Do you remember when you were younger and had to stay home from school because you had a high temperature or because your mother said so (you might or might not have been sick, but she said that she heard you coughing!)? Do you remember sitting at your window, watching the OTHER kids play outside while your runny nose did what it does best?
That's how I felt on Friday last week.
I have a beautiful window seat in my very small (375 sq foot) apartment, and it points right downtown to where I can see -everything-. Before, I loved that fact; the lights, the people, the sounds of traffic... am I a city girl or what? On that window seat, I sat (and slept) for most of Friday after someone came into the office sick during the week and apparently gave me an early birthday gift -- my first bought of respiratory illness for the year.
I learned some interesting things about this city while sitting there, though:
- Seattle drivers freak out when water hits their windshield. This makes driving in the rain (and thus, Seattle) difficult.
- Those policemen who direct traffic around construction get yelled at far more than anyone else I've ever seen for doing their job, which simply involves waving their hands and stopping traffic in various directions.
- No one likes the girl with the red nose. She's apparently infected. Seattlites have a weird radar about this, for some reason.
- When I'm out of the office, I get WAY fewer emails than when I'm in it. I also check way more often.
- Taking five days off from reading your Google Reader is a bad idea when you subscribe to nearly 1000 feeds. Ugh.
- The clog-dancers who live in the apartment above me must sleep during the day, because it was blissful silence all day long.
- My cat is unafraid of a multi-story drop into a gulley when it comes to catching the seagulls that perch on the neighbor-building's windowsills.
- Everyone smiles much more when the sun comes out; when it's hidden, there is a large portion of the population who forgets how to be nice to their fellow man when passing them on the street.
- There is an overwhelming number of Seattlites who eat sushi at lunch. That, and the owner of the sushi restaraunt three blocks from my house must seriously be raking it in. Maybe I should become a waitress.
- The meter maid (still) hates me. I'm sure she must have a vendetta against anyone who parks on my street.
That said, this is a PSA to remind everyone to take their vitamin C this flu season! I, myself, can't have the flu shot, but if you can and it helps you, get that done ASAP. It's almost winter! With all the hours lost to illness, goodness knows many of us don't have that time to waste lollygagging about in bed with runny noses.
Take care of yourselves and stay well!
Posted by 
;)
;)
Claire - First, i hope you are feeling better. I was sick for a few days 2 weeks ago and barely got out of bed. It's almost odd how out of touch you can get when you turn off the computer and tv for a couple of days.