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Showing posts from 2009

Thankful Thursday, New Years Eve edition.

Hello everyone. It's New Years Eve and I feel like one of the toys on the Island Of Misfit Toys from the Rudolph movie. Another year has come and gone and no parties to go to on New Years. Who am I kidding, I haven't been up past 9 on a New Years Eve in years. We are not the party animal type. We are locked up in out house warm and dry and away from all the crazies that are out on the road. The family is watching a movie and I am blogging. Life is good. So here is my list for the week. Better late than never. (its 730) 1. I am thankful to have a roof over my head and a warm house. This year was a struggle for us just like a lot of people but we are still afloat. 2. I am thankful that we have lots of fire wood and it was free. My wife and kids spent all summer chopping wood and now it is paying off. 3. I am thankful to still have a job. I know so many people who are out of work but not me. 4. I am happy that we are thankful for the little things in life and that it doesn't t

The last Dozen of 2009…

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1. Do you find it gross to share drinks with family? Friends? I tend to be a germaphobe so I don’t like to share drinks. I have on occasion tasted someone’s drink when they insisted. I am always afraid of backwash. 2. What have you learned this year? (You didn't see a question of that weight coming, did you? At least not for #2.) When they handed out the nice family cards, someone was dealing off the bottom of the deck to me. Not my immediate family, the rest of the group though. 3. When do you dismantle the Christmas decorations? We usually do it right after the New Year. I am ready now!! 4. Something you wish to accomplish before the end of 2009 is: Just make it to the end of the year without pulling all my hair out. 5. How do you feel about winter (after Christmas)? I hate it. If it weren’t for Christmas I could pass on the whole winter season. 6. Have you participated in after-Christmas sales? Yes. How can you pass them up. 7. Do you have plans for New Year's Eve? Yes; get

Oh what a Christmas

Well I had just the best Christmas ever. It all started on Christmas Eve. We headed out to Church for our annual Christmas Eve Service. As we were approaching the Church, we noticed someone in the car next to us waiving frantically. It was my wife’s cousin. She doesn’t even live in the same town and we haven’t seen her in over a year. They had driven down for just a few hours to check out a location for a wedding for another relative. It was a spur of the moment decision on their part and they were only staying for a few hours so they didn’t let anyone know they were coming. So what are the odds that we would be driving down the same street at the same moment in time? Pretty slim if you ask me, almost miraculous. The service was packed when we got inside because we spent a few minutes in the parking lot talking with this cousin. We ended up in the overflow area but did get a seat. The message was a little different as well looking at the first Christmas from a slightly different angle

I am offended....

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Babies are offensive: I am not a big fan of babies. I don’t mind admitting it. Of course there are exceptions to this rule. I liked my own children when they were babies. Occasionally I see cute babies that other people have but I guess I am missing the “love babies” gene. It’s more of a preference and it may have something to do with my age. I no longer have the patients I did when I was younger. Call me crazy but I never cared for poopy diapers or baby vomit or pee in my face. I do however like the Baby Jesus. Firemen are courageous: Each year, for as long as I can remember I look forward to seeing those Manger Scenes around town. Lots of people have them in their front yards and some even contained live characters. Then there were the ones at Fire Stations. Those were always the best. My father was a fireman and he actually used to set up the Manger Scene where he worked. Firemen are a special breed of people and my hat is off to them for their sacrifice and courage. Even thoug

Under Attack

Apparently using the word 0pp0rtunity in your blog title is an open invitation for scammers to attack you. I have had very few scammers on my blog since I started writing. However last night I got 5 scam comments which is more than all the others combined. So be forewarned when you use certain O words. I think that deer read my blog; This morning I had yet another deer dart out and almost run into my car. Ironically it was a few hundred feet from where the car almost hit me yesterday. The animal world has gone crazy I tell you. Now for the good news.... The dentist visit was a huge success. He put the filling back into my tooth and I didn't even need gas. He was able to smooth the other tooth off and I will be returning to his office next Monday to get that one fixed. He didn't want to numb both sides of my face at the same time. He also used a different type of band that didn't cut into my lip. It makes me wonder why the other dentists always use the other one. I am remind

Missed Opportunities.

