Saturday, March 22, 2008

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!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brian, so sorry to hear about the horrible flu. I hope your wife recovers soon.

Somebody at work mentioned that John Adams series the other day. Is it based on the book by David McCullough? Mike (our sib Mike Crawmer) loaned that to me some years ago, and it was quite an interesting read. I don't think I have HBO any more, though, because I think we dropped it after the Sopranos ended to reduce our monthly cable bill. Based on how the cable company operates, that probably saved us 75 cents a month!

Anonymous said...

I've heard about the John Adams series and was told it's terrific!Good news about HBO: the series will most likely end up on DVD. I think I'll wait for it, as I'm fine with my $13/ month cable bill.

In terms of nothing good to watch, you have to admit the writers' strike has put quite a dint in the sort of TV I like (meaning not sports, game shows, or reality TV.) See how important we writers are?

Anonymous said...

Been there, done that with the flu, but I had it more than a month ago. I did manage to get to work on the third day, for about an hour and a half. Someone from the firm I've been working for since September handed me a W-2 form and I said, "Why are you giving me this? I didn't work here last year." It was one of those moments when all around you suddenly go quiet, and you realize that you've just said or done something unbelievably stupid. I knew then that I wasn't thinking clearly at all. I went home before I made some major error on a client's case. I wonder how your wife's work product is coming out?