Dazed, Confused, and Sorely Undersupplied: A Week in My Reality

That little cold I toted around with me the last day of our cruise reeked its revenge upon my respiratory system on Monday. I had fever, chills, wheezing, coughing fits, a runny nose, and no perishable foods in the house. The need to rest and recuperate was battling with the need to forage for healthy food - and coffee. Foraging won.

After a few cups of hot tea with honey, a long hot shower, and the last of the cold medication, I headed out into the elements for provisions. I was in luck. Although it had been cold, rainy, and snowy the day before, today was a relatively balmy 65F (18C) - winter in North Carolina is unpredictable at best, but warm is always better than cold. There was no need to bundle up. The only need was to find supplies.



Split Pea Soup

First I headed to the Home Depot for some felt pads to place under the kitchen chairs. Robbie Rumba keeps knocking the chairs around and scratching the floors (Bad Robot). Next was a trip to Target for cold medicine. Then Sam's Warehouse Club for coffee and juice. Then the grocery store for dairy and fresh produce. I was whipped when I got home, so I reheated some of the split pea soup I made before the cruise (great recipe here). I guess the re-provisioning could have waited after all.

Around 6:00 PM Monday evening, I received the call I had been waiting for the previous week on the cruise. In my delirium I happily hacked, crackled, and wheezed into the phone thinking that the HR representative was delivering the final bit of good news. Silly me, I thought that after four rounds of interviews, the decision would have been made. But no. One more interview with the COO was required. On the bright side, I figured that by Thursday, I would be fit once again and this Caribbean jungle rot thing I was carrying around with me would have run its course.

Tuesday, I did feel slightly better in the morning so I headed into work, but by the afternoon I was back to feeling feverish and generally rotten. I did not sleep very well between the night sweats and the coughing fits, so Wednesday I called in sick and called my doctor. Besides feeling really yucky - I also felt really guilty for returning from vacation and calling in sick to work. The doctor gave me some antibiotics to clear up my lungs and I felt slightly better Thursday morning. So much better that I got up at 7:00 AM, showered, had breakfast, got dressed and headed to the office. Upon reaching the elevator down the hall, I had a coughing fit that felt as if I were coughing up my toenails. So, I turned around, went back inside my condo, undressed, crawled into bed and emailed my boss that I would be staying home one more day.

The bad thing was that my final interview with the COO at my potential new employer was scheduled at lunch time. So, I took another handful of cough suppressants, slept for two hours, got up and took a very long shower, changed costume three times, and headed out the door with a cough drop in my mouth and three more in my pocket.

When I arrived at the job location, I informed everyone I met that I was sick, to keep their distance, and that there was to be no touching. So, I air hugged a friend, shook air hands with the COO, and kept my germy paws by my side for the next hour. The interview went extremely well. I asked a question and he chatted about it for 30 minutes. That evening, my references started texting me to let me know that they had been contacted.

All was good again in Glenn's world. So much so that I joined Jason for a beer (or three) at the pub to celebrate what I envision to be happy days ahead. Probably not the smartest thing I have done this week, but I was giddy and eager to share my news with a friend.