Despite feeling pretty good at work today, I ended up coughing so much on the drive home and afterward that I just tripped my gag reflex and threw up.

Ugh. You have all my sympathy. My weird, and I suspect at least partly psychosomatic, throat problem (which seems to mostly be over and done with, thank dog) used to do that to me all the time. Of course, it didn't help that I've had a hair trigger gag reflex as long as I can remember, but I could usually avoid the puking.

Ugh, Matt. I hope you feel better/get good drugs tomorrow.

That's awful, Matt, and it seems like you've been sick for ages. I hope you get somr relief tomorrow.

Ah, this makes me feel better after this long shitty day: Fred Phelps and his cadre of flying monkeys ordered by federal court to pay more than $3,000 in costs related to the funeral of a Marine that the Phelpsian fuckstains picketed.

Hey, it's *something.*

Yeah, let me know what you get diagnosed, Matt. I was going to try to get an appointment today, because my glands got all swollen again. But then today they seemed a bit better, and I had a lot more energy.

Then I blew it all by trying to improvise a dinner. And the poor SO is crashed out already. But I am clearly going to stay up all night again.

Oh, but, ooh! I have ice cream. I'm going to go have a bath and then ice cream and then I'm going to cuddle up in the bed.

Ah, this makes me feel better after this long shitty day: Fred Phelps and his cadre of flying monkeys ordered by federal court to pay more than $3,000 in costs related to the funeral of a Marine that the Phelpsian fuckstains picketed.

I saw Ed Byrne on Saturday, and he mentioned this particular squad of froot loops. ("There is actually a religious group in America called 'God Hates Fags.' Really. ...Let me explain to you their platform.")

This may be a silly question, but... What were they protesting?

Of course, it didn't help that I've had a hair trigger gag reflex as long as I can remember, but I could usually avoid the puking.

Unsurprisingly I've trained myself out of a lot of my gag reflex, but 90 minutes of extra-frequent coughing is hard to fight. Ah well, at least it's a kind of upchucking that doesn't involve much residual nausea or appetite loss.

I'd been feeling more human and gotten rid of just about everything but the cough and sore throat, but the latter is resolving into a swollen and tender feeling rather than just irritation from coughing. And it's on day 11, which is long for the flu for me, nevermind a cold. I think strep is the most likely explanation.

What were they protesting?

They were "reminding" the grieving family that God had intentionally allowed their child to get killed because of our country's failure to be as rabidly homophobic as this "church" is. Improvised Explosive Devices are apparently holy instruments of God's displeasure.

Really.

There seems to be a bunch of evil stuff out there - Let me just say , if it has been more than a week - and you are not DRAMATICLY improving - go to a doctor. I've seen a number of people I know that have ended up with low grade secondary infecions - that need antibiotics. Other that ended up on inhalers, for maybe a month - because there lungs needed help for a bit to heal after an evil virus.

Yeah, I definitely have similar symptoms, Matt. But I've had strep before, and this doesn't seem like it at all, to me.