My Last Full Day in California

Wednesday, May 1st was my last full day for this trip to southern California. And it turned out to be a pretty bad one.        

    

The day prior, I had begun to feel the first symptoms of sickness. Just a little bit of a sore throat, and maybe one or two other symptoms.            

But that night, I kept waking up each hour, needing to go to the bathroom. Frankly, I don’t even remember drinking too much the day before. Yet, there I was, continually getting up more or less every hour, needing to go.            

What was worse was that I had the chills, to the point where I was shaking. There was also nausea, and I had to concede that, apparently, I was sick yet again. Just weeks after recovering from what may have been the worst cold that I can remember having (and the longest), it seemed that I was sick yet again.    

And exhausted. Just not feeling right.            

Still, I had to go to work. Again, this was not a vacation. For the most part, I felt good enough to go to work, or so I thought.            

But after my boss – at least on this trip, one of the leaders of the event – overheard me with a hacking cough, he asked how I was feeling. I told him, perhaps foolishly. Perhaps wisely. Not entirely sure.            

In any case, he sent me home. Or at least, back to the hotel.            

Here’s the thing: when I got back, I went simply right to bed after getting undressed. This was about 10AM.            

Finally woke up at about a little after five in the afternoon/evening. That was a stunning seven hours of sleep! Almost a full night’s worth. I mean, I knew that I felt tired, but this seemed ridiculous.            

The last thing I felt like doing was going out and possibly getting something to eat. But my girlfriend urged me to go out and get some juice, at least, as well as tea. Also, she encouraged me to get some medicine.             

So I went out. Made a point of going in just a t-shirt, because I had felt overheated at times while in the hotel room. It felt decent to go out and cool off a bit, although it hardly made me feel much better.          

Originally, under the assumption that I was going to be healthy, or that at least that would not be a concern, I was expecting to try and make the most of this last day. To visit someplace, to make that last night here memorable.            

Instead, I slept for what seemed like a ridiculously long time. And when I finally woke up, the simple truth was that I was in no shape to go out more than absolutely necessary. It took some effort to take my gf’s advice, and go out and get something. I got a lemonade at a burger joint, and had ordered a salad. But they were out of salads, and they did not have anything light to take the place of a salad. So the lemonade would have to be it for tonight.            

Also, I found a supermarket which was open later than most shops – you would be surprised how early most places seem to close in Los Angeles – and got a double pack of Dayquil and Super C, a vitamin supplement for Vitamin C. That seemed like a good idea to help combat this illness, but I did not immediately take it after getting back to the hotel. Not entirely sure why.           

My exhaustion returned almost immediately after coming back to the hotel, as did the nagging headache.            

Probably should have gotten some Tylenol, which my girlfriend had recommended. It was a bit too late for that now, however.             

So after getting back to the hotel room, I tried to get back to writing. This morning, I just had not been feeling it, and had effectively given up and taken a nap before needing to wake up and get ready for work.            

Now, despite feeling rather crappy, it was time to try and write what I could, despite the nausea and my temperature, which was running hot again. It was a struggle, but I had to try and force myself to do something, to feel like this day was at least a little bit productive. So I kept going with it, despite feeling largely uninspired.            

Meanwhile, I was watching a British movie called “Happy-Go-Lucky,” which was a bit strange, yet interesting.            

Slowly but surely, I got more and more writing done.             

To be sure, this was a disappointing last full day in LA. Yet, it was what it was, and I have to feel grateful for this trip, and all that I managed to do and see during it. Indeed, most of the other guys seemed to have done and seen a fraction of what I had managed to do, and that at least felt good. Redemptive.            

It detracted from the disappointment of having such a crappy and miserable final full day in southern California.            

So this day was a mixed bag. Not a very good day individually. But it would have been particularly crushing had I not felt that I had fit a lot into the limited free time that I did have after work and on my day off.            

Despite feeling crappy, it still feels like I made the most of the limited opportunities that I had to visit this city and region.            

However, I was also nervous about how the night, and the next day, with the trip to the airport followed by a long flight, might go. Images of me throwing up and being unable to control it just weeks ago kept entering my head.            

Hopefully, it will not be like that. But we shall see.          

One amazing thing: I slept for the same amount of time, and more or less the same hours, only PM to AM instead of AM to PM this time. Yet, I was worried about not being able to sleep, but apparently need not have worried, because I again slept quite a bit, from 10PM to 5 AM.

Not bad.  

Hopefully, that helps.

In any case, here’s hoping that everyone else out there is doing reasonably well, and that disaster does not strike tomorrow, and the flight back proves uneventful.             

Will be back when I return to the East Coast.