Left hand, meet right hand.

I called up the people with Mom's retirement money and reminded them that Good Sister had sent the death certificate with the cause of death last week. They appeared to need the reminder. I also asked them, "Where's my dough, you goons?" "Do you need anything else from me?"

They said they needed nothing further from me, and that they'd get my request "processed". So yeah, I've been checking my bank balance about as often as observant Muslims pray.

the Tickler's gut flora

I've written here many times about the Tickler's delicate digestion. I'd always assumed that they'd had it since childhood, but neau.

It dates to an unusually severe case of food poisoning that they contracted just before leaving one of the Persian Gulf states at the end of a weeks-long business trip. They had a vile trip home, natch, and their poor insides haven't been the same since.

Which makes me wonder: if a gut flora population can be radically altered like that, can it be restored? How would you even go about doing that? South Asians, including in this instance Iranians, have long sworn by yogurt as a cure for whatever ails your tummy. Maybe they're onto something. The only way you're going to get the right germs to live inside you is to swallow them. But where, outside the insides of other people, does one find them? There's a scientific publication or two in this for somebody.

Come to think of it, I'm not sure the Tickler can tolerate yogurt. There are numerous dairy products that mess them up, but not all.