Ok so I went to the Doc yesterday to see what was going on, of course the appointment was for 1.30pm but I didn't get to actually see him until 3pm. In the interim I ran down the road and got a hair cut, as ya do. The prognosis is improvement, fortunately. Doc said I'm 75% recovered, but is keeping me on antibiotics, inhaler and expectorant for another week. He told me that my bronchitis had been so severe that I will probably have several recurrences over the next 6 months before it really comes right. Lovely.

I'll take that with a grain of salt though, because years ago I broke my foot in three places and was given some pretty bad news - the doc told me I wouldn't be able to walk without a limp for 6 months and wouldn't be able to run for at least 18 months. Surfing and snow skiing (my two main sports) were of course out of the question. He also added that after the 18 months was up I may still require pins in my foot depending on how well it healed.

I decided that wasn't good enough and used the mind over matter technique, which has worked successfully for me on more than a few occasions. Two months later I was snow skiing without a problem. I still had to use crutches at times if I was on my feet (standing) for long periods of time, but once I had my ski boots on it was like wearing a cast (all praise to the genius who invented rear-entry ski boots). I was back surfing shortly after that. That foot has never bothered me since. 18 months? pfft.

An unusual article from sky.com I thought worth mentioning: a one-year-old boy who was bitten 30 times by a group of more than a dozen other babies at a nursery in Croatia. He was attacked after the class nanny stepped out of the room to change another baby's nappy. Dr Sime Vuckov, head of the hospital in Rijeka which treated the boy, said: "Biting between young children is not uncommon, but I have never seen anything like this." ..yeah, I'd imagine! Police have launched an inquiry into the biting frenzy but admit they are clueless as to the babies' reasons for attacking.

How's that for bizarre? Why did all the other babies attack this one baby? And how did they know, at that age, to wait until the caregiver was out of the room? Mob mentality? Weirdness.

You may or may not have heard about the controversial film 'The Passion Of Christ' which is directed and co-written by actor Mel Gibson, focusing on the last twelve hours in the life of Jesus. The film is being recoded in Latin and Aramaic languages, and although it is not due for release until early next year, it has already hit headlines after Jewish figures in the US slated it for being 'dangerous' and portraying Jews in a negative way. Well I guess it's proving more dangerous than anyone could have predicted, particularly for actor Jim Caviezel who is playing the part of Jesus. Since filming started, he has (during filming) been hit by lightning not once, but twice. I heard strange things went on during the filming of The Exorcist, but being hit twice by lightning? Wow. Makes you wonder doesn't it... Source: BBC News.

Giving up smoking is turning out to be pretty tough. I cut right back to one or two cigarettes a day maximum when I started getting bronchitis (I'm still not 100% well, although there is some improvement. I'll be going back to see the doctor tomorrow and take it from there), and two days ago (on Tuesday) was the last time I had a cigarette. A lot of the time it seems not as hard as I was led to believe, providing I keep myself occupied doing other things, but there are times when I really want a smoke. Probably the worst time is straight after dinner ..that and maybe the late afternoon 'take five and reflect on the day' smoke. There are no cigarettes in the apartment, so the temptation to light up is not present. I have yet to resort to wearing a NicoDerm patch although they're there if I really need to. I have a feeling the craving is going to get stronger before it lets up. This is actually a pretty major step as I've been smoking for many years up to about 15 ciggys a day ..then again, I used to go out and get hammered all the time too, yet the last time I got even slightly drunk was over two years ago (just before I left New Zealand). I'm evolving. Weee. Writing about it is actually making me want a smoke, so I'm going to sign off now.

addon:

Thanks to Janet for posting this link on Ice's comments. It's the results for the Weasel Awards from dilbert.com. Here's the highlights:

The second annual exuberantly non-scientific Weasel Poll results are in. 35,874 people voted. The winners are...

• Weaseliest Organization : RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) ..those rat bastards
• Weaseliest Country : France
• Weaseliest Company : Microsoft
• Weaseliest Profession : Politicians
• Weaseliest Individual : George W. Bush
• Weaseliest Behavior : Blaming fast food restaurants for making you fat

nice one.

