That Time of Year

Well, it's the time of year that I usually get a stupid cold. All my life I've gotten several colds per year, and they really make me miserable. I can handle the sore throat and the slightly nauseus feeling, but the runny nose drives me nuts. I feel like I'm blowing my nose every couple of minutes.

When you get up a bit in years like I am, you find that certain memories are indelibly etched in your mind, some good, some not so good. One of the not so good ones for me is exam day in my second year in High School at then Granville High, later renamed to Brown Deer. I had a cold that day, and we didn't use handkerchiefs then, because they were too expensive, I guess, so I went to school with just a few kleenexes in my pocket. I have no memory of how I scored on the test, but I have a vivid memory of constantly pulling tattered pieces of of kleenex from my pocket to stem the run from my nose and prevent it from dripping on my exam paper. At the time I thought about how disgusting this must look to everyone else. Ah, sweet memories.

Four years ago I started keeping track of how often I get colds. I had noticed that I hadn't had any for a while, and I wasn't sure why, but I started to keep track in my Palm Pilot from that point forward. I can tell you that since 1/1/01 I have gotten exactly 9 colds, including the one that started 2 days ago. I suppose most who read this will find it kind of anal that I do this, but that's me. I like to know the facts before I reach a conclusion. Five of those 9 colds have occurred between Christmas and mid January. This year I was kind of aware of that, so I was somewhat careful, but to no avail. Two days ago it came on with a vengence, and now I am stuck with it.

Oh well, I've stayed home today to get some rest and maybe nip this thing a bit so it doesn't last as long as usual, which is usually about 10 days. At least that gives me time to write this exciting blog.

See ya.