Thursday, April 24, 2008

I have snot where my brains should be.

It is so hard to be creative when your nose feels like it's been inflated to 80psi.

Look! A book meme!

Even though I wasn't tagged, I'll just boost it anyway...
1. Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating!
2. Find page 123.
3. Find the first five sentences.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.


Here's the three sentences:
The first is a standard date with "ac" over "43". It has an early frame and extractor cut. The second variation has the late frame and extractor cut.
Exciting reading, no? I'm not tagging anyone. You're on your own 'til the Benadryl kicks in.

35 comments:

rremington said...

I feel for your allergies. I hope what ever is blooming dies.

Word verification: rmyhhh CHOOOH!

Gesundheit

mousestalker said...

I tagged myself after reading your post. I liveblogged the result. I am never, ever liveblogging again. That is a very bad meme!

For what it's worth, drinking an insane amount of water daily generally helps me with my allergies. Also, unfiltered local honey in the off season will help acclimate your immune system.

Chicken soup couldn't hurt either.

Anonymous said...

" I have snot where my brains should be."

Your sinuses?

Seriously, look at the bright side of things, in your case it's temporary allergy thing cutting off air and blood .

For some people snot-for-brains seems to be permanent condition unrelated to allergy season.

NotClauswitz said...

AC over 43 - is it a book about Walthers? Your body is fighting a war against the subversivs sinuses, victory to Colonel Zubatov!elxurkmn

the pawnbroker said...

well, i won't do the tag thing, but here is my entry, from a rather contemporary work; wonder if any of your correspondents recognize it?:

"Yeah, I know. Some of my book club friends would agree with my pick,
but there are plenty who consider him too mainstream, whatever the hell that is.
I guess they had to suffer The Road Not Taken one too many times in high
school.”

jtc

breda said...

I don't think I should do this meme now. I'm at work - too many choices.

Brandon said...

I played. Mine came from Larry Correia's book, Monster Hunter International,which is sitting here at work to keep me from starting on it. I don't want to have to put it down for some school-related crap. I've got so much stuff to read this summer. W00t!

I'm sorry about your allergies. I can sympathize with the feeling that nothing's left in one's cranial cavity but mucous. It's amazing to me just how fast the body produces that stuff. Soon as you clear some out, it's right back again. Ick.

Anonymous said...

Tam, Claritin is over-the-counter now. I don't know about you but Benadryl leaves me stuporous.

Nasal steroids, e.g. Nasonex etc. also work well but are prescription.

I think your book is talking about P38s, or maybe K98s.

Khornet

Anonymous said...

Nearest book was a Webster's desk dictionary. No real sentences. ..... so.... count in 5 entrys and we get:

B.V., Blessed Virgin

BW, black and white (as opposed to color)

and bwana, n. (in Africa) master or boss

Anonymous said...

Mine: "Oh well. A clue was a clue. He carefully folded them up and put them in a scrap of paper borrowed from Carrot's notebook, and handed them to the corporal."

:)

(Yes, any literate person could name the author, probably. But which book?)

Mikael said...

Well Pax, it's not from "Thud!" anyway... and it's been too long since I read the others. I'd hazard to guess it's not "Guards guards!" either... "Feet of clay"?

My contribution: "Ancient, fireless, with ragged wings and no teeth, he clambered up the stairs every day and took up station under the cot. No one knew why. He made little whistling noises in his sleep."

Word verification: bfcblbmg

Anonymous said...

I'm thinking Pax's is "Feet of Clay" and Mikael's is "Thud!".

I tried it. All I got was the three least interesting sentences in a recipe for Italian sausage, which was probably the least interesting one in the chapter.

Since my desktop had its meltdown, my new Computer Lounge is right next to the surface where all our cookbooks accumulate, so I don't think I was in any danger of finding anything particularly intriguing.

trainer said...

procure one coffee cup.

1/3 hot water
1/3 blackberry brandy
1/3 honey...

The hot brandy will carry the honey into you blood like a shot of sugar.

Go to bed covered with blankets.
Sweat.

Tomorrow you will feel like a million bucks.

perlhaqr said...

Nearest such books are either "Linux Device Drivers" or "Unix System Administration Handbook". I'll spare you.

Anonymous said...

I will be glad when your allergys go away.

I second what Matthew said. Something about that local honey does a body good.

staghounds said...

"He is her oldest and in some ways herclosest friend, now that Caleb is gone. Yet they have often quarreled and hidden things from each other. Are there not always conflicts though?"

Definitely p38s.

Anonymous said...

Yes, we are gun geeks.

Didn't take most of us more than 30 seconds to figure out it was a nazi era firearms reference.

doubletrouble said...

My three:

“Thumb lever safety. DWM on new-style toggle, serial number and/or proof marks on barrel. American Eagle over chamber but no stock lug."

Me thinks we have similar books at hand...

FxR said...

