Tue Jul 14 09:33 EDT 1998
Weak-end Update: July 10-13

I went to the doctor yesterday and he said, "You have acute bronchitis."
I told him to keep his eyes on his business; I am a married man."  He
said, "I'm giving you preg-no-zone."  I said, "what do I need that
for? I'm a guy!"  When he said, "I want to give you an antibiotic
prophylactically" that was it; I got weirded out and left.

On the serious side, my weekend was miserably spent coughing and
hacking due to my very own stupidity.  I was sanding drywall compound
off of the seams in the bathhouse...without a mask.  At the time,
I thought I'd only be doing a little sanding and I'd be in and out in
no time at all.  Instead, I gave my respitory system a fine coating
of easy-to-spread drywall mud.  So I do have acute bronchitis, I am
on prednisone (the real spelling) and was given an antibotic (just in
case it would develop into an infection), and inhaler, and robitussen
with codeine for night-time cough prevention.

Despite sounding like a '72 Mercury Malibu with a bad carburetor
when I breathed and coughed, I fulfilled my teaching responsibilities
on Sunday, timing the cough medicine and ibuprophen to give me
maximum prop-up-ability.  I was also able to cut and cement the vinyl
flooring in the bathhouse with nurse Joy there to call 911 if I passed
out.

We did not take before pictures of the bathhouse.  I'll have to list
it in the answer I'll give to any interviewer who asks, "Do you have
any regrets in life?"  I'll say "yes.  Not wearing a mask when sanding
drywall, and not taking 'before' pictures of my projects."

I think we're having fun doing these projects (most of them, anyway).
And we don't only do them with us in mind.  We're making things better
for when you come to visit.

This Saturday, all but Joy and Mandy will be headed up to Camp Windsor
Hills in Hillsboro, NH.  I'm going to finally be a camp counselor
(which was in doubt yesterday morning!).  So this weekend update
will have to do you for a couple of weeks.

Have fun, come visit, stay healthy, and remember to alwasy wear a
mask when sanding drywall!

Mark
    w
     \
      \      /\      Mark Metcalfe, Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
____;-)-----<__L____ 270 Billerica Road, MS04
     \/      \       Chelmsford, Massachusetts 01824
              \_     Phone: (978) 446-6451  Fax: (978) 446-6351