Nadir

Today's post brought to you by Thesaurus.com.

Man, I've been feeling puny lately. Too much smoke and too much drink had apparently weakened me; that's all I can surmise. Then I caught a flu-like bug that raided each system that workaday illnesses can attack, starting in the gut, working into my sinuses and then through the throat, finally settling in my lungs, which feel coated with a layer of goo (probably because they are).

As fat and likely to thoughtlessly scarf junk food as I have always been, I've rarely had a problem with stamina. As little as my regular life demands of me, I've always been able to meet the challenge. Lately however, I've been panting for breath after only a few minutes' exertion, winded after what is even for a pudgy office-jockey a meager imposition. This must not stand.

The good news is that I have somehow managed to lose about 15 pounds in the last month or three, owing to a more careful examination of what slips into my shameless, vacuous maw. I am jealously vigilant of this recent development, being mindful of how difficult and near-magical the alchemy is that brought me to this improvement. While I am not impervious to temptation, I do make more room for resistance to the temptations of beer and sweets.

Even so, I have never felt so old, even as I acknowledge that each day I am literally older than I have ever been. Weakness and fatigue are not welcome in my shabby temple, even as I admit that I have taken it for granted for so long.

Let today be the low point, even as I hoist a few tributes to another tick on life's odometer. Let today be as shallow as my breath can be found to be. Let my energy reserves only climb from this point, my stamina increasing to new heights. Let my lazy, flabby ass find ways and pockets of time that I may put some lean, slow-twitch beef on this overly-marbled frame, and not be found so soft a target for life's challenges anon.

Head cold

I have a cold, which is turning out to be a real family heirloom. My son gave it to his momma, who gave it to me. My wife is suffering from it much more than I, sadly. I have a low-impact job indoors, and have been careful to take lots of water, and lay off the sauce. My woman, on the other hand, appears unable or unwilling to take it easy, and suffers from headaches, backache, chest and head congestion and general malaise. Sucks!

I only feel a little crappy today

What I thought was a hangover turned out to be something worse. With my hypochondria, I was convinced I shut down vital organs (I picture liver, kidney failure) due to Heineken overdose.

In any event, my body aches, fever, sweats and lethargic malaise have largely subsided, leaving me only with the sore throat, swelling in glands in my neck like an irradiated bullfrog, and the same aches I normally get from lifting weights in my own useless, sporadic fashion.

My energy level is starting to come back, and it's about damned time. I get impatient when I don't feel well. I don't know how my brother manages.

I feel yucky

My son brought home a gift for me last week: bacteria! The gift that keeps on giving!

I felt a twinge last night in my chest - odd, as this type of thing usually starts in my sinus. Anyway, I now feel increased sensitivity to temperature extremes in my extremities, and coughing is my new hobby.

Then again, there are those out there who have it much worse, so my despair is definitely in perspective.