Miss this – blog.

Dear blog,

I miss you very much. Even though there were posts last week, I have to let you know that they were old missives that I set to automatically post while I was out and about and away. Now, I am back and realizing that when I go on vacation – the world goes topsy-turvy  and takes a bit of doing to get itself back together.

I promise that Monday – things will get back to normal – maybe they will even be better . . . who knows – right?! I’ve certainly eaten a bunch of terrible food that I need to tell you about – and – Robot has been itching to get Emerson back on the microphone for more Bumperpodcasts – and cripes – the last Snowflake that was put up just has Sasafras coughing – how ridiculous is that??!

Have a good next few days . . . if I get really itchy – I may have to put something up – really – really – seriously itchy . . .

Yep.

– N.Bumpercar

Snowflake is on break.

Yep. That’s right. You read the title correctly.

Everyones favorite little webcomic about a penguin and his rowdy cohorts is currently taking a (well-deserved) rest. In fact – we are at the beach – falling asleep in the sun – getting pink.

Please do not fret – though . . . we will be back soon with more comics – and – absolutely keep coming to the site – as I will be doing my best to update it from far away.

There will be a comedy video on Monday – at 11 est. set your watches.

Then my eyes stopped working

Howdy gang!

I wanted to give you a quick update – because – as I’m humongously  positive that you are aware . . . there was no Snowflake today . . . and – it was bound to be a biggie – right?!

Well, I’ve been so – so – so busy working on the local railroad all of my live long days – to the point where – tonight – while about to go and start pecking away on the computer . . . My eyes actually decided that they had no interest in working properly anymore. It was a situation that went from mildly odd (it was like I was watching some deleted scenes from Fantasia), to annoying (the deleted scenes were being projected directly onto my cornea), to anxious city (the deleted scenes had subtitles in a language that I couldn’t read – and – there was going to be a mid-term test on the material tomorrow) and then to a freight train of a headache (the deleted scenes were staring the Bieber – or whoever).

I can’t stay – because of the whole eye thing – but, I have to tell you that there is some fantabulous stuff coming your way this week. A veritable bounty. A bevy. A bushell.

Last thing – last. I have to let you know that I did manage to finish my project that I was working on – under deadline – but – in order to do that . . . I actually had to wear sunglasses to dull the throbbing noggin – and to confuse the eyes into thinking that I wasn’t – still – making them stare at the computer.

And now?

I sleep.

And then I got an ulcer

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed on Sunday morning . . . The ugh side. The ouch side. The I don’t feel swell side.

Basically, my throat was a hot screaming mess of no fun and it wanted to make sure that I knew it.

Yeah. I knew it. Loud and clear.

On Saturday, me and the troops had gone to a big one year old birthday bash. It was full of fun, people and cupcakes. But – was it also full of some glooby-globy from far afield that was sent to tear me asunder?! I was starting to really wonder.

First I made a list of potential carriers. Of hands I had shook, cheeks I had kissed and babies I’d walked around with. But then I realized that there was no point in pointing fingers . . . It was time for me to hibernate. I’d sleep this thing out.

The next day was dentist day! A tooth cleaning and an opportunity to figure out why breathing air was making my molar hurt. In the course of he cleaning, where I found out that I have a tiny cavity in one old filling and a horizontal crack in the hurty molar – which may end up needing another crown . . .

During the cleaning, the phrase “What’s going on with your throat?” was murmured. And, while I’m not one who enjoys chatting while getting my teeth cleaned, I am one who doesn’t mind complaining about my throat. So I replied with a “It hurts.”

“You should have that checked out.” was what I got back.

So – I went to the doctor place – without an appointment – where after a long wait, they let me into the room and weighed me. Nowadays, I know that I wear like 12 pounds of clothes (seriously), so I was cool with the number – but I had a hard time explaining that concept to the nurse. Oh well.

When the doctor came in, she asked about fever, cough and runny nose. All were answered by no. She then stuck a popsicle stick and a light in my mouth and let out an “Aahhh.”

I was guessing it was some form of immediate strep or something. When she got the swabs out I gathered myself for the pain and gave my chart a gold star for knowing what was going on in my throat

Then she swabbed and said. “This is not strep.”

Boooooooo!

“Well then, what could it be?” I asked – all kinds of nervous.

“It’s a blah-blah-blah ulcer. There is no treatment and it can take a couple of weeks to go away. You should avoid all spicy, crispy, crunchy, crackily foods.”

“So, I’m on a pudding diet?”

No reply.

“How did I get an ulcer? What causes them?”

“Well, it’s caused by stress. A lot of high school kids get them after exams. ”

“High school?!”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’m a little past that, but I do have loads of stress.”

“Stress.”

“Cool. Great. So – now I have an ulcer. How about them apples?!”

“Apples would be too acidic.”

“Ugh.”

[Updated] Baby Breathing

,

Howdy all.

This is a quick follow-up to the mountain of stress that was last night. It will hopefully put your minds at ease – and make you feel a touch better about where things were left off in my last little report.

dotorAs I think I put at the end of my last note – the baby is back to being a baby who loves to breathe. I sat up with him until this morning – and then there was a shift change – and the next crew came in to make sure that the situation was going smoothly.We then all went to the doctor’s office – where we were met with randomly oscillating waves of “the baby is fine” and “you should have taken him to the emergency room immediately.” That was perfect  – just what our brains needed – confusion, guilt and more stress!

horseLastly – we went to a children’s hospital (which I tried to amuse myself by calling a ‘horse-pi-tal’ – cough – yep!) – and saw a gastroenterologist who was tremendously nice – and answered all of our questions (with none of the guilt!) and checked J-em from head to toe. She determined that he was a “thriving baby” – which is a great way to describe a baby – and that  as healthy as he was – that it was just a random freak occurrence  that possibly some mucus had gotten stuck in his throat – and that while we should – obviously – keep an eye on him . . . Basically – he didn’t break – he was no worse for the wear – we had done good by him – and the world was a decent place to be.

It was a good way to wrap up the day. The long – long day. At the end . . . the baby was fine – we were exhausted – and now all we have to do is figure out how to get some sleep – with all of the miserable of last night floating around. All in all – a definite win for the home team!

winI got asked why I wrote about the whole thing . . . Why would I put it out there . . . What was the point? Pretty simple – actually – I didn’t want to have it all jumbling up in my head – and it makes me feel better to write stuff down – or draw silly pictures – or make cartoons – or – or – or whatever. So – that is what I did – and I’m totally totally glad that I did. Did. Did. Did.

Thanks a bunch for all of your well wishes . . .

Everybody – remember to keep breathing.

Toodles,

N.Numpercar