While Rosario is nice and chipper about taking notes, I'm a little under the weather. The flu seems to be making its rounds down at LMU.

Although I feel like I'm getting sick, I don't feel too bad. Mostly because I take a few precautionary steps right when I get that "Oh God, I'm going to wake up sick tomorrow." That feeling is not to be confused with "Oh God, I'm going to wake up puking and smelling of beer tomorrow."

Since I've taught myself to be more aware of sickly feelings, my longest sick period has been easily less than 24 hours. Here's what I do:

• Take an Airborne and a vitamin. Most of my friends and I agree, Airborne is probably little more than a placebo. But hey, the extra vitamin C couldn't hurt.


• Drink Gatorade (or something similar). When they say drink plenty of fluid, they mean drink plenty of fluid, preferably something with electrolytes. Lemon-lime Gatorade is my sick beverage of choice: very hydrating when just enough sugar. Have a peeing contest with your friends.


• Sleep and nap like it's your job. It's amazing what a good night's rest will give you. Above all other steps to follow, this one is most key. I try to get at least 8 hours of sleep, preferably 9 or 10. Also, forget the mantra "a nap longer than a half hour will mess up your sleep pattern." I don't care if I mess up my sleep schedule if it means I'm healthy.


• Take it easy (if possible). You might be getting sick during the week of midterms or finals, in which case it might be pretty tough to relieve the stress. Even if you're not incapacitated and just feel a little under the weather, don't try to run a marathon.


• Use medication sparingly. Remember those days when you only needed to drink a beer or two to start feeling the juice's effects? Over-the-counter medicine works the same way. Don't take them unless the pain is unbearable or you have some work that can't wait.

Those are probably the top 5 ways I can think of of how to squash a sickness before it starts. I'll cross my fingers and hope they work this time. If not, I might be writing tomorrow on how to comfort yourself while you're deathly ill.

Feel free to list your tricks or superstitions about colds in a comment.