hey yerricde, if it's any consolation, i have a pilonidal sinus, but have not yet experienced any infection or abcess.

it's an interesting thing, actually (when you discount that fact that it's in my butt). see, i have this odd little hole between my buttcheecks, just where my tail bone ends (well, not really a hole, it doesn't lead anywhere. it's kind of like an extra belly button). i always thought everyone had one. i was shocked and worried to find out that wasn't the case. so i asked my mother about it who told me the long and painful story of my father's pilonidal cysts. but so far, it's just an extra hole called a pilonidal sinus that i have that most people don't. hopefully it'll never get infected. the worst i experience is pain when sitting down for too long.

Here's something I found interesting:
Pathophysiology: Congenital theories dominate the first 70 years of literature. These theories suggest that pilonidal sinuses are vestigial structures, cystic remnants of the medullary canal or the result of dermal inclusions from faulty development of the median coccygeal raphe.

It has since been established that pilonidal disease is an acquired condition involving midline pits in the natal cleft. These holes or pits are enlarged hair follicles in the skin. The nature of these distorted hair follicles is unclear. It has been suggested that gravity and motion of the gluteal folds create a vacuum that pulls on the follicle. Bacteria and debris enter this sterile area producing local inflammation. Edema occludes the mouth of the follicle, which continues to expand, rupturing into the underlying fatty tissue. Keratin and pus escape and a foreign body reaction results in a microabscess, similar to perforating folliculitis.
quoted from http://www.emedicine.com/cgi-bin/foxweb.exe/showsection@d:/em/ga?book=emerg&topicid=771
on to a different subject. cozmo slept better through the night, though he still woke up at 5am and yapped. i ignored him and he went back to sleep fairly quickly. i walked him after i woke up at 6:30, got dressed, then headed to work. here i am. listening to talk radio. it's quite cold outside. but it's sunny. so i won't complain.

i am far calmer today than i was yesterday, and this is a good thing. i think a lot of it has to do with the fact that because of cozmo's somewhat annoying habit of walking all over god's green earth before going potty, i'm walking more than i usually would. though it's sometimes frustrating because the pooch doesn't want to make tinkle, being outside walking around is good for the soul. even in this fucking chilly-ass cold.
10:30 am, mom called. thank goodness. she let me know that if things don't work out well between me and cozmo, he has a home there to go to. she also told me that jane doe (her rottweiler), lost her best friend frankie. at some point, a group of dogs beat jane doe up pretty bad. frankie had always hung out with her, exploring the woods and swimming in the pond. but as soon as these dogs beat her up, frankie joined their gang. poor jane. she could use another friend. the only thing i worry about is that cozmo has long hair, and that may be kind of a pain if he turns into an indoor/outdoor dog.

so now i can really take a solid look at how i feel about cozmo, whether it makes sense for me to keep him or not. i can give things a chance. he's so sweet and wonderful, and my main worry is the amount of time i work and spend away from home on weekends. He is also just so much more active than my last dog, it feels unfair to keep him in a small apartment.

11:00 am, lunch meeting. discuss bullcrap as an excuse to eat chili mostly, but we do get to talk about where we are in our project and any new ideas that we have come up with.