I got chills; they’re multiplying

Jedi, originally uploaded by PhillipWest.

Monday night I started to feel a little ill: chills, tiredness, headache. Tuesday I was focused on making it to and through meetings and a presentation at Refresh Pittsburgh, all of which were quite engaging and interesting.

But by Tuesday evening I could tell that all was not well — or more specifically, that I was not well. Despite all the colds and flu viruses and other forms of illness circulating, I’d survived most of the winter largely unscathed. But this could not last.

I’m not too bad off. Vehement coughing, lung congestion, off-and-on headaches, off-and-on fever. Now a little head congestion has kicked in too, to spice things up. Could be worse. In any case, I’m playing it safe, resting a lot and drinking echinecea tea and watching television.

This turns out to be a nice thing, this sitting and resting and not thinking too hard.

I just finished watching "How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" (not bad, very dated, kind of OK for a slow night if you don’t hate musicals). Now I am embarking on the first of three parts of that BBC version "Pride and Prejudice" with Colin Firth and … well, I don’t know or care who else, they’re a bunch of other people who do a nice job being around Colin Firth. (Oh yeah, that girl who played Sapphie on "Absolutely Fabulous" is the wayward sister.) I’ve seen this production before — more than once — so there are no surprises, only the perfect re-enactment of a drama that ends happily.

I’m sure more than a night or two of downtime wouldn’t work for me. (Amusing turn of phrase, that, isn’t it?) But the occasional cold serves as a reminder that there’s more to life than accomplishing lots of stuff. And, uncomfortable though a cold always is, a nice reminder it can be.

(About the picture: I searched Flickr for a photo of tissues to help depict my current state, and this Jedi popped up. He doesn’t particularly apply to my post, but I thought he was cool.)