A fine kettle of phish, and Protestant "guilt" ethic

My third day at work, and I call in sick. I started feeling not so great yesterday afternoon, after a poor night's sleep on Monday night. Woke up in the middle of the night coughing. Buckleys Mixture does work, for a while. Woke up again with the cat alarm ("We're alarmed! Wake up! Feed us! Let us help you wake up by knocking everything off your nightstand!"), just before the radio went on. Sneezing. Headache. Chills. Put on a fleece jacket under my thick cotton jacket since the indoor temp is over 20C. Good thing too, because Handsome Stranger was busy keeping my neck and shoulders warm, and I haven't clipped his claws lately.

I e-mailed and left voice messages with HR and my co-worker, asking for something to do. It's not strictly the Protestant Work Ethic---more like the Protestant Guilt Ethic. I can't take any cold/flu products that are available over the counter to alleviate symptoms, since almost all (including Alka-Seltzer) are contraindicated for diabetics. Otherwise I'd suck it up (unlike me, since I'm so self-indulgent when it comes to my health, sort of). So I asked for a document to work on.

And I got a very realistic PayPal message the other day. But I knew I hadn't sent a payment to anyone for anything. PayPal agreed that it was a spoof/phishing e-mail. I think these "phishers of men" take advantage of those of us who, while in our cups or three sheets to the wind or looking upon the wine while it is red, bid on auctions or buy products late at night. I try to avoid that these days, after the DazzleWhite fiasco. Though I was stone-cold sober when I fell for that one.