My last two days in Edinburgh, everything tied up beautifully — so much so that I actually slowed down and relaxed. This, of course, meant that I woke up yesterday morning with a cold.
It started as a dry throat, one of those constant swallowing things that made me think “Maybe I just used too much garlic in last night’s dinner. Yeah, that’s it: too much garlic. It’s not that I’m sick.” Of course, by the time I reached the airport, I was sniffling, and by the time the plane landed in Toronto my head felt like it was going to burst from the pressure. But I was smart this time and packed mittfuls of batteries and stuffed my memory cards with hours and hours of episodes of Carnivale, so I just zoned out and went to 1930s dustbowl carnie-land for the day.
Alvaro picked me up from the airport — and he had the cold, too! Then Lisa came home, and she had it. Now I’m at the office, and everyone here has it. It’s great: I don’t have to be “on” because everyone else is sick, too.
Happily, it’s going through all its stages really quickly, like something from science-fiction (clones growing to maturity in a day, that sort of thing), so I’m hoping it will clear out of my system in short order. I’m chewing on vitamin C tablets to help that along.
This always happens, doesn’t it? You don’t get sick when you’re busy or stressed, but the minute you relax it hits you. I’ve got to learn not to get so wound up.
Of course, now that I’m here I’ve got a lot to do. My first task is to try to figure out how to get a stupid file from my Pocket PC beside me to thon Macintosh in front of me.
Yay! Did it! I’m happy I’ve learnt how to travel well. I should write a follow-up to my geeky mobile office article, about what to take when travelling to different countries and connecting with all manner of different computers. I’m finally good at it. Ah, but I forgot to pack my Strategic Coach nametag. I always forget something.
Here’s a pic I grabbed while waiting for my bag to disgorge from airport depths onto the baggage carousel:
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We’ll file this one under the “graphics department needs a slap” category. Yes, I brought a tinned haggis, but a live chicken? No.
