Insulata

I have been told to be more positive, so here goes.

The following is my recurring daydream...it's really quite an awful thought, but you wouldn't be surprised...
In a perfect world, I'd be able to live out my dream of being an internationally renowned infectious disease specialist who gets called to outbreak locations to save the local populace from the latest deadly epidemic of some rare emerging microbial pathogen. Oh yeah...the sheer chutzpah required...I would have this 'aura' about me...
As I stride into the 'war-room' the huddled teams of journalists, investigators, scientists and military top brass would salute me as 'Professor,' hoping to touch my white labcoat for a dint of inspiration as I reach for the red phone and declare 'get me the President - this doesn't look good, folks.' Better still would be my heroic efforts to stem the deadly tide of bioterrorism...
Most importantly, I'd have a bacterium, a virus, a fungus, a parasitic worm, a tic and two diseases (both rare and common) named after me, which would become compulsory examination questions for third year medical students. Less importantly, I'd be knighted, I'd receive the Congressional Medal of Hono(u)r [sic], I'd get a Nobel Prize, I'd be made a freeman of the city of Des Moines, Iowa, I'd receive the Legion d'Honneur (1er classe), I'd be feted and fed.

Wouldn't life be grand...dream on, Jason Ho, dream on...

Just bought a terrific book about untranslatable words, like "ho'ohponopono" and "wabi" - great stuff.

I'm about to go and prepare a sumptuous salad for some overworked (but very de-stressing) people...hurrah.