Avoid Millbury Target. And never buy perishable food there, especially chicken and beef. I’ve found rotten meat there several times since they added groceries there (I’m talking green mold!) and have reported it to employees who just leave it in the cooler. I met a Worcester health inspector once who told me something like Target brings in so much money that the town and inspectors look the other way at almost all violations. The only time the health inspectors did anything was when the Pizza Hut inside had some major issue with dirty equipment and improper food storage—and technically that was on Pizza Hut, not Target.

Lastly, I always avoid it due to one cashier being open in the mornings and the absurd amount of pallets, stock people, boxes, and rolling carts blocking the aisles. The place is a disaster! It takes forever to check out and if you ever need to return something, block off an hour on your schedule.

I had a pretty bad cough in November of 2019 that didn’t completely go away until mid-February of 2020. I thought I had COVID before it crossed the ocean. I mean, it’s possible I had an early variant or something. It was the type of dry cough that made your eyes bloodshot, woke you up (if you ever even got to sleep), and made your whole body hurt, and it was hard to catch your breath. I went to ReadyMed maybe 5 times, saw various other doctors another 3-4 times. They checked for flu, pertussis, pneumonia, etc.—all negative. What helped me a bit was a cough med called Tessalon Perles and Azithromycin (Z-pack). After the antibiotics, the cough really began to subside. The doctors initially didn’t want to give me the Z-pack, but I insisted and it worked. A month later, right as stay in place happened, I got the flu. I got COVID last May, and it was very mild—5 days of just feeling blah with a mild fever, though I’m sure being vaccinated helped quite a bit.

Honestly, some coughs can last a month or two, but if it’s severe and impacting your breathing or sleep and OTC meds aren’t helping, ask about Tessalon Perles or getting antibiotics.