Florida -- Beginning of Day 1
Feb. 26th, 2003 03:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jducoeurHow Not to Start Your Vacation
So the worst moment in the vacation came at the very beginning. Consider this recipe: take a slightly flabby Northeasterner, who is by now very used to wintertime temperatures. Don't give him much water on Saturday (I normally keep myself well-hydrated, but you just can't get them to give you enough liquid on a plane ride), and keep him in a relatively dry environment (an airplane). Plonk him down in nice warm Florida weather. End Saturday with an Ultimate (read: big) Margarita and a fine Alcoholic Coffee Drink at the restaurant that is conveniently within walking distance of the room. Start Sunday with, uh, recreational jacuzzing in the hot tub in the bedroom. And then go into a nice hot shower.
Somewhere during the shower I began to feel really, really bad -- queasy, dizzy, spots before my eyes, the whole nine yards. For a moment, I was absolutely sure that I was about to pass out, and suspecting I was going to die, I felt so horrific. Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to get out fast, and follow my body's imperitive to get as much water as I could, as quickly as I could. I went through about 24 ounces of water and 12 of orange juice over the next few minutes, before I started to feel normal again.
Nothing serious, as far as I can tell -- probably a bad case of heat exhaustion brought on by dehydration, and maybe worsened by a panic attack. Gave me a near-Pavlovian avoidance of alcohol for the next several days, though: even the idea of anything reducing my hydration made me a shade queasy.
The rest of the day was pleasant, fortunately, and will follow in the next entry...
So the worst moment in the vacation came at the very beginning. Consider this recipe: take a slightly flabby Northeasterner, who is by now very used to wintertime temperatures. Don't give him much water on Saturday (I normally keep myself well-hydrated, but you just can't get them to give you enough liquid on a plane ride), and keep him in a relatively dry environment (an airplane). Plonk him down in nice warm Florida weather. End Saturday with an Ultimate (read: big) Margarita and a fine Alcoholic Coffee Drink at the restaurant that is conveniently within walking distance of the room. Start Sunday with, uh, recreational jacuzzing in the hot tub in the bedroom. And then go into a nice hot shower.
Somewhere during the shower I began to feel really, really bad -- queasy, dizzy, spots before my eyes, the whole nine yards. For a moment, I was absolutely sure that I was about to pass out, and suspecting I was going to die, I felt so horrific. Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to get out fast, and follow my body's imperitive to get as much water as I could, as quickly as I could. I went through about 24 ounces of water and 12 of orange juice over the next few minutes, before I started to feel normal again.
Nothing serious, as far as I can tell -- probably a bad case of heat exhaustion brought on by dehydration, and maybe worsened by a panic attack. Gave me a near-Pavlovian avoidance of alcohol for the next several days, though: even the idea of anything reducing my hydration made me a shade queasy.
The rest of the day was pleasant, fortunately, and will follow in the next entry...