I wondered if my poor performance on the jiu-jitsu mat starting early May was a

prelude to something but on Tue May 7, an arm-bar went wrong in sparring and I

decided to take a few days off.

Tim had sufferred allergy for weeks but announced that he got sick on Wed.

Thursday evening, I felt a sore throat and mild chills. I sent Tim to school

early Friday for his AP History test and spent the rest of the morning drinking

coffee and reading the last 70 pages of A Hundred Years Of Solitude near the San

Jose Rose Garden. The evening was miserable with a lot of sneezing and just as I

tried to finish the day's quota copying the dictionary. I felt very tired going

to bed.

Saturday morning, I got up one hour later than usual and weighed 156.4 lbs, a

2.6-lbs drop. The sore throat and chills were gone but the nose was still

blocked and I felt a bit foggy. By early afternoon and the time I took the car

for a smog test, I felt much better.

But nasal symptoms lasted two more days before the energy came back.