It's raining again!

I got up this morning, saw it was raining, had my breakfast downstairs, and went back to bed.

Why sleep more, you ask?  Well, because I'm pretty sure my rampant allergies have now become a full-on sinus infection.  I can hardly breath for the coughs choking me, and getting all the way upstairs to my room takes the wind out of me.

I was planning on going either to the Open Air Museum in Arnhem or to Volendam today, but it's raining in both places, as well as here in Rotterdam.  The Open Air museum will cost me 14,95 Euros, along with the more than thirty-eight Euros for train fair.

Turns out, I'd have to take a train to Purmerend Overwhere, and then a taxi (yikes!) to Volendam.  The train ride alone (both directions, total) will take 35,40 Euros, and I have no idea how much the taxi would cost both ways.

So, I could pretty much go to one or the other--not both--since I have only about 100 Euros left.  Tomorrow, I'm definitely going to the Arboretum Trompenberg and having lunch, even if I have to slog through the rain with that silly umbrella.  Today, I might walk up to the market on the corner for some cough syrup or some Dutch equivalent of DayQuil.  Don't really need Sudafed, because the moisture in the air is doing a good job of draining my sinuses as it is.  Too bad it's not this wet and rainy in Maryland.  (Just kidding!)

Checking something. . . . Perhaps if I bike the last leg to Volendam?

. . . It would take 34 minutes, one way, by bicycle.  But both trips together would still cost me nearly 80 Euros.  Bah.

Arnhem or Volendam?  Volendam or Arnhem?  I can't decide.  And it will have to be either tomorrow after lunch or I'd have to get back before the walking tour of Rotterdam on Wednesday.

I'll decide later.

What an Awful Time to Be Sick

Yup, I'm sick. Which sucks, because that means I can't even go to the temporary manual labor agency right now. It started Monday night, when I kept sneezing and had a really stuffy nose that wouldn't go away. I also had trouble practicing my trumpet without getting dizzy (though I made it the full 30 minutes), so I've decided to amend my first New Year's resolution to include the words "health permitting."

Tuesday morning, I got a phone call from the temp place (I hadn't even gone in to say that I was available) asking if I wanted to drive for the company I drove for the first day I worked for the temp place. My head was so fuzzy, what with the stuffy nose, clogged and ringing ears, and overall blah-ness that I doubted I would be alert enough to drive my own car, much less someone else's expensive company car. So, I had to turn the job down.

Before I went to sleep the night before last, I took some NyQuil, because I wasn't getting any better--in fact, it seemed worse than the day before. I briefly woke up around 1:30 or 2:30 (can't remember which), took another dose, and then went back to sleep until 4:00.

I could've slept longer, but I wanted to actually do something besides sleeping that day, so I went downstairs and got some beef stew before coming back up here to read. Then a little later, when Anna came back from Mom and Dad's house, we watched the first episode of Birds of Prey (I'd NetFlixed the entire series, and the first disc came in the mail a few days ago). By that time, Tim was home, so we watched Good Eats and Unwrapped before they went to bed.

I was still pretty awake at the time, so I watched the rest of the disc, plus the little Gotham Girls cartoon that was on the disc as well. Then I came upstairs, read a little bit more, and went to sleep.

I woke up a little after 1:00 this afternoon, called Bryan to let him know I wasn't going to be playing in the regular Thursday-night Serenity game at the Haven, then called a different temp agency to find out what I'd have to do to be considered for a position they'd contacted me about a week or two ago. I took their online assessments, then called the lady back, and I've got an interview on Monday now.

Now, I just have to find some work tomorrow and Saturday--probably at the manual labor temp agency--to get some money in order to pay the bills that are due before next Monday. I'll take some more NyQuil before I go to sleep tonight, and hopefully that will help me to feel well enough to work.

Blech.

Tuesday was kind of a bad day. My nose was all stuffy and such.

Wednesday was worse; I had to blow my nose every ten minutes or so, and I was so knock-down-drag-out tired, I ended up staying home from work. Went to the doctor, and found out that, not only do I have a viral infection which is causing all this congestion, but I also have an ear infection. That last part is kind of odd, because my ear doesn't really hurt like the last time I remember having one--just itches a bit and feels kind of full-ish.

So the PA I saw gave me two prescriptions: Amoxicillin, for the ear infection, and Phenylhistine DH Liquid Qua . . . which is basically a really nice (purple) cough syrup with a decongestant mixed in, and--wonder of wonders--codiene! I can only take the cough syrup before bed though. Which is mostly when I need it, because Tuesday night, I had lots of trouble sleeping, since I kept having to blow my nose and get some water the whole night, and that was with the huge mound of pillows (plus my TV cushion and the large green blanket from downstairs) propping me up.

The PA said to stay home from work until I'd been on the Amox for at least 24 hours, so I stayed home yesterday too--got caught up on all but one episode of Numb3rs. Holy heck, that show boggles the mind in such a great way! (Not to mention, David Krumholz is really starting to grow on me, with his floppy, curlie-cue hair and such.)

Today, I went back to work, still pretty miserable, but unable to afford more time off. Truthfully, I can't really afford yesterday and Wednesday (don't have that much sick time saved), but oh well.

I still have to blow my nose a lot, but thankfully not as much as I had to two days ago. My nose was raw long before lunchtime Wednesday, and it doesn't look like it'll be back to normal anytime soon. The odd thing is, I'm coughing more now than I was two days ago.