Well apparently there people in South Africa that want to send me money. It’s true. About every other day someone dies over there and they have no one to leave the money to so they seek me out. Apparently they got my name from the “needs money” list because I get tons of these things. The only part that makes me wonder is that this “lawyer for the family” has trouble spelling. And obviously his computer doesn’t have spell check either. But I just can’t get myself to send them my account number along with my social security number. But that 7 millian US Dallers does sound good. I have noticed an increase in the road rage level over the last week. I am guessing the holiday shopping thing is getting to everyone. And I have a confession. I used my horn this morning. Say it isn’t so!!! Yes I know it is almost as hard to believe as the 7 millian US Dallers but I swear it’s true. I was at a stop light and the other light turned yellow. This guy was coming but he didn’t start to slow down ev

Thankful Thursday the week before Christmas

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With Christmas just a little over a week away, there is so much to be thankful for but I will try to keep this to only 5 things. Please Join us over at Truth for the Journey in being Thankful today. (I am assuming Sonya is doing it this week. I may have egg on my face) (1) It was a brisk 35 degrees here in Charleston this morning so the first thing I have to be thankful for is all the wood that my wife and youngest son cut up this past summer. The living room was nice and toasty this morning and after adding a little more wood it got even toastier.  Mr. “T”, our cat was enjoying the warmth and I had to force him to go out to do his morning thing. I am sure he is begging to get back in as I write this. (2) I am thankful for this nice cup of coffee that I am enjoying right now. After my mad dash from the parking lot to my office without a jacket I am finally starting to thaw out a bit and this coffee feels great inside. I tried giving it up a few times but I always come back for more. I

An almost Christmas Random Dozen

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1. Gingerbread: For or against? Discuss. I am totally FOR gingerbread but I prefer it in the gingerbread “man” variety. It just tastes better when you can nibble on the little feet and hands before stuffing the entire thing in your mouth. I know I am sick this way. And homemade is the best. 2. Is it important to you to always stay (live) close to family? Hahahahahaha. That’s a good one. I will leave you with a definite NO. Someone once said you can pick your friends but not your family. If I could I would exchange a few family members. Sorry but that is just the way it is. 3. Which holiday pretend character do you wish really existed? Hmm another tough question. I would say the little drummer boy. As far back as I can remember I have loved the story and the song. I would love it if some archeologist would find evidence that there was a little drummer boy at the Manger. I think they already have but they just aren’t letting the story out. 4. Which holiday movie best represents how yo

Thankful Thrusday. Why didn't someone tell me

Ok here I was going over some emails thinking about what I would post"tomorrow" for Thankful Thursday and it dawned on me Duh, today is Thursday. I am such a moron this week. But it is still Thursday even though it is evening so I think I can redeem myself. I am thankful that it is payday. The cupboard was bare but not any more. I am thankful that I am able to maintain my attitude even those around me are going south so to speak. I am thankful that the weekend is upon us and I have some time off. I am thankful for the very thoughtful bookmark that I just got from Edie today. Talk about a nice surprise. Thanks Edie, I needed a pick me up. I am thankful that although everything around my house seems to be breaking all at once, I so far have been able to fix it all myself. And with that I think it is time to get ready for bed. Have a great day, I mean evening, Greg

Random Dozen Holiday Edition.

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First off I would like to apologize for being a really bad blogger buddy. I am so far behind in my blog visits I am ashamed to post today at all. It is kind of like when you know you haven't been to the doctor and you know when you do go the doctor is going to scold you so you put it off even longer. But I did want to post today so I am doing the random dozen thingy again so here goes. 1. Which physical trait do you now accept--maybe not love, but accept--and no longer feel extremely self-conscious about? My grey hair. At least I still have some hair. My brothers are all going bald. And besides that “Just for men” is so expensive and doesn’t last. 2. This week Meredith Baxter Birney, best known as the mom on the favorite 80s sitcom "Family Ties" came out of the closet, which led me to formulate this question: Who do you think is/was the best TV mom? (like that was a surprise) Well certainly not her. I never cared for that show. It had some really great actors and actresse

