Dink or Beanie?

Cleaning my magazines this weekend, I came across the latest issue of W&J Alumni Notes. Among the articles, which mostly don't interest me, was one about the Freshman beanie, or as the article called it, the Dink.

The Dink was a small felt cap that the Freshmen wore their first year until about Easter. By the time I went to 'Jay, it was only the first six weeks. But that was long enough.

The beanie - what we called it - had changed as well. The design was now alternating triangular felt panels of black and red. It still had the "W & J" logo in black. As the article said, the freshmen had to doff the beanie and hit the sidewalk making a clicking sound with the metal button on top of the cap. 

By striking it hard on the pavement, eventually, the felt on the button would wear off and make a metallic sound. Initially, the sound was obviously muted. Being bright young men of some repute, it didn't take long for us to realize that if we scraped the felt off the buttons, we would be seen as respectful and dutiful Frosh.

I don't remember anything about the Lex Ultimo, or Freshman Court. It may have still been in existence, but I was never found not doing the right thing. 

I don't have my beanie anymore. It now resides at the home of a past friend of the opposite sex.

A Visit to the ER

 This has been a month of reading and book clubs and doctor visits with a short detour to the emergency room. Not much writing got done. My handwriting especially has taken a dive. 

Let's begin with the ER visit. Two weeks tonight I woke up with the worst shaking I have ever experienced. My whole body shook uncontrollably. I had to go to the bathroom where I threw up in a bucket while I had diarrhea on the toilet. Once I ejected things from my body, my shakes stopped, but I had an upset stomach the rest of the night and into Sunday. 

Monday I was still not feeling that good, but did not have any more shaking or upset stomach. When Lisa came home from work, she came over to where I was sitting in my LazyBoy, saw my legs, and said, "You need to go to the ER". So we went.

Once the ER people ran an Ultrasound and ruled out a clot in my leg, they pumped me full of antibiotics in an IV and said I had cellulitis in my left leg. They gave two antibiotic prescriptions and drew a blue line on my leg so I could watch whether the infection was retreating or still advancing.

Fortunately, it retreated. The redness is almost completely gone as is most of the swelling. Oddly, I never had any pain.