Woohoo! I didn't die from my cold

Thanks for all the get well soon wishes. I woke up yesterday feeling immensely better. Of course, the head cold simply moved to my lungs, as all illnesses are wont to do with me. I was so happy to have clear sinuses again that I took it in stride. What else can I do? I'm back to coughing up a lung regularly, which for me, beats the hell out of blowing my nose every other second, stuffing tissues up my nose just to sleep, and sneezing more violently than usual. (Heather, I know exactly what you mean, I'm pretty sure I woke the lady downstairs with my sneezing over the weekend.)

I didn't go to the gym, but I did do my Drew Workout on Tuesday (minus the squats and lunges, as I knew I didn't have that kind of energy). Yesterday I walked a bit over 1 mile each way to the Farm Market to buy fresh fruits and veggies (and forgot to bring an apple or pear with me to work). I'm coughing so much today that I'm light-headed (no, it's not a normal state of mind for me, thank you very much), but I'll see later if I'm up for a walk or the gym.

I took my measurements on New Year's Day (I have no real clue how much I weigh as I don't own a scale), but I'm not happy with my measurements (what woman ever is, really). I have started writing down everything I eat, in an effort to find out why I can't lose weight or inches, no matter how much I exercise. So far, except for probably New Year's Day when I was at a party, I haven't eaten anywhere near 2000 calories in a day, so I'm not sure eating is my problem. *sigh* I'm pissed.

Oops, still no movies...one of these days...

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!

September Movies & Books

I'm home sick from work. And I'm not happy. I had started not to feel well on Saturday, I guess, although I didn't realise it as I thought I was simply hungover. My first clue was when driving to knitting club that night and I wasn't speeding. Not only was I not speeding, I wasn't even doing the speed limit. That only happens when I'm super tired or not feeling well. I got up Sunday morning for church even though Mom wasn't in town and had to leave before 11:00 since I was not myself. I came home and climbed into bed and slept for over two hours.

I didn't feel like doing anything after my nap and just veged on the couch waiting for bed time. I went to bed at 7:00 p.m. I snoozed Monday morning for two hours and then got up and sent the bossman an e-mail saying I was staying home. I slept until 8:30, when I got up, took a shower and called the doctor for an appt., and was back in bed by 9:30 and I slept until 12:30. My dr.'s appt. was at 1:30 and I got to drive 30 miles not feeling well in driving rain. I saw more accidents on that trip. It was craziness.

I had a retirement party to attend yesterday afternoon at the University. One of my political science profs who had left my department (Social Sciences) to go to another department and start a Masters in Public Administration was finally retiring. He's one of the good eggs, so I was happy that Carol L had forwarded me the e-mail. I got to see a good number of people I do miss from my U days. The Famous (or is that Infamous) Uncle Bernie was there and as always he asked me if I still live "at that kibbutz." Yup, I replied. A good number of my fellow collegians have lived in my apt. buildings over the years, hence "kibbutz." He's a very funny guy, my Uncle Bernie.

I crashed early last night after the debauchery (ha ha) that is a University retirement party (and picking up my antibiotics). I got up and went to work this morning but left by 9:30 and was home and in bed by 10:00 and took another three hour nap. I've been up for 30 minutes and I feel like I could go right back to bed.

Instead, it's on to the Books read and Movies watched in the 9th month of this year.

Books

The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald - 297 pages - with this book I finish with F. Scott Fitzgerald. He has some books of short stories I could read if I were so inclined, but I don't like short stories as a general rule and after this book I'm pretty much done with F. Scott. I bloody well hated this book. It was all I could do to finish it. His two main characters, Anthony and Gloria Patch, were not in the least bit likable. The book reminded me of the Shopoholics series (a series I despised with every fiber of my being) in that these people had no concept of money. Hell, I know I'm no financial whiz kid, but I'm pretty clear on the concept of going to work to make money to pay my bills. I hurried through the end of this book because I was not going to let this be the only book I read and have to declare it Book of the Month.

