Phlegmatically yours, continued ...

Hart Brachen, your omniscient author in absentia:
Update: I'm feeling worse today than I did Friday. But, hey, at least the 103.7 fever I had over the weekend has subsided. For the body wracking cough? Not so much …

 

---

Hart:
Hart, here, on life's metaphysical trolley …

 

---

Hart:
Now I try not to believe in jinx, but just this past Weds, when yet another of my colleagues succumbed to the cold/flu bug going through the office, I did a little a jig and with great hubris I announced that it had been 8 years since I'd suffered a seasonal malady. Other things have crept up here and there but not the typical cold/flu thing.

 

---

Hart:
And you know where this is going …

 

---

Hart:
Yep, a little roller it seems has gotten by my defenses and planted itself firmly in my chest.

 

---

Hart:
So I'm popping a Musinex, drinking some fluids, and going back to bed. See you on the other side.

 

---

Comments

[louclinton]

safe travels, little trolley.

oh, shit, the characters aren't real.

lc

[Ryan with a capital "R"]

I'm right there with you, LC, having my mind blown by the real/not real thing.

Hang in there, hb.

[Bob]

You gooched yourself, H.B.

Now here's Bob's patented reverse-gooch:

"I always get the flu, this year will be no different."

[louclinton]

In re: Real/Not Real

[Bob]

Thank you, LC, for saying what needed to be said (weep/cry).

[COD]

Anybody watch Lost last night? I totally called the Aaron thing in advance.

[Frank]

Get well soon, little trolley. I had the flu last week, after 8 years of never getting it and never getting the shot, either.

Eventually everybody's number comes up.

[Bob]

Has anybody else ever had "Mama Zuma's Revenge" potato chips?

Holy Jezus they're good. And hot. Habenero hot.

H.B., they'll definitely clear out your sinuses.

[Jeffrey]

Feel Better h.b. I had a bit of a cold last week. Amazingly it only lasted about four days.

I'll send my wife over with some chicken soup. She puts lots of garlic and ginger in there, makes you better in no time...

[louclinton]

Bob, check your hotmail...

[Bob]

Thanks, LC. I made a few edits. Hope you find them appropriate.

[Bob]

(LC sent me his CV. He's trying to get into the ad biz, but I thought his resume rant about "you MF-ing ad shits" was a little much for our HR department.)

[louclinton]

tnx Bob, what do you think, will it fly?

Bob allowed me to leave in the words "scum-sucking money-grubbing talentless whores for clients"

lc

[Bob]

//Bob allowed me to leave in the words "scum-sucking money-grubbing talentless whores for clients.//

Well, that's because it's the truth.

(Except for the clients who drop by this creepy site. You're all just the tops.)

[Bob]

Jeez, people are leaving work left and right.

I might follow them into the great wide open.

If anybody needs me, I'll be at Pete's Pub/Durty Nelly's.

Have a great weekend all.

[pinstripe thunder]

Feel better, Brachen. Hanging out with those Upper East Side limousine liberals will have that effect on you. And they all cough into their shirtsleeves and somehow think that's hygienic.

Marty really hit on Katie Couric?

[Bob]

At least it wasn't Victoria Block. Good Lord, she's a "handsome" woman.

[pinstripe thunder]

I just googled her, and she certainly has quite the jawline, Bob. Maybe she should have stayed in radio. For some unaccountable reason, the Kinks' Lola kept playing in my head as I gazed fondly at her photo.

Speaking of handsome women, somebody has to explain the whole Saffron Burrows thing to me.

[soxdownunder]

Why I love sushi part 32.5:
Yesterday at lunch, the proprietor of my favourite Sushi restaurant presented me with 2 bleacher seats to the game at the Tokyo Dome on March 25. Mrs SDU and I now have 4 seats to this game (assuming "Tickets Now" is a legitimate operation). Can anyone out there vouch for 'Tickets Now' cos we are thinking of investing large sums of money with them for the second game?

[Monty in CA]

"I totally called the Aaron thing in advance."

Well I hope so. they pretty much slapped us in the face w/it, when Claire and Kate were hangin up the laundry.

[pinstripe thunder]

So you basically just walk into a restaurant and the owner greets you and says, "Yo, Mr. and Mrs. SDU. Here are international round trip tickets to Tokyo and tix to the opening day ballgame while you're there?" Sweet.

I walk into a restaurant and the owner says, "Yo, PT. The door to the kitchen is around back."

Guess I've been hanging out in too many sawdust restaurants with oyster shells.

[soxdownunder]

Well, pt, we have to organise (and pay for) the flights, transfers and accommodation (Scarlett & Bill's hotel from Lost in Translation) and we have bought lots and lots of very expensive sushi and scochu over the years but, otherwise, yeah.

[soxdownunder]

That should read http://www.sake-world.com/html/shochu-awamori.html "> shochu of course. Plus, he knew we were going to Tokyo for the games and couldn't get tickets so he contacted his friend in the old country.

[pinstripe thunder]

Still sounds like you're frequenting a better class of restaurant than I am, SDU. I'm lucky to get seconds on the bread as a perk.

Enjoy Tokyo, and if you see Scarlett at the New York Bar, please send her back to me. You will be accompanied by Mrs. SDU and therefore cannot partake.

