Damn! I’ve got a nasty, spit-uppy cough. Yesterday I thought it was an allergy — no sore throat, no fever, and rather little head congestion make this a very atypical cold. A month or two of steady rain has caused everything under creation to burst into bloom, and now the spring winds are starting…so it was reasonable to think the early symptoms were allergic, not viral.
Not so much today: now I can’t speak for the laryngitis and I’m coughing and gagging. Fortunately I still have some codeine cough medicine from the last time this happened — about three years ago. But how I’m going to get that into the courthouse escapes me. I’m afraid if I try to take it with me, they’ll confiscate it. Given how hard it is to get a doctor to prescribe codeine in the present paranoid atmosphere, I’ve hoarded the bottle in the fridge since 2014, and I don’t want it taken away from me.
Plus I can’t drive after I’ve had a swig of that stuff. Knocks me into the middle of next week. In theory, though, I guess I could hide it in the car — in a container that doesn’t show the Rx — and then walk the half-mile to the car and swallow a dose of the stuff over the lunch hour. That, however, would entail a mile-long walk over the lunch hour, leaving no time to bolt down the miserable cheese sandwich I’m planning to drag with me.
You’re not allowed to weasel out of jury duty on the day before you have to show up. So tomorrow as dawn cracks I’ll have to get up, try to clear out the throat and chest, and traipse downtown through the rush-hour traffic, there to spend the entire day in the company of strangers, doing nothing.
It’s like being put in prison for a day, for no offense.
Well, on the good side, at least I finished the client’s book. Two people have sent inquiries about their projects — one looks rather promising. But I have yet to start those, so will not feel blindsided and bamboozled if they stick me with a trial.
While I still thought this was an allergy, not a bug, WonderAccountant and I went out for a great lunch and then to a concert of the Phoenix Chorale. It’s a multi-Grammy-winning group…they put on some great performances. Yesterday they had a splendid guitarist and a wonderful pianist, along with the usual crew of outstanding vocalists.
Oh well. To add to the general entertainment, in a half-hour I’ve got to go get my eyes checked. It’s been two or three years, and the glasses no longer are doing the job. Especially at night…if I’m not in familiar territory, I really can’t see well enough to drive at night. At the very least, I’ve got to get new progressives…but probably need to ask about cataracts and macular degeneration. {sigh}
And so…<glug!>…AWAY!!!!
Yeah, I’d probably stay away from the codeine as long as you’ll be in the courthouse. That stuff is great if you’re just lying around letting it wash over your senses, but that’s not so great if you’re expected to be in form to make decisions about peoples guilt or innocence.
I’m pretty sure you’re probably not even allowed to be on it while in court or even driving as that’s a controlled substance, no?
I couldn’t make a decision today if my life depended on it. I’ve NEVER been so sick with a cold. This morning I have a fever on top of the pussy cough. Dammit. I need to be going to a doctor, not sitting around the courthouse all day.
On the bright side, when I called last night I was told I didn’t have to be there at 8 a.m. (necessitating a 7 a.m. drive through rush-hour traffic). Now I have to call at 10:15 to see if I have to go in at 12:30. Driving around downtown over the lunch hour is worse than driving in the rush hour, because in addition to 87 gerjillion people driving off to restaurants, another 87 gerjillion people are going to restaurants on foot. But at least the north-south streets should be relatively clear.
Most Americans are high as a kite (which explains the fun times on the road). There’s no way they can keep that out of the courthouse.
Did you know that 70% of Americans are on prescription meds, and half of those take at least (!!) two. Twenty percent are on five or more Rx medications. The commonest prescriptions are antibiotics, antidepressants, and opioids, in that order. http://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/nearly-7-in-10-americans-take-prescription-drugs-mayo-clinic-olmsted-medical-center-find/
How awful for you! A bad cold AND jury duty? If you must go in today, I hope they don’t choose you for further torture… I mean, service. Feel better soon.
I really wouldn’t mind serving. What I don’t understand is why they don’t let citizens volunteer. A lot of retirees and housebound invalids would probably be happy to serve on a jury…if they would JUST let us decide when and where!
But their canned information says specifically that they don’t accept volunteers. It’s the stupidest damn thing.