Under Orders by Dick Francis - 369 pages - I love and adore Dick Francis and when I saw a paperback at Borders last month with his name on it I about fell over because I had heard that he wasn't going to write anymore after the death of his wife, Mary. I was very upset that I had missed it coming out in hardback, but I decided to live with the disappointment of having it in paperback. It was brilliant and exciting and very much worth waiting the year for, although I'm still not happy about it. I remember asking about a new book from him sometime last year and being told he wasn't writing anymore. I guess I was a few months early in that request. If you have never read a Dick Francis mystery, you are cheating yourself of a good time. All his books take place within the world of horse racing and although I've never ridden a horse and in fact, they scare the crap out of me and you won't find me near one, I love all his books.

Book of the Month: Under Orders by Dick Francis, of course!!!

Movies

Firefly - the entire series. It made me sad all over again that there was only the one season.

The Day The Earth Stood Still (N) 1951 - 93% - After Fermi and Schprockie recommended this in the same week, I put it in my Netflix queue. I have to say that although I am generally skeptical of sci-fi (yeah, I know, ignore my Babylon5, SG-1 and Firefly ways), especially 1950s sci-fi, this was a very good movie. I appreciated the anti-war message, in particular.

A Touch of Fate (N) 2003 - No rating - I had caught most of this movie on some high number channel the day I got my digital cable box installed, but I had to leave before the movie was over and I had to know what happened, so I Netflixed it. It was pretty Lifetime movie-ish I must say, but there is a part in the movie where Teri Hatcher punches out her big beefy cheating fiance and that part alone was worth the time spent. It looks like she actually hauls off and knocks him off his feet. Not that I advocate violence or anything like that.

The Magnificent Seven (Cable) 1960 - 92% - I had sworn that I wasn't going to watch this movie until I saw The Seven Samurai, but it was on cable and it just begged for me to watch it. It's still on my Netflix queue because I want to watch it again after The Seven Samurai (it's #2 in my queue) and the movie after The Seven Samurai starts my very own personal Steve McQueen Film fest. I'm sure everybody but me has seen The Magnificent Seven, so I don't have to say much. I loved the three little kids who idolised Charles Bronson.

Libel (N) 1959 - Not rated, hell, it's not even listed at rottentomatoes.com - This was the first movie I DVRd with my brandnew from Comcast DVR (I had one for a week that simply refused to work - talk about frustrating, I was on the phone with Comcast daily). Dirk Bogarde played three different roles in this movie, although IMDB only has him down for two. It was a very good movie with a neat little twist.

Downtown 81 - (N) 1981 - 71% - I added this to my Netflix queue after my friend Jason recommended it. (Apparently Jason didn't recommend this movie, so sorry for the misinformation.) I hated this movie, but I just couldn't get into it at all. I did enjoy the King Creole and the Coconuts songs, but basically that was it. I thought the acting was stilted and I was bored most of the time. I hated it so much I didn't even bother with most of the Extras which I normally love.

Serenity - (K) 2005 - 81% - When I finished watching Firefly, I, of course, had to watch Serenity once again. I'm still pissed at who got killed off. And I'm still waiting for another movie. *sigh*

The Ramones: Raw (Cable) 2004 - No rating - I DVRd this off VH1 Classic one night. If you're going to watch ONE documentary on The Ramones, don't pick this one, go with End of the Century, it's significantly better. Raw was more home movie-ish and it just didn't work for me.

Highlander: The Source (Sci-Fi Channel) 2007 - No rating - I was really looking forward to this movie. It reunited Peter Wingfield (whom we all know I love) and Adrian Paul and Jim Byrnes from the TV show which was fabulous - the TV show, not this movie. I actually kept notes during the movie it sucked so badly and I didn't want to forget my pithy comments. Here are my notes: "post-apocalyptic crap" - you would have thought they had learned their lesson with the second Highlander movie which everybody acknowledges as pure crap, "Shitty cinematography technique" which consisted of "funky lighting" and incredibly sped up fight scenes (hokey). At the very beginning of the movie, they introduced someone as one of only two people who could lead whomever to The Source...yeah, he died 15 minutes into the movie. This movie was complete dreck. The only high point being seeing Peter Wingfield in black motorcycle leather. And I'm thinking that won't work for most of you. Hell, it wasn't enough for me to ever watch it again. Stick with the TV show, that's what I say.

Movie of the Month: The Day The Earth Stood Still

It is now time for me to go back to bed.

