Thursday, February 26, 2009

Dextromethorphan dreams....

Jeebus! expateek had a harrowing experience early the other morning.

She was traveling again. Or she was still traveling, perhaps. Just one of those things for expateek, doncha know. The travel simply never stops.

Anyway, she was transferring from the station to the shuttle bus, laden with all her usual travel bags. She'd managed to get an extra thing (an original painting!) through security at Heathrow, so even though that was a sweet victory, having to tote an extra thing around was proving to be something of a mixed blessing. Still, as is her habit, she counted her bags and items at every change-over (2 duffles? check! one cabin-sized roll-on? check! one overstuffed Longchamps tote with laptop and documents? check! purse? check! one original painting? check!) and it all seemed to be going quite smoothly.

The shuttle stopped and everyone disembarked to wait for the small-gauge railwaycar to arrive. As expateek boarded, and counted her bags yet again, she realised, DAMN, she'd left her laptop behind on the shuttle bus! And the roll-on suitcase, filled with all her family's important documents (birth certificates, on-line banking passwords, foreign currency, etc, etc.)

Panicked, she begged the conductor to stop, but naturally, you can't back up a train, so the staff helpfully suggested she return on the next trip to retrieve her stuff.

expateek was sweating blood. She'd carried this stuff everywhere, all the way from Poland! Through England, Scotland, and on to the USA. How the heck could she have left behind two different bags (1/3 of the total!) in the flippin' shuttle bus?

It was awful.

She realised that her coat was no help. She struggled to take it off, but couldn't peel the sleeves off her arms, because she was so sweaty and upset. She twisted around in her seat in the railway car, but no dice, she couldn't get free.

The refreshments cart was going by, and she smelled coffee. Perhaps a jolt of caffeine would sort her out. She twisted in her seat again, more and more tangled up in her coat and scarf, and she thought...

"This just isn't right. Something is seriously out-of-whack here! Have I lost my mind?"

And expateek realised at that moment that her eyes were closed. Of course! Easy to leave bags behind when your eyes are closed! She opened one eye.

And there was a steaming cup of coffee on her beside table, provided by the ever-thoughtful Mr D. And the sheets were wrapped around her neck, and her feet were tangled in the nether covers, and it was all due to the evil effects of Tylenol Cold, and its dreaded active ingredient, Dextromethorphan.


IMG_6724, originally uploaded by ehdindigo.


Also known as a dissociative hallucinogenic drug if taken to excess. Which expateek didn't by the way, but there you are. expateek is a rather sensitive soul.

Dextromethorphan. Guaranteed to provide horror-filled, panicky dreams for the likes of a seriously jet-lagged expateek.


_

9 comments:

Red Shoes said...

Aww, expateek! What a harrowing, fraught night you have had. I hope that the coffee was real and that it made you feel lots better.

I've been meaning to ask, what US city are you moving to? I've poked about the blog to see if I missed it but couldn't find. Maybe you haven't mentioned it, in which case maybe you don't intend to disclose, and in which case, please ignore the question...

expateek said...

Hey, thanks for the kind thoughts! The coffee was real, thank goodness... and it did help. Gosh, I forgot that glop makes me crazy. No more OTC drugs for me. I'll stick with Scotch. Though that's no good for a cold. (On the other hand, a whiskey hot toddy? Hmmm)

It's Chicago for now, love. We don't actually know yet, long-term, but I feel surprisingly relaxed about it all. Meanwhile, it's weird to be back in the USA, with wide wide streets, and people who speak English, and golly, everyone's so damn friendly. It's almost creepy! I'd gotten used to gliding through my days in Warsaw, uttering nary a peep.

Thanks for commenting. It made my day. xx

Iota said...

Have you ever tried the British equivalent, Night Nurse? That just knocks you out cold for a night, and half the following day too. Whether it helps get rid of the cold, I don't know.

Pochyemu said...

Ommmggg what a horrific dream! I could feel your panic when you said it was the laptopp bag...it's my worst nightmare to forget one of my million bags whilst travelling.

I'm glad you've arrived safely. Say hello to Chicago for me! I wish you could have spent more time here - we could have torn this town UP, yo! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hannah Rose said...

hey mama. I could not sleep last night, and your blog gave me the idea to down some Nyquil... I slept like a baby!

pinolona said...

Isn't it lovely though when you wake up and find that it's Not Real and everything is going to be ok, and you can just lie in bed for another half hour with someone bringing you tea? (ok, the last point is wishful thinking, at least on my part!)

Christine said...

Hope you feel better soon. Not fun to get home and be all jet lagged and to have a cold on top of it all.

I avoid cold and flu remedies. They wire me up and I don't sleep. They can make me a little crazy too so combine that with being awake and it is not a pretty picture.

Thank goodness that was a dream.

Hannah Rose said...

What kind of blog are you running here, expateek? It's been a week that you've been in America, and we've heard nary a word! Doesn't ANYTHING interesting happen in the states?!?!?

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