Now I need to explain this to Henrietta, who is pining away from loneliness outside. I think I'll have to put them together inthe dog crate during the day, just so they can hang out. Henny is really sad without Lucy. Chickens were not meant to be alone.

I ordered some fly control products from Arbico-Organics. I didn't think there were that many flies, I keep the run pretty impeccably clean. But apparently even a few flies are too many. If a hen has a slightly poopy butt for a day or two, they can zoom in and lay eggs and start tissue breakdown. That's so nasty I can't even stand to think about it.

So I got some biological predators...a species of gnat that attacks any fly larvae it finds and devours it. The gnats themselves are tiny and harmless and not pesky.

I also got a solar-powered flytrap that will attract and destroy any adult flies hanging around. The vet said it's really, really good.

I know, I know, I'm doing all this for two hens. And we can't even eat Lucy's eggs for the next two months, because of the antibiotics that she's going to be on. But what the hell, farming isn't easy, right? Even on a very, very small scale. But once I get my learning curve down, things will be fine. Number One Rule right now is KILL ANY AND ALL FLIES. This should be pretty easy, because the weather's getting colder anyway. But I'm all set for next season. Motherfuckers are going DOWN!

We all got colds two weeks ago. Everyone got better except me. My cold got better, but I developed a raging sinus infection. I tried to fight it off the best I could for a week, but last night it got the best of me.

I washed about a pound of blood-specked thick green goop out of my head before bed (thank you Neti pot, the world's weirdest and yet at times most useful product ever), but after laying down for about five minutes my sinuses were completely blocked again. All night long I lay gasping for breath, propped up on pillows, sinuses burning like fire, head pounding.

Another nice side effect of a sinus infection is tooth pain. The tooth itself is fine, it's just referred pain from the infected sinus, but it feels like you have a rotting tooth that's about to fall out of your head. Or burst into flames. So I've had that too. Two days ago I could barely eat.

All night long I planned on how I was going to the doctor FIRST THING in the morning. Since I wasn't sleeping anyways, I even got up and found a local walk-in clinic close by that accepted my insurance. At 9:00am when the doors opened I was there with Julian, all ready to wait for my walk-in appointment.

That fat coughing receptionist took one look at my insurance card and said, "We don't take THIS Cigna insurance. It's POS."

AAARGH. Well how much is a cash appointment? Turned out to be $125. Low-cost, my ASS.

I had already looked for my primary-care physician on the Cigna website and found nothing. Plus, who would take me as a walk-in on a Friday?

In desperation, and since I was driving by anyways, I stopped by my OB's office. He was off in Tahoe for a long weekend, but I got the cool tatttoed, pierced nurse at the reception desk, who hooked me up with a prescription for pregnancy-friendly, fast-acting antibiotics and told me to take Sudafed in the meantime. No charge. She did it right there on the spot. I was at Long's pharmacy with the drugs in my hand a half hour later. Already my snot is less green and the fire in my head has cooled.

Did I mention that I LOVE my OB? Best office ever.

I hate the Sudafed though. Breathing is nice, but I feel all woozy and wired. Goddamn non-drowsy crap. Drowsy is GOOD. When you feel awful and you're exhausted, non-drowsy is the worst.

So I don't know what that was about. The 2 hour fever? Ugh, he had better not be coming down with another cold. I can't take it.

I would be very interested in your response to the issue of disparity between the very wealthiest Americans (Of which you are one) and the middle and lower income americans as discribed in this column.

OPINION | September 8, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist: Whining Over Discontent
By PAUL KRUGMAN
We are, finally, having a national discussion about inequality, and right-wing commentators are in full panic mode.

What? Who are you? Why are you sending me this? And honey, if you think I'm one of the very wealthiest Americans you are seriously delusional.

Then I noticed that the email was actually addressed to Dianne Feinstein. Why *I* got a copy of it, I have no clue. It wasn't cc'ed to me or anything. Very bizarre. But yeah, at least it makes sense now. DiFi is loaded. Thank goodness she's turning away from her Republicrat tendencies and coming back to the fold a bit these days...fighting global warming, drilling off the California coast, etc.

OK, well time to clean up the kitchen. Oh joy.

I have no idea what to make for dinner. I made enchiladas last night with homemade sauce from the bounty of my late-season veggie garden, but we already ate leftovers for lunch today and I can't face them again.

I really don't feel like cooking at all, and I'm completely uninspired. Julian has eaten nothing but fruit and fruit bars today. He had a mouthful of egg this morning, but otherwise he's been a total frugivore. I guess it's OK because he has eaten quite a bit of meat lately, but still...I need to get something into him. What, I don't know. I think I just want some chicken soup or something. Aaargh.

OK, gotta run. Must blow nose and start cleaning.