Anything but ordinary

Well after a great run at the market we were bound to have a bad day. Weather wise that is, our sales were up. On Friday as we were loading things up for the market it began to rain. I had to stuff all the things in the front of the truck that couldn’t get wet but I had to leave a few aloe plants in the back for the night. Aloes are succulents so they don’t like a lot of water but they got more than their share that night. Later that night we got an email saying that opening time for the market had been delayed due to bad weather. We awoke on Saturday to more rain and 40 degree weather. Now I can take the cold and I can take rain but when you mix the too it spells MISERABLE. Around 7:30 the rain stopped so we headed to the market. We were one of the first vendors to set up and our tent wasn’t even ready. It was raining lightly again too so we waited on our tent before unloading the dry stuff. Only about half the vendors even showed up because the weather was so bad but we had a propane

Thankful Thursday #55

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That was a very good year. 1955 that is. Is it just me or is blogland getting a little vacant? I can hear an echo in here. :)Today I am thankful for the things (people) I am not. 1. I am thankful that I am not the man I saw at the gas station this morning who was counting out pennies on the counter to get 2 dollars and 67 cents worth of gas. Had I had a few more dollars in my pocket I would have offered him a few. But I put my last 10 in my tank. 2. I am thankful that I am not the person who recently ran up and stole the kettle from the Salvation Army man who was collecting in front of a store. I hope this man at least used the money to buy food for his family and didn’t spend it on drugs. I doubt that is the case though. 3. I am thankful that I am not Tiger Woods this morning. With all his talent, money and seemingly nice family it just wasn’t enough. They say money corrupts and I believe it. 4. I am thankful that I am not one of the ones sitting in Afghanistan this morning pray

Random Dozen, Post Thanksgiving Edition.

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1. Which Wizard of Oz character are you most like? Hmmm what at tough question. I would have to say Dorothy but before you say Ewwww let me exclude the gender thing. I say Dorothy because I am always looking over the rainbow and do believe there is a wonderful world out there somewhere even if it isn’t always obvious. And although I do love to travel, there is no place like home, no place like, no place like home. Darn I am still at work. I need some new shoes. 2. When you're deciding what you're going to wear each morning, which item do you select first? Why? I actually decide the night before. I am so scheduled that I either lay out gym shorts or jeans depending on my daily routine. 3. What kind of animal do you think the world could live without? Polar bears. They serve no purpose from what I can see and they are at the top of the food chain just like we are. Ok they are beautiful and they probably taste like chicken but other than that they are mean and vicious. Get that p

Black Friday (Deal or no deal?)

Well before I get into the living hell that is also known as black Friday, let me start with my Thankful Thursday from last week. I have been so busy with the holidays and family issues that I haven’t had time to visit many of your blogs so I am not even sure if Sonya did a Thankful Thursday but I am going to chime in with one myself anyway. I started out my Thanksgiving with the Turkey Day 5K Run in downtown Charleston. I am happy with my time which was around 30 minutes. I don’t know what the exact time was though because they only had a timer at the finish line. For some of us it took about two minutes to get to the starting line so my time of 32 minutes is a little off. There were over 4 thousand people running this race and I finished around 2200. I am thankful that at my age I can still run three miles at around a 10 minute mile. I will do better next year. On the way to the race I had more animals run out in front of me. This time it was 5 wild turkeys. I was thinking: Um guys

Random Dozen, Thanksgiving Edition

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1. Are you sticking to traditional Thanksgiving foods this year, or are you being culinarily adventurous? Strictly traditional in our house. This is no time to experiment. It’s all about eating more than you can stand. 2. Tell me something concrete that you're thankful for. (Something you can literally touch, see, etc., not a concept like "hope.") Yes I am thankful for the concrete where are cars are parked. If it weren’t for that, my shoes would be all muddy right now. 3. You knew the flip side was coming: Share about something intangible that you're thankful for. Peace of mind knowing that I do unto others even when they sometimes don’t deserve it. 4. Share one vivid Thanksgiving memory. It doesn't have to be deep or meaningful, just something that remains etched in your memory. One thanksgiving my father and my uncle came home with a fresh turkey. It was huge and they said they got a deal on it at the store so they couldn’t pass it up. While we were eating a

Dejavu, another near death experiance.

