I’ve been sick as a dog the last few days. My sore throat has turned into a nasty summer cold. I’ve taken about half this week off from work – I went in yesterday morning, came home in the afternoon, and I’m back at work today. I think yesterday was the peak. I had some leftover prescription decongestant from last winter’s flu season (the bottle said the medicine didn’t expire until December 2005), but it knocked me out. It made my eyelids feel like anvils. (Over-the-counter decongestants, which contain pseudoephedrine, don’t work for me, plus they keep me awake.) Today my head feels less congested and the gunk has moved to my chest. So now I’m taking cough medicine.

This may sound icky, but there’s nothing fulfilling like a productive hacking cough.

During my last big cough I suddenly thought to myself, “Everything’s coming up mucus,” sung in a big Mama Rose voice. But that’s kind of gross.