Snow on the Way

I can't believe I'm watching special "winter weather" reports on the Weather Channel for a nor'easter.


They said there will be 2-4 inches of snow tonight. It's Halloween weekend! This is kind of crazy. Wind chills in the 20s? I don't even know what to do with myself as I'm not mentally ready for winter. I've been wearing skirts with bare legs for the past 2 days when the "feels like" temperatures have been in the 30s, so clearly I don't know how to deal with what's going on.

I can't believe how heavily it's snowing in central PA and it's already starting to mix in snow in Jersey. Just right across the river from us! Manhattan often gets insulated from some of the weather problems. (Seriously, I have pictures somewhere of the weather map where it snows all around us and there is a big hole on top of the city.) I guess we'll see if that happens again.

I still can't believe it feels like 28 degrees outside!

Freezing

It's cold outside. Right now it's 39 degrees and feels like 32. This morning it was in the 50s. I was supposed to pack a warm pair of pants for tonight but I was late for work and forgot. The temperature just kept dropping all day, and it just kept raining. It was quite chilly walking home so I made a bunch of stops (including a renovated Walgreens, which I had no idea was even renovated). I can't believe it got so cold so quickly. It's even possible that it will snow (no accumulation) on Saturday. People must hate that since it's Halloween weekend. Crazy weather!

It's also not good for my illness. I'm coughing a little less today but still not feeling that well. The dampness and the cold rain really don't help. Really could use some sunny beach weather...

Setback

I really didn't want to have to write this post, but this crappy illness has pushed me back a few steps.

 

After all the hope yesterday with the recovery, today has been rough.  It was a rough night on all levels and very difficult getting to sleep, but I thought I was feeling better.  Apparently not. 

 

I have something sitting in my throat incessantly tickling it and have been coughing nonstop for the past 10-15 minutes.  Right after I told people about how this was so much better than Monday because at least I can go 5 minutes without coughing.  Apparently I am really good at jinxing myself.  Tea, water, cough drop... nothing's helping.

 

Today is looking like it is going to be awesome.

Thanks CBS

Just heard that CBS ordered full seasons of Unforgettable and Person of Interest.  Thanks CBS!  Not only are they two shows I watch, but they're both filmed in NYC, so that makes me pretty happy.

 

I wasn't expecting to like Unforgettable.  I had read some bad reviews before the season started, but was interested to see how her ability would be useful.  Aside from the one horrible point in the pilot where she seemed to be remembering someone else's memory, it's been a pretty good (even if not very revolutionary) procedural.  A good fit for CBS.

 

Person of Interest, as I mentioned yesterday, intrigues me.  I can't wait to see where it goes next.  Glad that we have a full season to find out!

Tuesday Morning

What a significant difference from yesterday at this time.

I wouldn't say that I am "well" but I am hoping this is the breakthrough point. I'm still coughing, but it's manageable (i.e., I can breathe and I can go 5 minutes without a coughing fit). I don't feel like I'm going to pass out. I didn't wake up in the middle of the night. I didn't wake up in the morning in the middle of coughing. These are all really, really good things.

Illnesses always remind me of how much I take for granted every day, including being able to breathe. So much to be thankful for.

Cura Te Ipsum

We just watched episode 4 of Person of Interest, titled "Cura Te Ipsum", tonight. The episode originally aired a couple of weeks ago on the day we left for Florida and we're still catching up on all our shows. We really like this show and so far it's probably our favorite new show of the season (still more to try out). In addition to having interesting storylines, it raises moral questions. What would you do if you were in possession of information that could change someone's fate?

In this episode, the name that comes up in the machine is a female doctor. If you've never watched the show before, Finch (Lost's Ben) created a machine which can predict crimes and pops up a name. The machine doesn't know if this person is the perpetrator or the victim, and comes to its conclusion from analyzing all sorts of big brother type information. Finch works with John Reese (the ultimate badass fighter who can take down armed people with one hand) to figure out what's going to happen and stop the bad act from happening. So, in this episode, they thought she was the victim, only to find out that she was actually stalking the guy with the intent to kill him and commit the perfect crime.

She wasn't a sociopath, but she was trying to avenge her sister's death, a suicide prompted by the sexual assault her sister suffered at the hands of this sleazy guy named Benton. From Reese's following of Benton, it's clear that he's a serial offender and that he hasn't stopped. The guy is the definition of a predator, slipping people date rape drugs and committing heinous offenses, and he has never been held accountable for his actions. Clearly the doctor's target isn't a great man. The situation raises a lot of questions. Should she be stopped? Should they just let events take their "natural course" and rid the world of this guy who will clearly harm again? Should they stop her because taking a life is just wrong? Should they stop her for her sake because taking a life would ruin her own, even though it could leave the guy to prey again? It's an interesting ethical dilemma for the characters.

Ultimately, the show left it open. Reese stopped the doctor from killing Benton, but did he do it himself? He had a "talk" with him but we don't know what happened after the end of the episode. Such an intriguing drama.

Two other random notes:

- The episode made me smile because they showed the doctor visiting the Frites n Meats truck. Food trucks are good for the city! Why can't the politicians understand that?

