Can you force part of the country to cede?

Really, if just that chunk of Topeka could legally be declared not part of Kansas, I'd really be much less ashamed of living here.

In other news, our 'company' has instituted a policy of sick-leave buyback, if you have X amount banked AND you don't take any for a year (Actually it's a sliding scale, if you take none you can buy back 56 hours, if you take 8 hours or less you can buy back... less, and so on) you can get paid for your sick leave. And yet, it's also policy that you are not allowed to come in to work until you've been fever-free for 24-hours. Mixed signals, much?

I foresee half of the people not caring/bothering and going about using sick leave as normal. Unfortunately, some people will want the extra cash so much they'll come to work sick and infect the rest of us, leading to more sick leave than before.

Why does the pessimist in me think there’ll be something awful like an outbreak of meningitis? That'd suck.

Hallelujah!

THERE BE DUCKIES AT MY HOUSE!!!

Get. Control. Of. Your. Damn. Dog.

I'm not only mad because I felt like I was going to die before it was all said and done, but because I know, if something's not done, that dog is going to get hit and killed by a car.

Here's the deal (so if I do die, y'all will know why). I was walking Shadow, when suddenly there was a jangling behind me. Lo and behold a giant Lab-ish puppy is galloping towards me - and me somewhat anti-social pooch. I scoop her up, and start yelling at the dog to go away. It does not, and commences leaping on me. I twist and turn, trying to keep my (remarkably calm) dog away from her. I start working my way the half-block back to my house, carrying 28 pound of dog and alternately twisting, spinning, and yelling at this giant goof that's rather insistent on playing.

And then, oh thank you, the Lab is momentarily distracted by another dog in a fenced yard nearby (Snowball, I think - little white fluffy thing). And Snowball's owners are there! Standing in their driveway! And they see me yelling at this dog, and holding onto my dog! And they do... NOTHING. No, they couldn't grab that (very obviously friendly) slobbering mass to keep it off of me. So the dog continues to follow me until I manage to squeeze into our gate.

Then I take Shadow's leash off her, squeeze myself out of the backyard, and call the moose over. I snap the leash on her and we work our way back down the street. Her owners are glad, but all "There's nothing we can do, she just climbs the fence and she can get off her lead. We're thinking of getting a dog run with the top, you know?" Yeah. These are the same people who lost their Pomeranian not long ago. You could... oh, not leave her outside unsupervised? You live one house length from a *very* busy main street.

Then I trudge back to my house and retrieve my dog, and I'm about to walk her but I feel awful. I'm out of breath, my lungs feel like they're on fire, and I'm coughing. Obviously, I've overexerted myself. Between the stress and panic and carrying Shadow that far... So I take her back into the house and proceed to feel like I'm dying. Every breath hurts, the inside of my mouth and throat are on fire, and somehow my tongue feels like it's swelling. And my jaw hurts. And I'm coughing - great, hacking coughs like a 90-year-old five-pack-a-day smoker.

My theory (hypochondria aside) is that my allergies cause permanent post-nasal drip (that's not a theory, I'm pretty sure of that part). When I breath hard (even just from laughing) I pull mucus into my lungs. This creates coughing. Compounded with the cold, dry air (32°F currently) and the exertion of carrying the dog just did them (my lungs) in. It took about 10-15 minutes, but other than the occasional cough I'm feeling a whole lot better. Like I might even live!

But I'm going to try to take the dog again (obviously, I need the exercise). Wish me luck!