I think I'm dying from a cold

On Friday I did something I have never done before in my entire life. It was suspenseful and exciting. Any guesses? No? Prepare yourself, I threw up at work. Yes, indeed. How's that for an accomplishment? I trust you are impressed. I woke up Friday morning feeling fine. I had gone to the gym the afternoon before and had done a full hour on the elliptical. All was right with the world. I walked to work as usual, but a third of the way down the final long corridor I have to walk I started to get that metallic saliva-y taste/feeling in my mouth. Oy vey, I thought, and stopped at the drinking fountain. That seemed to help a little bit, but I didn't really think much of it. I just figured it was because I had taken my two medications at the exact same time w/o food (the one is supposed to be taken w/o food, the other I've never had trouble with before) and that as soon as I got to my desk I could eat my bowl of cereal and that would calm things down.

Not so much. I took one bite of my cereal and was racing for the restroom with a tissue pressed to my mouth. Thank heavens I get to work before anybody else in my area and nobody saw me. I puked my guts out (one whole bite of cereal) and then dry heaved awhile. It was charming. Oh yeah, I threw up on my sleeve, so that pleased me. I usually just wear a fleece at work over whatever work clothes I choose in the morning, but that day I was actually wearing a nice little jacket. Thankfully, I leave a fleece here at work so I rinsed the sleeve and hung the jacket on my chair. *sigh*

I didn't feel too bad after that, at least for a couple of hours, until I started to feel as if throwing up again was an option. My boss was in a meeting until 9:30, and I didn't want to leave until I saw him. I had also wanted to stay because the department was scheduled to have a meeting with our Big Big Boss about the fact that we, as a department, no longer had a Big Boss and that the Big Big Boss would be acting as our Big Boss for the time being, in addition to being the Big Big Boss for at least two other departments. Bossman assured me that the Big Big Boss wasn't probably going to tell us anything that we didn't already know, he just wanted to make us feel welcome and as part of the team, since our Big Boss wasn't very good at that (example: we used to be split into two groups, Branches & Roots, but two years ago the powers that be decided that it would be better to join us into one group, Tree, but to this day there are people from Branches that don't know people from Roots and vice versa – it's sad).

Once I told my boss that I had upchucked at work and was feeling like it was within the realm of possibility again, he told me to go home, so I did. I slept for a few hours, got up for few hours and then went back to bed where I slept for 12 hours. I had to go out Saturday because we were having our hockey pool re-draft and I had to dump some underperforming stiffs (sorry, Heather, but Liles got the boot), and I had to proxy for my friend Darryl who decided not to drive in from Milwaukee. I didn't have to go off his list, so that was good.

Some of my friends were going out to dinner after the re-draft but I was too sick to bother and went home (had to stop at Murray's along the way as I was out of windshield wiper fluid, which is just not a good thing in Michigan in winter with all the salt on the road, that is, if you like seeing where you're going). I don't remember if there was a nap involved or not. I did, however, go to bed at 8:00 and slept until 9:00 the next morning. And that was the last time I slept. I had to go to Target to stock up on Alka-Seltzer Cold & Cough (daytime version) and by the time I got home I was just drained and collapsed on the couch. I wouldn't let myself nap as I knew that meant I wouldn't sleep that night – which I didn't anyway. I contemplated staying home from work yesterday but since I hadn't slept, I decided I would go to work and then, in theory, be able to sleep last night. Yeah, not so much.

Last night as I lay (lie?) there with tissue stuffed up my nose (isn't that a pretty picture?) in an attempt at God knows what in order to sleep, I came to a new appreciation for people diagnosed with a chronic painful incurable disease who seek out the help of someone like Dr. Kevorkian. I'm not trying to say that my cold is the least bit similar as an incurable disease, but five days of watering eyes, running nose, fever, cough, aches, etc., and being unable to sleep due to all of the above, I can't even imagine how I would feel if I knew it would never ever go away. And for some reason, my beloved Alka-Seltzer Night-time Cold & Cough is not doing its job this time around. Normally, it dries me up and I sleep like a rock when I take it, but it has failed spectacularly the past two nights.

