2004-01-02 - 4:29 p.m.
Well, I have now passed my terrible stomach flu on to Miss A, with the effect, between our two fever-stressed little heads, of turning our house into something that sounds like a ward for early onset dementia.
Miss A: (faintly, from her bedroom) Hey, is Joan of Arcadia on tonight?
Miss M: No, that's tomorrow, but Scrubs is on at 9:00
Miss A: What time is it now?
Miss M: Quarter to eight.
(Miss A emerges and we install her in sickbed place of honour on the couch.)
Miss M: Is CSI on at 8:00?
Me: I think it's usually on at 9:00, but we can check.
Miss A: So does that mean Joan of Arcadia is being pre-empted by CSI?
Us: (pause) What?
Miss A: But Joan of Arcadia is usually on...
Me: No, like we said, Joan of Arcadia is on Fridays.
Miss A: What day is it today?
Me: Thursday.
Miss A: Oh. I thought we were going to watch Joan of Arcadia.
Me: No, because *Joan of Arcadia* isn't *on* today. But Scrubs is on later, at 9:00.
Miss A: OK.
(Time passes. Scrubs fails to appear at 9:00. We check the listings channel again.)
Miss A: Hey look, the listings say that Scrubs is on tonight!
Me: Yes. As you might recall from our earlier conversations, the main thrust of which was that Joan of Arcadia is not on tonight, but Scrubs is supposed to be on at 9:00. Only it's now 9:00 and it's not. And now the listings say it's been moved.
Miss A: So it's been moved up to 9:00?
Me. *No*, it was *supposed* to be on at 9:00, but now the listings say *9:20*, so it's actually been moved *back*.
Miss A: But those listings say "What's on at 9:00".
Me: But the *individual listing bubble thing* for *Scrubs* now says *9:20*. In little brackets. Right there, beside where it says "Scrubs". And if you ask me if Scrubs has pre-empted Joan of Arcadia I'm going to have to kill myself.
Miss A: Hey, leave me alone, I'm sick.
Miss M: And we didn't bug you when you were sick about your delirious explanation of the dream about the strangely cute Asian children who had been interbred with fish. Or about snoring through most of Eddie Izzard.
Me: Hey, look guys, it's time for Scrubs!
