Mon, 22 Nov 2004
Still ill
This is getting extremely tedious. First it was a sore chest and
a rattly cough combined with extreme tiredness.
Then it turned into something a lot nastier, with
overtones of bronchitis. Yesterday it mutated into a dry cough
(no more death rattle, thankfully) combined with a nose-cold of
the variety that produces bucketloads of slime. Now the
dry cough has turned irritating, my head feels like it's stuffed
with cotton wool, and every cough makes it feel as it my face is
about to fall off. I've got a disturbing feeling that things are
cycling back to setting one, and it's all about to repeat on me.
Stop the roundabout: I want to get off.
I respond to illnesses oddly, mostly on account of my commute to
the workplace being approximately three metres. If I take to my
bed things are really bad; by the same token, if I'm in my office
it doesn't mean things are good. So I'm spending most of my time
hunched in front of the computer, not able to focus well enough
to actually do anything useful, but too disturbed to take my
hands off it and go back to being convalescent. At least
yesterday I managed to watch Kill Bill Volume 1, even if I
don't have the energy to try playing games.
At least the web is entertaining, albeit not entertaining enough
to spark any creative thoughts. By way of Brad
DeLong's blog I ran across The
US as a Net Debtor: The Sustainability of the US External
Imbalances
(authors: Nouriel Roubini and Brad Setser (2004), (New York:
NYU)), which scared the pants off me when taken in conjunction
with the recent mutterings by the US Treasury Secretary and the
head of the Federal Reserve. America is my largest market, and
the idea that the dollar is heading over a cliff and the driver's
boot is jammed on the accelerator instead of the brake does not
fill me with joy. Maybe I need to start sniffing around Frankfurt
for opportunities. But that'll have to wait until next year,
now, by which time it might be too late.
Frankly, staying in bed is sounding more attractive all the time.
[Discuss market anomalies]
posted at: 19:07 | path: /excuses | permanent link to this entry
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