Provincetown, day 3

Provincetown, day 2

Provincetown, day 1

Better!

Sorry about my cranky post yesterday. I was hitting a wall with my cold -- just so frustrated after days of not feeling well. I did finally go to the doctor yesterday morning, and $100 later, I have some antibiotics and an (unnecessary) inhaler.

(Doctors seem obsessed with asthma medication these days -- this is not the first time I've had a doctor put me on an inhaler when I'm getting over a cold. I mean, I hate to act like I know better, but isn't it normal to have some mucus in your lungs after a cold? Won't they clear out on their own? I guess this is why drug companies advertise their asthma meds so aggressively.)

Anyway, I'm glad I seem to have turned the corner, because Dave and I are taking off tomorrow for a five-day vacation in Provincetown. I've never been there before, so I'm looking forward to it. Apparently we're slated for some chilly weather while we're there, but I'm excited no matter what.

Last night we went into the city to visit with a friend before she moves out of New York for good -- she's going back to Michigan because she couldn't find a job in the city. (I can relate!) We went to the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park, which made for a chilly dinner -- it was 37 degrees and we were sitting outside. (No indoor seating. Did I mention that I have a cold?)

(Photo: Fence in Red Hook, Brooklyn, last week.)

Still Sick!

My cold has lingered for a week now. Despite my continual coughing and hacking, I thought I was getting better -- and then woke up this morning with a pounding sinus headache. So I'm going to the doctor.

I usually try to let my body take care of itself, so when this cold first arose and Dave urged me to go to the doctor, I resisted. I figure there's no point in spending money when my body will heal on its own.

Dave, on the other hand, went to the doctor promptly when he contracted this cold. He's still coughing a bit but he hasn't had nearly the scope of problems I've had. His cough was milder and he hasn't had any sinus trouble at all. He missed work one day, but I was out of commission for at least four days this week.

Was the difference because he went to the doctor, or just because the cold affected him less? Who knows? All I know is, I'm annoyed and sick of being sick. Argh!

Space: 1999

How many of you remember a TV show from the mid-'70s called "Space: 1999"? It starred Martin Landau and Barbara Bain in their post-"Mission Impossible" years, as astronauts stranded aboard a moon colony when a nuclear explosion blasts the moon out of orbit. It was syndicated and aired on independent channels around the U.S.

I watched it fairly regularly as a kid, but I hadn't seen it since. The other day I got to thinking about one particular episode involving a tentacled alien monster that ate several astronauts and spit out their smoking corpses. As you can imagine, that image vividly imprinted itself on my childhood mind. I think it gave me nightmares, but at the very least it creeped me out.

I went online and looked up an episode guide for the series. Sure enough, the episode was called "Dragon's Domain," from 1975. Assuming I saw it around that time, I would have been nine years old.

And imagine my excitement when I discovered DVDs of the entire series available on Netflix! Naturally I ordered "Dragon's Domain" immediately, and Dave and I watched it last night.

I'd forgotten so much about the series! For one thing, it was made in England, so everyone except Landau and Bain has a British accent. The costumes and sets are vaguely Kubrickian a la "2001: A Space Odyssey," though on an obviously much smaller budget.

It was fun to watch -- especially now, from the other side of the real 1999. It's funny to think people in the 1970s imagined we'd be so advanced in our conquest of space by then. (Once again, shades of "2001.")

My memory of this particular episode was surprisingly very accurate. The monster (obviously foam rubber, with a blazing headlight for an eye) ate the four astronauts in the order I remembered, and was killed the way I remembered. There was a lot of exposition in the middle that I naturally did not remember, but what do you want from a nine-year-old?

I always wonder what children would be learning if they didn't have television. If I hadn't invested my time, energy and brain cells in "Space: 1999," would I have learned more about my environment? Maybe I'd know the names of all the weeds in the front flower bed. Or maybe I'd have been bored and getting into mischief and bitten by a poisonous snake. Who knows?

(Photo: "We are coming," Red Hook, Brooklyn, last week.)

Sick

I've come down with a heck of a spring cold. Bleah! It started with a tickle of a cough on Sunday night and now it's in my nose too. I'm just lying around the house, watching lots of TV, and I don't have the energy to do anything else. Normally lying around like this would make me crazy!

I may try to get out for a little walk later today, just to get some air. Meanwhile Ernie and I are camped in the recliner, watching old episodes of "Little House on the Prairie." Pathetic!


Dave (who had this particular cold himself about a week ago) keeps urging me to go to the doctor, but I don't have a fever, so I don't think the doctor could do anything. It's just a cold, and it needs to run its course.

(Photos: Old bumper stickers on a derelict car parked near our apartment.)