miscellany, bad & good

[jaeclectic]

Neil Stephenson is just so good: e.g., what I am currently reading, System of the World. Being part-way through a really good book has helped make this week more tolerable.

And I should not forget to mention that Thursday evening was also very nice. Main events: met eac in the Mission & hung out at a coffeeshop & chatted, until jgcr showed up and we had dinner, and then saw nicekitty who were quite terrific, as was the band they opened for, although I didn't stay for the whole show. Minor events: a woman on the street told me I looked lovely, and a guy sitting at the bar in Amnesia chatted me up. Not that I really know what to do with that, but it was different.

The tiredness and vague cold symptoms of earlier in the week have, unsurprisingly, sequed into something resembling Yet Another Sinus Infection [TM]. Yesterday (Saturday), the entire day consisted of: sleeping all morning, reading for 3 hours, sleeping some more, watching the extended edition of The Two Towers on DVD, drinking some herb tea with whiskey in it, then going back to sleep. Because I didn't get up until almost noon, I didn't have any caffeinated coffee, which contributed to my somnolent state.

Also, having been reminded by various comments on one of eac's recent posts, I dug out the neti pot that I bought a few years ago and tried once and then shoved in the back of the cupboard. I should probably try it when I'm not actually feeling unwell -- or it might just be one of those things that is good for you but I'm not going to learn to love. The effect was distinctly uncomfortable, stinging rather than soothing. Anyway, I'm going to keep trying and see how it goes.

Today I actually got up before 9, and had my usual (quite small, really) dose of caffeine, with the result that I felt very! alert! and perky! at least for an hour or two. Amazing how much difference it makes, and how much I noticed it after just one day without. Proceeded to run a bunch of errands, including going to a cheap walk-in haircut place and getting my hair trimmed -- which makes me feel much better as it was getting extremely ratty.

Now, I'm tired again. I am writing this while doing a small mountain of laundry, procrastinating on bill-paying / budget-wrangling, coughing, and trying to decide if I should take some kind of cold medicine. And thinking about some other stuff that I might save for another post...

Annoyingly, my lower back has been hurting today. This can't have been due to exertion, so it must have been from too much inactivity! or, you know, sleeping in an odd position, or some such.

I ought to edit this to make it either more coherent or more interesting or both, but instead I shall hit post and go check the washing machine.

Comments

[bulieb.livejournal.com]

Neti pot? Is that one of those contraptions for putting water up your nose? My dad swears by that, but everything I've read that doesn't come from some snake-oil-producing, unregulated herb company indicates that it's not a good idea. I mean, I suppose if it works for my dad there's no talking him out of it and it's probably doing him no harm -- but in general, I think it's not a good idea to pour water into an opening going the wrong way -- it introduces more bacteria and washes away what your body is doing to cope with illness, causing it to compensate by making MORE of the stuff. Especially if you have a sinus infection and it *burns* I would leave it alone... My two cents anyhow.

Sorry you feel crummy. I think the herb tea with the whiskey in it was a good idea. I'm a big fan of the hot toddy+nyquil regimen, myself. :)