Worst picture of me ever – Originally Posted January 28, 2007

I took this picture, i’m not proud of it, but here it is. I never had a beard before, I don’t think I like it. I figured my appearance can’t get much worse than it is at this moment, and hey! if anyone wants to know what I look like, 99% of the time its better than this!!

Back story: I had a cold a few weeks ago. I got over it like any other. Except for a little cough. That turned into a slightly annoying cough about a week later. Then turned into a disabling dry hacking, choking fit that left me gasping for air except I could only inhale about as much air that’s in a shot glass. This is really fun at 70 MPH driving to work on the freeway. And a cheap way to hallucinate purple, red and white spheres bouncing through the air.

Three doctor visits later, I’m being treated for asthma and pneumonia although I don’t have all the symptoms of either. Just that there’s not much oxygen exchange going on in the ol’ bellows.

I get some new toys to play with for a couple of weeks! A nebulizer that makes a liquid drug into a fog that I breathe. This tastes bad, like sucking on an aspirin. There is also a small appliance the size of a mini-fridge that takes oxygen out of the air and squirts it through a long hose into my nose. It humms and rattles – kind of like my lungs do after I take a flight of stairs!

I also get this nifty and stylish nylon bag to accessorize with. It holds a small oxygen tank in case I want to go water skiing, parasailing, or anything else that requires more effort than sitting on my ass blogging!

Seriously, I feel pretty good. As long as I stay still of course. Also on a silver lining, I was able to escape the pleasures of nicotine withdrawal while I was zomibified on codeine and cough syrup for a week. I plan to take advantage of that and finally quit. This will make a few people happy and give me a couple extra bucks a week to blow on something equally useless!