Just as we suspected
I left work at 4:00 today and took Karys to her pediatrician. Karys wasn’t scratching or complaining of any pain but the bumpy areas on her body were redder than yesterday and she wouldn’t be allowed back into preschool without a doctor’s note. So off we went.
As soon as the doctor walked in, she confirmed what Carmi and I suspected all along. She said Karys had classic symptoms of a reaction to the antibiotic. Give her a few days, the docs said, and she should clear right up.
Hives anyone?
A friend called from preschool just before lunch today and said that Karys had suddenly broken out with a red, bumpy rash all over her body. I’m talkin’...the children sat down to eat and Karys was fine but a few minutes later she was covered from head to toe.
My first thought was that she was having an allergic reaction to ‘something’. But what?
Carmi called me a little later. She had been doing some research on the internet and felt like it was most likely ‘hives’. Karys was probably having a reaction to the antiobiotics we’ve been feeding her for the last week for an ear infection.
Fortunately Karys finished off the antibiotics last night so we’ll give her a day or two and see if the rash goes away. At least she’s not scratching.
Oxford compiles list of top ten irritating phrases
How many of these are you guilty of?
Heading the list was the expression ‘at the end of the day’, which was followed in second place by the phrase ‘fairly unique’.
The tautological statement “I personally” made third place – an expression that BBC Radio 4 presenter John Humphreys has described as “the linguistic equivalent of having chips with rice.”
Also making the top 10 is the grammatically incorrect “shouldn’t of”, instead of “shouldn’t have”.
The phrases appear in a book called Damp Squid, named after the mistake of confusing a squid with a squib, a type of firework.
The researchers who compiled the list monitor the use of phrases in a database called the Oxford University Corpus, which comprises books, papers, magazines, broadcast, the internet and other sources.
The database alerts them to new words and phrases and can tell them which expressions are disappearing. It also shows how words are being misused.
As well as the above expressions, the book’s author Jeremy Butterfield says that many annoyingly over-used expressions actually began as office lingo, such as 24/7 and “synergy”.
Other phrases to irritate people are “literally” and “ironically”, when they are used out of context.
Mr Butterfield said: “We grow tired of anything that is repeated too often – an anecdote, a joke, a mannerism – and the same seems to happen with some language.”
The top ten most irritating phrases:
1 - At the end of the day
2 - Fairly unique
3 - I personally
4 - At this moment in time
5 - With all due respect
6 - Absolutely
7 - It’s a nightmare
8 - Shouldn’t of
9 - 24/7
10 - It’s not rocket science
[source]
Reading time
Happy 22nd Anniversary
You a sweet daddy
I came home from work this afternoon and Karys, as is usually the case, greeted me at the door with a, “Well hello!”
She followed me around the house making (a lot of ) small talk. When I finally slowed down for a second, she said, “I miss you today.”
“You did?? I’m glad.”
“Did you miss me?”, she inquired.
“I sure did. I always miss my Karys.”
“Awww. You a sweet daddy.”
China issues first definition of internet addiction
Spending undue amounts of time online might not be healthy, or the time may be better spent doing other things, but internet addiction (as far as I’m concerned) doesn’t start until it’s detrimental.
Chinese doctors released the country’s first diagnostic definition of Internet addiction over the weekend, amid efforts to address an increasing number of psychological problems that reportedly result from Internet overuse.
Tao Ran, a medical expert at Beijing’s Military General Hospital, where the definition was developed, said it was also the first time for China to officially designate hospital psychiatric units to treat such cases.
Symptoms of addiction included yearning to get back online, mental or physical distress, irritation and difficulty concentrating or sleeping.
The definition, based on a study of more than 1,300 problematic computer users, classifies as addicts those who spend at least six hours online a day and have shown at least one symptom in the past three months.
“Eighty percent of addicts can be cured with treatment, which usually lasts about three months,” said Tao. He did not describe the treatment, however.
According to the China Youth Association for Network Development, Internet-addicted youths are more likely suffer frustration in interpersonal relations than their peers.
Those aged 18 to 30 account for nearly half of the online population in China, which has been estimated at 210 million as of 2007 by the China Internet Network Information Center.
About 10 percent of young users suffer Internet addiction, an earlier survey revealed, and about 70 percent are male.
[source]
