Monday, May 30, 2005
Hawking up greenies
Or not.
In fact, I'm unclear now about whether 'hawking' is the right word at all (Americans say 'hocking')... but I should go back to the beginning of the story.
Two weeks ago, after getting off a flight I developed a strange headache behind my eyes. It wasn't a migraine: I was acquainted with that nauseating, one-sided horror as a teenager. It felt more like cold water had gone up my nose and was moving around, under pressure.
4 days, much sleep, a missed work day, many useless Ibuprofen caplets and some degree of despair later, the headache started to clear.
Then worse. The mucus. I can see the point of this normally; it sweeps away all nasties down the nose and leaves them in tissues. BUT instead, it just dripped down my throat and nothing would reroute it.
That's where we get back to greenies. Nothing disgusts me as much as that 'hccchhhhrrrhhhcccrr' noise that is needed to spit out throat-snot. I'm almost not joking when I say that I had a loft conversion to be out of ear shot of M's ritual morning hawk. It made my stomach turn.
I think I was traumatised as a child. The year that my 2nd year class was in the 'Scout Hut' there was a day when the boys covered the porch ceiling in greenies that dripped down for the rest of the day.
So there I was, fourth or fifth day with a throat full of mucus, when it dawned on me that I'd have to try and get it out. How!? First attempt - feel like being sick. Second attempt - am sick. Give up. I suppose it was comic, if you weren't me.
Bizarrely, I was delighted to get a huge NORMAL cold this weekend: everything started coming out through my nose again.
Was that too much information?
In fact, I'm unclear now about whether 'hawking' is the right word at all (Americans say 'hocking')... but I should go back to the beginning of the story.
Two weeks ago, after getting off a flight I developed a strange headache behind my eyes. It wasn't a migraine: I was acquainted with that nauseating, one-sided horror as a teenager. It felt more like cold water had gone up my nose and was moving around, under pressure.
4 days, much sleep, a missed work day, many useless Ibuprofen caplets and some degree of despair later, the headache started to clear.
Then worse. The mucus. I can see the point of this normally; it sweeps away all nasties down the nose and leaves them in tissues. BUT instead, it just dripped down my throat and nothing would reroute it.
That's where we get back to greenies. Nothing disgusts me as much as that 'hccchhhhrrrhhhcccrr' noise that is needed to spit out throat-snot. I'm almost not joking when I say that I had a loft conversion to be out of ear shot of M's ritual morning hawk. It made my stomach turn.
I think I was traumatised as a child. The year that my 2nd year class was in the 'Scout Hut' there was a day when the boys covered the porch ceiling in greenies that dripped down for the rest of the day.
So there I was, fourth or fifth day with a throat full of mucus, when it dawned on me that I'd have to try and get it out. How!? First attempt - feel like being sick. Second attempt - am sick. Give up. I suppose it was comic, if you weren't me.
Bizarrely, I was delighted to get a huge NORMAL cold this weekend: everything started coming out through my nose again.
Was that too much information?
# posted by Liz @ 8:50 pm 