South Corvallis, Finney Farm, Oregon
January 11th, 2008/Change Year 9
"I miss Luther," Juniper MacKenzie said quietly as she walked with the farm's master, looking to where her wagon stood beneath an oak.
It was nearly sunset under a sky the color of wet concrete, with spatters of rain now and then, feeling cold-as if it wanted to snow but didn't quite have the nerve.

Allergies suck. Dust and mold all winter, pollen and such when it gets warm.
Nasonex and claritin during the day, benedryl at night 'cause it knocks me out.

Earl said...

Jeebee found it fasinating, inspite of the almost intolerable temperatures of the tiny metal walled room, after the forge was going. He listened eagerly as Nick described how a blacksmithing outfit could be set up anywhere, given a few starting tools. Necessary were an anvil, a pair of tongs, and what Nick called a hardy.

Will Brown said...

re: your recent sinus problems, I'm really surprised no one's recommended a Neti pot to you before now. NeilMed Pharmaceuticals markets an inexpensive kit ("NASAFLO" in the $12 - $14 range) that's widely available.

Since moving to east Texas 15 years ago I've developed allergies which are largely mitigated by semi-regular use of a neti pot. When my sinus' become irritated I'll use the pot daily, otherwise maybe twice a week seems sufficient.

As ever, YMMV of course. Still, simple saline almost has to be less stressful to your bodily tissues than heavy use of any of the pharmaceuticals available. And, you can still avail yourself of them if the saline wash proves less-than-completely adaquate to your temporary needs.

Anonymous said...

That and claritin really is a wonder drug: You can't get addicted, you can't overdose on it, it doesn't make you sleepy, and it's not affected by alcohol.

Vitamin C ( like 500, 1000mg) works pretty well as a short term antihistamine too..and again, you really have to work at it to get so much in that you hurt yourself.

Zendo Deb said...

Did I mention the Netti Pot?

You will think you are going to drown the first time you use it. But they do work to clean out the sinuses. It is important to get the amount of salt right in the water. (Too much will burn, too little will burn even more.)

Just a thought.

Good luck. Allergies aren't fun.

Zendo Deb said...

Oh, and coffee really does have an antihistamine affect.

Anonymous said...

Tam,
Claritin is available at Costco as "AllerClear"(Loratadine). I use Drixoral for the really bad days, along with the Claritin every day. They keep Drixoral behind the counter(it's one of those Baaaad(tm)medicines that took a hit in "The War On Some Drugs".

ver: lawizt

joe said...

(remember, you asked for it)

"Which of the following statements are true, and which are false? If true, say why; if false, give a counterexample (that is, an example confirming the falsehood).
a. If lim(x->a) f(x) exists but lim(x->a) g(x) does not exist, then lim(x->a)(f(x) + g(x)) does not exist."

University Calculus. Hey, it's the closest right now...

as for the allergies, I usually used Alavert when I had problems. It worked better for me than Claritin or Benadryl. Like guns, there is no one perfect remedy.

Anonymous said...

Tam, that segment is about the P-38, correct?

Now I'm wondering if I can figure out what book it's from.

Anonymous said...

(Posted without skimming the comments.)

Is that a book about Mauser P38 pistols from WWII?

Anonymous said...

*sigh*

And of course, by "Mauser" I totally meant "Walther."

Anonymous said...

He tugged on me and grunted. "Help me, you hare-lipped derelict! You're too damn heavy."
"What about Harbinger?" I asked in a panic.
"Don't worry about Earl. He'll be fine. You don't want to be around him when he gets in one of his moods."

-Correia

Anonymous said...

I detect a Repairman Jack fan ....

( I heard American Derringer Company was making Semmerlings again ... )

Tam said...

For those wondering, it was Standard Catalog of Military Firearms, 3rd Edition, which was atop a stack consisting of Small Arms; Bolt Action Military Rifles, 1841-1918; The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 19th Century Firearms; The World's Great Small Arms; and Guns In Combat on the filing cabinet next to my desk.

the pawnbroker said...

and for those wondering about my entry, it is from "a bettered life" by marko kloos...i said "contemporary" because it was finished and published online just a few days ago.

it was closest to me because it was downloaded to my laptop which was ummm...on my lap of course, when i first read tam's self-tagged meme.

if you haven't read it, do yourself a favor and go to munchkin wrangler's blog where you can download it for free...unless you want to do the right thing and toss a buck or twenty into the tip jar...a very pleasant casual read; worth your time and worth paying for if you want to see more...jtc

Anonymous said...

did this and I got from nearest book.

Overgrown toenails extended and flexed, rasping against the wood. Trinity,now what? Could she hide here until someone came to feed the brute?

Now it... no he was pissing in a nearby corner. Jame edged back from the spreading puddle. Did the man have a wine vat for a bladder?

From "To Ride a Rathorn" by P.C. Hodgell

AnneDroid said...

"I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people.
Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them."

The nearest book had only 9 pages. The second nearest was the Bible.