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Frankfurt airport, December 9.

I'm home from my travels. I'm still recovering from jet lag, and the lingering cough from my mystery Cairo cold. My cough was so bad that talking would set off a round of coughs.

I also had a sewing mishap while putting away my luggage. I have generic black Costco luggage. I wanted to make certain that I could easily identify my stuff on the airport baggage carousel. So right before I left, I used my rotary cutter to cut several strips of brightly colored fabric ( about 12-14 inches long and about 1/3 - 1/2 inches wide) to decorate my luggage handles. I just tied them around the handles.

It worked wonderfully, so after I returned I decided that I would cut some more strips. So, I'm jet-lagged, recovering from a cold, and not paying enough attention--yes, these are all the ingredients for a rotary cutter accident. Direct pressure and elevating my hand worked very well, but dang it's difficult to type with a bandaged fingertip. Over the past few days, I've graduated to a regular band aid. Good news, though--no blood got on the fabric!