It's a Beautiful Day

Sun is shining, birds are singing, I'm home from work... fighting a rearguard action to keep this bloody cold out of my nose.   Eventually, I hope to retake my larynx.  Argh argh argh.

But we are making progress.  I've managed to stay awake for more than one hour, and I'm able to smoke as much as 1/3 of a cigarette at a time now.  I always think that a cold would be an excellent time to quit smoking, but the addiction always proves too strong.  I shall probably be one of those sad people taking alternate hits off an oxygen tank and a cancer stick. 

I've discovered some interesting things this illness.  Like package inserts.  The company doc put me on antibiotics - I have no idea why, as I suspect this is a virus, but then he says a course should keep me from ending up with severe bronchitis, so yay.  They have antibiotics now that don't require ten days of remembering to take a pill three or four times.  You pop two the first day, one a day for the next four, and voila.  They come with a rather lengthy package insert, which I've never bothered reading before.  I perused this one, and discovered all sorts of detail.  I mean, this is the kind of stuff most normal people wouldn't bother to read, much less comprehend.  But after so much reading up on science over the last year or so, I actually found it interesting.  It tells you how the antibiotics work ("by binding to the 50S ribosomal subunit of susceptible microorganisms and, thus, interfering with microbial protein synthesis.  Nucleic acid synthesis is not affected.").  You can find out how much of it will end up in your system, and how many days it takes before it's gone (nearly three after the last dose).  You'll even discover how your body gets rid of it (liver, not kidneys). 

All of this stuff is written in super-dense language not meant for the typical layperson.  If you ever wondered why your doctor had to go through so many years of medical school, look no further than the package insert.

So that's what I've been doing on this brilliant, beautiful day.  And now, I'm going to enjoy the wonderful weather by... going back to bed.  Argh argh argh.