You’ll believe a 39-year-old man can get an ear infection in … COLDPOCALYPSE NOW.

So, yeah, just as I was starting this new career adventure, the worst cold I’ve had in recent memory decided to take up residence inside my noggin. I’ve spent most of the last week emptying tissue boxes, hacking up gunk, and not being able to hear out of my left ear. It was actually bad enough for me to go to UMC Urgent Care on Thursday, where they flushed out my ear a bit, saw signs of infection, and prescribed antibiotics.

As I’ve probably mentioned several times in the past, I typically get a quick little three-day cold about twice a year, when the weather changes drastically around here from cold or hot or vice-versa. Usually spring is worse, because I spend a month suffering from pollen allergies, which then naturally leads into the cold. It’s common for a lot of allergy-sufferers, but this time around, I think it got exacerbated by a variety of factors.

Last Friday night, MOONBOOTS played a fairly raucous show at Double Down Saloon with a bunch of crazy touring and local bands. That meant I spent about 5 or 6 hours in a very smoky bar, drinking a fair share of liquor. Neither of those things are great for the immune system. I woke up with a bit of a sore throat on Saturday, but attributed it to the smoke and figured it would clear out. Had dinner with friends that night, where I drank about a half of a bottle of wine.

I probably would have been better-off if I’d instead started dosing Zicam all day, because come Sunday morning, the cold came a’calling. I took it easy that day, started in on the Zicam, but nothing would prevent me from having to start my first full day in the office at the new gig doped up on cold medicine and tearing through multiple boxes of facial tissues. The rest of the week was a haze, half working from home trying to tackle these new projects, half dozing out on cold medicine.

In between coughing fits, I’ve managed to log a lot of sleepy time, so I’m pretty well rested, but my left ear is still blocked (though thankfully not as painfully as it was Thursday morning–I mean, it hurt to yawn or eat), my head is still fuzzy and I have the occasional icky cough. But I’ve at least finished with our 2015 taxes (for which, of course, we owe $$$), caught up on paying piled-up bills, and hey, even found time to write this blog post. I think that’s enough for today, though. Bed is calling.