Yeargh. What a day.

It started when I got the news that The Other Donna will have to reschedule her weekend visit to Philly, because of the flu. Unfortunately, it really IS the flu in this case, not just the sort of Headcold from H*ll that is so often called "the flu" by the sufferer. Phooey. I don't know what this bleeping flu bug is that's been going around, but apparently it's causing as much aggravation in New England as it's been causing down here. Fortunately, Amtrak is a lot more accomodating about rescheduling trips than the airlines would be. So she's going to spend the weekend battling the flu, and I hope that the %$*#@& thing is gone ASAP.

Within minutes of that phone call, I heard from the realtor, who needed a Letter of Satisfaction from one of the local utility companies. There was an old, disputed bill from a few years ago; the dispute has long since been resolved and the bill has long since been paid. However, the title company required this Letter of Satisfaction from said utility company as proof that everything has been settled. No problem, I thought, I'll just look up the customer service number and call them.

No dice. Seconds after the realtor's phone call, I got a call from Joe M. You know that flu bug that's been making a nuisance of itself down here? Unfortunately, it's hit a lot of attendees of a Senior Citizens center where Aunt Phyllis likes to go. A lot of the regulars there are sick, and Aunt Phyllis has apparently joined their ranks. The symptoms started a few days ago. This morning, after some new symptoms showed up, they decided that an immediate visit to a doctor was in order. I agree 100% on that score; there are some things that you just don't fool around with, and several days' worth of unabated illness for an octogenarian is cause for concern. Hence, the call to me, so I could drive them over there. Fine. (Well, not FINE, exactly, since I'm certainly not fine with anything that involves Aunt Phyllis getting sick, but you know what I mean.)

So I assist with the errand of getting Aunt Phyllis and Joe M. to the doctor, head home, and once again attempt to call the utility company. Do you know I was on hold for *48 minutes* before someone took the call? GOOD GRIEF. That's just freaking obscene. Fortunately, once I got an actual human being on the line, the transaction itself took no more than five minutes to accomplish. I gave them the name, address, and account number, explained the situation, and gave them the realtor's fax number so they could send the necessary information directly there. Thank goodness at least ONE thing appears to have gone smoothly today. (Unless I hear back from the realtor that they're still waiting for their fax, in which case I'll have to freakin' hurt someone. I'll deal with that potentiality later, if necessary.)

Fast-forward about an hour, and I got a call from Joe M. They're admitting Aunt Phyllis overnight, so they can give her some IV fluids, and also because of one of the numbers that showed up when they did a blood test. I don't blame them for being cautious. Again, we're talking about an octogenarian here, so I'm of the opinion that they should always apply the maxim "Better safe than sorry". But if she's dehydrated, I hope that getting the IV in there, letting her get rehydrated, and then taking another look at the blood numbers will produce results that are closer to what they'd have liked to see the first time around.

Anyway, YEARGH. That's how my day has gone so far. How about yours?