My partner's mother is in the hospital right now.They had to transfer her from the smaller hospital where her husband works, to the large hospital in the only large city in the region. She has a systemic strep A infection, and while they're treating it with antibiotics, they don't know where the infection itself materialized, and they're not sure how long it will take to clear up. To add insult to injury, her younger child, my "brother in law" graduates high school on Saturday, and she's going to be too weak to go.

My partner is understandably distraught, and hopped off the truck Friday to hoof it home for family. I'm, in the truck alone, trying to hoof it to Portland to pick up a car and make up to see my mother in law. SAdly, my company has decided since she's not my mother, and since my partner and I are not married, that I don't get to take any leave, and will have to settle for the home time we had planned to go to the graduation. I'll have to pounce my boss in person tomorrow and convince him that I'm going to need an extra day, and if they won't grant it, I'll clean out the truck.

So, ramblings aside, if you're the praying type, or the sort who croseeses fingers or thinks good thoughts, could you send some to Pauline? She could really use them,