A novel way to spend one's birthday

Not long after I penned that previous post, I found that the pain had gotten much more intense and had not subsided, so I checked myself into the hospital. It turns out that I had a bad case of food poisoning. They kept me there until today, and I was released about two hours ago with a prescription.

I AM HOME NOW AND FEELING JUST FINE.

I want to thank everybody for the well wishing. It really made a difference (although I did feel a bit guilty that the older guy in the bed next to mine was all alone). And special thanks to Tim, Patsy, Sally and aerolyndt for the flowers.

An observation: Hospital equipment either generates an omnipresent whirring sound or really loud beeps.