Live from Japan!

On Monday I took a half day off of work because I was sick. Today, five days later, I am still battling this wretched cold (and I am spending another day at home). Each day it sort of morphs into something new, not better, just different. I have had the sinus pain and pressure phase, the sore throat phase, and yesterday was the mucus production phase. I was oozing out of every possible place, even my eyes were leaking. Perhaps too much information, but it is important for the story.

I rode my bike to work yesterday, for the first time all week. I thought that since the drinking lots of fluids and getting lots of rest strategies weren’t working, perhaps a new one was in order. The get things moving strategy. Getting things moving is a solution I use for a variety of maladies – usually it just involves getting up, moving around, and getting some fresh air and sunlight. Somehow those things combined often make me feel much better than I had previously when all I did was lay in a lump on the bed. It is all psychological, I think.

Anyways, back to the story. So, I rode my bike to work. I had asked Aaron to stop at the grocery store to pick up some food for dinner, unfortunately I forgot to mention a few key items. I tried calling him on his cell phone, but there was no answer. So I decided that I would also stop at the grocery to pick up the fabric softener and bread. It is impossible to make grilled cheese sandwiches (the ultimate comfort food) without bread.

As I was walking around the grocery store I started to ooze a little more than I had been during the day, I blame biking in the cold for about 20 minutes. I reached into my bag to get my little personal pouch of tissues. Damn!!! It was empty, not a single tissue to wipe my runny, disgusting nose on.

Easy problem to solve, I was in the grocery store after all. I took a quick swing through the paper products aisle and picked up a box of Lotion Tissue (anything to help soothe my dry, raw skin). My nose was still running so I started to hustle toward the checkout lane with my loaf of bread, fabric softener and box of tissue. Unfortunately, I wasn’t even close to the line when my snot started to make those tragic little bubbles, the ones you see on the noses of kids in the 2-4 years of age range all the time. I contemplated wiping my nose on the finger of my glove when I realized that I had a perfectly good box of tissue in my basket.

I stopped, in the middle of the aisle and broke open the box of tissue as quickly as I could. I took out one and gave my nose a good blow (keep in mind that blowing your nose in public is considered a gross breach of public decency here). I took out another tissue to finish cleaning up the damage. Then, feeling better, I walked up to the checkout counter.

I handed the man my basket with my three items. He scanned the bread, no problem. The fabric softener, no problem. But when he got to the tissue, he was completely stumped. Here, standing in front of him, was a foreigner (a rather disgusting one at that) trying to purchase an already opened box of tissue. The synapses weren’t quite firing at top speed on this one because he simply couldn’t figure out why, on earth, the tissues were opened.

It took a few minutes of him trying to explain that he would get me a new box of tissues. And me trying to explain that this one was fine, that I had opened the box. During this whole conversation my nose was running and my eyes were leaking and I needed a new tissue. I looked at him, told him in Japanese that I have a cold, and took another tissue to do a little dab. I think he finally understood.

He scanned my tissues, took my money and I was happily on my way.

Today, I am in the end stages of the mucus production phase and the beginning stages of the chest cold and coughing phase. I am back to the laying around like a lump strategy. I have a water bottle, tissue box, good book and the computer surrounding me. I am lying in my bed with the heated carpet on and hoping, waiting for this cold to go away. Wish me luck!