So.

Miracle cure for sore throat?

Cayenne pepper.

NO MORE GARGLING SALT WATER YAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!! All my life, I have haaaated that. My throat's been getting gunkier and gunkier all day, and while a bit of wine seemed to help, I didn't think drinking wine all evening just to numb a sore throat was a good idea. So, a quick google search, and the top handful of hits (one with 135+ comments of people agreeing) all said to gargle cayenne with warm water. Amounts varied, I think I did somewhere between a half tsp and a teaspoon in a bit over a cup of warm water.

Not that I've gotten through it all yet - my first attempt had me coughing and spluttering and generally making an amusing mess. And then trying again - because it felt better. It actually does a really great job of de-gunking your passages, which was exactly my problem today. Definitely feeling better, though I'm not sure yet if I've just numbed the nerve endings in my throat or what.. going to finish off that glass in a bit. :) ---but now TOM is having computer issues, riding on the tail end of my own. He went to use his computer tonight, and we found it had shut itself off - his impressive little (ok not little) liquid cooling system cut out on him again. A few minor adventures later, he discovered it wasn't that the coolant was old, it was that the pump cut out again. Given that it's three years old (three millenia in computer-time).. he might be stuck and have to get a new coolant-rigged case, which's like $300.

...while I'm very sympathetic, I'm afraid I'm not as sympathetic as I should be, as I just went through the same damn thing. XP Only, y'know, worse, because it was four to five separate issues that we didn't discover 'til--- oh yeah, so, you know how things were starting up but then locking up a minute into use? Yeah. Wasn't so much the power supply cord being wrong as it was that Tom accidentally used the cd bus on the harddrives. *has to laugh* That's so the sort of thing *I* would do - and have, in fact, done (see the entry on formatting the wrong drive *facepalm*). But at least that was a free problem. NOW we find that my new video card is shorting out my monitor - but only in Linux, not in Windows. Damned if I have any idea why. I got mad at it yesterday and just walked away and spent a lovely afternoon in town instead of yelling at my computer. And it really was very, very nice, it's been gorgeous out, and I finally made it to the new ice cream place in town, and had a lovely time visiting all my favorite places (i.e., Randy's Antiques and Pioneer Cemetary, heh).

...but I hadn't meant to post anything more than WOOO CAYENNE PEPPER - I'm beat, and Tom needs to use my comp tonight to order, I guess he can get an external cooling system for like $100, so we'll see. I really do feel bad, I can't believe the computer issues we've had lately. But I s'pose we were overdue, I haven't had a major issue (apart from my external drive which I've given up on for a bit) in rather awhile. I'm just glad all my own chaos coincided with my tax refunds! ^^; I'd be kinda doomed otherwise (and I still managed to squirrel away a bit in my savings, so yay).