I encourage you to get then now if you can. You don’t want this stuff. It has just drug on and on for me. I can’t remember ever being sick this long. Day 12 here. I did go to the doctor last Monday finally because it had settled in my ears and given me an earache. I got a prescription for that and that seems to be getting better. I think now it is the medication itself which is giving me the problem partially. But I do feel like I need to keep taking it. I’ve got to get this cleared up before leaving on our trip. I don’t want to fly with an ear infection. I’ve heard it can cause a busted ear drum. Although I don’t know if that is true, personally I can’t imagine having ears which are hurting and then climbing thousands of feet into the air in an airplane and everyone knows how THAT affects the ears. I think it would hurt terribly. And this is much too long of a flight to suffer through that.

The medications make me feel like I want to sleep all day, which is not a good thing with three six-year-olds running wild through the house. Ho hum! I’m just so sick of being sick. I will write more once I’m better.

Later,
Amy

We’re at twelve days and counting before the kids and I leave on our trip to India. I’ve now got to get serious about getting things together.

Yesterday, after finally having recuperated enough from the flu to do so, we went shopping for a few necessities of the trip. At our local travel related super store I browsed the water treatment/filtration isle and found something with which I was very impressed. It is called a SteriPEN used for sterilizing water. You can find it online at REI.com.

The SteriPEN is pen-shaped and can be carried anywhere easily. It uses 4 AA batteries to create an ultraviolet light which destroys waterborn viruses, bacteria and protozoa—including Giardia and Cryptosporidium in seconds. It sounds too good to be true, but I researched it on the Internet all morning and can find only positive things to say about it.

The SteriPEN is fairly expensive at $150 so I am debating, of course, whether this is a necessity or not. Water in India is not safe to drink. It must be boiled or treated before it can be safely used. But I won’t always have a convenient way to boil water so I need another option.

Bottled water is inexpensive and available throughout India, however, a common scam is to collect discarded empty water bottles to refill with untreated tap water and sell as new.

Considering we plan to be in India for three months I think this gadget can easily pay for itself. I think I’m going to give it a try. I will report back here with an update after we’ve used it awhile and let everyone know my opinion.

My apologies for not having written for awhile. The past few days I have been sick with a cold or the flu (I’m not completely sure which.) and barely making it off the couch for most of the day.

Did you know having the flu does not necessarily mean that you are throwing up? I didn’t. I used to think there were clear cut differences between the flu and a cold. According to the Center for Disease Control the two are very similar and difficult to tell apart. In general the flu is worse and symptoms more intense. Considering I’ve never had a common cold keep me down this long . . . I think I had the flu.

Now . . . I never thought you would hear me say this, but I sure do wish my girls would get sick too. And the sooner the better so that they will have it over with before we need to leave on our trip.

It is now fourteen days before we fly. I haven’t got much of anything done since my last post — this darn flu bug thing got in the way. Although, passports being renewed did come back and I was able to get them sent back out the same day to the Indian Consolate requesting visas.

I sure would like to order another pair of glasses before I go . . . if I have time. This is something I’ve been planning to do for a couple of months now. My new prescription hangs right here beside me on the bulletin board near my desk. But just have not got around to it. Now, what if something happens to my only pair while travelling in India? I’m as blind as a bat without the specs so I would have no choice but to get another pair made over there. But even getting to the optician’s office without glasses would be a big challenge for me. It would be a challenge here at home where I know my way around, but a disaster made for comic television in a foreign country. Better to have a back-up pair along.

My last two pair of glasses have been ordered online. For anyone who has not tried it — I highly recommend it. It is cheap and simple. And did I say CHEAP. The place online which I have used is called 39DollarGlasses because . . . that’s right, you can get a complete pair of glasses for $39. (The last pair I bought locally many years ago I paid $250! YIKES! I will never do that again.) The glasses I have on right now are from 39DollarGlasses. They are great. I’ve worn them for over two years and they’re still in excellent condition. The frames are stylish wire rims and have the springy temple pieces which I love. $39 includes thin (although not the super thin) high index lense. Besides 39DollarGlasses there are other inexpensive places online as well, but this is the only place which I have any experience with and can recommend.

Hey, I just checked at 39DollarGlasses. YES! They can deliver in time for trip. I’m off to do my shopping.

Amy