Giving Thanks

I am not a "glass is half full" kinda guy, by nature.

I'm inclined to whine and moan at pretty much every little paper cut and bump that comes across my path. It's part of who I am and I'm comfortable with that.

Still, every now and again, I get this weird sense of perspective.

So this Thanksgiving has not been my best. I started it with a fever going into Tuesday night. I spent all Wednesday before Thanksgiving coughing up a lung, shivering, and generally being miserable. Had a fever again going to sleep that night. A tag-team combination of Nyquil and Afrin let me breathe and sleep. The fever broke Thanksgiving morning and the cough was pretty loose with added medications to help it out.

Then I developed an eye infection over the day. I spent part of yesterday at Kaiser to get antibiotics while the cough stubbornly lingers. And my apartment's thermostat is hosed.

You'd think I'd be pretty upset, but all said, I'm finding myself pretty blase about the whole matter. I got to have Thanksgiving with my family. I even baked a pie (which hopefully was baked germ-free) that was well-received. I'd already been planning on lounging around my apartment and web-surfing/online-Xmas-shopping and watching movies. Nothing changed there except I took booze out of the equation.

Just as well, really.

I've thrown on an extra sweater and busted out a portable heater, so it's not unbearably-cold in my apartment. I was even home for the delivery of some eagerly-awaited packages, which made me a bit giddy.

I've also now re-watched Buckaroo Banzai: Adventures Across the Eighth Dimension and watched season one of "Star Wars: Rebels" as well as the extended-cut of The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies. (Tip: The Hobbit movies do not appreciably improve with the extended versions, but there's enough in there that if you're going to sit through these, you may as well get the extended bits and turn it into a drinking game.)

While dealing with ailments, I've had two close friends deliver personal news on their behalf that's certainly made me disinclined to whine too much about my own state of affairs.

I'm not sure what my point is to this post, I suppose. It's trite to say "it could always be worse". True, but trite. Still, it's true enough. I'm certainly grateful for all that I have. I'd be grateful if these ailments would leave so I can enjoy ale again, but that's just being whiny.