The Park Hyatt Tokyo is a good hotel, far superior to the Okura where I used to stay in my Sony dayz. The Okura was well past its prime and its only real virtue was its proximity to Sony headquarters. The Park Hyatt is much more modern.

As for the ballgame itself... I simply wish you a great trip, with whatever that entails.

[mary]

hi,just found this website-not very
computer-literate but a real soxaholic.
as my dear departed mother used to say-she was worried about me because i get so high whenthe sox win & so depressed when they lose. my response,"mom, i'm a sox fan-i'm bipolar-all red sox fans are."
by the way,i had pneumonia for 2 weeks-back at work now-still recovering-watch
out-there are some bad!!! bugs going around.

[Kaz]

h.b., you should get one of these stickers for your car. Nobody would ever know if it was because you are h.b. or because you're from Huntington Beach originally...

It'd be fun to drive around and see this sticker and have to wonder if we just saw Keyser Sose or not...

[Kaz]

Doh, forgot the link:

HB car sticker

[Bob]

//Our stickers are printed on 4mil vinyl using water and UV resistant inks – meaning no fading in the sun or bleeding in the rain.//

It sounds like H.B. is fading in the sun AND bleeding in the rain.

Get better ya lug.

[Natalie]

Feel better, hb...Maybe this will cheer you up: a little gossip that FNL may in fact live on. It's certainly made my milleni...er, morning.

http://www.eonline.com/gossip/kristin/detail/index.jsp?uuid=5b7ebba9-0077-4768-aa95-7ce693a5096e

[Phil in Kailua, Hawaii]

Get wll soon! Should I send some medicinal pakalolo to help you over the rough spots?

[Bob]

SDU, do you have any Berocca for H.D.?

And maybe some Sriracha. Clear out those sinuses.

[Harwich Rich]

Berocca Bama? :D

[Bob]

Well, Berocca DOES speak to me elequently many mornings.

[Bob]

BTW:

Jesus.

H.

Christ.

And some people wonder why people in advertising drink:

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/agency/e3ic1abd1883d215637741ad678583661ad?imw=Y

Rest in peace, Paul. You should have just killed a client.

[soxdownunder]

And some wasabi for sinus clearing purposes also? And toro (tuna belly sushi) to warm the hart and general feelings of well being?

[Bob]

Send the toro to ME, sdu.

[soxdownunder]

Meanwhile, somewhere in Texas, http://www.smh.com.au/news/us-election/obama-livid-at-clinton-racial-slur/2008/02/26/1203788281739.html "> Hillary loses the plot

[soxdownunder]

As you (of all people) should know, Bob, toro does not travel well - it should be passed from the genius (sushi maestro) across the bar to the happy customer and eaten immediately. Beside, we send all our tuna to Japan. I'm off to get some back in a month (yippee!).

[Bob]

FedEx, next morning delivery. :))

Oh, God, you're going to have youself a sushi-good-time in Japan, SDU.

Bring back a piece of fugu for Bigbri?

[soxdownunder]

A sushi good time
Okajima san to shine
Yabba Dabba Do!

[Bob]

Betty Rubble, hot
Wilma Flintstone not so much
Yabba Dabba Clam!

[pinstripe thunder]

That's a big fever for a grown boy, Brachen. Bet you had visions of Clemens' steroid-latticed buttocks in your delirium, didn't you? It will pass. Apparently you don't believe in shots of steroids, B12 OR flu vaccine. Feel better. Everybody misses you, including the loyal opposition.

[louclinton]

did someone just cut a gassah?

[Bob]

Sorry, LC.

Hunter's Stew for lunch.

[h.b.]

Confirmed flu. Doc says contagious another 5 days. Weak/sick for probably another week.

And if you had the flu shot, well, don't count yourself out. Doc says this year's vaccine only good for about 30% of strains out there, so you've still got a 70% chance.

I confess I have had some pretty horrible dreams the past few nights PT. None involving baseball though, but, oddly, several involving rodeo and one jet skis.

Maybe I'm about to jump the shark?

[Bob]

That sucks, H.B.

But at least you're well on the road to recovery, versus just getting started.

[h.b.]

Bob,

I feel like I'm down 0-3 in a 4 game series, but I'm hopeful my immune system is just waiting to pull a Dave Roberts and turn this thing around.

[NYSoxfan]

feel better, H.B. If it is any solace, I too have suffered similar symptoms recently. Upon feeling better, I decided to celebrate with pierogis, herring and vodka at a favorite Ukrainian haunt. The next day, I awakened with all my symptoms returned as well as swollen lymph nodes in my neck, which made it hurt to swallow. That lasted another 3 days. Don't fight the power, H.B....

[pinstripe thunder]

I hate the bull on a jet ski dream, but it's common with the flu. It's not usually serious unless it's a mechanical bull and John Travolta is riding it. Then it's time to pack yourself in ice to break your fever.

[pinstripe thunder]

And, BTW, you are NOT about to jump the shark. Your best seasons lie ahead. Just make sure that the bull on a jet ski doesn't arrive in its own little black cloud. While we're on the subject, I worry a lot these days that Jeter has jumped the shark.