cough got worse, and worse, til finally she went to the doctor. The doctor, in a rare moment of insanity, told her she had a sinus infection (because those always make you hack up a lung every 30 seconds) and put her on antibiotics. Keep in mind that she's pregnant, which does have a negative effect on the body's immune responses at first, so I hoped I'd be spared sharing in her symptoms. Wouldn't that have been nice? No dice. By Friday I was in danger of coughing up my sternum and felt like I'd been gargling with barbed wire. So I went to the sawbones myself. Two swabs up the nose (no flu, thank Ipthar), and one bottle of very nasty antibiotics later and the weekend at Castle Marius sounds like a TB ward. I missed two days of work last week, as much out of weakness and general feelinglikecrappery as not wanting to share these lovely little viruses with my beloved and valued coworkers, so I did my best to take it as easy as possible this weekend. Saturday I felt a bit better, but my lady was worse, so she went in to the doctor again, and this time was correctly diagnosed with bronchitis. So we both spent most of the weekend doing nothing but coughing, wheezing, and expectorating. Don't you wish you were here? I did learn a few things during my convalescence, however. Firstly it seems that Law and Order has been in production since at least the late Middle Ages, and there are over 1.4 million episodes being shown in constant rotation on every known TV station. Secondly I,Robot was a much shittier movie than I remember. Thirdly, based on what I saw of the Oscars last night, Kirk Douglas died five years ago, but no one has told him yet. And lastly, don't schedule being sick at the same time as your pregnant wife. It really takes any hope you have of sympathy away.

See y'all at the morgue.

Marius the Unclean

Friday, February 18, 2011

AHHHH! ALIEN!!!!!!!

So yesterday was the first 'big day' of our current gestational activities. I met my wife at the OB/GYN office, and soon we were ushered to the ultrasound room. The technician was very friendly, and the room pleasant and dim. There was a large flat-screen tv on the wall opposite the exam table, and soon we could see the image of our baby:



The technician took readings, got measurements and heart rate, and really did her best to try and determine the sex of the little creature, but he/she kept squirming around away from the scanner. She managed to get a good look at the baby's face, however, and as you can see in the upper right picture we are apparently going to be ushering in a new era of human/alien hybridization.


I just hope the baby's alien relatives are friendly.

Tee hee.

Daddy Marius

Saturday, February 12, 2011

I'm A Dork?


So here's the scenario, and to us geeks it is not an unfamiliar one. One of our graduates, B, has returned to work in the costume shop for the next few weeks. Toward the end of the day yesterday a friend of hers came into the shop. She brings him into my office, and she introduces us. We all chat for a bit, then he sees the cut-away poster of the Enterprise on my wall. His eyes light up and we start talking Trek. As we get more and more into minutiae, B's eyes roll more and more often, and then finally she utters those all-too familiar words, "You guys are such dorks!" Now I would never contradict this indictment, for it is verily truth, and I have heard it so many times in similar situations that I barely even notice it anymore. But as I was driving home something about this little tableau rose to the fore of my mind. B is an accomplished seamstress, and her current vocation involves traveling about the country on the Renn Faire circuit where she dresses in either belly dance or tavern wench attire and sells tiny catapults and trebuchets. She also makes and wears her own pirate get ups and entertains tourists down south a bit. AND she is currently working on making a fully functional mermaid tail for further use in faires and in the ocean.


Yet I'm the dork!

Miss Pot, my name is Kettle. Nice to meet you.

Tee hee.

Love ya, B.

Marius the Dorky