Postscript: I just read over at Sal's (I'm sorry I just don't feel up to linking today) that it's Banned Book Week 2007. Here's a List of Most Frequently Challenged Books. I had Native Son by Richard Wright on my bookshelf, so I have decided to start reading it in honor of this most important event.

Prednisone sucks.

I'm sitting at home on my couch right now (love my MacBook) when I'm supposed to be at the Tigers game cheering them on to their fourth straight win and sweep of the Orioles (fingers crossed), but no! My stupid bronchitis is back and bad enough that I went to the doctor on Monday and finally agreed to take the hated and despised prednisone even though I hate looking like Jason Giambi. I even got a steroid shot in my gluteus maximus to help things along. Fucker hurt, not when the nurse gave me the shot. Didn't hurt at all, but within 30 seconds my right cheek was making me cry, if I weren't an adult who doesn't generally cry in public over a little thing like a shot.

Doctor also gave me a prescription for an antiobitic, as expected. Yesterday I noticed that my face was red and thought it was a little odd, but didn't really put two and two together. Then last night when I went to bed I noticed my heart was just pounding out of my chest and generally felt like shit. This morning all seemed fine, so off to work I went wearing my lucky Detroit Tigers t-shirt (it's so cute and I get tons of compliments every time I wear it - all the women want one) and carrying my bag with my Tigers chucks, jeans and just in case, my Tigers scarf. Stuff I wouldn't need, sadly.

I noticed when I went to the Ladies room that my face was a bit red. A few people mentioned to me that my face was red, and since I'm a redhead and hadn't been in the sun, this is unusual. I had a meeting at 8:30 and while in there noticed that my heart rate seemed a bit elevated. While sitting there listening to a jackass discussing stuff he should have discussed in his one-on-one instead of wasting four other people's time, I took my pulse. It was 100bpm which didn't make me happy. I kept waiting for Jackass to stop talking, so I could call the doctor. I should have probably just walked out as I was getting nothing out of the meeting at that point, but I'm just too damned polite. Although Jackass did get glared at, and I might have sighed a little bit when he started his third topic. Friggin' idiot.

When I got to my desk I immediately called the doctor and left a message. I thought I would hear back quickly since 100bpm is a tad high. A few more people commented on the color of my face and although I was working I just felt worse and worse. (Todd Jones just got the save on three straight outs in the ninth! Wooohoo! My Tigers got the sweep!)

I was supposed to be at Building A (my beloved old building where I didn't have bronchitis for four straight months) at 11:00 to carpool to lunch at Hockeytown before heading to the game, but instead I called my doctor again and got through to his nurse who said Come on in right away. I called the woman in Building A and said that I was not going. By this point I'm genuinely scared and was near tears (it's okay to cry if you feel like you're dying, even though you know you're not). I closed up my desk and stopped to tell a supervisor that I was heading to the doctor. She immediately offered to drive me, but I said, "No, it's 40 minutes away. I can drive." Then I passed another co-worker who took one look at me and said, "You're even redder than you were." I made it to the doctor's office in less than 30 minutes (40 minutes is when there's construction or bad traffic - I was lucky) and other than the Southfield I didn't speed at all.

They took me in right away, weighed me (gained 7 lbs. since Monday - damned steroids) and took my blood pressure (140/82 - which is very high for me). Doctor came in and asked questions and said, "It's the prednisone." "That's what I thought." He took my bp twice more and it dropped a little - bottom number made it to 74. He told me to stop taking the steroids immediately. I didn't need to be told twice. He also said to take a break from the antibiotics until at least tomorrow, depending on how I feel. I had told him when I got there that I was supposed to be at the baseball game - he's a big Tigers fan too. In fact, when I saw him on Monday, his first words were, "Did you see Your Brandon's home run yesterday?" Oh yeah! Walk-off home run for My Brandon. That's either an indication that I see my doctor too much or he just has a good memory - or both.

Anyway, when taking my bp the first time he asked, "Are you still planning on going to the game?" "No, I feel too awful. Should I go to the game?" "No, I was going to tell you not to go." ;-( He did say that he owes me a baseball game, though. He told me to go home and lay low for the day. He gave me a note for work to get out of the rest of the day and told me not to go tomorrow if I don't feel well then.

