Choking and Coughing

Apr 2, 2004

Although I've remained in good health this winter with no colds or flu for the most part, I have had to spend the last several weeks getting over an annoying, dry cough. I'm wondering if it isn't due in part to the fumes we are still getting from The Man Upstairs. You tend to try to breathe through your mouth so you don't have to smell the obnoxious smell, and then you suffer from Dry Mouth Syndrome. A lose-lose situation.

I called this company called WebpointUSA at work last week to let them know I did not in any way appreciate the way they keep signing us up for their "free" websites that cost $39 a month. What they do is call the receptionist up, tell them they'd like to send some information on their product, and "what is [our] fax number please?" The receptionist gives her name, the fax number, and a few minutes later, out pops a paper telling us Congratulations! We've been signed up for 15 days free trial and then only $39/month after that. Bargain city, here we are! They've done this several times before, and each time I've had to call them up and cancel it. It's just a pain really. So this time, I had had it. "NEVERMORE!" I was going to say.

I buzzed into my office, got through to someone on the telephone, opened my mouth to speak, and my throat dried up just like that. My eyes teared up as I began to asphyxiate. I squeaked out quite hoarsely, "I need to cancel our website." I began to cough and choke even as the lady began her protests to convince me to keep it. I couldn't say a thing; I just shook my head, still choking.

I fished into my pocket for the cough drop that I had snagged from my medicine cabinet just that morning. The bad thing about a cough drop that is several years old is that it gets gummy and sticky. I got all the paper off except about 1/6th of it. I didn't have time to mess around with a tiny piece of paper. I popped it into my mouth, hoping I would be able to breathe again sometime soon. And then the paper came off almost all the way, latched itself onto my tongue, which renewed my gagging reflex. It was really quite effective. If you can't even get an answer in protest to all the reasons this service was to be kept, the poor lady had no choice but to finally stop talking. I choked out, "Just cancel it." She couldn't think of anything else appropriate to say as there is simply no reasoning to be had with a choking zombie. She was quiet a minute then said resignedly, "You need to get some water, dear." No kidding. She canceled the thing and hung up, leaving me sprawled across my desk, gasping for air. It was the least amount of talking I've ever had to do with a salesperson. Like I said, very effective! But why was I not surprised when Dee transferred a call to me from (lo and behold) WebpointUSA itself only a mere three days later?? Maybe they thought I didn't mean it...??

Now back to my busy life... school, school, school. I try to keep my head above water, but it is amazing to me how much time only four classes can take up. I'm at the point now where I think I'm ready to be done, although things are going a little better now. I am so tired of always studying for a test. The only time I have to study, it seems, is at night, and because I've gotten up at 5:30 that morning, all I can do is fall asleep. The other night, I was frantically trying to cram for my second test of the week, Western Civ, and I found I could no longer support my eyelids. I thought, "Well, I'll just see how it would feel to be lying down for just a minute." The next thing I knew, I jolted awake....very disoriented and with my hand totally asleep. I was sprawled across my bed in a very awkward position, my light was on, and it was 2:30 a.m.! (My test was at 8:00.) I had been sleeping for four hours! Precious studying hours gone to waste. I stumbled my way back to my computer to finish typing up my essay question notes, only to realize I had to wake my hand up first. I finally was able to move my fingers again, and I worked on it for the next hour. I went back to bed, slept until 5:15, then got up and studied for another hour. I went to class about 45 minutes early and spent some more time cramming pre-test. And the test...what a doozy it was. So many essay questions! My hand was cramping by the time I was finished.

I finished the test and went to my next class, the ever-dreaded science class. We finally got the results of Test 2 back. We had to wait over spring break to see if we had passed the test. What a pleasant surprise to find I was only one of four who had actually made an "A" on the test. There were 19 F's. This is the class, if you will recall, where I made a low B on the first test. The professor actually curved us up four points which gives me hope of sneaking out of his class with an A average after all. We'll see.

English is going better as well. I got my first paper back the other night, and my professor actually liked it. Now I'm wondering if I shouldn't keep my major as English--(I haven't said anything, but it seems I've changed it yet again just recently.) I'm refraining from even saying what my major is these days, as it seems to change with the wind. I'll let you know at graduation.