Well the trip was going well for about the first hour anyway. Other than passing two deer, one bunny, two coyote and one drunk things were going pretty well. It was about 430 am, really foggy and I got to a really dangerous road. It is the stretch of 17 south that goes between Jacksonboro and Yemassee SC. For anyone who doesn't know about these two places, Yemassee is where the African village is and Jacksonboro is where the white trash village is. I'm just saying and no the African reference wasn't a racest comment. Look it up. It really is an African village. Anywhoo. As I said, this is a very dangerous stretch of road. So dangerous that the governor (when he was here) posted the speed limit at 50 mph. More people have died on that one stretch of road than anywhere else in the state and I couldn't count the animals that have died there. So I am going along with the cruise control set at 50 mph which I think was still fast considering the conditions. Well this little s

Hello from the Sunshine State???

Hey everyone. I am writing from down in Florida but I will be returning to South Carolina very soon. I know this is called the sunshine state but it has been cloudy and rainng since I got here. I have lots to write about but I will wait until I get on my own computer. Mom is doing just fine physically but she sure is complaining a lot. I am having a good trip other than that. Talk to you all soon, Have a great day, Greg

Thankful Thursday, just my luck.

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Some people accuse me of just being lucky but I have a feeling that a lot of my luck comes from Devine intervention. I do think that God is watching over me and for that I am thankful. This morning, Mr. T (Our Cat) decided he wanted to go outside at 4:10. He always goes outside sometime early in the morning and usually it’s my wife that lets him out since he is her cat. Somehow Mr. T learned to shake the mini blinds with his paw to wake us if he wants to go out so that is how he woke me up this morning. But because I only had 20 minutes left to sleep anyway, I decided to get up early and let him out myself. 1. The first thing I am thankful for is the extra 20 minutes I had. I devoted part of that to quiet time just to sit, reflect and be thankful. It was nice to have the extra time to start my day out silently. I will explain why I needed this in a few moments. 2. I left for work 10 minutes early this morning and on my way in I passed a little church. The sign outside said: We need to

It's Wednesday, and you know what that means...

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It's week number 12 for the Random Dozen so without further ado.... 1. If you could master one sport, what would it be? I guess that would be running. I was a pretty fast runner when I was young and I did a little distance running after I hit 40 but I was never fast for any great distance. My best time for a half marathon was 1 hour and 45 minutes and I think that will end up being my life’s best run. 2. When you make a major purchase, do you go with your gut instinct, or do you do research to make an informed decision? That depends on what I am buying. For the most part though I am an impulsive buyer. That is why I hate those displays by the checkout counter. Hmmm do I need a Snuggie today? Perhaps the Slap Chop is what I am looking for? 3. There is an old kids' game that says you can find out what your movie star name would be by using your middle name as your first name and the name of the street you grew up on as your last. What is your movie star name? That would be Martin

Toy time.

For the last few I have been raising money here at work for The Good Neighbor Fund. It is an organization that gives out Christmas baskets to needy families during the holidays. They usually give out the necessities like food and sometimes help with other financial necessities like power or water bills. But along with those necessities for life, there are love necessities. Can you imagine being a child on Christmas morning and finding a bare tree with nothing under it for you? As bad as we had it growing up, we did get presents every Christmas. And since Christmas is all about giving, the Good Neighbor Fund sends presents for the children along with the food baskets. That's where we come in. Our company does a toy drive every year to collect new toys to go along with the food baskets. I have found that it is easier to get people to donate a little cash than a present. (even with these tough times) So every year I put on food sales here at work to raise money for toys. This year we

Thankful Thursday, Bring on the rain.