HRH called me yesterday to discuss our plans for Vegas (we finally got a weekend when we think most of the California contingent can make it), she said, "You're sick again?" She sent me the website of some organic mushrooms (called New Defense, I think) that are supposed to help the immune system. She swears that since she started taking them, she hasn't had a cold. What the hell. There's a place a mile from me that sells exactly what she recommends, so I might make my way there today to pick some up.

I'm really ticked because I had gotten into a short groove of working out and then BAM! sicker than a freaking dog. I know you can technically work out when you're sick, but it seems to silly to tax an already overtaxed, underworking body. What are your thoughts on working out when sick?

I know you were all expecting December's Movies Listing, but it'll have to wait. I'm so not in the mood to link. I hope everybody else is feeling significantly better than do!

Black Coffee in Bed

I visited Kelly and found two surveys to steal. I'll save one for another day when I have nothing to tell you, but here's one:

1. What's your name spelt backwards? Neelhtak – sounds like an alien race from Stargate SG-1.

2. What did you do last night? I had an eventful afternoon/evening. I had my dr.'s appt. to get the chest X-ray taken (also done), then it was on to see Maureen. On my way home I stopped at Target because I was out of toilet paper (and that's pretty darn essential). I bought a fair amount of snack items since my antibiotics are still wreaking havoc with my stomach. I made myself a DiGiorno's cheese pizza, watched the last inning of the ALCS Game 4 (and was singularly disappointed in the after game coverage), then turned on spring training Tigers game playing Atlanta where my Tiges took care of John Smoltz. I went to bed at 8:00 as I had been completely unable to sleep Monday night (2.5 hours tops).

3. The last thing you downloaded onto your computer? Probably a knitting pattern.

4. Have you ever licked a 9 volt battery? When I was young and stupid and did as my brother told me.

5. Last time you swam in a pool? I think last year at Grandma's.

6. What are you wearing? Black slacks (pants?), orange long-sleeved V-neck shirt, my really cool rhino socks and, as usual, black monochrome Chucks.

7. How many cars have you owned? 5

8. Type of music you dislike most? Country/Western – all that twanginess makes me want to put icepicks through my ears.

9. Are you registered to vote? Heck yes, the second I turned 18.

10. Do you have cable? Yes, for TV and computer.

11. What kind of computer do you use? POS Dell desktop at work. My beautiful MacBook at home.


12. Ever made a prank phone call? Hell no, the FF would have killed us if we did that.


13. You like anyone right now? I'm thinking a teenager might have written this. I like lots of people, care deeply about others.

14. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving? Hell NO!

15. Furthest place you ever travelled? Cairo, Egypt

16. Do you have a garden? No yard for a garden, but even if I had a yard I probably wouldn't. I had enough with gardens as the FF's indentured gardening servant. I don’t feel the need to pull a week ever again!

17. What's your favorite comic strip? Calvin & Hobbes

18. Do you know all the words to the national anthem? Yes, to the U.S. and Canadian.

19. Shower, morning or night? Every morning, but also afternoons after the gym. Sometimes when I can't sleep I'll take one at night, but always always always take one the next morning.

20. Best movie you've seen in the past month?

21. Favorite pizza toppings? Onions, although if I could artichoke hearts from Pizza Hut in Michigan like I could in California, I might say that instead.

22. Chips or popcorn? I'd normally say popcorn, but I read to avoid popcorn if you have trouble with cold sores and since I was fighting one for a bloody year, I stopped eating it. And when I had popcorn recently, I noticed that feeling, so no more popcorn for me.

