I've finally succumbed to the creeping ick that Mark picked up last week at work. But today instead of staying home and cuddling with my good friend nyQuil, I sucked it up and went to work.
Why?
Because I am in sunny, cool California. With electricity. And gas in my car. An internet connection. Food in the cupboard. Drinkable water in the pipes.
My coworker (whose work tasks I've picked up on top of my already overfilled workload) lives near Ft. Lauderdale. Florida. She is also sick, as are 2 of her 3 children and soon her husband. While their home is still nearly intact (the patio furniture flew away or was otherwise destroyed when Wilma blew through earlier this week), she has no electricity and may not for another *three weeks*. They just got the water back on (after 5 days without running water) but it is non-potable. They have 1/4 of a tank of gas left in their car, despite waiting in line at the station for 2 hours (and getting nothing). Their food supplies are running low and while the older children are coping, the toddler is going bonkers because she's sick and completely without her normal routine. When we got off the phone, they were gonna head further north with hopes of finding an open gas station where they could refill their tank and ATMS that were working so they could get money to buy food and other supplies. The only thing that has been working the whole time has been her phone service so at least they've been able to communicate with the outside world.
Yeah... My day has been pretty easy...