Yup I'm sick. I've had a nasty cough for the last five days (like, really nasty) and today I finally stopped resisting the other Weasel's insisting that I go see a doctor, and I went. I try to avoid visiting the doctor except in extreme cases (or if work requires a certificate after three days off or whatever), but this cough wasn't going away, even after being bombarded with vitamin C, Robitussin cough syrup, penicillin (thanks Cat and Lemur), hot lemon and honey drinks (thanks Weasling) and even a hot foot bath (thanks again Weasling). The Lemur (IceQueen's Dad) came over earlier today and dropped off some more penicillin and some fruit for me (including mangos! yay!) nice huh? Ok so why do I usually avoid consulting doctors? Because if I've gone to see one when I'm feeling sick in the past, the result is nearly always the same series of events:

• Stage 1: The Waiting Room. Despite making an appointment with a health professional for 3.30pm, you find yourself still sitting bored to tears in their waiting room at 4.45pm. This is the same with every doctor I've visited in my life, without exception. They never run on schedule. Actually, I tell a lie. There was one exception back in New Zealand where I turned up 5 minutes later than the stated appointment time. Believe it or not, I was told to make a new appointment as the doctor couldn't wait for me when I didn't turn up on time. Unreal. Of course I told the receptionist to schedule me in for when hell freezes over, then I left and found myself a new doctor.
• Stage 2: The Examination. You finally get in to see the Venerated One who wears the traditional Sacred Robes of their Profession (also known as a lab coat). They prod you and poke you a bit, look down your throat and in your ears, all the while making 'hmmm' sounds interspersed with the occasional 'uh-huh'. I guess this is to give the impression that they really do know what they are doing.
• Stage 3: Judgment. This is always the bit that makes me laugh. With the airs and graces usually reserved for omnipotent gods or someone like Caesar after conquering yet another country (veni vidi vici), the Venerated One proclaims that you are 'unwell'. Gee really? What tipped you off? Hmm.
• Stage 4: The Scriptures. Always illegible, these mysterious parchments are given to you by The Doctor as a memento of your encounter. Something to look at in times of reflection perhaps? Oh, you can also trade them in along with a big wad of cash for some drugs, but that's another story.
• Stage 5: The Closing Ceremony. This is where you get to talk to the Disciple again (also known as a receptionist) and pay vast fortunes for the honor of holding an audience with The Venerated One.
• Stage 6: The Realization. This is when you're halfway home and suddenly realize you just spent a lot of time, effort and money to find out something you already knew - you're sick. Yup, you've just been had.

Ok ok, this is all way over the top but it was fun writing it. So I went to the doctor (yes I did have to wait over an hour after the appointment time to see him) and he checked me out. He's an Egyptian dude and seems like a fairly good guy. Apparently I have severe bronchitis and some throat infection to boot. Joy. I have to go back in 10 days and if there isn't any significant improvement, he will send me to a specialist and get my lungs x-rayed. Hrmm, that sounds serious.

Anyway, he knew I didn't have medical insurance here, so rather than write a prescription which he said would've been very expensive, he gave me a 10 day supply made up of sample packs given to him by medical reps. Nice. Some fairly powerful antibiotics along with expectorant. I still had to pay US$55 for the consultation and get an inhaler as well (albuterol if you were wondering). When I went to the chemist, he asked if I had insurance. When I said no, he only charged me $12 even though the receipt was for over $30. ..I didn't question it.

IceQueen has been awesome looking after me the past few days, really really awesome. Making hot drinks, buying cough syrup and lozenges from the chemist (or "drug store" as they call them here - never fails to crack me up), cooking food and so on. It makes me feel kinda guilty, like I shouldn't be letting someone else look after me, I should be doing it all myself.

I also need to stop smoking, particularly while I'm sick like this. I have cut right back already; for example I've only had 1 cigarette today and it's 10pm now. IceQueen got me some NicoDerm to help as well. I figure if I cut right back like I have and then stop altogether, whenever I get a craving I'll slap a patch on and use them like that. No doubt I'm going to be a grumpy bastard while I go through the withdrawal period though, I've heard that happens to everyone trying to quit. That and putting on weight.