Featured photo is of a few items Bill picked up from the Apotheke for his “juicy cough”…

It’s a hot, sunny Saturday here in Germany. Bill is struggling with a really nasty cough. Remember last month when he brought home a virus from Spain that made us both sick? Well, I eventually got over my sickness. Bill initially seemed to get over his, but was left with a lingering cough that has since gotten worse.

He has a doctor’s appointment on Monday. I told him to get one, and he was not able to get one with his regular “GP” at Landstuhl until August. He also decided to seek one with the same ear, nose, and throat practice he visited months ago, when he had his ears cleaned out. 🤢

He also visited the neighborhood “Apotheke”, which is Germany’s version of a pharmacy. Here, drugs are sold exclusively in apothecaries, rather than in grocery stores. The guy who runs our local drug store loaded him up with 40 euros worth of stuff, some of which are naturopathic. I noticed that Bill got some Bronchipret, which I took last year. One of its active ingredients is thyme, which is well-known for helping with “chesty coughs”.

I took Bronchipret myself last year, when I got sick with a really nasty respiratory virus. I didn’t find it to be extremely effective, but it did help soothe me until my body was able to fight off the sickness. It also didn’t taste horrible.

Poor Bill has been waking up repeatedly at night, needing to cough a lot. The cough is very productive, but he’s still not able to clear his lungs as much as he needs to, so he can’t rest well. I’m sure the ENT will tell him to “get with his GP”, but he needs help now. Maybe they will give him a prescription. Hopefully, he won’t be treated as poorly as I was, two years ago, when I saw a specialist. But then, he’s a man… so he’ll probably get better care.

Being sick sucks. It especially sucks in the summer, when you live in a house that doesn’t have central air conditioning, and it’s hot as Hell outside. It’s not actually that hot today, but it’s definitely getting warm again. That will mean my ankles are going to blow up.

I wish I could enjoy summer more. I do miss Lake Zürich now.

Monday, I expect to get a brand new desktop computer, so that may help me make content a bit more efficiently. And on Thursday, we expect our new fridge to get here, so we can stop traipsing down to the basement to get food. Things are progressing. I do need to go to AAFES and order new glasses, too. I expect to buy my first pair of bifocals. Edited to add: just after I wrote this post, we went to AAFES in Wiesbaden and I ordered my new glasses.

SIGH…

Bill did have a birthday the other day. We celebrated with a snazzy birthday song I sang for him in a YouTube video. I thought maybe we’d go do something this weekend, but I think he’s feeling too poorly. Hopefully, he’ll be feeling better next weekend.

This morning, a golden retriever, belonging to a neighbor we have not met, was running amok in our neighborhood. The dog was not wearing a collar, and according to our next door neighbor, regularly jumps over the fence surrounding its neighbor’s yard, and visits our cul-de-sac. I hope the dog stays far away from the Autobahn.