Sick with fever and chills.  Temperatures in the high 80’s with high humidity lingering in the air.  Stock market crashes.  Breaking out in a cold sweat and looking very pale when you meet with your big boss to go over something important.  Today was a confluence of bad occurrences that made for a miserable day at the ranch.

I went home from work early yesterday and crashed at home all day with a freakish flu.  It’s the same 48-hour flu my wife had last week.  I felt better yesterday evening, at least enough to write my blog and track a 166-point crash in the Dow Industrials Average.  I also felt well enough to go back to work today, although as I told colleagues, "I’m fine as long as I don’t move."  Working at my desk, I felt fine as long as I didn’t move too much.  Once I stood up, I felt faint.  My condition improved as the day progressed, and by the end of the day I felt much better.  The low point of my day came when I met with my boss’ boss to discuss our monthly operations management and broke out in cold sweats in front of him.  I was probably a bit nervous, but my illness and the lack of air conditioning exacerbated my condition.  He seemed sympathetic and told me I did a good job.  He’s a big-picture guy, and I’m glad I could give him something that highlights our operations based on charts he already reviews. 

I went to lunch with my good friend, and after that my condition improved.  I stood for a long time in the afternoon and survived.  I now have a sore throat, but my fever has subsidied.  I crashed again earlier this evening for a few hours.  The best part of my ordeal is the sympathy my son has given me during my illness.  He keeps telling me he’s "sick" and has a fever and pretends to feel just like daddy.  We rest for a couple of minutes until he’s tired of feigning illness, and then he jumps out of bed and exclaims, "All done!"  It’s really cute, although mommy thankfully wisks him away so I can get some sleep.

The abominable weather also contributed to my misery.  When you can see the mugginess lingering heavily in the air, you know it’s not a nice day.  My wife had the crazy idea of eating outside tonight while my son played.  The mist blanketed the air and weighed it down.  Imagine eating outside in a light fog.  I told her, "I guess we should be thankful to have place to eat outside at all."  It’s true–we could live in an apartment or in a very polluted city where staying outside is always an unpleasant experience.  Still, the experience was nothing like the days when we lived in Seattle and breathed in the fresh Pacific Northwest air.  I don’t think I will spend much time outside this weekend.  We were thinking of going to the Korean Folk Village south of town this weekend, but I’ll see how I feel.  Right now, I would rather stay home for rest and recuperation.