Caught By the Cold

I did my utmost to outrun it, but that cold caught up to me this week.

It got some traction on Tuesday, as I left for work. You'll recall I was debating whether to ride or not because of the potential for rain. I had decided to go for it, and as I left my building to collect my bike, I happened upon an elderly woman who had slipped on the sidewalk and bashed her head on the pavement right in front of our door.

Of course I, like many other passersby, stopped to assist. Poor thing was scared and very confused. She had a hearing impairment too, so she couldn't hear anything we said to her. I do believe she was actually lost and suffering some form of dementia. She said she was going to the ear doctor around the corner, but when we went to check if they knew her name (she couldn't remember it), the receptionist said she'd never seen the woman before and the hearing doctor didn't have any appointments that day.

In anycase, we kept her still until the ambulance came because she was bleeding a lot from the cut on her forehead. And she was shivering on the wet pavement, so I put my scarf around her, then my jacket.

After the paramedics came they gave them back to me. I'm slightly ashamed of this, but given the possibility that she was homeless or had been wandering for days in a lost dementia haze (happens a lot here in NYC), I had a sudden attack of bedbug fear.

So I dropped the scarf and sweatshirt right at the dry cleaner on my corner, and went off without them. And I froze. All. Day. Long.

That tore it for this nasty cold, I reckon. It's the type that's kept me from the gym, but luckily I haven't been compensating with comfort eating or "nurturing" myself with high-calorie foods.

I think I'm one day away from being 95 percent recovered. If I could breathe easily, I'd go to the gym tonight. But lungs still sore, and nose still totally stuffed.

The b/f said he woke up last night and thought Darth Vader was in the bed. Hardee har har har.