Maybe it's just been a while since I've had a really bad cold, but from what I remember colds were not as debilitating on the East Coast. Then again, part of me thinks I just built up anti-bodies for East Coast-versions of the cold, and these were my first couple experiences with West Coast-versions. The analysis could go on and on.
The first day you feel, often awake with, a slight sore throat. You're sort of suspicious, so you take a couple vitamins and let mother nature take its course. The rest of the day goes fine, no hiccups, so you forget about it. Which is why you're surprised when your nose starts waterfalling in the middle of your lab meeting the next day...for a good hour. The next few days is a series of remedy trials.
Try Nyquil, they said. You'll sleep better, they said.
I did sleep...for a few hours. Then I paced. Thought I was hungry. Thought I was nauseous. Thought I had an ulcer. Paced some more. Sweated. Ate some bread. Immediately regretted it. Paced some more. Lay in bed in a delirium, debating whether it's worth getting up to ask my roommate to take me to the hospital, or if the carpet's gonna move under my feet again.
I slept for another hour and awoke, determined that although I was in no condition for class, I would get work done at home. After spending an hour reading five sentences, yet being too wired to sleep, I resolved to stare at the window in wait.
By 4pm, the last fogginess had warn off and I vowed never to go near anything ending in -quil again. I resolved myself to Cold-eeze zinc supplements until they made EVERYTHING with cheese taste BITTER (note: most of my meals involve cheese of some sort, so yes, this was a huge issue) and just consented to vitamins until the horribleness passed.
This spring, on my second and much worse go around with the common cold, I discovered a zinc spray to replace the Cold-eeze, which didn't make my mouth or food taste as weird, Sudafed PE for the day of congestion, and cough syrup for the last few days of drainage and phlegm. Between me and my roommate who prefers other cold-aisle-products, we have a small pharmacy equipped for any challenge our sinuses cares to present us.
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The Good News?
It's almost a challenge to get a sunburn here! As someone who burns within 10 minutes of sun exposure back home, I was surprised when a lotion-less 3 hour trip to the beach with my burnt-resistant cousins which I thought would turn me into a lobster, only resulted in the slightest hint of pink!
Why? This question plagued me, and I came up with a few reasons that always seemed to fall short - smog? But that changes from day to day. Latitude? Not all that different from where I was on the East Coast, and possibly I'm farther south now than before, so that made no sense. Magic? Not impossible...
A friend helped me out by explaining it had to do with the fact that back home, the Mid-South Atlantic Coast falls within a Humid Subtropical Climate Zone (emerald green below), while my new SoCal home falls within one of the very few Mediterranean Climate Zones on the planet which does not border the Mediterranean Sea. And this gives the sun *magical* properties (aka, science)!
I take this to mean I essentially live in Italy!
Yes, I have gotten a few mild and maybe one bad sunburn, but on all of those occasions I had no lotion on for 3 hours between 11AM-3PM, the worst times of day. Mostly now I either go out for only an hour or half-hour at 2PM or later and am completely fine, even on back to back days.
No humidity AND less harsh sun? One could get used to this...
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