Now, yours truly suffers from a shopping list of chronic ailments, not the least of which is being allergic to varying degrees to just about everything in the plant kingdom. You can imagine how I’ve been doing in the wake of the recent rains in California. Yes, it rained enough that most of the state is finally out of the years-long drought we were in, which is great! And the hills are green and the poppy fields are a-bloomin’, and… oy, that’s a nightmare for my sinuses. But hey, then along comes a real virus and it does the whole “hold my beer” thing as it goes to frickin’ town on your mind and body. That was me this whole past week, including having to go work WonderCon in the middle of it… normally something I’d consider a working vacation, but this time around it was more just work and feeling like warmed-over crap at the times I wasn’t working. It’s Tuesday now and I’m glad Dawn and I still decided to take our scheduled post-Con break even though we had to beg off last week with the unscheduled one. Thank heavens for you folks being a supportive and patient audience, especially considering the cliff hangers that sometimes result. I’ve returned to my day job but I’m still a coughing and occasionally dizzy mess. But better. Better than last week at least when I felt so awful that this blog was reduced to a single metaphor and a goat video. Dang if this hasn’t put my allergies in perspective, though. I’m honestly a little amazed I managed 3 days of driving, load-in/load-out, and working that convention floor, though Dawn kept making me go back to the hotel to rest. Ever try to find a simple bowl of chicken soup in a hotel complex? Mental note for next time to bring my own. But anyhow here we are, communicating and still planning to get back on track for next week. I should be finally on the tail end of this nasty little viral freight train, so see you then!