The Flu
I've had the flu this weekend. On Friday I was getting a sore throat, by Friday night I couldn't swallow properly, and by Saturday AM I had the whole fever/chills/headache of a full blown flu.
Being sick this far from home isn't fun. There's no one to whine to who will feel sorry for me and bring me things. Flu-time is when you want comfort food and a People magazine...we've already covered the unfamiliar foodstuffs issue, and while you've got lots of trashy magazines to choose from here there are none as innocuous as People. Worst of all, the cold and flu medications all have different names and different packaging, so I can't just go get what I normally take. I had to read every package to find the right combination of something that will ease my symptoms without making me pass out for hours or making my heart race at 100 beats a minute.
I had a difficult run to Tesco to get my flu-friendly arsenal of products, but somehow I figured it all out without passing out in the store. Came home to lay on the couch with the shades pulled for two days. (These couches are not long enough for laying, by the way, which makes me love my six foot long behemoth of a sofa even more.)
Watched lots of tv, though there was nothing that exciting on. Saturday and Sunday afternoons are full of tv mysteries. Saw Columbo, the Rockford Files, Rosemary and Thyme, Monk, and the Midsommer Murders in and out of my napping. I skipped Murder She Wrote. Even with the flu I'm still cooler than that. There were lots of documentaries about VE day, so I watched a few of those, too.
There are horrible TV ads for cellphone novelty ringers. There are the "Rock Chicks", ostensibly cute little yellow things that chirp popular songs. There is the "crazy frog", which sounds like Alvin the Chipmunk doing an impression of Ella Fitzgerald scatting to a dance mix beat. And the new one involves monkeys/apes who sing chimp noises and occasionally fart. The idea behind all of these ads is that you'd call a number and pay £2 or so to download them to your phone and then you can hear them every time someone calls. Lucky you.
My head was too achey to read, so I watched a few movies, too. Saw Fear and Trembling, which is like a French version of Office Space, meaning funny only in an ironic somewhat surreal way and with an overriding sense of message. Also saw Finding Neverland, which made me cry.
I'm staying home this AM because I still don't feel great, but I will go into the office at noon. I am scheduled to be out on Wednesday - Friday because my friend Ben is here visiting. The plan is to go to Scotland. He's also in possession of my digital camera, so there will be pictures.
Being sick this far from home isn't fun. There's no one to whine to who will feel sorry for me and bring me things. Flu-time is when you want comfort food and a People magazine...we've already covered the unfamiliar foodstuffs issue, and while you've got lots of trashy magazines to choose from here there are none as innocuous as People. Worst of all, the cold and flu medications all have different names and different packaging, so I can't just go get what I normally take. I had to read every package to find the right combination of something that will ease my symptoms without making me pass out for hours or making my heart race at 100 beats a minute.
I had a difficult run to Tesco to get my flu-friendly arsenal of products, but somehow I figured it all out without passing out in the store. Came home to lay on the couch with the shades pulled for two days. (These couches are not long enough for laying, by the way, which makes me love my six foot long behemoth of a sofa even more.)
Watched lots of tv, though there was nothing that exciting on. Saturday and Sunday afternoons are full of tv mysteries. Saw Columbo, the Rockford Files, Rosemary and Thyme, Monk, and the Midsommer Murders in and out of my napping. I skipped Murder She Wrote. Even with the flu I'm still cooler than that. There were lots of documentaries about VE day, so I watched a few of those, too.
There are horrible TV ads for cellphone novelty ringers. There are the "Rock Chicks", ostensibly cute little yellow things that chirp popular songs. There is the "crazy frog", which sounds like Alvin the Chipmunk doing an impression of Ella Fitzgerald scatting to a dance mix beat. And the new one involves monkeys/apes who sing chimp noises and occasionally fart. The idea behind all of these ads is that you'd call a number and pay £2 or so to download them to your phone and then you can hear them every time someone calls. Lucky you.
My head was too achey to read, so I watched a few movies, too. Saw Fear and Trembling, which is like a French version of Office Space, meaning funny only in an ironic somewhat surreal way and with an overriding sense of message. Also saw Finding Neverland, which made me cry.
I'm staying home this AM because I still don't feel great, but I will go into the office at noon. I am scheduled to be out on Wednesday - Friday because my friend Ben is here visiting. The plan is to go to Scotland. He's also in possession of my digital camera, so there will be pictures.
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