Good on you, jim nj. Nytol.

Oh and Sabertooth works fine as a name! Thank you all--he's better tonight.

Dr.J--thank you so much for the Chopin! She looks so triumphant!

I DO remember "A Boy Named Sue"! Nick would be fine with Tigersmeat or Sabertooth! Anonamom saw his picture so she can be a witness...

Thanks for all the good wishes for my son! He would be mortified at the name “kittensmeat”—he’s 6’ 1”, 210, very strong, very male…so if you guys wouldn’t mind retiring THAT tag, I’d appreciate it! No scope today, but upping of the prescriptions. Child has definitely been through the wringer lately, and every night he’s tortured with pain. Doctors are so conservative! I want Rifaximin, and I want it now! I am so glad about KK. All that optimism and drive are bound to help. He is the best. Christmas here goes up the Sunday after Thanksgiving, which is definitely too early but if you want a nine-foot tree in Lincoln you have to get it then. I understand that one should properly hold to what MM proposes, Epiphany (Jan. 6th) for the takedown, but since by then the tree has been up so long I am itching to get on with the new year, so I usually take it down myself on New Year’s Day (no one wants to help, though male brawn can be counted on for that actual hauling-out). Gosh, we always have a very beautiful tree, if I say so myself.

Thanks, henry, for the beautifully bad suggestion!! GUS, your prayers are so welcome--I know you know the terrain! AB, the ulcer started this summer, so no connection to the collarbone except that stress and losing our collie has probably made it worse. Scope tomorrow, we hope. Poor boy--it hurts like hell--worse than the collarbone by far.

JimsunnyvaleCA, his collarbone is healing nicely, thank you for asking. BUT he has a massive ulcer which will be scoped tomorrow--more pain than ever the collarbone caused. Prayers welcome! Anonamom has been a great solace through email--thank you, anonamom!

Foist, for whatever glory there attends.

CH, sbw, I'll be in Rochester for a conference in mid-March, I think the 18th through the 20th--as I'm on the board, I'm only free that Friday and Saturday, but could we meet up either of those days? It would be an honor! I don't think I have either of your emails, but perhaps Jane or others do. I'm lwhite the number four at unl dot edu. So ridiculous these efforts at confounding the unjust!

henry, I liked your 8:48!

Prayers and all good wishes to Kev, who will endure and prevail, I warrant! I've always like Bolton as a straight shooter, but he is certainly pro-the use of US power--perhaps more than is wise here and there. I bet he was mad, for instance, when President Trump didn't react with firepower over our shot-down drone. But then I don't know, unlike the all-knowing solons at the NYT. CNN I hope is writhing once again with their stupid "Trump hurts our spies" story. But to writhe you have to have a conscience.

narc, I'd like to meet your mom next time I come over to the East Coast--she sounds like a remarkable woman! HB, MM--may you everyday triumph over a recalcitrant lawn!

OL is dead right. We don't affect climate change in any appreciable way--this is just more Gaia nonsense. People just don't get scale!

Catching up: jimnj, you are fine, and balanced, and always yourself. Jack, love your rare bat story from Wiltshire; poor bat! Re narc’s post of the aviators in Hallandale Beach, Florida—that list was a treat (I went looking for the usual 911 suspects)—some particularly delicious names: John Sathyavan Thevabalasingha, Emmanuel Francisco LaGrange Briceo Corredor, and Gianncarlo Potolicchio Shlick. Nice, huh?

Hi, Jack--when you catch up, I never talk with colleagues about anything with political overtones, never. For good reason. You'll understand.

Also, this good joke from Piers Morgan on Jo Johnson’s departure from the Government today (he is Boris Johnson’s brother, torn between family loyalty and politics—I think he did the honorable thing and stepped down): "Is Jo Johnson the first minister to quit so he can spend less time with his family?" Good joke, yes, but Piers was immediately assailed on twitter as having stolen the joke from a rabid anti-Brexiter—you can see for yourselves, but my thought is that the joke was just sitting there for some reasonably educated person to pick up: https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1169595549118541825

JimsunnyvaleCA, thank you very much for the link that explains how Boris can sidestep the serpentine machinations of Labour, the Tory wets, etc., by just letting the bill which precludes a no-deal Brexit, passed by the MPs, go on to the Lords, who will stall until Oct. 31st has gone its wee way. Though the House of Lords isn't now what it has been--too many magnates rather than landed people who have more skin in the game--it is still very conservative and, God bless them, pro-Brexit no-deal if that's the only way to get it.

On a lighter note, here's this a great video of Rich Little, celebrating his 80th year along with David Horowitz, reminiscing about Reagan, Sinatra, Carson and others. Extremely funny and worth the roughly 25 minutes. The Carson bits were particularly wonderful: https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/274816/video-comedian-rich-little-entertains-horowitz-frontpage-editors

MM, he's already the coach's TA, so I think he's doing that, and helping coach younger players. That helps, yes.

Momto2, yes on the pampering--smoothies and so on. But he's still awfully down--perhaps the attention he'll get at school tomorrow will help. He's in 5 AP classes plus Calc III, so it's all rather a grind, and then no football!

Kev! I'm so glad you're back! rse, when I had drinks with you and Momto2 the summer before last, I didn't know I was the presence of two real heroes!

And thanks, GUS and everyone--I've never broken anything but a big toe (running into the piano as a child), so I don't have personal reference points.

Bone broth it is--I know you guys know what you are talking about!

Surgery update: six very generous people volunteered to give up up to five hours of their otherwise-off Sunday morning to get Nick’s collarbone back in one piece—two nurses, a surgery nurse, a surgery PA, the surgeon, and the anesthesiologist. All were so very nice and so very competent. They injected something at the very end, the name of which I forget, which should stop pain around the site for 2-3 days. His trainer came by as he was about to be wheeled out, and then his coach called, so he’s getting a lot of loving care. And then he came home to the dogs!

henry, he's pretty ambidextrous! He just wants to get back on the field also to get the ball near scoring and then get planted! I on the other hand...