Congestion

Since Tuesday night, the left half of my head has been congested. Bleargh. Sudafed isn't making a dent. It's making it hard to sleep, because 1) I like to sleep on my left, 2) it HURTS, and 3) it HURTS!!!! I tried sleeping on my right side, and that worked from 1 am to 4 am, but now it's aching again. I have one of those neck chiller things, the tubes filled with the powder that turns to gel when you get it wet, that you're supposed to soak in cold water and wear around your neck to keep you cool on hot days. Instead, I soaked it in hot/warm water, and am pressing it to my face for heat therapy. Trouble is, it doesn't hold warmth as well as cold. :-P

I'm hoping the mail comes quickly today, and has the check from the savings account in it, so I can go look for meds that might work better at breaking up the blockage. My dad said it sounded like I had a nasal polyp. Joy and rapture, yet another "wonderful" thing I inherited from his side of the family along with allergies, PCOS, and bad eyesight. He suggested nasal spray, with tilting the head back to let it work in around whatever's in there. It's what he has to do with his Nasonex to get it in around the polyps. Unfortunately, all I have at the moment is non-medicated saline spray, which I'd hoped would maybe flush out the sinus enough to let me breath. No go. At the moment, I'm even willing to try a neti pot. My aunt says it works well for her sinuses. I'm still hesitant at the idea of pouring about a cup of warm salt water up my nose.

If my face is still aching at 7:30, I'm not going to work. I can't concentrate on my work or customers when I feel like this. I told Matt, "I know, you went to work all last week when you were feeling crappy, but I just don't have your work ethic." He said he also didn't have to deal with customers or be seriously focused on what he was doing, so I don't think he'll have an issue with it.

The one thing I really hate about having to call off sick is when Matt says, "It's up to you," in that tone of voice that makes you feel like, "Well, SHIT, now I CAN'T call off!" Sometimes, I'd like him to just say, "Poor thing, yeah, there's no way you can work today." But seeing as the man still goes to work at a job he hates and works a full eight-to-ten hours when he has the flu and a raging fever (sometimes I really hate him), I feel guilty for calling off work for something like rampaging sinus congestion and pain, especially since I LIKE my job.

My heat-thing is cold. Time to go recharge it. I wonder if I can microwave it....

ETA: Yes, I can nuke it. 20 seconds gets it nice and toasty warm again. Also, I called off sick. Matt was supportive, given how little sleep I got. And TheraFlu, at first, tastes like warm lemonade, but as it cools, it tastes like a lemon candle. Bleaaahhhh.

Just when you think you're out....

(beats head on table, HARD)

Okay. So the check came today. $120 from my savings. It was SUPPOSED to be $50 for gas and inspection for Matt's Jeep, $20 for TracFone card, $5-$10 for a pair of Keds so I can start going to the gym again, $20 for cat food and litter, and whatever was left for basic necessities like milk, eggs, etc.

Instead, Matt comes home from his one-day contract job and says, "I miscalculated." We made 2 purchases for a total of $7 that threw us into overdraft. Spent $7, racked up $70 in fees. So now that $120 is going towards fees and the overdue inspection on the Jeep. He's going to try to get one of the fees refunded, since it was on a NINETY-EIGHT CENT PURCHASE. Wachovia's been really good with their fees, usually managing to get us SOMETHING back when Matt calls. I mean, there was one time where we were $300 overdrawn, and $250 of it was fees, and they managed to refund us $70, even though it wasn't their fault at all. Maybe it's because we're nice when we call. We know it's not their fault, that it's not "OMG the bank is totally trying to rip us off!"

penprp works customer service for a major national bank, so I get to hear her horror stories. I used to work at a catalogue call center, so I have my own. Matt did sales and tech support for a national ISP. The stories he has! We know the operator is just there trying to pay bills. It's not their fault we screwed up.

But seriously, though. Is there any checking account out there that, like, doesn't charge an overdraft fee if the amount overdrafted is, say, under $10? I know there's that new Washington Mutual account out there that's supposed to be changing all the rules, but right now, I can't remember if that's one of them. But I also don't think there's a WaMu around here. Mostly Wachovia, Bank of America, and BB&T (which we actually did a big job for at OMax, and we were trying to figure out what it stood for. I liked my coworker's suggestion of "Bob's Bank and Trust").

And from now on, I don't care how much someone raves about a particular cold rememdy, if it has a cough suppressant in it, I am staying FAR away from it. Cough suppressants make me feel WORSE than I did before I took anything! Makes me light-headed and nauseated.

ETA: We got both fees back, so Jeep has gas, cats have food and litter, and I have nose spray. Tomorrow I will have shoes (around $3 on clearance at Target) and TracFone card. Jeep failed inspection; left turn signal is broken in the front. :-P So he has 30 days to get it fixed.