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The past few weeks have been cloudy here and I am not just talking about the rain. But the last few days we have had rain and lots of it. As my wife’s grandmother used to say; It’s water in the well. And since we do have a “well” that is something to be thankful for in itself. Oh by the way, we had no flood damage as the storm went past us even though I heard reports of several feet of water in the streets of downtown Charleston. (which by the way is in a lower flood danger zone) I’m just saying. 1. So the first thing I am thankful for is the girl at our insurance company. She could have been like the lady at Allstate and said; “4000 dollars, take it or leave it” but instead she did her job and got us a better rate. We are in “better hands” now. 2. I would again like to say that I am thankful for our service men and women who are protecting us at this very moment. I am truly thankful for each and every one of them. I pray that God protects them. 3. I am thankful for an outstanding s

Random Dozen, more randomness.

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1. What was the last song you listened to? “Sooner or later love is gonna get ya” Oh now it’s “Give me some lovin.” I got to hurry and finish this question. Ok I had to come back and add to this list because I know how much Lid loves this song: “Your eyes have a mist from the smoke from a distant fire.” That one’s for you Linda. 2. Have you ever had “buyer’s remorse” over anything? I once bought a Chrysler New Yorker that was loaded. It was silver on the outside with blue leather seats. The dash was wood grained and it talked to you when something was wrong. This was before everyone else went to talking cars. The next day after buying the car, it didn’t start. After two days of troubleshooting the mechanics found out that the starter wasn’t fully plugged in. (two days to figure that out) Everything on that car quit working from time to time and there were times when we would be driving it that it would all of a sudden say; A door is ajar. I wanted to shoot that car. It left my wife str

Just a bit stressed here!!!

As you may have noticed I haven’t blogged in almost a week. It has been a bad few days for me. Just when I get one trouble behind me something else comes up and smacks me in the back of the head and knocks me down again. I thought I had all my troubles behind me but that isn’t the case. I really needed a break so this past weekend we decided to take a day off and go fishing. About a mile from the boat landing, my boat died and we had to row back to the landing. I decided to go ahead and finish the work on my cars and one thing after another fought me as I worked. I had problems with tools, parts and even sand gnats. If you aren’t from this area and have never experienced sand gnats they are more than aggravating. They are enough to make the pope curse. And the worst thing about them is they have this knack for attacking you when you are working hard or trying to concentrate. Needless to say they ate me up and I said a few choice words. The local name for them is flying teeth becaus

Thankful Thursday and Birthday Wishes

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It’s Thursday again and truly another Thankful Thursday. I again have so much to be thankful for. 1. For starters, it’s my oldest son’s birthday. He turned 18 today and I am simply happy that he is alive. When he was born he was very ill. For the first three weeks of his life he stayed in the neonatal unit at MUSC. (Medical University of South Carolina). A few minutes after he was born, he quit breathing and was taken by Helicopter to MUSC in downtown Charleston. My wife was in the original hospital over in Mount Pleasant SC recovering from her C section. I had to leave her and drive to MUSC where I nervously waited for any news. It was several hours before I got any news at all. I spent that first night of his life praying in the waiting room. They had him in a drug induced coma with an oxygen tube in his lungs supplying him enough oxygen. My wife hadn’t even seen him yet and didn’t until the next day. It was the longest night of my life. I am so thankful that God protected him. 2

Three Dozen

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Ok it's actually another episode of Random Dozen sponsored by Linda at 2nd cup of Coffee. Won't you join us. 1. Its early morning, about 2:00AM, and you're driving home. You come to a red light and sit there. There is no one in sight for miles around. Do you wait it out or run the light? Let’s change the question a little. Let’s say it is yesterday at 6 AM, there are lots of people around me and the light doesn’t change. I gave it two minutes and I ran it. Should I turn myself in? 2. If you had the chance to re-do the last 24 hours, would you change anything? My underwear but that goes without saying. I wouldn’t wear the same ones two days in a row. You know the whole getting into an accident thing. Especially when you run red lights. Other than that, No. 3. When you reply to someone's comment on your blog, do you reply in your comments or go to her blog and comment? (Or email her) I do the last two mostly but sometimes I do follow up comments. First time visitors alway

Like pulling teeth.