My face isn't as red, but my heart is still pounding a bit, although I am feeling better, at least in that regard. I'm still hacking up a lung which is better than feeling like I'm dying. The doctor did make a note not to give me prednisone anymore, although I'm sure I would have remembered.

If you haven't read my last post, please do so, it's a tad more important than reading about me bitching about my presnisone side effect issues.

What Not To Wear

It's Friday night and I'm in Detroit, not Baltimore as originally planned. Yesterday I came home from work feeling even worse than I had been. I had gone to the gym on Wednesday and was only able to do 25 minutes on the elliptical. The Libertarian came over to see how much longer I had to go, so that I could stretch his knee, and I discovered that not only couldn't I breathe, I couldn't speak - not a good sign. I wasn't too concerned though, I figured I could get through the weekend and see how I was doing on Monday. Yeah, not so much.

Yesterday I noticed that the fleece jacket I normally wear for warmth at work was bothering my right arm. Besides that I simply didn't feel well. I was very tired and really not very happy. I would have called the dr. for an appt, but I had The Libertarian's big mother truck and I just didn't feel up to driving all the way to the dr's office in it. I'm not comfortable driving something that large. When I got home, I called the dr. and asked them to have him call me which they said they would do. I then called RR to tell her that I was contemplating not coming as I just didn't have the energy for visiting. She understood and told me to let her know for sure. I then called the YS (younger sister), left a message and then went to bed.

Dr. called me back around 5:30, we discussed my breathing issues, so he called in a new antibiotic for me. I couldn't even face driving the truck again, so I texted The Libertarian, but he was already home (45 minutes away). He offered to come up and pick up the prescription for me, but there was no way I was going to make him do that because I was too wimpy to drive 8 blocks. I threw on clothes, but couldn't face shoes, so put on my slippers and walked out the door. When I got outside, I noticed that both of Ursamajor's cars were there. I went back in and knocked on her door and she was so sweet and said, yes, she'd drive me to the pharmacist to get my drugs.

The YS finally called me back (she was at work), and when I told her about my arm which by this time was just exceptionally pain to even the lightest touch and sensitive to temperature, to say nothing of the tingling pain in my hand, specifically my thumb knuckle. It was a different pain/sensation than when I had my herniated disk, so I wasn't worried about that so much, but I wasn't happy, nonetheless. Her initial thought was heart attack, as she has this tendency to go straight for the worst possible scenario. I think I rolled my eyes. She had a few other thoughts, but I wasn't convinced. She wanted to talk to a few other people, and said she'd call me back. When she called me back, she said, "Shannon, the OT here, thought shingles." My heart dropped as I had had that thought myself, but didn't want to go there. I had it exactly two years ago and it was a miserable experience, and it lasted forever.

This morning I tried to get a dr.'s appt., but my GP had no appts today, so I called my old doctor (the one who diagnosed the shingles two years ago, and diagnosed my herniated disk 6.5 years ago), but she couldn't get me into today either. I made appt. to see the GP on Monday and then my old doctor for tomorrow. My issue with my old doctor is that she's a No Insurance doctor - which is totally great for people who don't have insurance - so my appt. tomorrow will cost $45 vs the $20 co-pay if I waited until Monday. After talking to The Libertarian, I went with the $45 doctor and canceled Monday's appt. I talked to Martha later and she agreed that it's better to get it taken care of sooner rather than later.

I hope it's not shingles, but if it's not then what is this strange painful sensation in my right arm? Maybe the alternative is worse. At any rate, I'm home. I didn't get to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner tonight. I didn't get to hang out with RR and catch up and meet her 3-year-old son. Tomorrow I won't be sightseeing in my nation's capital or going to see SuperDiamond. Sunday I won't be having alone time with the YS and eating a second time at the Cheesecake Factory (I really wish we'd get one in Detroit). The only high point is that all this means I didn't have fly which is just such a complete PITA these days that I simply dread it. That's the only silver lining and I'm afraid that it's only plated, not a solid or sterling lining.

It's now time for bed. I hope everybody else's weekend beats the crap out of mine.

Update: The doctor said it's not shingles. She think my arm issues are related to my chest congestion and recommended that I see my regular doctor to get a prescription for a chest x-ray. She's the third person to say "pneumonia." So, essentially I wasted $60 since I have to go to my regular doctor anyway. Let's hope I can get an appointment tomorrow.

