Today I'm home sick. Apparently I caught the cold that's been going around. On the train and at work, I see people with gauze masks on, and if I take that as an indicator of how many people have a cold, it's quite a few. (For sanitariness, many Japanese wear those masks when they get sick. It's so that one minimizes the spread of germs, but with the ultimate goal of allowing as many people to continue working as possible! I think it's a great practice, yet one that would never fly with Americans because they're too concerned about appearances.) I've got a sore throat, so when I talk it hurts. This morning I had a bit of a fever, and a headache that prompted me to sleep most of the day off.

Ah well, this beats going in to work. Then again, there are a bunch of problems, so I should really be there. I'll probably end up putting on a mask and going in tomorrow. For now I can still plug into work remotely and catch up on email. Even my down time isn't really down time. Actually I'm more likely to take care of a few things around the house that haven't been getting done because I spend all day at work. Just another two months, and then things are going to change....