Well I finally got that half tooth out of my mouth. It has been broken off for a long time now and I finally went in and had it removed. What a relief to have that old thing gone. It was essentially dead but because of my fear of dentists I kept putting off having it pulled out. I like this dentists though because he doesn't try to push you into crowning everything. He tells you the options and lets you decide what to do. The last dentist I went to wasn't like that. When I went to see this dentist he even told me that the odds of a cap surviving on this tooth was unlikely. I explained my fear of dentists though and he gave me a little pill to take before I got to his office. Did that ever work. I staggered into his office around 3:30 last night and he got me right in the chair. After two quick shots and a few minute wait he returned to remove the tooth. He offered to give me gas but I told him I was already in la-la land and didn't need it. I love la-la land. haha So the nu

Be very afraid!!!

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Guess who? Yes that's yours truly dressed as Uncle Fester. I bit the bullet and had my head shaved on Friday just for the occasion. The weather forecast was calling for 85 degrees and since I had already made my robe out of fleece that bald wig was totally out of the question. I couldn't get it to look good anyway. I think about a hundred people took my photo and some said I looked just like the original Uncle Fester. I think I looked pretty good if I do say so myself. "Thing" was really popular with the older kids but the younger ones were afraid to grab any candy. I Had the hand rigged where it would pop up when you opened the box and it kind of shook for a few seconds after that. This is me and #1 Son. He was a hippie and his pants were designed by his friends Erin and CeCe. The scary part is I used to actually dress like that back in the day. Even the dogs got into the act but obviously this one was "chicken." haha And speaking of chickens does anyone

Thankful Thursday, On the road to recovery.

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It’s Thankful Th ursday and do I ever have a lot to be thankful for. I am not sure what happened yesterday because I swear I posted but I don't see anything so I must have been delusional. I think I am finally starting to feel better so the medicine must be working. Or I could just be getting used to feeling sick. 1. The first thing I am thankful for is the story of Job. No matter how bad I felt yesterday I kept reminding myself that things could be a lot worse. And no matter what happens in my life I will never blame God. Life is only temporary. 2. I am thankful that I was able to get some rest yesterday and last night. I never take a sick day but at my wife’s insistence I took one yesterday. I slept until almost noon and then just laid around the house the rest of the day. I kept thinking “I sure wish I had one of those Snuggies.” Last night I went to bed around 8 and slept the entire night with only a few brief awake moments. 3. I am thankful to be back at work today. My inbox i

Doctar, aint there nothing I can take?

Well my condition went from bad to worse. I got so bad I even took time off from work and went to see my doctor. When I got there I waited an hour and a half to be seen even though I had an appointment. There was a new girl at the check in desk and she put my file in the wrong place so they kept skipping me. Because I didn't have on a watch and was a little dizzy I didn't realize how long I had been there. When the doctor found out what was going on I was in her office in less than two minutes. She apologized and assured me it wouldn't happen again. The good news is I don't have H1N1 or pneumonia. I do however have a really bad sinus infection which has spread to both of my ears. So everything sounds like it is muted and I can't breathe. Other than that I am fine. Oh and since I can't breathe I can't sleep well. And since I haven't been sleeping my blood pressure was very high so I can't take a decongestant. I am in a lose lose situation. The antibio

Yea, it's Monday

Does anyone know what happened to the weekend? Last I remember it was Friday and now it's Monday. Those two days sure have a way of slipping by quickly. Now if only we could get Monday through Friday to go by that fast and slow down the Saturdays and Sundays all would be great. I do have some great news. Chelsea was able to come home from the hospital yesterday. Without going into a lot of personal details I will just say that the doctors were able to isolate her problem and they have it under control. She still has some medical problems but she is continuing to show signs of improvement. And going from the ICU to home is a great thing. Now for the bad news....Guess who is sick now? Me!!. I have had a killer cold since Friday. It started with some post nasal drip, followed by a sore throat and now I feel like someone is standing on my chest. I am so congested it isn't funny. This morning I dropped by the gym since I couldn't sleep anyway and tried to workout. I ended up get