23:28 - 04.05.05
Weighing in
Sorry about yesterday, dear diary. There is a saying that when healing, one sometime goes backward through the symptoms. I can't say if that's a fact or if it's just that the antibiotics are as hard on one's system as the disease. Couldn't keep anything down and couldn't stop coughing. Couldn't sleep either. Sterilized and washed everything that might be contaminated to keep my mind off how miserable I felt, as a result. Rubbing alcohol baths for everything from computer keyboards and monitors to any flat surface. The washer ran all day, with all the fabric that might carry any germs as well. Becuase the laundry room is downstairs I had some difficulty just getting to and from the appliances to keep them operating. Had to stop and rest a lot and it really triggered the cough reflex. Maybe that wasn't such a bad thing though. The other reason I pushed the clean up is that the media was telling us that our area of town, approximately 100,000 residents, will be subjected to water rationing for about six weeks, while a major water main that burst over winter is dug out and replaced. That starts next week, so it's now or never anyway.
Had to keep the cats under surveillance, because rubbing alcohol is a substance where the phrase "curiosity killed the cat" might have applied. Fortunately they all survived just fine. Doused myself and parts of the house with eucalyptus oil, just so the air was treated in a way that helped me keep breathing. That really upset the felines, but some one has to be well enough if they want kibble any time in the near future - right? Some of them were quite hurt and must have thought it was done specifically to repel them. Pouting cats hiding under tables and chairs.
Exhausted as I felt after all that, I still couldn't sleep at all last night; couldn't sit still either. Sometimes that is a sign of respiratory distress, as is some one being really owly. Not breathing does make one cranky. But part of the reason for the sleeplessness was that it was as if as though I was waiting for a decision to be made. About four in the am I finally had this really positive feeling, as though approval had been given for something. Don't really know what that could be, but that was when I finally was able to lie down and get a few hours napping in. Woke up later in the morning feeling as though someone had taken a baseball bat to me.
Spent part of today catching up on email - personal, work and election stuff - over 100 items. We've taken to segregating the boys and girls in the cat family, so the girls shared the computer room with me while I toiled away. Now that the males aren't bothering them, they've become very calm and social. When they weren't sleeping or chasing flies dumb enough to fly in the open window, they would chatter with each other. They actually have other sounds they can make, in addition to purrs, meows and hisses. It actually sounds somewhat like someone with a bad cold trying to talk or like dolphins in some ways. Maybe they were just imitating me. The boys, on the other hand, are having some difficulties; because all their scent was cleaned up yesterday, they've lost their boundaries and their amours. Some of the older males were quite on edge. My youngest took control there and just made it known that He is the dominant male in the house. Wild kingdom comes to suburbia.
Got a call in the early afternoon from one of the agency owners. Was I ok? Apparently they were told that there was a very serious bacterial infection going around the company I work for right now - that was the reason for all the computer cleaning equipment we were given. Too bad they didn't just tell staff what the problem was and explain a bit about sterile procedures. Might have reduced contamination considerably. I don't know if it's the same thing I've got, because the word pneumonia actually startled my contact considerably. She said she hadn't understood I was that ill. I think the fact that I had expressed frustration for not being able to discuss the project, was seen as part of the reason I was staying home. Wish I could afford that kind of luxury. Well maybe not, since avoidance usually makes things worse or easier to hide. One of the emails from work indicated that my workstation was being moved tomorrow. Same floor, but new neighbours. I like the three people that I'll be closest to and it will remove me from the direct line of fire between two of the feuding supervisors. A change is as good as a rest - maybe. At this point in time I think I will be going into work tomorrow, but if I still feel as I did this morning I'm not going to push it. My right lung feels much better, but the left one is still really congested and sore. Reinfecting or doubling up on another bacterial infection doesn't help me or anyone else. One way or another it also means more lost income. Might be easier to just take one hit instead of trying to go back too early. Don't know. I'll think about that tomorrow, said Ms Scarlett.
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