First you feel a little fuzzy in the head.  Your inner ears feel itchy, like you’d really benefit from jamming that Q-Tip further inside just to scratch the itch.

Then the fuzziness in your head turns to pressure.  Someone’s squeezing your temples between a vise.  And your throat starts to feel that same itchiness that’s inside your ears.

You’re having trouble getting out of bed to go to work, even more so than usual.  But you know you only have to get through one more day before the weekend, when you can spend the whole time vegging out on the couch, watching TV and movies, letting your body rest.  You hope beyond hope that when Monday rolls around, you’ll wake up feeling 100% normal — or what passes for 100% normal for you.

You think maybe you’ll be able to chalk it all up to being tired and needing a little time to rest.  Maybe you’ve headed it off at the pass, nipped it in the bud, etc.

But then your nose starts running.  Yep, you’re screwed.  The cold has landed in your head, and it’s going to mess up your life for the next several days, and there’s NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!!!!