This Is Not a Blog

Repeating, this is not a blog.  This is an outpost from the wilderness of contamination.  It's a twirling headspin if I look at the screen too long.  It's a confusion of monstrous headache and shallow breath.  It's a long tunnel of dark and gray, with nameless, faceless drifters looking up and down.  Normally that would terrify me, but I'm too exhausted to care.

All right.  That's enough whining.  I truly can't get a whole blog out tonight, due to pneumonia taking up residence in my lungs.  But it bears reflection on what got me this sick.  I am blessed with an extraordinary immune system; the last time I was this sick was on 9/11, the only time I've ever missed school two successive days for being sick, as opposed to recovery from surgery.  I know why I got so ill then:  I had floated the Illinois the weekend before and inadvertently took a big gulp of that nasty chicken-contaminated river water.  Voila!  Pneumonia. 

So what's the culprit this time?  I have a couple of suspects.  My nose is always dried out, making it less effective at preventing germs to get in the airway.  My C-PAP machine is not working right, so I'm not getting good breath at night anyway.  I'm in a public pool several days a week.  And I'm running at absolutely top speed this year, working non-stop.

Oh, I forgot the most likely culprit:  I had fun things planned with friends both tonight and tomorrow.  That NEVER happens.  There it is, right there. 

Eh, who knows?  I'll take my pills, drown my sorrows in water and OJ, and sleep all I can.  Next week, hopefully, I'll be back in full form.