I'm worried about my Dad, who's in the hospital at the moment.

Dad was the recipient of a kidney donated by his sister last year. To ensure that his body doesn't reject this replacement hardware, he takes drugs to suppress his immune system. The price that he pays for an extended lease on life is that these drugs effectively turn him into a human analogue of Microsoft Windows: he's vulnerable to infections of all sorts, and sometimes I just want to scream at the Manufacturer, who conveniently has a monopoly on this sort of thing.

He came down with a fever this weekend, and he's now in the hospital with some kind of infection that's manifested itself in his toe. This is no way to start a retirement; I was looking forward to taking him out to lunch regularly, not visiting him in the hospital.

If you're the praying type, please throw in a good word for him (especially if you happen to be the coolest priest I know) or slay a chicken or goat for him if that's your bag. If you're not the praying sort, maybe you can spare a kind thought. Hey, if you're into Feng Shui, could you perhaps straighten a picture or move your coffee table a couple of inches for his speedy recovery?

Thanks, folks.