Valentine's

    As solos go, I'm about as pro-Valentine's Day as anyone could be. However, I'll be happy when it's done, not because of the day itself but because of the advertising. The advertising doesn't annoy me out of any solo bitterness (much), but because of how stupid the advertisers assume women to be. I haven't made a list, but as best as I can remember, to guarantee sex on the 14th, all I have to do is send flowers, send chocolate-dipped berries, send pajamas, or send a four-foot high $100 teddy bear. I think if women listened to more sports talk radio, they'd have a lot more insight, not into how men think, but how corporations think. I'd like to think that neither men nor women are that stupid; then again, if the ads didn't work, the companies would try another approach. Here's hoping they do anyway just on general principle. If they remember any of those.
    Things are running oddly at the dialysis clinic. Saturday, they hustled Dad into the dialysis area right out of the car, but then he had to wait a half hour before he actually got hooked up. Today, on the other hand, we were as usual about 20 minutes early. We had to wait those 20 minutes, plus 15, when I started complaining (since I was told by the social worker please not to complain until and unless they're running 15 minutes late), at which time they told me it would be another 10 minutes, plus those 10 minutes at which time I started to blow my top. The social worker came out and I almost calmly pointed out yet again that all we ask for is a chair time when a chair is in fact available. If they want to change his time, that's fine; we just want to know what it is. It turns out that stopping dead and looking straight up is pretty effective because it lets them imagine the awful thing you were about to say but bit back. Regardless, after telling me they weren't giving him special treatment, they called him back a couple of minutes later. Problem was that they had new technicians on his bay. Hopefully, things are better next time.