Turning a Corner

I stayed home from work today and I am glad I did because I am still kind of wiped out from this cold. But, I am feeling much better and I think I can safely say that I am in the "getting over the cold" phase of the illness. It is not even three days from the beginning of the symptoms. So, I think my unscientific study of the Zicam nose gel has been a success. It gets The Lynne Show five star golden seal of approval. And MANY thanks to Verlaine for telling me about it.

The Zinc Nose Gel Experiment continues…

Last night my cold symptoms got worse. I kept sneezing and sniffling. I had a really bad headache. I had a fever of 100.5. I started coughing. I went to bed at eight o’clock but felt too bad to sleep so I watched TV and even The Antiques Roadshow (which I consider to be just about one of the most boring TV shows in the world) couldn’t make me fall asleep. I was out of Tylenol and considered going out for some but decided I just didn’t have the energy so I took some benedryl instead which knocked me out. I used the nose gel before bed.

This morning, I woke up feeling a little better. No headache. Temperature is 99 which is close enough to normal for me. I remembered to use the nose gel. The directions say to use it every four hours but I figure they mean every four hours while one is awake. I think sleep is more important than waking up to spray stuff in my nose. The cough is worse and that stuffy headed feeling continues. There is improvement though so maybe there is something to this zinc gel.

I have to say that as annoying as having a cold is, there are some pluses to it. For one thing, I find that I just don’t have the energy to care too much about anything outside of my immediate surroundings. While that probably isn’t a good state of mind to be in for any great length of time, it is nice once in a while. I also find that my focus is on the present and not the future or the past and that is kind of nice too.

I have decided to use up my last vacation day of the year by taking the day off tomorrow. Using a vacation day instead of a personal day has some advantages. I will still have three personal days to get me through the rest of the year so I should be ok even if I get another cold. Although I think if this zinc stuff works, I might keep some on hand to take even earlier in the sickness and then I might not need to use them.

Diary of a Cold

Diary of a Cold

Last Saturday I had a lovely chat with my friend Verlaine. We talked about many things but one of them was colds and flu. He said that the zinc nasel gel is supposed to shorten the duration of a cold if one takes it right at the beginning. I resolved to try it the next time I got a cold.

I didnt expect it to be so soon. On Sunday afternoon, I started sneezing and coughing a little. I figure it was just allergies and ignored it. But, by 9pm, my nose was really running and I was TIRED. Even then, I figured it couldnt possibly be a real cold. I figured that some great power of suggestion was causing me to think I was getting a cold. I decided to go to bed early and get some extra sleep.

But when I woke up this morning and started sneezing violently and saying “I hab a code” instead of “I have a cold,” I knew I was in for it. I had to go to work though and didnt have time to go buy the zinc stuff until my lunch time. Each passing hours brought worsening symptoms. UGH. But, at noon, I bought the stuff and squirted it into my nose. Now...I guess I just have to squirt the stuff into my nose every four hours and see if it works. I have decided to use this blog to help me keep track of how I am feeling so that I can see if it actually shortens the time a cold lasts.

If I am better by the weekend, I will consider the zinc nose gel a success.

Oh, and I am happy to report that sticking gel up one’s nose isnt nearly as gross feeling as I thought it would be.

Jetta Journal

My car has been making a funny noise for several months but I figured it was just the particular kind of tires I have. Then, about a week ago, it started get much worse and finally it got so loud that my usual fix for funny noises in the car didnt work. That being, turning the radio up which is similar to the black tape over the “check engine” light fix or the never drive west in the evenings fix for the broken sun visor.

I found myself thinking that I just wasnt in the mood to spend money on the car. I spent all week convincing myself that the noise didnt bother me and I could live with it. Then, I remembered something from some distant episode of Car Talk where those guys were talking about the sound a wheel bearing makes when it wears out. My car sounded just like that. Then I remembered them saying that it is dangerous and that if it isnt taken care of, the wheel could fall off, on a mountain road causing one to fall of a cliff and die a fiery death. EEK!

I went to my neighborhood mechanic this morning.

There is a very friendly guy who works reception there and maybe he fixes cars too. His son was hanging out with him today and it was really cute. He put the son to work washing the windows and the kid, who was about eight, started using about a half of a roll of paper towel per square inch of glass he was cleaning. I had to chuckle because I used to do that too when I was exploited for my child labor by the evil parents. I also remember washing windows at a rate of about one per hour which was a pace approximately equal to the pace of this young boy. The father walked by and I swear he uttered THE EXACT SAME WORDS my mother used to say to me, “Jesus Christ, STOP wasting the G[mumble] D[mumble] paper towel!!!”

They inspected my car and gave me the bad news Yes, one of the wheel bearings was worn but the breaks were in bad shape too. Total cost of repair: $512. Less than I expected but just about all that I have. Oh well, better to be broke for a week than dead because a wheel fell off while I was driving on a mountain road with cliffs prone to turn ordinary car crashes in fiery deaths.

Anja

I was thinking about this kid today. I have a photo of her on my bulletin board at work that was taken when she was just six months old. It seems like yesterday! They grow up so fast. Anyways, I really love this kid. She is just one of the most funny and neatest kids I have ever met. Sometimes when I am around her I regret that I havent had kids because she is so awesome but then I remind myself that there is some benefit to being the crazy "auntie" too. Like, when she starts being cranky and bratty as all kids her age will do at times, I can just laugh at her mother and go for a walk.

bridge

Angela and Clay's Wedding

Grrr. Tblog is down so I cant post this at The Lynne Show so I guess I will just post it here and post a copy of this over there later on if I have time. But since this post has lots of photos, it seems like it might belong here too.

I went to a wedding on Sunday. It was fun in the way that gatherings with a bunch of one's friends can be fun. I spent more time talking than taking photos but I did take a *few* good ones.



This is Aviva and her husband Preston. I told Preston that I needed this photo for my blog and then I had to explain exactly what a blog was. I told him that I gossip about him all the time and put all of his business online here. He didnt look happy.




I spent a lot of time talking to my friends Debbie and Mike (pictured here with their kids) about taxes in Ypsilanti. They live in Ypsilanti Township and I live in the city. Guess who pays higher taxes?




The small world surprise wedding guest turned out to the be Charlie, the guy whose dog might be my dog's sister. This is a picture of the back of his head. The funny thing is that when he asked me how I knew the bride and groom, I almost launched into a story about how the bride and I used to have cats we thought were siblings but I decided that even though that is true, it might make me seem kind of weird. You know…like I am the sort of person who goes around finding the siblings of my pets. I suppose that since it has happened twice, in a way, I am the sort of person who does that. Haw.




Here is the happy couple about to cut their cake. I took the picture and then got out of the way so others could get closer. I found out later from another party guest that I missed one of the greater cake cutting speeches ever. Knowing Angela and Clay, I don’t doubt it.





There wasn’t a lot of dancing at this event but I did manage to catch 2 year old Sophie doing a little number on the lawn.



Here is Shannon, Jodie, and Nicole (in front of Shannon) sitting by the lake, talking.