Forever After

Wow, I don't feel like I'm dying which is nice and for the first time in about two weeks. I spent all weekend inside and ended up blowing Jesse off for the symphony again. I left work on Friday shortly after 10:00 after getting there by 5:45. I couldn't keep my eyes open and pretty much felt death-like. This after sleeping most of Thursday (stayed home) and going to bed at 8:00 on Tuesday and Wednesday. I couldn't find anybody to use the symphony tix so they went to waste. Dang it. That's the problem with deciding you're too sick to go a few hours beforehand. Anyway, I went home early and slept for over 3 hours in the middle of the day which is generally a clear indication that I'm not well. I love sleep but I find that I can't sleep my life away like I used to.

I did do laundry on Saturday, so I ran up and down the stairs doing six loads of laundry! Two loads of sheets, one load of towels, then delicates, darks and lights. It was a relief to get it all done. Now to make myself put the last of the clothes away. The laundry basket is sitting in my room reproaching me every time I walk in there. (I wrote this on Monday and guess what? Yup, laundry basket is still sitting there.)

I realise that I haven't listed the Books Read and Movies Watched in January yet. I only finished one book, although I did get halfway through another one. The problem was that because I didn't feel well, I didn't go to the gym which means that I didn't do a lot of reading. I did a lot of knitting though, half of which is boxed up and addressed and ready for the post office. (I made it to the post office on Tuesday.)

Zapata Lives! by Gary Keller was the book and I have to say that I was not as enamoured of it as I had planned on being. In fact, I was kind of hating it, but again that damn elliptical machine kept me reading. I'm glad I finished it, because I hate not finishing books (books I've never finished: The Trial by Kafka, Crime & Punishment by Dostoyevsky, and Moll Flanders by Daniel Dafoe), but I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it to anyone.

The second book I was reading in January I was ripping through when I would get to the gym, but didn't finish it since I was sick and not going to the gym, and I was doing a whole lot of sleeping. I'll tell you about it next month since it's officially a February book, but I will give you the title and a link The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil.

Movies

1/1 - Monsters, Inc. (K), Wallace & Gromit: 3 Adventures (K), Lady & the Tramp (K - VHS) – I think these probably speak for themselves. I was in a G-Rated Movie mood.

1/4 - An Inconvenient Truth (PPV) – I watched this with Ursamajor on OOMA's Big Ass TV and I have to say that I want one. The movie itself was incredible and I highly recommend it.

1/6 – Eddie Izzard: Definite Article (K) – If you have never seen Eddie Izzard, then you are very sad, indeed. He's bloody hilarious.

Ivan the Terrible, Parts 1 & 2 (K) – This is the boxset I have and it's fabulous…if you like black-and-white old Russian movies.

1/7 - Inherit the Wind (TCM) – Yes, I know I just watched this last year, but it was on TCM and I wanted to see it again. Spencer Tracy was fabulous as the Clarence Darrow character and Fredric March was crazy good as the William Jennings Bryant character. 12 Angry Men (TCM) – What can I say. It came on right after Inherit the Wind and as I had been wanting to see it, I just stuck with TCM and enjoyed my 32nd viewing of this movie. (That might be a slight exaggeration.)

1/8 - Pretty Woman (K - VHS) – As you can probably tell since I watched it on VHS, I've owned this movie a very long time, but hadn't watched it in many a moon, mostly because it was on VHS, but I was really in the mood for a romantic comedy that day so I dragged it out. I still love it. Sometimes I like chick flicks, what can I say.

1/9 - Eddie Izzard: Dressed to Kill (K) – Eddie starts this one with a bit about San Francisco as that's where it was filmed and I was crying I was laughing so hard. It's funny even if you've never lived there, but it's downright hysterical, if you do or did.

1/28 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (N) – If you noticed this is my only Netflix movie of the month. I was luring them into a false of security. I'm hitting them up bigtime this month! Anyway, I enjoyed this movie, but might need to watch it again to see if I liked it as much as the first. There were bits of it that were a "tad icky," so I wouldn't take young children (or extremely squeamish adults), but I got over the ickiness and was able to enjoy it. You just can't go wrong with Johnny Depp as the very fey (more so than the first movie, I thought) Captain Jack Sparrow.