And as usual

Aw, dammit! ...get better soon, Nathan.

Nuts, we'll miss you.

For immediate relief, I'd suggest hot water w/lemon & honey in copious quantities, plus hot-as-you-can-stand-it steamy showers (to help break the congestion up).

If this happens "EVERY time you get a break from work," might there be something environmental around the house that triggers it? (Could be as mundane as different humidity.)

Actually, I do think work keeps me from getting sick. :)

Last time it hit, I had just had dinner at a table with (among other people) a heavy cigar smoker, who absolutely reeked. The next day I had a cold and sore throat, which migrated to my chest and became bronchitis. Naturally this happened in Alexandria, VA, where I was supposed to spend the next three days "gripping and grinning" -- and not at work :)

This time I imagine it was a combination of chilly weather right before we left Southwest Florida, plus something in the air on the plane, plus the bracing weather we encountered when we walked out to the van to drive home. Next day, I had a cold and a sore throat, two days later it migrated to my chest, etc.

If it were actually something here at home I believe I would be sick all the time, because I work from home and probably spend close to 2/3 of my life here in the house. I think there are environmental factors but they are random (opportunistic?) rather than always-present. For instance, my wife used to smoke, and the bronchitis fired up two or three times a year. Since she quit smoking several years ago, it's more of an annual thing, and pretty much unpredictable. I have noticed that I am much more sensitive to cigarette and cigar smoke now than I was before she quit.

Anyway we have HEPA filters around because Sally is allergic to the cats. So it's unlikely that something around the house is "activating" the bronchitis.

FWIW I hate hot showers when I'm sick because the coughing hurts too much :) And luckily my doctor was in today and I was able to get a Z-pack (which Sally was out to pick up when I wrote the original post). I already feel better after the first dose but I probably shouldn't be out and about for the next couple of days if I can avoid it.