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You are here: Home / Open Threads / I’m Not Dead, Either

I’m Not Dead, Either

by John Cole|  December 1, 20053:18 pm| 25 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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But I feel like it.

In the never ending struggle to get in shape, I apparently overdid the exercise bike, and am now walking (and feel) like an eighty year old man with chronic muscle pain and arthritis.

Second, for whatever reason (the damn ever-changing weather), I think I am getting the flu. This is weird, because I used to get sick all the time when Ismoke, and since I quit smoking, I have not been sick all year. However, in the last month and a half, this is the third time I have felt crappy. I think it might be all the exposure to the chronically sick undergrads at WVU.

At any rate, don’t expect much from me today (or perhaps tomorrow).

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Reader Interactions

25Comments

  1. 1.

    The Disenfranchised Voter

    December 1, 2005 at 3:33 pm

    Oh shit. You have the bird flu! Everybody RUN!

  2. 2.

    John Cole

    December 1, 2005 at 3:38 pm

    Oh NO! I did watch March of the PENGUINS last night!

  3. 3.

    demimondian

    December 1, 2005 at 3:39 pm

    Oh NO! I did watch March of the PENGUINS last night!

    Oh, noes! And it’s clear that H5N1 is spead most effectively by MIGRATING WILDFOWL.

    Like flying PENGUINS.

  4. 4.

    The Disenfranchised Voter

    December 1, 2005 at 3:39 pm

    Ah HA! Apparently the virus isn’t an airborne pathogen. This virus is more complex than any other in history–It is transmitted through television sets!

  5. 5.

    don surber

    December 1, 2005 at 3:40 pm

    This is the first direct-to-video transmission of the flu!
    We are doomed
    Doomed

  6. 6.

    John S.

    December 1, 2005 at 3:44 pm

    Like flying PENGUINS.

    LMAO

    Be on the lookout for the dreaded flying OSTRICH, too.

  7. 7.

    Matt

    December 1, 2005 at 3:50 pm

    JC- It’s great that you quit smoking. Over doing exercise frequently leads to getting sick. It’s worse when you are just starting out. By starting out, I mean until you’ve done 6 weeks or so of regular exercise. My advice is to get a heart rate monitor and keep your heart rate at about 65% of your max when you do the bike. This should prevent you from over doing it while getting stronger. Winter is a tough time to try to get in shape, but stick with it, and in time you’ll feel a lot better.

  8. 8.

    Steve S

    December 1, 2005 at 3:59 pm

    There is no way you can get the Bird Flu from flying Penguins! This is an outrage!

    Or something like that.

  9. 9.

    demimondian

    December 1, 2005 at 4:06 pm

    There is no way you can get the Bird Flu from flying Penguins!

    What do you mean? Every case of the bird flu which has cropped up in the United States so far was transmitted firectly from a flying PengUiN to a person! And, more than that, all flying PENguIns are a potential source of the evil VIRUS!

    The government is suppressing this key information! Remember, Penguins flied, PEOPLE DIED!

  10. 10.

    aop

    December 1, 2005 at 4:09 pm

    Penguins flied, PEOPLE DIED!

    that’s purty funny

  11. 11.

    Mr Furious

    December 1, 2005 at 4:12 pm

    LOL! I feel your pain John. Once you round thirty-five (I’m 38) you can’t just hop onto the nearest exercise equipment and crank it out for a few hours…not if you want to walk again anytime soon.

    Good grief, I dove back hard-core into softball (not exactly tri-athlons) this summer after a few years off and after playing a double-header one night, it felt like someone was holding an iron on my thighs the next day…

    Also, quit “exposong” yourself those co-eds and you’ll be fine…

  12. 12.

    sean

    December 1, 2005 at 4:17 pm

    how did you quit smoking, john? and how long has it been? i need all the suggestions i can get

  13. 13.

