Yesterday morning, took my first walk in the cold since falling sick Sunday. Made the usual John X Memorial Walk to the Trafik for a newspaper and then to the bakery for some rolls. It's not far, just four or five blocks down and back, and a walk I treasure.
But I was short of breath by the time I got to the bakery, even though I was walking very slowly.
Bought the rolls and walked home. I think this cold weather (above freezing, but still cold enough) is tough on you when you have a cold. So I stayed home the rest of the day. B ran some errands, was gone for a couple of hours, but that was our day.
And too bad, because had I been feeling good, we were to have driven a couple of hours into Slovakia to visit her parents, who are spending three weeks at a spa. This is one of those full-service spas with the works-----massage, hot baths, herbal wraps, physical therapy, etc. It's not one of those places where rich people go to get even more pampered and spoiled, but a place designed to promote good health by getting your body back into balance with itself. The Europeans are apeshit over these spas and the health insurance pays most if not all of the cost, but they don't let you goof around...it's not a vacation but treatment, and you're expected to follow the prescribed regimen.
There's something to be said for preventative medicine. How do you prevent a cold or flu?
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About 8 last night we drove to the subway stop and picked up our friend Klausi, then drove to Fidelo for dinner. I haven't had a glass of wine since Saturday night---haven't felt like my usual favorites, I guess. And, it turns out, not last night, either...when the time came to order drinks, I had mineral water. WTF? I'm still sick; this is a sure sign.
B and I had the Parmesan Prosciutto Creme soup for a starter. B said it was as good as the time before, but to me it tasted different. Not bad, but different. I should have stopped there, or had at most another appetizer, but I was feeling a bit more alive so I ordered Chicken Roulade in a creme sauce with rice. B had a chicken salad, Klausi the lasagna.
The discussion ran the gamut from the NH primary to the Great Wall of Bureaucracy Klausi faces trying to get his manufacturing company up and running, to the differences between Prague and Vienna (everyone agreed Prague is more beautiful), to stories of what goes on behind closed doors in diplomatic encounters...B has an old friend who is high up in one of the European countries and she gets some stories once in a while.
I couldn't eat all my dinner, though the portions were light. Just couldn't fit it into the available space, I guess...and too bad, because it tasted pretty good, despite my obviously messed up taste buds.
We paid and walked the few blocks to the car. I hadn't gone a block when I started shivering---and this while wearing long underwear under my jeans, a t-shirt and thick shirt, a goose down jacket with the hood pulled up, and gloves. ONE. BLOCK. It was cold, yeah, but only about freezing, nothing Arctic.
We got to the car and I felt a bit queasy.
They dropped me off at B's and she drove Klausi back to the subway. I walked upstairs, feeling like I'd climbed Mt. Everest without oxygen. WTF?
The lesson from my two excursions, AM and PM, was: right now you can't handle the cold. Stay out of it.
Tonight we go to the opera---L'elisir d'amore (The Elixir of Love).
I'm resting up for it, because it looks like one I'll enjoy.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
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