Life Lessons #112 - Eating With a Cold

When you have a really awful cold, don't go buy an Asian chicken dish at Applebee's. You're likely to look like you're tweaking and homeless (red eyes, sporatic shaking, shabby clothing) and you'll probably end up infecting somebody. Oh, and you won't taste the dish at all.

Your coke will taste like carbonated water. Your food completely devoid of flavor. You might stick your face in the bowl in a desperate attempt to smell the goodness through the fog of your cold, and you'll get that momentary glimmer of what this meal would taste like were you healthy. For the most part, though, texture is the only thing you'll enjoy.

You'll notice that the almonds crunch nicely in contrast to the firm, juicy chicken. You'll appreciate the crispness of the broccoli and carrots and the sticky texture the rice brings, but after all is said and done, you're a blind man watching a sunrise. The warmth of the sun is there, but the brilliant color goes unnoticed.

-Barry

Fighting a Virus

I spent a handy little chunk of change on this last night...

...with the hopes that it would miraculously eradicate my cold. It says it's clinically proven to drastically reduce the duration of your cold. It also asks you to drink plenty of fluids. What is it about fluids that makes your cold go away? We've been told since we were kids that you need plenty of rest and fluids. You drink lots of water, eat soupy things with chicken in them, consume teas with names like "Raspberry Sunshine" and "Citrus Starlight" ... but why? Do you expel the virus when you pee?

I decided the internet would best answer my question. I could have chosen WebMD, or Bio-medicine.org - both valid, knowledgeable databases of health information. I decided, though, on Yahoo Answers - the "homeless-man-who-knows-everything" of the internet.

I typed in "When sick, why do people say drink a lot of fluids?"

A few of my favorite answers (no corrections made to their posts):

Engrishman says: "the fluids can be swallowed easily, and there may not be digesion problem and the bad items, ill-bactiria will go out thr' urine and the other for which easy digesion and more water necessary. As the fluid contains major water and hence it is best suggested and in vogue."

WatsPunctuation says: "Because when you are sick you lose fluid through sweating from a fever and not eating because you don't feel well if you don't keep fluids in your system you will dehydrate and then you will have even bigger problems. Drink drink drink"

Apparently I'm in danger of being dehydrated. It sounds to me like that info applies more to a flu than a cold, but I'll err on the side of caution.

-Barry

Scary Place!

Last night we decided to go visit an old, abandoned house in Spanish Fork, Utah. I don't know the history of the house, nor do I remember what it is called, but my friend, Scott, calls it the "redrum" house - a reference to some graffiti on a back wall that pays homage to the movie, "The Shining."

Due to the horribly bitter cold, I didn't take many pictures. Also, we were out there only a few minutes when we heard a dog start barking like crazy from what seemed like inside the house. When the bark suddenly grew louder (as if the dog had run out of the back of the house) we ran for our lives. It sounded really big and really mean.

(Scott and Laura brave the cold for a picture with the house)

As you can see from the pictures, the house is quite beautiful. It's a shame it's abandoned. I think it could be stunning if renovated. You wonder why it's been abandoned. These places are rarely haunted, but you never know. I look forward to going back when it's warmer. :)

Click on this one for the larger version. You can tell that the poor house is in really bad condition by the way the interior is rotting away.

-Barry