It never hurts to ask, does it?

1. In nursing, one never, ever uses the Q word to describe a rather silent night. To do so angers the powers that be, not to mention superstitious colleagues, and the end result will be anything but peaceful. If you say the Q word, you've asked for it. I confess I dropped the Q word several times last week, so don't feel sorry for me, I brought this on myself.

2. In the dead of winter in Detroit, never ask, can it possibly get any colder? You know the answer to this. As I was leaving the hospital at midnight last night, under the light of the full moon, the thermometer in my car read a mere nine degrees. The wind chill was oh, so much lower than that.

3. If you mock the full moon, you will pay the price by having to deal with madness far beyond the coping ability of most people. As a special treat, it will turn out that a client's relatives can often be crazier than the sickest of patients. Sometimes they're even cruel. Sometimes they're just filthy. If you've really mocked superstitious beliefs, they could be a combination of both. Now that's something really special, so much so, that when I got home last night, I washed my ears out with soap.

Then I made a really strong fig martini.

Once in awhile, if you pray hard enough for a break, you sometimes get one. The plumber came by today and found no obvious leaks. He spent 20 minutes in my basement and left without a charge. God bless his little heart for taking pity on a half crazed hospice nurse.

As if to answer today's question of whether or not tonight can be as bad as last night, look what's here to greet the rush hour. My assignment is 25 miles west of me. Because we all know a dusting of snow at rush hour causes people to drive as if they've lost their minds, I'd better leave now. With luck I'll get there by midnight.