Achoo!

I have a cold. This shouldn’t be breaking news. But honesty, compared to what I had this summer, I am okay with it. And it is news to me.

I missed out of the end of July, all of August, and the first half of September. Why? Because I had pneumonia and several throat and sinus infections. It really sucked. I had planned on going to the Democratic convention. I had planned on protesting the Republican convention in NYC. I just barely made it to Worldcon in Boston, over Labor Day weekend. I had planned on having a life. It took until mid October before I really felt better. And even then I wasn’t back to being me all the time until recently...

So...

I had a hard time getting up this Wednesday morning. I didn’t feel well, and my neck was so sore that I had a migraine headache. I took a quick shower and got dressed so we could get on line to hear Howard Dean speak at GW. The speech was at 12 noon (ish). The speech concerned the future direction of the Democratic party. You can read the speech here. It was good, although it could have been even more of a fire-brand type speech, if you ask me. But still, it made the point, and made the point well, that Democrats should not act like Republicans. Especially not like the Republicans we have today!

As usual Governor Dean impressed me as he stayed after the speech to talk with members of the audience. As I said in my essay in July, I don’t know how he does it. It was less of a mob scene on Wednesday than it was at DemocracyFest, but still. The guy has chutzpah, in addition to having many great ideas.

but back to me.....

After the speech, a bunch of us (DFV people) went out of lunch. That afternoon, I was rather panicked when I felt the signs of being sick. I came home from the lunch and went to take a nap. A three hour nap.

Then I really panicked. My throat felt as if it had been scrapped. It was raw and red. I had a minor fever. I felt so terrible. My joints ached. I was so tired it took effort to get ready for bed.

But by Thursday morning I was no longer afraid. Why? Because what I had was a cold. A totally normal, no high temperature, no throat infection cold. And while I will bitch and moan and kvetch with the best of them, it is not pneumonia.

I am taking my Vitamin C. I am taking zinc and the other stuff. I am eating my veggies. I need to drink more water. Not high on my list of things to do right now, but it’s one of the things to do.

However, I came up with an idea for an enterprising business. I was bemoaning the fact that since I am having such trouble breathing, it was hard to sleep last night. But now I know how someone could make millions of dollars. Sell me a pill that puts me to sleep for four days. When I wake up, my cold is less, and I can go back to work. They can’t cure the cold, but at least you don’t have to experience it.

More later.....

Soon, our picture with Howard Dean! (If I can figure out how the software works.)