Well, my 2017 is certainly off to a lurching, rather upsetting start.

Pneumonia

On December 31 I took the dogs for a walk and noticed my lungs felt tight and rather “burning.” By Sunday (Jan 1) I knew I was sick with either a cold or the flu. On Tuesday (Jan 3) I made an emergency call to the doctor and the next day went in to be diagnosed with a case of pneumonia.

For the next two days I coughed and shivered and generally wished for death. Finally, the evening of the 5th my fever broke. I crawled back to work on Monday the 9th, but only made it a half day. For the rest of the week I worked 5-8 hours a day before finally giving in today (Friday) and taking the day off to sit in my chair and breathe.

After two weeks of being sick I am miserably sore from coughing, out of breath at the slightest exertion, and still fighting to stay on the right side of hydration.

Grump.

Tires

Last week my tires kept going flat. I took my car into Les Schwab and ended up getting two new front tires.

Grump.

Weather

Winter is my favorite time of year. However, in Oregon, winter is usually wet and a little cold. This year Oregon is doing a good imitation of Montana… cold and snowy. Now, I’m not complaining about this. But Salem is getting shorted on the snow front. Up in Portland they have 6-8 inches on the ground; Salem has about 1/2 inch.

I feel short changed.

Above and beyond that, however, the weather is weird and Oregonians are just not equipped for this kind of weather. It’s sort of making us all grumpy.

Grump.

Electricity

Last week I was without electricity for about 24. It was a very localized issue, according to the power company it only affected about 16 homes. Mine was one of them.

Grump.