Well, the meetings on Thursday went well. The sections I had written were well received, even with a good number of changes, most of which made them better. I'm looking to what might be next in this effort.
I had originally planned to leave Salt Lake Thursday afternoon after the last admin meeting and get to Vegas early evening. It took a few days longer.
Once I finished the last meeting I chatted with some folks from work for a few minutes, then grabbed a lunch and snuck into the closing administrative meeting a bit late. I was kind of coming down from the meeting, and felt a little woozy, but still not that bad. After a quick informal meeting I packed up my stuff, even taking a picture of town on my way to the car.
I had come down from the meeting, but then I just kept dropping. I hadn't had much to eat and thought that might help, although I really didn't feel like eating. There was a Corner Bakery down the street, and I got some soup and half a sandwich. I finished the soup but only picked at the sandwich. Me without an appetite is definitely a warning sign.
By the time I got back into the car I knew I was in trouble. I slowly pulled out of my space, crossed the parking lot, and entered the street, but it almost immediately had a very busy intersection. I stopped abruptly just as some cars went whizzing by at more than 50 mph. I really wasn't feeling well.
I finally turned right behind a slow moving bus, and I just stayed behind it for a couple miles until I got my bearings. I could tell now I was going down hard with something in my lungs. I usually had the cold first. After having pneumonia four winters out of five I had recognized the pattern where I got to the point where I could not heat myself back up, no matter how many blankets were piled on me. At that point I had three choices, antibiotics, the emergency room, or if I caught it soon enough, an electric blanket.
At my second Target with no electric blankets (out of season? there's snow on the ground!), a helpful girl suggested Walmart and that it was also online. As we were walking away she offhandedly suggested Bed, Bath and Beyond. I checked from the car and there apparently wasn't an electric blanket at a Walmart for 100 miles. At least that saved me a few trips, and I didn't have many more in me. I then checked BB&B online and there were some at a store just a few miles away.
Once I found the electric blankets I understood why they still had some. Even on sale they were at least twice as much as they should be. By that point I didn't care, and seriously considered buying a second one. I then provisioned for an extended stay at a hotel, including a full pizza. I hate being sick when traveling, but some ways are better than others.
Heading to the Provo hotel I saw an Apache flying north, a couple thousand feet up. Or maybe not, I was pretty punchy by then.
I spent two nights at the hotel in Provo, never leaving the room. The day in between is just a blur of sleep, cable tv, Netflix, and OJ fortified with medicinal rum. I do recall I watched an embarrassing amount of Ridiculousness. I drank about 2 gal of OJ, but only had a couple peanut butter cups to eat on Friday. Just couldn't stand the thought of eating, despite all the provisions I had gathered. Every time I went to the bathroom I turned on the shower to try and steam out some of the gunk in my lungs.
By the second morning I still didn't feel anywhere near good, but I felt a little better, and that was enough to make it at least a couple hours down the road, closer to Prescott.
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