Crap! I didn’t sleep well and now I have a slight fever, my throat is sore and I’m barking like a seal. My ears are getting itchy as well. I’m losing this battle! Throughout the day, I took steam baths to keep my lungs clear. If I get strep or an ear infection, I’ll need antibiotics. For now though, it’s bronchitis, and there’s not much you can do but rest.

Though sick, I started on my chip in earnest. I put in four hours, which was probably two hours too many. It wiped me out for the rest of the day.

A couple of silly things happened today. First off, one of my friends came by to drop off food. It was really sweet of her. I didn’t realize until that moment that I had lost my voice – I couldn’t make a sound! I hadn’t talked to anyone in over two days, so it came as a shock to me. My dog was also in her car. He could see me, and I sort of expected him to jump out the window to say hi to me, but he was thrilled to be in a car so he wasn’t going to move. He was happier to be with my friend.

Later that evening, I watched “Quest for Fire.” Because I had fans and a humidifier on, I opted to turn on closed captioning. Now think about that for a second. Quest for Fire… all I saw on the screen were phrases like “Awk quarg oot!” or notations like “prehistoric language” or “hopeful grunting.”

At least I slept well last night, though I still wasn’t up to doing computer chips.  Today was spent in bed watching more movies.  I’m getting bored of this!

I spent most of my day in bed watching movies whenever the internet was working, which was about half the time.  I decided to go to class just to get out of bed and do something.  Big mistake: I got so tired so quickly that I just wanted to go home and go to bed.

I was the “answer guy” last night in class because the subject was about how to best accomplish all the requirements to graduate.  Since I only have the exit interview remaining, I pretty much know what is expected.  Alas, towards the end of class, I started to get a sore throat.  By the time I got home, it was really bad and got worse overnight.  I did not sleep well.  Today, I spent the entire day in bed.  I did not go to Wednesday breakfast with the guys and I did not go to class.  This is my third cold in seven weeks!  I can’t seem to get healthy.  My immune system is down due to previous colds and all the allergens in the air.

I think I have also come to the conclusion that I am allergic to codeine.  Every time I take the doctor-prescribed cough syrup, I get a temperature and I begin to sweat almost immediately.  The syrup doesn’t work at all for my cough either – it makes it worse!  I’m switching back to Robitussin DM tomorrow.

Happy Anniversary!  Today is my 25^th wedding anniversary.  It’s too bad my wife is still at the family reunion in Chattanooga and I’m back in CA so I can attend my classes.  Yes – I will celebrate by anniversary by going to college!  No matter, I love Barbara very much and I know that she loves me too.  One missed day in our life won’t matter – every day is a celebration!

The rain’s gone, but man is it muggy.  This is so unusual for California. I’m just sitting here sweating!

This morning, I spent more than the usual amount of time grooming in anticipation of doing a job interview.  I hope I get the summer school gig!

Today was a day of little tasks – all the stuff I needed to do to get caught up with “life.”  I felt pretty darn productive today even though I didn’t get to my one paying gig – a new chip.  Actually, I could have also gotten paid to be a summer substitute today; I got a call, but I turned it down because I would have people delivering things and picking up things throughout the day.  I worked right up until it was time for night classes.

Sort of weird for California, but it has been raining all day.

The highlight of today was going to Uncle Johnny’s Korean church.  Even though I didn’t understand a single word (except for “Genghis Khan” and “Europe” in the sermon), I had a great time.  The youth band even did a Korean version of “Rock of Ages.”  After the service, the church held a Korean banquet in our honor.  All the food served came from the “church garden” out back.  The church garden was about an acre’s worth of all kinds of Korean vegetables.  After the banquet, we took many family pictures and then most everyone piled into the church van to go to Ruby Falls.  I went to the airport to head back home so I could go to college tomorrow.