    Another Jeff

    December 1, 2005 at 4:27 pm

    I know how your legs must feel. I actually do get to the gym fairly regularly, but when i do cardio, I usually just run on a treadmill or use a stairclimber. If you’re not used to riding a bike, obviously your legs are gonna get sore when you do.

    this past summer, I did a charity bike race from Philly to Atlantic City, and while it wasn’t that bad at the time, the day after the race i had to pick up the bike back in Philly and take it back to the place i rented it from.

    Well, the two places were only about eight blocks apart, but after four blocks, I got off and just walked it the rest of the way. the pain in my legs was just excruciating. They really didn’t feel that bad the day after UNTIL i tried to ride a bike again.

  14. 14.

    BumperStickerist

    December 1, 2005 at 4:27 pm

    don’t expect much from me today

    Why should today be different than any other day?

    ~ ba-dump-bump ~

    Btw, it’s called medicinal whiskey for a reason, John.

  15. 15.

    Stormy70

    December 1, 2005 at 5:30 pm

    Soon the Penguins will come to us from Ice Age Europe to bring the bird flu. Hopefully, they will bring ice for my scotch glass.

    Seriously, try this hot toddy:
    hot tea
    honey
    shot of whiskey, cheaper the better

    Drink up and crash. You will feel better in the morning. But don’t forget to set the Tivo for CSI and Survivor or you will be pissed.

    Robatussin (sp? I could care less) with honey taken at the onset of symptoms will clear them up that day.
    Good luck and God speed.

  16. 16.

    Marcus Wellby

    December 1, 2005 at 5:40 pm

    Blast the shower as hot as it gets, let the bathroom fill with steam (my ghetto sauna) and take a few shots of vodka. The secret is to get as much alchohol into your blood stream without actualy getting drunk and sweating as much as possible. Work for me about 5% of the time, the other 95% of the time I put on a nice warm buzz

  17. 17.

    demimondian

    December 1, 2005 at 5:47 pm

    Why aren’t we hearing the good things about the bird flu? What is the press hiding?

  18. 18.

    t. jasper parnell

    December 1, 2005 at 5:55 pm

    Mr. Cole:
    I smoke, I drink, and I like a nice sit better than the next man. For the past ten years, however, I ride a bike everywhere. As a result, I maintain a nice weight, grow inured to the cold, am rarely sick, and, what is more, derive a great sense of personal satisfaction from the knowledge that my movement through the world as it is does not line the pockets of America’s enemies.

    You have, in the past, mentioned that you ride the bus some 15 mins to work. What a bus can do in 15 mins a bike can do in 25. And, whatismore, before, during, and after a ride (once you attain the necessary fitness — about one week or so — for casual rambles through your no doubt pleasant burgh to the site of your chosen profession) you will experience heightened levels of endorphines and whatnot leading to a greater degree of satisfaction with your life, appreciation of the freedom granted by moving your feet in an eternal circle, and a general and all encompassing sense that the world, while endlessly badly managed, is more or less a fine place to live. In short, the daily cyclist is a stranger to dourness, surlyness, constipation, attacks of melancholia, and the general malaise of crankiness that so stunts our national political discourse. Should you doubt the multifarioius benefits that await you should you climb aboard the two wheeled marvel, or three wheeled should you wish to emulate Queen Victoria, I suggest that you consult either Frances E. Willard’s How I learned to Ride a Bicycle, a classic of American political autobiography, or Jerome K. Jerome’s comedic yet pointed Three Men on a Bummel.

    Unlike the endless, tedious, pointless, and clearly dangerous stationary pedalling of which you speak and currently partake, cycling takes you from here to there while exposing you to parts of your town that often go unnoticed, increases your connection to this community, provides immunity to colds and flues (flus?), and checks the general downward trend of age. Bike for your life, for your country, for your buttocks, calves, thighs, heart, for your sense of personal well being and, ultimately, as Mrs. Reverand Lovejoy would have it, for the children.

  19. 19.

