Puff Daddy
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2007
- Messages
- 6,910
- Reaction score
- 98
The fog is lifting. No, not outside, inside. Outside it's raining and the wind's blowin 20 MPH, no fog. But inside, inside my weathered noggin, a fog bank had settled in for a month long stay. A nasty, petulant, cob-webby fog it was, too. A real bugger. Started with a cold and persistent cough that chose to set up camp in my lower respiratory tract. The thing made itself at home and got under the sheets and began multiplying and bringing forth an army of little viruses until I had a full blown lung infection of the first order going on. Docs insisted it wasn't bacterial because the signs weren't there - Whooping cough is going around bad this year, I had the cough symptoms of it but not the fevers, chills, etc. - so no antibiotics, just let it run it's course. I got prescription syrups and inhalers and the like, but couldn't use most of it most of the time because I'm a commercial driver and the good stuff is verboten while operating. The thing was a real bear to deal with up until about 5 days ago when the cough finally gave up the ghost, and I promptly got another cold :x
What did I do, and to whom did I do it? :lol: Can I not just go pay reparations?
So this last cold was a doozy too, a full on sneezin wheezin head splitting fever runner, right in the middle of one of the busier weeks at work all summer. I did not call in sick, sick leave doesn't pay overtime. Having kids requires that you work overtime, expensive little buggers that they are, so I worked and made things worse (as is my usual M.O.). But, right around the time that my 6th shift of the week was coming to an end yesterday, right at about hour 50 on the books, I felt the air go out of the thing like air going out of a balloon when a kid is pulling tight the end of the balloon to make it sound like a resounding, squealing, enormous fart. PB will tell you that I'm in need of releasing an enormous fart from my brain, so it didn't surprise me all that much. But as it passed I could feel the pressure release and the fog spill out for the first time in a month. A storm was coming in and the pressure was dropping, the wind was blowing, and a light rain was coming down. I had the windows of the truck rolled down as I sat idling in the yard, both myself and the truck, and I was welcoming the cool damp air when the balloon let loose. Maybe it was the change in the pressure with the storm, but it was literally one of those instantaneous changes. I was parked next to a truck that our mechanic Jeff was working on and I leaned out the window and told him that my cold just went away. He just stared at me :| :lol: But it's true, it just went away.
So now I'm just tired. I came home tired, but well. My wife, strangely, understood. Either that or she's just used to my weirdness and it didn't faze her. In the last month I've tried exactly three times to smoke a pipe. Two were total wastes of time, desperate measures to scoff at the virus, only to be bitch slapped back down by it. Once was on a picnic with family where my brother and I sat and smoked after a meal, outdoors, and all went well until later. I paid all night for that one with great coughing fits that the meds failed to quell. And with all that, finally to the point. Here I sit, about to light a pipe with reasonable expectation of enjoyment for the first time in a month. My eyes are still a bit glassy and my voice is still a bit off, and my ability to smell is not yet fully back so I may not even be able to taste it. Last night I made a pot of homemade beef barley soup and I had to ask everyone if it was good because I couldn't tell. But, I'm undaunted. I have before me a Stanwell HCA II and a jar of Uhle's blend 00, a mild buttery leaf with a docile nature that should be a gentle way to ease back in, and unlikely to be strong enough to provoke a negative reaction. I have here a good strong cup of Italian roast, black, and am about to set fire to the pipe. Wish me well and good luck.
Get your flu shot early, wash your hands often, and dip your kids in sanitizer hourly 8)
What did I do, and to whom did I do it? :lol: Can I not just go pay reparations?
So this last cold was a doozy too, a full on sneezin wheezin head splitting fever runner, right in the middle of one of the busier weeks at work all summer. I did not call in sick, sick leave doesn't pay overtime. Having kids requires that you work overtime, expensive little buggers that they are, so I worked and made things worse (as is my usual M.O.). But, right around the time that my 6th shift of the week was coming to an end yesterday, right at about hour 50 on the books, I felt the air go out of the thing like air going out of a balloon when a kid is pulling tight the end of the balloon to make it sound like a resounding, squealing, enormous fart. PB will tell you that I'm in need of releasing an enormous fart from my brain, so it didn't surprise me all that much. But as it passed I could feel the pressure release and the fog spill out for the first time in a month. A storm was coming in and the pressure was dropping, the wind was blowing, and a light rain was coming down. I had the windows of the truck rolled down as I sat idling in the yard, both myself and the truck, and I was welcoming the cool damp air when the balloon let loose. Maybe it was the change in the pressure with the storm, but it was literally one of those instantaneous changes. I was parked next to a truck that our mechanic Jeff was working on and I leaned out the window and told him that my cold just went away. He just stared at me :| :lol: But it's true, it just went away.
So now I'm just tired. I came home tired, but well. My wife, strangely, understood. Either that or she's just used to my weirdness and it didn't faze her. In the last month I've tried exactly three times to smoke a pipe. Two were total wastes of time, desperate measures to scoff at the virus, only to be bitch slapped back down by it. Once was on a picnic with family where my brother and I sat and smoked after a meal, outdoors, and all went well until later. I paid all night for that one with great coughing fits that the meds failed to quell. And with all that, finally to the point. Here I sit, about to light a pipe with reasonable expectation of enjoyment for the first time in a month. My eyes are still a bit glassy and my voice is still a bit off, and my ability to smell is not yet fully back so I may not even be able to taste it. Last night I made a pot of homemade beef barley soup and I had to ask everyone if it was good because I couldn't tell. But, I'm undaunted. I have before me a Stanwell HCA II and a jar of Uhle's blend 00, a mild buttery leaf with a docile nature that should be a gentle way to ease back in, and unlikely to be strong enough to provoke a negative reaction. I have here a good strong cup of Italian roast, black, and am about to set fire to the pipe. Wish me well and good luck.
Get your flu shot early, wash your hands often, and dip your kids in sanitizer hourly 8)