Hat Trick

Thank you for all your thoughtful comments; I should add that 1) if you pay for your schooling, then yes, there is less of an incentive to extract and 2) science programs probably have the largest motive to extract usefulness; but anywhere that expects a student to TA is also getting value for their money. Grad students are A LOT CHEAPER than professors.

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Today we finally had Pumpkin's one-year appointment. (He's perfectly normal.) At the end the doctor said "And I noticed that he has kind of thin skin over his temples- you can see the veins very clearly- you have it too. This is often associated with a condition called Ehlers-Danlos, where..."

And I gaped a little as I told him that yes, in fact, a very mild form of something like Ehlers-Danlos runs in my family, which is why we all sprain things all the time and have freakishly bendable joints.

This is why I keep taking the kidlet to this doctor.* (Who's about, oh, 32.) Old-school, my friends. Old-school.


* Crazy Old Uncle Howie will, shortly, cease to pay the spousal unit on account of the fellowship, but fortunately this doctor IS the uni's insurance, so all will be well.