I’ve had a hell of a week. For context, I’m in Ohio, part of where the smoke from the wildfires in Canada got carried off to. The AQI was as high as what, 250ish?

When the smoke came through, that’s when the headaches started. They were terrible, worst I think I’d had in my life, I didn’t think they could get that bad. I assumed it was cause of the smoke, but I was mentally prepared to make an appointment with my doctor if they didn’t get better when the smoke cleared. I was visibly having issues, and I told my coworkers that I think the smoke was getting the best of me. A few of them said it was probably because of my glasses. Wtf? I’ve worked there for a year and a half and they all knew the glasses I wore and knew I never have had issues with them. I’ve worn the same pair for like 6 years now.

What I hate is that they didn’t even acknowledge the smoke as an issue. I said that I could smell it on Monday when leaving and they were like “I can’t smell anything”. Either I have the nose of a dog or they were being dismissive. You could clearly see it in the air and no one batted an eye.

And guess what? The smoke is gone, and I feel like I could run a god damn marathon. I feel like I could go to a death metal concert and head bang so hard you’d wonder how it’s still attached to my neck, and I wouldn’t stop feeling great.