Fun & Sun

February 25, 2002-Costume Parties

Tonight was Purim here. David thought last year was his last Purim. It was a cruel joke that he would have a repeat of his least favorite holiday. The story of Purim is that of the infamous Megillah. It’s the tale of a Jewish courtesan who charms the King of Persia into canceling his decree to murder the Jews. The story (Megillah) is read & the congregation boos when the name of the villain, Haman, is mentioned. Costumes are worn & the tradition is that you should get so drunk you don’t know the difference between the names of the hero & the villain. David did it up in style. Each year he wears a different funny hat as his “costume.” This year he wore a crocodile cap he bought in Cairns. I wore the FDNY (Fire Dept. New York) cap Karen and Ron brought from Akron. David had everyone cheering & leering as he worked them into a frenzy. They’ll never see another Purim like this one.

We’re now watching re-runs of the Olympic closing ceremonies. What’s with the dinosaurs? Have we been gone so long we don’t get American humor? One of the congregants saw the ceremonies live & gave me a rundown. She told me that if the Native Americans dancing to the rock music in the opening ceremonies bothered me, the closing festivities should as well. I felt a bit better when she told me that the aborigines also gyrated to rock music at the Sydney Olympics. She said that KISS performed in Utah. I asked if they were from Utah. She told me that the lead singer of KISS was an Israeli. We then played Jewish geography of music. I told her that Phish used Hebrew material in their performances & that some of them were Jewish. She told me that Red Hot Chili Peppers also had Jewish performers. Ah, it is all coming together. The Osmonds, Donny & Marie, just took the stage. Now I’m watching a guy tap dancing to music played by the Harry Connick, Jr. (sp) orchestra. On the ice is a Russian skater. Is there a theme that I’m not seeing? David said he could find no thread to hold the show together & that it was just a variety show. The camera work is abysmal, but that could be Australian TV. The announcer we’re hearing is an Aussie. I think I’ll declare it to be bedtime.

February 26, 2002-Wishes

Be careful what you wish for. You may get it. Since I was a teen I wanted to get a nose job. Well, I just did, sort of. I had noticed a spot on the tip of my nose & went to the GP here. She said it was a basal cell carcinoma, the friendly kind, but should be removed. She referred me to a plastic surgeon. I quickly emailed my dermatologist in Akron. He verified that this was a very slow growing & curable cancer. I’ve had stuff like it removed before. He also said that the Aussies are the best at doing this type of surgery since they deal with it the most. Since it’s in a conspicuous place, he concurred that a plastic surgeon should be seen. The moral of the story is that I didn’t really get a new nose, just a new scar that will fade. The stitches come out in a week. The real moral is that when you play in the sun Slip, Slop, Slap. Slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen, & slap on a hat. And stay away from tanning beds of all kinds. I never used them, but they’re as bad as the real thing. The spots I’m getting now are from sun damage that was done 20-25 years ago.

The procedure was outpatient & is done a bit differently than in the U.S. Evidently, a local anesthetic to the nose is extremely painful. That’s what they use in the U.S. Here, they give you a light general & then do the local when you’re asleep. When the general wears off, you’re already numb. In the U.S., they take a small area, do a frozen section to see if they got it all, & take more if they need to. Each time the patient has to wait for the biopsy to be read &, if they need to excise more tissue, another painful numbing shot is needed. It could take hours by the time they finish with the biopsies & excisions. Here, it took about thirty minutes. They knock out the patient, take a chunk, & repair it. He said that there’s only a 2.7% chance they won’t get it all. Right now I look like what would have happened if Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer tried to make it with Frosty the Snowman. The end of my nose is red from the stitching, & white from the local anesthetic. It’s also greasy from an ointment that has to be put on three times a day. I think I’ll lay low for the next few days unless I get an urge to scare some of the littlies at the pool.

There’s a totally up side to all this. We were scheduled to go to dinner at the home of a couple with whom we don’t want to spend any more time. We had to cancel.

Today is Daniel’s (our son’s) birthday. Well, if he lived here, it would be his birthday. Since he doesn’t, we’ll call him tomorrow when it’s his birthday where he is. He’s much to old to have such young parents. Happy Birthday Daniel!

Toby