I had a flu shot. And then got the strain of flu that wasn't covered by the shot. So it can't be the flu, I have already had the one strain I could get. I am achy, have a sore throat, watery eyes, sinus congestion and a runny nose. How the hell can you have congested sinuses and a runny nose at the same time? I sat in my chair last night with my throat getting more sore with every passing minute. No sleep at all last night for me, no exaggeration at all. It is now 10:00am and I have been awake for 29 hours and I have a meeting tonight that may not end till 10:00pm. Great.....

But the really important thing is what the heck kind of illness do I have? DG says that I overreact and jump to conclusions occasionally so I purposely took my time and thought this whole scenario out. I thought and thought all morning and then it came to me. All night long while I was trying to sleep in my recliner, Lola and occasionally Trixie would come into the den and sniff me. And Lola scratched at my hands and face for a solid 5 hours. She would wander around the house and then jump up on my lap and start scratching at me, wander-scratch, wander-scratch, repeat.  Trixie would jump into the chair and punch me in the groin. I thought they were hungry but I gave them some bread and that didn't help. Lola acts like this when she is going into a cluster of seizures and I even went as far as giving her an extra Phenobarbital in hopes that I could starve off the cluster. It didn't change anything. When I left for work though she was laying calmly on the bed with DG. So the cause of her agitation was me. That is when the light bulb went on and everything fell into place....

Dogs are sensitive to sickness and disease. Lola and Trixie are both Basenji. Lola is full blood or almost which is why she was more persistent and Trixie who is a Basenji mix was less persistent. Their genes are African in origin. Their ancestors were great hunters and providers in Africa. They would know if I had an African based affliction.

Without a doubt I have the Ebola virus...... I just this morning bought a 36 pack of Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Formula in hopes it would conjure up a magic cure. It cost 3 1/2 gallons of low grade unleaded gas. I just read the box and it doesn't say anything about the Ebola virus. It does say consult your physician prior to use if you suffer from diabetes or have a sodium-restricted diet..... Oooops. How are you supposed to read the fine print when your eyes are watering.

Damnit.