There's this old song by Joni Mitchell called Big Yellow Taxi that I heard as a kid. Part of the lyrics go, "Don't it always seem to you that you don't know what you got till it's gone. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot." It's funny that after years of not hearing that song, it would come back to me now. I guess that's mainly because my paradise has been paved over by the unspeakable evil called The Cold. It started as a runny nose a couple days before I left for school. That soon progressed into those deep, lung-aching coughs during the first week. By my 3rd day of classes, I had no voice. Labor Day weekend was spent mostly in silence and pain every time I tried to eat or swallow. After another long week of sickness, the cold finally left. So sad, right? Oh, don't worry. After only five days alone, my cold (or another one for all I know) returned! I have gone through a box of tissues in under a week, and my nose is so raw it hurts. At this point, I am completely convinced that my immune system is on strike. I am also convinced that it bribed our cafeteria to shut off the OJ machines for non-breakfast meals. See? This cold is making me nonsensical. So yes, lesson of the day: appreciate the cool things you have like a voice and not sneezing all the time and fun stuff like that.