A turn of the weather makes me sick

I've been lazier than usual this week, and it's because I'm sick. The weather finally turned a bit colder and it's been raining steadily since Thursday. I started feeling like crap on Tuesday and now I have the cough that won't go away. I don't smoke but this sore throat makes me sound like Patty and Selma.

I'm not the only one. It's been a chorus of coughing on my walks to and from the subway and work has blazed through the recent tissue order. New York City is one big germfest right now. Early in the week I kept asking myself how I could be sick when it was 75 degrees outside. But then it cooled down, and then it warmed up again, and then it cooled down again, and the cold I had almost shaken settled into my lungs for an extended stay.

On Thursday morning I happened to have an appointment with my allergist so I asked if he had any idea what I had. Probably just a virus, he guessed and suggested soup and some over-the-counter cough suppressants. I went to work and coughed the entire time. My podmate T jokingly asked me to crank it down. Or maybe he wasn't joking. I used to hate that person -- the same one who would cough constantly during tests in high school. They'd kind of go in a rhythm for awhile, and just when you start to pin the timing down they'd try to hold it in for an extra two beats until they finally erupted into a 45-second uncontrollable fit.

The gelcaps weren't really working out, so I decided to try another tactic. Tea is out -- I can't stand it. I'm not a big fan of soup either but Wichcraft makes this awesome potato watercress soup with bacon that has really kept me going. Plus it comes with two awesome breadsticks. And lots of sleeping. I feel like I was asleep more than I was awake this week.

As a result I missed some cool shit (again). On Tuesday a few of my friends went to see Stephen Colbert at the 92nd St. Y. I've watched "The Daily Show" for pretty much it's whole run and I enjoy the "Colbert Report" too. But I didn't really start liking Colbert until I saw his now infamous speech from the White House Correspondents' Dinner last year. I think his idea to join the South Carolina primary is pretty damn funny. And if it inspires a few more people to vote, so be it.

Political tirades aside, this weekend was the Breeders' Cup right next door in Jersey. And I was so looking forward to hitting it. My favorite race besides the Classic is the Distaff, followed by the Filly & Mare turf, followed by...heck, I love them all. Instead I watched the races today from home.

Tonight brings the Rockies and Red Sox in Game 3 -- go Rockies! Win one at least. Please. Speaking of things making me sick, MLB games on Fox are best watched on mute. The only good thing about the Joe Buck/Tim McCarver train wreck is that at least Buck can't commentate on NFL games on the same day as baseball games.