Life's a riot with influenza

I've got to make this quick -- I only have about 1-1/2 hours of productivity before I slip back into the abyss of INFLUENZA.
The Tamiflu I am taking is supposed to blunt the effects of the disease. However, I am still coughing, still fatigued, still wondering why my knees and elbows hurt and I am still having feverish dreams in which goose-like birds with raccoon faces chase me around a shopping mall parking lot in Phoenix, Ariz. So, I'd hate to think what I would feel like without the Tamiflu.
I am listening to BILLY BRAGG, chugging apple juice out of a jar and wishing I felt better. Bragg is great. His strident songs, accompanied by his acoustic guitar, take me back to the 1980s and how his stripped-down songs were such a welcomed antidote to the heavily produced efforts that usually populated alternative radio back then.
Happier times than right now, with influenza slowly infiltrating the family after first striking Annika.
Our plans to visit the Des Moines area are now in tatters, and for the first time in about 15 years I didn't get the opportunity to participate in a workplace NCAA BASKETBALL POOL. Damn. I bet this is the year I would have won.