When in doubt, boil yourself.

Yesterday, as I often do when I catch a cold, or start to catch one, I fired up the jacuzzi tub and took a nice, hot, relaxing whirlpool batch. It really raises your core temperature and mentally at least, I feel better afterwards. Of course, the dehydration aspect isn't good, so you have to make sure you drink plenty of fluids, which I do anyway. This morning I felt much better, but not 100%.

This morning.....was my birthday morning!! My first call of good wishes came at 6:30 a.m. Fortunately, I had woken up 15 minutes prior and hadn't fallen back asleep yet, otherwise there would be one less "morning person" alive today. Two people sang me "Happy Birthday" over the phone and several people sent ecards. Thanks to you all!!!

Mystery solved on the gifter of the Chicago Bears Grill Cover. It was my ex-girlfriend from south of the border (at least heritage-wise). She also bought me a pocket watch that has a clip on it for clipping onto my golf bag or softball bag. Good stuff! It might seem odd to some that my ex is buying me presents, but they are reciprocated and I still love her dearly so it's not unexpected. Ahhhhh, unrequited love.....character builder or mental and emotional lupus?

Tonight, dinner with Ricardo and friends at Gale Street Inn. Should be fun. If I don't relapse tomorrow, some folks from softball are going out in the burbs, so that will be another birthday type celebration. Should be a good way to start my 42nd year on the planet (I'm 41 but this is my 42nd year).

Lastly, some notable passings as I ponder my short time left on this globe. Recently we saw the passing of Denny Sym. Who the hell is that you ask? Dolfan Denny is his better known name and he was a staple at all things Miami Dolphins. Back in the day, you'd see him all the time when the Dolphins were good. Similarly, Wilford "Crazy Ray" Jones passed away. He was the black Dallas Cowboy fan that you saw every Thanksgiving if you took a break from doing dishes to watch the game. Since Thanksgiving is a very important holiday to me, much more than Christmas, Crazy Ray will always be a part of my memories.

Also, Calvert DeForest passed away the other day, not to be confused with DeForest Kelley who played Leonard "Bones" McCoy the doctor on Star Trek and who is also dead. You might remember him as Larry "Bud" Melman on the David Letterman show. He was a funny character that made you laugh just by looking at him.

Finally, Captain America has passed away. While going to prison on several criminal charges (mainly related to not registering as a super powered being), he was shot by a sniper in the back. He died from the wounds.