The Sick Day

Being sick.

Of course it's something that everyone experiences, some more often than others. And it's definitely something we all handle in different ways.

I'm usually a really pathetic sick person. I have no problem recognizing that fact. My motivation disappears and I eventually find myself sitting in a sickly daze, my mouth hanging open because I can't breathe through my nose, sniffling occasionally, coughing slightly, most likely wrapped up in a blanket. Depending on how sick I am, I may or may not be able to hold a conversation. My brain function generally seems to slow by about 50%, especially if my ears are clogged up and I therefore can't hear very well. Someone will say something to me and I don't register it until an awkward amount of silence has presented itself, after which I either process and respond or have to ask the speaker to repeat the question or statement. I warned my roommate about this last night - she asked me a question and I had no clue what she said. I still don't really remember what it was, even after she repeated it for me. But she's patient, which is helpful. I think she also finds it kind of amusing, honestly. Maybe...

When I'm sick at school, the two biggest problems seem to be:

1) do I go to class? and
2) what do I eat?!

The answer to the prior is always determined by multiple factors, on the class's part and on mine.
     Class: difficulty, importance, availability of lecture notes, attendance policy
     Mine: presence and intensity of runny nose and cough, presence of fever, ability to stay awake, and ability to focus.

Runny nose and cough have been making their appearance, but fortunately fever has stayed at bay. So what about class-wise? This morning the need to sleep won over the need to go to class. Plus I only have one class on Mondays, and my professor has a college-age son, so she's very understanding of the being-sick-and-needing-to-sleep thing. She's awesome. Tomorrow I think will merit skipping the first class - it's not terribly difficult, nor terribly important, lecture notes are available online, and the attendance policy is pretty lenient. Plus I haven't had an absence yet, so one won't penalize me. The others, however, will merit attendance. But that's okay, I definitely feel better tonight than I did last night.

So, food... I never know what to eat. Well, besides soup, because soup is a "duh" when it comes to sickliness. I always stock up on juice - orange juice and pineapple juice mostly. I'm also a fan of those Bolthouse Farms smoothies, but I get those anyway, not just when I'm sick. Then of course I've gotta get that fruit. And... actually, I feel like that's about all I end up eating. Soup. Juice. Fruit. Yeah, sounds about right. Maybe the occasional PB&J.

Well, that's about all. If you didn't catch on, I got sick this weekend, and that's what inspired today's topic - the sick day. Tomorrow will be a half-sick day. Hopefully Wednesday will be yet a smaller fraction of a sick day. I hope you all are doing well and staying healthy.

Drink juice! Get sleep! Peace out!

When there's nothing better to do...

I often find myself doing strange things while I'm bored. No, not even bored, just unoccupied. I usually don't notice that I'm doing them until I've a) been doing them for far too long, or 2) been doing them with at least one other person around who 2a) reciprocates, or b.5) asks me what the heck I'm doing. Here are some of my most common default behaviors:

Being a dinosaur
Practicing animal noises
Making faces
Talking to myself
Sleeping
Dancing
Singing
Generic jamming
Reliving a conversation from earlier in the day
Wiggling my eyebrows
Wiggling my ears
Flexing my fingers
Working out
Haha, not actually working out
Thinking about working out
Pretending I work out
Wondering if I should actually work out
Assuring myself rock climbing counts as working out
Getting on Facebook
Checking my email
Getting back on Facebook
Facebook stalking my roommate
Facebook stalking my family
Facebook stalking my best friends
Facebook stalking those people I went to high school with that I never really knew
Facebook stalking those people I'm not sure I actually know at all
More singing
More animal noises
More dinosaur-ing (it's usually a T-Rex)
Texting
Waiting...
Waiting...
Responding to a text
Debating calling
Texting
Looking through pictures on my phone
Looking through pictures on Facebook
Checking my blog
Debating writing a blog post
Looking up a video on Youtube
Debating blogging about it
Posting the video link on a friend's wall (excuse me, timeline. whatever...) on Facebook
Checking my email again

Yup, that's about it. And I know I'm not the only person who operates like this. What weird things do you find yourself doing?

My Pleasure!

Dear Chick-Fil-A,

You have forever changed my vocabulary.

Yes, I was one of those kids who worked at the local CFA over the summer. And ya know what? It was actually pretty fun. And now I can swirl soft-serve icecream (or icedream) onto a cone like nobody's business - a very handy talent to have.

I'm also now one of those people who usually says "my pleasure" instead of "you're welcome."

It's real. It happens.

Since I've been away from the job for about a month now it's started to diminish. Slightly. My roommate still catches me. Or just laughs at me. I've gotten better about not saying it to my friends though - it usually appears when I'm talking to someone I don't know:

*holding the door for the miscellaneous student behind me*
her - "thanks"
me - "my plesu- ... yeah, sure thing..."
*ignore the "haha, I know where YOU work" smirk and walk off*

*lent a pen to the guy next to me for math lecture. end of class"
him - "here's your pen. thanks"
me - "my ple- ... yup."
*ignore the awkward look, shove things into backpack and scurry out*

*taking my food from the cashier at Moe's*
her - (because she's required to) "thank you, have a nice day"
me - "my pl... thank you..."
*take food, hurry away like an awko taco*
jill - "haha. I heard that"
me - " -_- "

Just some examples of the most common situations in which this verbal transaction occurs. Some instances are more awkward than others. Older people generally seem to appreciate it, so hopefully it earns me points in the "what a polite young person" category. And other CFA employees get a kick out of it. And really, so does anyone who likes Chick-Fil-A. So I suppose it's not such a terrible thing after all.

Keeping Clean?

Me: "Yeah, I'm thinking I might skip the showering tonight and just sleep."
Jill (roommate): "Okay."
Me: "I wonder if I can get away with not showering..."
*pause*
Me: "Yeah, I'll just do it in the morning."
Jill: "Oh, I thought you were going to Google it."
Me: "GOOOOOOGLE! *How to get away with not showering*"

http://www.campusghanta.com/2012/01/12/how-to-get-by-without-having-a-shower-for-a-week/

Let me just clarify the situation:

1) I showered last night, so it's not like I'm rocking some stank-nasty grunge and denying myself the necessity that is personal hygiene. I've also been up studying for a test I have tomorrow morning, so right now I just would rather get sleep than take a shower.
2) I have a slight obsession with Google and the act of googling. Anything. Everything.
2a) I sing "GOOOOOOGLE!" a certain way when I'm about to look up something absurd. That's why it merits the specific typage. (sure, it's a word...)
3) This was the first site I found, and Jill and I were laughing so hard that we could barely read it all the way through. So I thought I'd share.

I'm NOT encouraging anyone to try these methods.

However, should someone decide to, I'd love to know how it fares for them...

That's all for tonight! Back to Physics studying =^/

OH! AND TO ADD: I haven't looked at anything on this site besides this article I'm referencing, which, for clarity's sake, is called "How To Live Without Bathing." Just sayin, I'm not responsible should you click on a different link and wind up somewhere unhappy. Fair warning.