Blood: Allergy

My allergies come and go. For the longest time, living in Charleston, I didn't have to worry about allergies, but then I moved to a house placed in the shadow of a massive pine tree. Two days ago, it apparently started releasing pollen. I know this because our air conditioner has been out of commission through most of the summer. We've been using fans which, I'm sure, sucked in as much of the pollen as I could breathe in a lifetime and dumped them on my sleeping carcass.

The allergies cause me some worry. One of the first questions the computer asks you when you're coming in is whether you have a cold or a sore throat. If you have either, you're supposed to go home and come back when you're not sick.

I do not have a cold but I am fighting a sore throat, brought on by the drainage.

And since I am now taking bargain brand allergy meds (a bargain at $1.49), my blood pressure and heart rate are probably up a little. These are also bad and could disqualify me.

I tried a little exercise this morning, did swimming and the steam room, but no weights, no hard cardio --and really, that felt better than the effect of the 30 cent pill (the box contains 5), which makes me hungry, lethargic, but also in the mood for love...

Cold medicine is magic. As long as I can remember, I take that stuff and all I want are the creature comforts. In the past this has translated into eating Mexican food, watching old game shows and wondering what former girlfriends were doing.

At the moment, I figure most of my former girlfriends are probably just coming off their break at the Waffle House, but are still trying to fit one more cigarette in before they have to spend another afternoon dodging Fernando, the grabby Dominican dishwasher the owner hired at five bucks an hour.

Well, at least the drugs I'm taking make things seem more interesting.

I have two days to get healthy enough to bleed.