On Being Sick

The Last flu post. I promise.

Well, it's my fault.

All I had to do was get a flu vaccination. But I failed to do that this year.

I'd forgotten what a pernicious malady this can be. It hit me last Saturday, and at first I thought I was just feeling a bit down. But by Sunday morning that was past. By then, I could barely move. All I could do was periodically sleep, then awaken and suffer.

Monday was a little better, filled as I was with medications.

Tuesday the same.

Now, Tuesday night, I'm still very sick. But one gets that strange hit of euphoria as the old gray matter produces the right chemical concoction to help you forget about the pain and misery. It's really weird how that works out.

So all I've done since getting home from work is lie about, sleep, and read THE JOYS OF YIDDISH (original version) by Leo Rosten. Funny and amusing volume. (The link is for the updated version--not the original 1968 edition, which I have.)

I promised Carole that I would run a few errands for her in the morning. After that, I hope to just rest and write. I got lucky and my non-scheduled day is Christmas Eve. So two days off, in a row! Excellent.

I took this photo from Caesar's Head in 2004. I'm hoping to take a two-day backpacking trip in that area in very early 2009.

There's new Steve Ditko art available! You can purchase this comic (32, all-new pages), and other Steve Ditko publications here.

The Flu

The flu sucks ass. I was so sick on Sunday that all I could was lie around and think incessantly about how miserable I was. Then I would pass out and the fever would momentarily break and I would awaken drenched in sweat. And afterward the fever would return. Repeat cycle.

This morning I glommed a huge handful of over-the-counter medications and some mighty prescription painkillers left over from dental work. This got me through a full day of work at USPS.

I didn't want to call in sick because today the mail was scheduled to be super-heavy. And it was. I didn't want to leave co-workers with extra labor, so I ate the painkillers and went on in. It actually wasn't too bad, except that the stuff all wore off late this afternoon. Now I'm sick again. Not sure if I'll make it in tomorrow, but I'll try.

I'm going to be very busy with Christmas and finishing up the novel, and with recovering from the flu. So I'll leave you folk with a nice photo for the time being:


In March 2004 I hiked to the summit of Chestnut Knob in South Mountains State Park. At the summit I found the weather cold, the sky dropping a steady drizzle. So I huddled under a natural rock shelter and had lunch. The wind was blowing, it was cool. I sat and ate and listened to the creak of stunted pine trees as the breezes pushed them slowly. Other than the soft sound of the wind, there was nothing else but the occasional drip of water from limb to limb, rock to rock. I stayed for quite a while.

Schmuck

What a schmuck

Late Sunday night. Not sure if I'm going to be able to get to work in the morning. I've got a really nasty case of the flu. The whole package. I'm pretty damned sick. Oy.

The Flu

I have the flu. I didn’t get it the past three years, but it hit me pretty hard in 2004.

Having the flu sucks ass.

I must return to bed.

Later.