23. What cell phone provider do you have? T-Mobile

24. Have you ever smoked peanut shells? Why would I have done that?

25. Have you ever been in a beauty pageant? Oh yeah, NOT!

26. Orange Juice or apple? Grape. Apple is boring, and orange is too citrus-y.

27. Who were the last people you sat at lunch with? The Libertarian brought me lunch at home last Friday when I felt so horrible and left work a little after 11:00. Other than that, I'd have no clue as I go to lunch extremely rarely.

28. Favorite chocolate bar? Lindt Swiss Classic Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Bar or Dark Chocolate Santander – 70% Cacao

29. Who is your longest friend and how long? Wow, good question. I've known Lisa my entire life, but I almost never see her anymore, although we send each other b-day e-mails. I've known Marianne since high school, but didn't become friends with her until the early 90s, which I think leaves Soyon who I met in college, either 1984 or 1985. I know she was 19, and I think she just turned 40.

30. Last time you ate a homegrown tomato? Last summer, my boss would bring in cherry tomatoes from his garden and I would eat them all before lunch.

31. Have you ever won a trophy? LOL! No, although I did get a plaque for my intramural soccer team when we won the championship. I was not an important part of the team, as they replaced me in goal for the playoffs. What can I say, I'm not athletic.

32. Favorite artist? Ooh, hard one. I have a thing for Spanish surrealists, so Miró, Picasso and Dalí.

33. Favorite computer game? Cubis 2 which won't work with the Mac so I can't download it and play the full game, dammit!!

34. Ever ordered from an infomercial? No, although I do find a number of them fascinating and tempting. I have ordered from QVC, but that doesn't count.

35. Sprite or 7-UP? Neither. I find them boring. Squirt, however, is quite yummy.

36. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school/work? Oh yes, 12 years of Catholic school made sure of that, along with six years at Burger King – back in the oh so pretty brown/yellow/orangey-red polyester days. Trés chic!

37. Last thing you bought at the store? Toilet paper, toothpaste, dental tape, headphones, snack items, DiGiorno pizza, Target brand sleep aid for the next time I find myself awake at midnight and the alarm ready to go off in four hours.

38. Ever thrown up in public? Oh yes, and it's a charming story. It was my first day of living in SF, i.e., I had moved there that day, and Julius was taking me around and giving me the $5 tour. We were in the Haight, had eaten at a little Mexican dive, and then walked to the local Salvation Army/Purple Heart type store where Julius was looking for a blender, being the consummate party-giver that he was (back in his bachelor days). I was tired from traveling and walking up Calfornia Street, etc., so I decided to lean against a table while he perused the blender collection. I put my hand down and felt something. I looked down and I had put my hand directly into something some incredibly classy person had hacked up, i.e., sputum. I was grossed out beyond words and scraped my hand on the table and ran out the door to get some air. I was essentially Lamaze-breathing to avoid puking, until we could get to Julius' then girlfriend's house who lived at Haight & Ashbury, a block away. While we walked Julius kept going on and on about how gross that was and did I look at it and did I see such-and-such. A few steps before the corner of H&A, I lost my cookies (or rather tortillas) and puked, right in front of some of the faux Haight homeless teenagers who, of course, commented. I don’t think I washed my hands so thoroughly or so many times in a row as I did that day.

39. Would you prefer being a millionaire or finding true love? True love.

40. Do you believe in love at first sight? I'm not sure I believe in true love, I'm definitely unsure about love at first sight. There's definitely lust at first sight.

41. Can exes just be friends? Depends. I'd never be friends with my first ex-, but I was friends with another until I moved to SF. I'd still be friends with him, except he seems to have moved into a different stratosphere of Detroit culture and I'm not cool enough anymore.

42. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? Pamela's mother.

43. Did you have long hair as a young kid? Are you kidding? Hell yes! And I hated it w/a passion! It was down to my butt and straight as an arrow and did nothing for me. I couldn't wait until I had enough of my own money (sophomore year of high school) to cut that shit. I've never looked back.

44. What message is on your voicemail machine? Standard, boring, I'm unable to answer the phone, please leave a message and I'll get back to you.

45. Where would you like to go right now? Home in bed.