I’ve enjoyed a fairly long stretch of relatively good health of late and what I’m about to recount certainly doesn’t seem all that serious in the greater scheme of things.   Plus it all started right after we got home from a really enjoyable summer vacation, so from that perspective, the timing was good and I really shouldn’t complain.  Having said all that, I’ve spent the last 18 days feeling downright shitty, which from my perspective gives me a temporary license to kvetch.   

This current affliction came on in the form of a sneak attack – no sniffles, sneezing, congestion or other warning signs one might expect – I just started coughing one evening and was instantly overcome with a full-fledged case of acute bronchitis.

It’s really unlike anything I’ve experienced: deep, rumbling, extended coughing fits explode out of the blue - day or night - which are, let’s just say “productive.”    I will try to avoid getting overly graphic but the key question the doctor asks at a time like this is “What color is it?”  Green or yellow are signs of a secondary bacteriological infection that can trigger medical intervention in the form of antibiotics.  Two weeks later