The good news is that a kind person is going to cover for me. I can spend the day in bed, hopefully getting a handle on this nasty bug before it takes up residence in my respiratory system. I don�t know if she knows how much I appreciate it, but I do. I owe her big-time, if I�d had to go in like this, it would be brutal. Like the customers want to hear my involuntary impression of Marge Simpson and see me snotting all over the counter anyway. �Would you like some SARS with your coffee today, sir?� I�m going to finish this glass of juice and then go back into bed. Oscar will curl up with me and make me feel better.

The bad news is that I feel worse than I did last night. I have this icky full sensation in my ears, and I�ve got this lovely, steady drip from my nose, and my neck is a little swollen now. It hurts to talk. I have a fever. I�m not breathing up to normal levels- I�ve upped my dose of asthma meds like the doc said to. I feel slightly nauseated, and while I know I am hungry, nothing appeals to me food-wise. I�m just going to down this juice (along with a few more cold relief tablets and some vitamin C) and crawl back into the basement to sleep where it is dark and quiet for a while. I�m turning the ringer off on the phone- nobody needs to talk to me today when I am feeling like this, they can leave a message.

W.O.V. said he�d bring me more cold relief tablets and tissues and some ginger ale. He�s so good to me when I am sick. I�m going now. The light from the monitor hurts my eyes.