Man flu yet again.

It’s normally at around this time in a post that I start a sentence with “is it just me?”.

So… is it just me? I seem to remember when I was young that colds and the like turned up, lasted a week and went away.

And before anyone says something of the “it’s your age” nature, my memories are it affected older family members the same way…

But

Colds nowadays turn up, almost go, reappear with a vengeance the day after you thought you’d got rid of it

and the cough lasts forever! every cold nowadays comes with a hacking, barking cough that carries on for weeks and weeks.

Then the cold bit comes back yet again and your nose turns into a passable impersonation of Niagara Falls.

So

has the rhinovirus evolved with the resistant strains surviving all the cold remedies thrown at them?

Or are the cold remedies less effective, either because of the evolution of the nasties (or pasties, thank you spellchecker) or they are genuinely less good than they used to be?

I know from family experience that “stuff” you can get over the counter in continental Europe that works is NOT available in the UK.

Die Tochter‘s lactase tablets as a for instance are freely available in Germany but have to be purchased through Amazon in the UK.

And without these pills she can be very unwell.

More recently a cough remedy obtained in a pharmacy in Croatia has proved very effective against the mucus that causes persistent coughs.

But you cannot get it in a UK pharmacy.

Why? I do try not to get caught up in conspiracy theories but it does seem that we are being denied things that work well and are freely available elsewhere.

Most recently the mucus tablets were obtained in Armenia or Georgia (was just going to plump for one or the other but SHE might read this and If I’m wrong, well. I’d never hear the end of it…).

Hmm

Enough of man flu. I’m pleased to say that the fireworks was financially successful as well as spectacular on the night.

£2,000 up on last year which means approximately 5,000 paying spectators this year.

Not bad.

Often I mention I (help to) “run” the local fireworks and get the “so what” look in response.

Normally the mention of how many attendees there are tends to make it seem more of an achievement.

And I put the whole display out there on Facebook Live. All nineteen minutes and 20 seconds.

Yup, it’s a bl00dy long display…

My favourite remark? A local on holiday in Wales thanked me for enabling her and her family to see it this year despite being away.

Next year? Watch this space but my drone pilot friend was most annoyed I hadn’t invited him this year.

Do you actually do any work?

I hear you ask.

Of course BUT, if you’re running your business rather than the other way round, you get to do what makes you happy/money/fill in your own motivator here ____ .

And if your business allows you to run your life then well done you.

If not, maybe we should talk?

I’m going to stop here – otherwise the SEO system will want me to stick in more instances of man flu to tick the traffic light boxes in the app.

So here’s a picture of Armenia so you can be as annoyed with Die Tochter as I am. I wanted to go there too. Grumpy face emoji…

Remember your bible? this is THE Mt. Ararat, of Noah’s Ark fame. Armenia’s highest mountain and presently in Turkey… With thanks to Makalu / Pixabay