Today my brother-in-law Peter dragged us out to look at cars. And since we needed a car I knew we’d probably end up with one. My mom wanted a grey Camry Hybrid, but they’re hard to come by. Camry Hybrids and Priuses are very popular here and there are places that charge a premium for them. Grey, for some reason, is also hard to find. My mom ended up with a normal silver Camry with a sunroof, another thing she didn’t want. But at least she has her own car again. What a pain it is to buy a car.

My sister is supposed to run the Portland Marathon tomorrow but she had something that sounded like a sinus infection today and slept most of the day. I don’t know if she’s going to do that well tomorrow.

We did end up trading phones. She got the magenta Razr and I got her silver one. I immediately tried to change the software on hers and turned it into an expensive paperweight. I’m such a genius.

I went to the acupuncturist at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM) today, after going to my primary care physician and making sure he didn’t have anything against acupuncture. (He didn’t have anything against chiropractors, either.) I didn’t get an acupuncture student but the instructor of the school. He was good. My usual acupuncturist, who was a student at OCOM, says, “Tell me when there’s a dull ache.” The instructor didn’t have to ask; he hit it on the first try. After the acupuncture with electric stimulation, he gave me a tuina massage. It was the oddest massage I’ve had, like being rolled from side-to-side. But it seemed to work on my back pain.

I liked the acupuncturist a lot. He asked about my medical history and he had a good idea of what was wrong. I think he even diagnosed the opposite of what the chiropractor did as far as the difference in my leg length. The last part of the treatment was him yanking on my leg to try to even the length. That also made me want to laugh, which put me in a pretty good mood.

We’ll see tomorrow if I’m able to walk or not, but I enjoyed my traditional Chinese treatment.