Nastiness
I have been in the grasp of the Worst Cold Ever(™) for a week now. It all started innocently enough. I went to a party last Saturday, where the hostess mentioned that she and her kids were trying to get over a cold that just seemed to linger. The party was fun, but already on Sunday I had a scratchy throat, which I knew was a bad sign. Monday it was worse, but I went to work and managed to get through the day without medication. Monday night the snot monster hit, along with a sore throat like as I don't remember experiencing since I was a kid*.
* Although I must have come close sometime in the mid-90's based upon the evidence of the mostly unused box of Sucrets that had expired in 1997 that I found in the medicine cabinet. I have to be in serious pain to suck on a Sucret.
After a lousy night where every swallow was burning despite a healthy dose generic nyquil, I called in sick and mostly slept until after lunch. The sore throat abated quite a bit, and I slept better than I had during the night. But the throat came back with a vengeance Tuesday night, and I was again miserable. Took Wednesday off, too. What was interesting was that the sore throat once again disappeared during the day, so I took a closer look at the bottles of generic dayquil and nyquil that I was swilling like cheap gin during the day and night, respectively. They both had the same ingredients except that the dayquil had a decongestant and no antihistamine, while the nyquil had the antihistamine, but no frelling decongestant. I'd been assuming that the only difference would be the presence or lack thereof of the antihistamine**. Live and learn. Wednesday night I took the dayquil before bed, and slept like a very sniffly baby. The throat was only scratchy.
** Antihistamines are mostly useless on colds, but they do make you sleepy.
I returned to work on Thursday, and was damn near dead by the end of my usual ten-hour day***. I worked a shorter day on Friday and brought some work home. I'd hoped things would start to get better this weekend, and to a very small extent they have, but I'm still feeling pretty lousy.
*** Have I mentioned that I changed my work schedule to four 10-hour days a week now? Three day weekends every week!
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I would've liked to ride this weekend. The weather's been reasonable for the time of year, and it's sunny out, but I don't have the inclination or the strength. It's a pity, too. I've already broken my all time best for mileage in a year, previously just over 1700 miles in 2008, and I'm just 10 miles short of 1750, which has been a sort of next milestone goal of mine since I first broke 1500. I'm surprised I got this far. The main reason I did is that the weather was very moderate for November, and those three day weekends really add up in terms of number of available riding days, especially when it's too dark to ride after work.
* Although I must have come close sometime in the mid-90's based upon the evidence of the mostly unused box of Sucrets that had expired in 1997 that I found in the medicine cabinet. I have to be in serious pain to suck on a Sucret.
After a lousy night where every swallow was burning despite a healthy dose generic nyquil, I called in sick and mostly slept until after lunch. The sore throat abated quite a bit, and I slept better than I had during the night. But the throat came back with a vengeance Tuesday night, and I was again miserable. Took Wednesday off, too. What was interesting was that the sore throat once again disappeared during the day, so I took a closer look at the bottles of generic dayquil and nyquil that I was swilling like cheap gin during the day and night, respectively. They both had the same ingredients except that the dayquil had a decongestant and no antihistamine, while the nyquil had the antihistamine, but no frelling decongestant. I'd been assuming that the only difference would be the presence or lack thereof of the antihistamine**. Live and learn. Wednesday night I took the dayquil before bed, and slept like a very sniffly baby. The throat was only scratchy.
** Antihistamines are mostly useless on colds, but they do make you sleepy.
I returned to work on Thursday, and was damn near dead by the end of my usual ten-hour day***. I worked a shorter day on Friday and brought some work home. I'd hoped things would start to get better this weekend, and to a very small extent they have, but I'm still feeling pretty lousy.
*** Have I mentioned that I changed my work schedule to four 10-hour days a week now? Three day weekends every week!
---
I would've liked to ride this weekend. The weather's been reasonable for the time of year, and it's sunny out, but I don't have the inclination or the strength. It's a pity, too. I've already broken my all time best for mileage in a year, previously just over 1700 miles in 2008, and I'm just 10 miles short of 1750, which has been a sort of next milestone goal of mine since I first broke 1500. I'm surprised I got this far. The main reason I did is that the weather was very moderate for November, and those three day weekends really add up in terms of number of available riding days, especially when it's too dark to ride after work.