- I love that they actually film in NY. There's an authenticity that you get that other shows that pretend to be in NYC just don't have (coughCastlecough). I think I watch all the shows that film in NYC, other than A Gifted Man (which I was going to watch for a 2nd time but haven't decided yet if I want to). I like to think that it's because I want to support film in the city, but I think it's on a more subconscious level. Maybe I like a show more because the city plays a role in it (sort of like SATC where they called the city the 5th main character). It was a little distracting (in a good way) in the 1st episode of Person of Interest since they filmed it near my office and I was constantly looking to see if I knew anyone, but it was also kind of cool being able to watch knowing that I've been there!

More Sick Whining

I don't understand why I'm not getting better. I've been wondering this all night. The only time I ever feel "good" is when I'm in the shower. Post-shower, I feel slightly better than I did before the shower, but am still coughing. I can't stay in the shower all day!

I'm doing everything the doctor told me to do. Resting as much as I can. Drinking as much water as I can. Drinking tea, theraflu. Taking my medicine as directed. Staying away from negative external factors by working from home. Yet 4 full days of antibiotics later, I'm still sick. I know it takes a few days and I know I'm impatient and want to feel better, but I just feel like something should be happening by now!

I remember the last time I was sick like this and took antibiotics, there was this "breakthrough point" where after a long time of feeling like crap, it just started to feel better. I'm hoping that comes overnight/tomorrow morning because I do need to go to the office tomorrow and going like this would just suck.

Bleh

Hello from home.

That's right, working from home. I woke up last night after just 2 hours of sleep with a nice big coughing fit, and then when it was time to get up for work, I could barely get through a minute without coughing (and I wasn't even talking). Felt awful so here I am at home. Why are these meds not doing anything? Why can't I sleep through the night?

Somehow I managed to rest for an hour without a major coughing fit before getting up for real, so hopefully that is a good sign. While doing stuff for work, got through Blue Bloods (like the show but I'm finding the undercover story hard to believe since he's the commissioner's son) and am now working on The Good Wife. Most of the other shows on the DVR are "together" shows for A and me to watch together, so I'm not sure what to watch next.

Still coughing but hopefully lots of fluids, not going outside, and getting some much-needed rest (maybe?) will help push this illness on its way. Please! I feel like a broken record with every post being "I'm sick, it's sucks." Go away illness!

Happy Birthday to My iPhone

Today (well, Sunday, but mentally, it is still Sunday to me) was the one year anniversary of my switch to the iPhone. It has really changed my life. I held off on getting a smartphone for so long, partially because of cost and partially because I had my blackberry from work and never really "needed" it. But a year ago, I gave in, and I knew I could never go back.

Unless blackberry finds a way to really compete, I feel like it's dying out. The apps on that just can't compete with iPhone or Android. Before I got my iPhone, I kept seeing all the things you could do with a real smartphone that the blackberry just wasn't capable of handling. I remember when I got this model of the blackberry and I was so excited because the webpages it pulled up looked so much more like real websites than my old one! But having only one browser window and not being able to view as much as a real browser was such a limitation. Now my blackberry feels so ancient.

It also used to be that I would never answer my phone because I would forget to charge it or wouldn't even carry it with me ("just pin me!"), but now it's the exact opposite. Now I rarely bring my blackberry when I'm not at work, so pinning me is not the best way to reach me. How times change.

Another big way in which the iPhone changed my life - I don't bring my "little camera" (i.e., the non-SLR) with me everywhere because now I have my iPhone. Sure, my old phone had a camera, but that camera was a piece of crap. It took tiny low-resolution images that are kind of worthless except to jog your memory. My blackberry had a camera but it wasn't good enough as a replacement for the little camera. The iPhone one is, except in low light, but even then the little camera was temperamental. It has definitely cut down on the number of things I carry each day since now I don't need the little camera as much (except on the plane or with the gorillapod).

I could go on and on about it, not including the ways in which it just "enriches" the day with mental breaks for games, but I really need to get some sleep to try to fight off this illness. Just wanted to say happy birthday to my iPhone :)

Sunday Night Update

Sunday's done and the conclusion is that I felt worse than yesterday. How is that possible? Another day on antibiotics and I should be feeling better, not worse. Until late tonight, when I took a super hot shower to try to clear my sinuses and then downed a cup of Theraflu (mmm, it's like drinking apple cinnamon tea), I spent most of the afternoon and evening coughing every time I spoke. It's terrible! I feel like I have to remain mute to have the best chance of not coughing and I'm not very good at communicating through gestures.

I really think I would benefit from another day working at home tomorrow but I feel guilty about missing another day of work. Even though I would actually work from home. (I also think people should be encouraged to work from home when sick so they don't get everyone else sick, but unfortunately that is not our work culture.) I guess I'll see how I feel in the morning. If it's another night like last night, or if I wake up feeling as crappy as I do now, I think I'm going to have to stay home. Too many germs/aggravating forces on the way to/from the office and in the stale office air. Would also be coughing nonstop which would disturb everyone. Really not a great idea to go, but I guess we'll see.