2014 Is Going Out With A Bang

As I type this post, the 'Rents and I have the wicked influenza virus going around.  Mom has gotten a bit better.  She had more energy today and said that taking a long hot shower pepped her up a bit.   I'm still tired and congested but not coughing as bad as I was yesterday, and unfortunately Dad has it the worst. I gave him a dose of Nyquil and he's all snuggled in his bed sleeping, which is the best thing for him.   And before you even suggest it, you should know by now how stubborn all of us are, so we haven't gone to the doctor.  

As for New Years Eve festivities at The Compound, looks like there won't be any.  I know we'll need to eat something to keep up our strength, but right now, nothing sounds or tastes good.  We might get crazy and have some ginger ale but that will be the extent of our partying.  We will be doing good to stay up till 10:00 probably.  I just pray that we all three get better soon, especially the 'Rents.  They're more stubborn than I am.  

Help Me Make It Through The Night

Let me preface by saying that Mucinex Maximum Strength Fast Max is deadly.  The only positive thing from my 16 hour period of taking it was that it did help to break up some of the congestion.  

I started getting this crud Sunday afternoon and by yesterday morning, it was full-blown. So I stopped at WalMart on the way to work and got a bottle of Mucinex Maximum Strength Fax Max.  Big mistake.

The first major side effect was running to the bathroom to pee.  As the day went on yesterday, I had to go pee more and more frequently.  I had only been drinking a normal amount of water – nothing excessive like I really should have been drinking, like dr’s recommend for a cold.  I ate maybe 3 spoon fulls of navy beans and one hot dog for supper, but the iced tea tasted best of all.  I laid down to watch TV but never was able to take a nap during the evening even though I was tired because of the damned stuff.  Yet I didn’t feel all that bad in the evening – just tired.  I went to bed at 10 and read for a bit and turned out the light at 10:30 and then it started.  I was up every 15 minutes to go pee which scared the hell out of me.  Then at about 2:00 I had a full blown anxiety attack. I just prayed for the Lord to help me.  I was sweating like a whore in church, and my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest.  At one point, I turned on the light and looked around my bedroom for a paper bag to breathe into as I was hyperventilating.  After the anxiety attack subsided and I had my wits back about me, I grabbed the iPad and looked up the side effects of this type of Mucinex and there it was – frequent urination, anxiety, restlessness.  At one point, I couldn’t lay down, and when I would sit up in bed, I would get restless again, so I just walked through the house for a bit.  I came back and laid back down but no dice.  So by this time it was 4:00 and I got my pillows and propped myself up and dozed off for about an hour sitting up in bed. I had taken my last dose of the hallucigenic stuff at 10 when I went to bed, so it was slowly starting to wear off because by this time, I was only going to the bathroom every hour. 

During the anxiety attack, I honestly started to call Diva Stacy and tell her if I exploded from this stuff, for her and the kids to move in to our house and take care of The 'Rents. 

When I got up at 6, the first thing I did was find a box of Coricidan and took a dose of that.  It won't make me start to trip out like the Mucinex. 

So the moral of this story is to never take this type of Mucinex.  NEVER.  

And on a related note, Mom still has this crud, and now Dad has got it.  Pray for us, America.

Christmas Wrap Up (No Pun Intended)

After five glorious days off, it was back to work today.  But I work two days, get off two days, work one day, and get off two days.  The week of 1/5 will be a lonnnng week.  But I digress. 

It was a great Christmas holiday - the 'Rents and I had fun watching movies and eating and drinking and just enjoying being together.  Yep, it was a great holiday until yesterday when Mom and I came down with the cold/respiratory crap that is going around.  Neither of us had a fever, thank goodness; just an annoying cough.  Mom's crap started out as a stomach bug - she was sick at her stomach yesterday morning, but perked up in the afternoon, just in time to start coughing. My cough started Saturday night and progressed throughout the day yesterday.  I stopped on the way to work today and got some Mucinex (the fast acting version) and started taking that as soon as I got back to the car.   Neither of us are achy, thank goodness. Well, I am a bit, but that's a whole other TWIT entry for another day. 

Half of the people I talked with at work today either caught it over the holiday or still have it.  So I'm sure it will keep making the rounds in the office.  We sprayed lots of Lysol today in my office and out in the cubicle, so we're hoping that will help keep germs at bay.  

I'm posting this and going to lay down for a bit.  As always, I'll keep you posted. 

Link Of The Week

2014 is growing to a close, and TWIT is going to give its two-cents worth on the "Best Of" for the year.  Please take a few minutes to visit this page at AOL and see some of the best photos taken in 2014.  They're pretty amazing, and they'll either make you put down you camera and never take another picture again or they will challenge you to keep on taking more pictures till you get that one shot.  Visit http://www.aol.com/article/2014/12/28/2014-the-year-in-photos/21121783/?icid=maing-grid7|aol20-os|dl6|sec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D589968 and check it out.

Security Tip Saturday

First of all, I apologize for not posting this before you, faithful readers, started doing online Christmas shopping, but it's better late than never.   Here's a couple of tips to help keep you safe while you shop online. And I will try to remember to post this again in about 10 or 11 months, to remind you before you start your Christmas shopping.  But these tips are things that will help keep all of us safer throughout the year.  If you're like me, it seems like I buy something online every week or so.  But I digress. 

First of all, if possible, do your online shopping on a desktop computer.  The internet connection is much more safe than using a wifi internet connection.  But if you don't have a desktop computer anymore, you can still be safer - use your smart phone for shopping online.  Just turn off the wifi and use your actual cell phone connection.   

Second, when you go to a website to shop online, look up at the search box at the top of the screen for the URL address of the website.  If it starts with "https", then it is a secure site.  The "s" designates it is secure.  If the web address of the online store just has "http://www..." for it's address, it is not a secure site, and you should avoid it.  

Stay safe. 

Flashback Friday

It's the day after Christmas, and when I was a kid, I would have spent all day playing with the new toys and things that Santa brought the day before.  And if I know me, by this time, I would have probably broken at least one thing I got for Christmas.   

As a 51 year-old, there's not much to play with today.  The majority of the things I got for Christmas are practical - the 'Rents and I each got two packs of new 'wears -- something that we all need.  Not much fanfare there.  When I was a kid, if I'd gotten a pack of underwear for Christmas, I would have probably had a meltdown.  Now, we love it when we get new 'wears.  And I got a new polo shirt.  Once again, nothing to play with.  Santa left some Sensodyne toothpaste and a pack of replacement brush head for my Spinbrush in my stocking.  Somehow, Santa always knows exactly what to put in your stocking.  And I did get a cool Bluetooth keyboard from the 'Rents to use with my Surface Pro and iPad, so that's at least one thing I can officially "play" with.  But right now in my life, I'm just happy that the 'Rents and I are healthy and able to enjoy being together for the holidays.  That's really all that matters.

Merry Christmas

TWIT would like to wish all of you, faithful readers, a very Merry Christmas.  I hope you have a peaceful, drama-free day with your family and friends.  And I hope you eat lots of good foods today!