Sick Day

I called in sick today. I have this nagging cough that started yesterday at the office. It kept me up last night. Two years ago, I would have gone to work anyway, but times have changed. If there is something to worry about, I can’t be exposing my co-workers to anything.

There aren’t any other symptoms, just the damned cough. When I woke up it was still with me. I pulled out my old crab-boil pot and loaded it with vinegar and water. I finally got the humidity up so high the glass door to the outside world fogged up. When I decided it was about to rain inside the house, I toned things down.

What this did was get everything flowing. Gross, I understand, and while the cough is still present it’s minimal compared to yesterday. My sincere hope is to have it gone completely by Monday.

I used my time to write, with frequent breaks for salt-water gargles and nose blowing. Don’t know if the salt-water helps or not, but it can’t hurt.

I really didn’t hit it very hard. Ray Dongas is finally on the page, but I only managed to give him a paragraph before I stopped for the morning.

Ray is my alien warehouse foreman. I’ve been dwelling on him for a long time, then John Howell posted about Bee Cave Bob this morning. Thanks for the assist, John.

Ray Dongas has an armadillo basis to his build. Of course, as an alien, I couldn’t leave him there. He also has a cockroach basis, and four arms to go along with his legs. I think he’s going to be fun.

I wish I’d brought work home with me, but it is what it is. I don’t feel terrible, I just need this cough to go away. I have every hope it will before my next shift. This feels like every other winter thing when I’ve lived inside under the furnace for too many months. In this modern era, I didn’t want to take a chance.

Found a new appliance

Long time readers may recall a post where I griped about appliances that have replaceable filters for no apparent reason. One of the targets of my wrath was a room humidifier. It makes water vapor; why does it need to make filtered vapor? I finally threw the damned thing away because it was getting expensive to feed it filters. This may seem like a silly thing to have to many of you. You live in a coastal region, or possibly the deep US south where it’s always humid. Let me tell you, the western US can get dry. This isn’t limited to summer either. When the temperature drops below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and stays there for a month, it gets dry. Noses start to bleed, and sinus problems escalate. (Just a little detour to help you understand). Last winter, I got by with a tea kettle boiling all the time, but this isn’t the safest option. Old What’s Her Face* found a Target flyer and showed me these humidifiers that were on sale. We went to Target, and they do not have a filter to replace every six days or so. Best of all, they were cheap.

Looks like an oversize Kleenex box.

The vent on top looks like the graphic from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. At the sale price, I actually bought two of them. My wife and I both noticed an immediate improvement in our sinuses. If they croak; they weren’t that expensive to begin with. They were only slightly more expensive than a filter for that old POS. They are small too, and tuck out of the way easily. Many of you won’t have dryness problems. Those of you who do might appreciate this find. *Not my wife’s actual name.