We went back to Chattanooga downtown again to see more sites.  We started by driving up the bluff to Lookout Point, the site of an “almost battle” between the North and the South during the Civil War.  It was an “almost battle” because the South saw the North coming from a long way off and during the night as the North was climbing up the bluff, the South snuck down to the more protective fort at Chattanooga ridge (downtown Chattanooga today).  The North kept lookout point, and surrounded the South in Chattanooga.  The South surrendered, thus giving up this major train and boat hub to the Southern States.  With this victory (and the victory at Vicksburg), the North effectively cut off the Southern supply line for the rest of the war.

So, after that, we went to the downtown art district that we had missed yesterday.  The district consisted of two art galleries, one of which we toured, and a whole lot of coffee houses and boutique restaurants.  We had a fantastic Italian lunch at one of those places.  The gallery was exceptional as well.

In the evening, we went to Uncle Johnny’s restaurant.  The whole reason for having the family reunion in Chattanooga was so we could meet Uncle Johnny and his family.  Since he runs two restaurants, he doesn’t have time to go anywhere and as a result, most of us had never met him.  He hosted all 18 of us in his Teriyaki Hut and we took many pictures.  It was so nice to meet his family.  His 19-year-old daughter, Grace, is an amazing young lady – very interesting to talk to.  After dinner, Grace took us all to 31 flavors.

Today, after a VERY slow start, we went to downtown Chattanooga.  I didn’t know what to expect from this place.  Various travel sites that I had visited mentioned very few highlights to see.  We didn’t need to see the inside of the #1 attraction, the aquarium, but we could walk around the exterior (on one side was a “trail of tears” memorial walkway).  The #2 site was an iron bridge and the #3 site was a national cemetery.  Another top site was the Hunter Museum and the nearby “art district.”  Fortunately, all the but the cemetery were in easy walking distance, so we decided to do a little walking, and then we would drive to the cemetery.

What the travel sites failed to mention was how clean the downtown area was and how stunning the architecture was.  This place was beautiful!

The Hunter Museum of art has the largest collection of American art in the South.  The paintings run from 1750 – 2010.  Though there were few “major” pieces of art, the collection as a whole was quite stunning.  We all had a good time.  The current installation about slaves crossing the Tennessee River was especially nice.  Just outside the Hunter Museum was a glass walkway/bridge that led to the iron bridge.  Beyond the iron bridge was the trail of tears monument which led to the riverfront park.  From the river park was a walking/biking trail that led back to the museum and the art district.  I was really a nice walk.  There were sculptures along the way.  Rather than hitting the art district (due to time constraints), we decided to drive to the cemetery and call it a day.  The cemetery was a nice experience – all those grave markers lined-up like a military parade.  In the evening, we met up with more relatives at one of the better steakhouses I have been to.

I haven’t written in a while because I got sick again with a cold.  Darn, and just when I had almost kicked my bronchitis.  The cold lasted three days, but the bronchitis continues.  It got so bad that I decided to go to the doctor.  He gave me drugs, though not the antibiotics I was looking for which would clear this thing up in three days.   He likes to do things holistically.

Let’s see, over the last 20 days, I completed my Art TPA and turned it in.  I also applied to a couple of jobs for 7-12^th grades, but both jobs are at community colleges.  I would like to get both of these if possible.  One is a summer school job, the other is a full-time job.  Both are in my wheel house – teaching higher academic kids in a college setting.  I got a phone interview for the summer school position today (while at the Atlanta airport).  I see this as a positive.  I haven’t heard about the full-time position.

The reason I was at Atlanta airport is because this weekend is a family reunion in Chattanooga.  My family left yesterday morning and will stay two weeks.  Because of school, I’m only able to stay for the weekend, though I did skip classes today to fly there.

My evening did not start off well, I had booked a Super 8 at a particular location and somehow Hotels.com booked me in a hotel about four miles away.  They would not admit it was their fault.  It certainly wasn’t mine!  This “oops” is going to cost me $250.  I hope the rest of the trip runs smoother.