Rebounding (Finally)

by Brian Mullen

Well, for the past four weeks, my household has been striken with the worst flu virus we've ever seen. I was the proud owner of it for the first two weeks, my wife and I shared it for week three, and now I am recovering while my wife is fighting the major symptoms as we speak.

If you have had this strain of flu, I don't need to tell you that it is one tough bugger. It did not respond to antibiotics (as most viruses do not); however, the symptoms also were highly resistent to treatment. I tried four different leading brands of medicines that supposedly eased symptoms - not one of them had any noticable effect.

As a result, I have already depleted my year's supply of sick hours; my wife adamantly refuses to waste her hours and has gone to work every day and been sent home by her boss three times now.

In retrospect, I wish I had spent some of my time focusing on my writings as I have very little to show for my days spent at home. It is hard to concentrate and work when you're feverish and coughing every other breath, but the absence of writing has had an effect nonetheless.

Having several hundred channels on cable television and the time to watch it is eye-opening. You'd think with all those channels that at any given time, something good might be on. You'd be wrong. We also have "On Demand" which allows us to watch select programs any time we wish and I must say that I have found great interest in HBO's series "John Adams" starring Paul Giamatti as the eponymous forefather. I've seen the first two episodes so far and it has captivated me. So much so, in fact, that I've decided to spend some time reading some of the biographies of our founding fathers. My mother has also put me onto a favorite book of hers which is "Founding Mothers", a book on the wives of the founding fathers written by Cokie Roberts (whom I know from National Public Radio). The HBO series clearly indicates that John Adams' wife was a trusted consultant/adviser to him during both his legal and political careers and she seemed to be not only the lynchpin of the family but the anchor/rudder that kept John Adams where he needed to be.

The series will be comprised of seven episodes, I belive. Two have already been aired. That finally gives me something on television I can look forward to. What a novel idea!