and then as if in punishment for having had the temerity to feel mostly recovered and taking a short walk two days in a row, BAMMO, in the middle of the night, nose fully congested and also streaming, voice hoarse, throat raw and slick, sneezing fits, headache, ear congestion, the fucking works. Exhausted but when I lie down or even just try to nap half-upright on the couch it feels like I can't breathe. Have now been sick since about the 25th. Think this is now also a full-blown sinus infection, which means going to the low-cost clinic and trying to wrangle a 4- or 5-week-long antibiotic course out of a new doctor, which NEVER goes well. Oh God, why me, &c &c &c. Bleah.
And this exact thing is always what baffled teachers and employers and "IRL" friends, back when I had those. But how can you be out sick for two weeks? they would always ask, genuinely stumped. It's just a cold. Yeah, for the bastard whose germs I got, it's just a cold. For me it turns into something else.
descensus Averno facilis est