    Jay C

    December 1, 2005 at 6:25 pm

    Sorry to hear you’re under the weather, John: but, after all, this IS the worst time of year for flus and colds: and the bizarrely fluctuating weather doesn’t help – dunno what it’s like in WV, but in Scenic Massachusetts last week, it went from the 20s (high) to the 60s in a week: with the damp going from snow to rain day to day as well.
    If you DO have cold, the food-booze-and-steam regime (as much of each as you can stand) is probably the best treatment – at least it won’t hurt!
    Feel better.

  20. 20.

    Jay C

    December 1, 2005 at 6:27 pm

    Oh, and John: if you DO die, could you maybe set up some kind of bot to alert your readers where to send condolences, etc.
    You know, we do care ;)

  21. 21.

    Al Maviva

    December 1, 2005 at 8:45 pm

    Jasper, good on ya. As a recent inductee of Right Wing Cranks Spinning Bike Cranks Clubbe, I have to agree with you that vigorous biking does a world of good. No colds or flu yet this fall [touch wood] – though I’ve had some hellacious sore legs from time to time.

    Hang in there John. The first two months of getting back into regular vigorous exercise are the toughest, in my experience, from what everybody who has done it tells me, and from what I’ve read. If you can build up some good habits you’ll be on your way.

    BTW, mix in a large mug 2 tablespoons of honey, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 2-3 shots of corn likker, and fill to the top with hot water. Works like a charm.

    Oh no, it won’t cure your cold, but the sore throat will feel better and you wont care about the rest of it.

  22. 22.

    Tim F.

    December 1, 2005 at 9:24 pm

    What a bus can do in 15 mins a bike can do in 25.

    You must not have traffic where you live. I can cut a bus trip in half if I go by bike.

    Then again, I did get pulled over once…

  23. 23.

    Krista

    December 2, 2005 at 9:06 am

    I feel your pain, John. I thought I was in pretty good shape, working out on the elliptical trainer 5 days a week for 40 minutes at a time. Well, I did the Run For The Cure in October w/ my sister’s friend, and she’s a runner. I tried to run the whole 5K, but could only run about 3K out of it, and walked the rest. For three days afterwards, I was walking like I had ankle-to-hip casts on. (And I have to climb up a long set of stairs to get to my office…it was quite picturesque, let’s just say…)

  24. 24.

    Gray

    December 2, 2005 at 10:51 am

    Maybe this will chear you up a bit, John:

    I want to congratulate you for the open discussions you’re allowing on your blog. Only very seldom did you engage in blocking a commenter, and if you did, you were stating the reasons behind your decision and defended it in the comment section. And afaik you never blocked a commenter for posting his opinion 8in a reasonable way). This doesn’t seem to be naturally today. Not all bloggers go this far in their interpretation of the First Amendment. Imho this is a matter of spine and character, and I really appreciate this (ok, I will still attack you when I don’t agree with one of your points, but with more respect :)).

    Another centrist blogger, Jeff Jarvis @ Buzzmachine, only pays lip services to open discussions. He’s stomping for the First Amendment, but when I posted critical comments in a thread about a Juan Cole quote (relative? ggg), somehow my comments vanished. After I complained and had a bit of publicity, JJ restored them, putting the blame on his spam filter. Hmmm.

    Today, I can’t even view buzzmachine.com anymore without using a proxy, seems like my IP range is firewalled. Hmmm. Hmmm.

    OK, seems like there are huge differences in how bloggers treat their regular commenters. I know I can be a stubborn pain in the a**, but no matter how hard we argued, you never banned me for posting my opinion. Thank you!

  25. 25.

    Unsolicited Advisor

    December 2, 2005 at 12:41 pm

    So John, this might sound wierd, but if you are still in the early stages of your flu, you might want to try this.

    Get an eyedropper, lie down with your head sideways, and let go four drops of hydrogen peroxide down your ear canal. It’s going to tickle like hell– so stay put for at least 5 minutes. Then do the other side.

    I haven’t had the flu in 3 years, though I ride the Muni (in SF) and work near kids.

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