We're not dead ...
... it just feels as though we are.
Recently a few people have rung to ask if we have fallen off the face of the Earth. No, and yes. We're still physically anchored to the planet, but have been so disgustingly debilitated by the horrible flu this year that for the last four or so weeks we have done exactly nothing.
Actually, that's not quite true. This is what I have done for the last four weeks:
* Get off plane from New Zealand, all enthused about great event with lovely people.
* Start feeling a bit under the weather.
* Struggle through the next week toughing it out.
* Attend grandmother's funeral in blisteringly cold weather.
* Sleep for the weekend, which was unfortunately the same weekend as Harry Potter VII came out and Bunch of Classes was on – an event at which I was meant to be teaching a class and running a pot-luck feast. Luckily J took over the latter, bless him.
* Was dragged out TV shopping on Sunday morning with J, because TV is more important than me not dying. As a result of my weak and febrile state, he now has a big shiny TV that I paid more than twice as much as I wanted to for. I'm taking the blessings back.
* Struggled into work on Monday for deadline.
* Slept Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon, J announces that he is now sick with the flu, too. I pointed out that if he'd stayed in the spare room as I asked him to, he would still be healthy and we'd both have had more sleep. He grunts at me and asks me to cook up soup. I am thankful that expensive deli soup exists, since it's no effort but tastes good.
* Saturday, after three days of coughing, J asks me to look at his ears. "They're bleeding," I say. "That's not a good sign. You should go to the doctor, or maybe the hospital."
* Sunday, much as Saturday.
* Monday morning at 12.30am, J decides to go to the hospital. This is seven hours before I start work. I walk him up to Newtown, make sure he's settled, taxi back.
* On arriving home I pick up the cat to move her out of the way. Notice she has a lump on the side of her face. Leave instructions for J to take cat to vet next day.
* 4.45am J gets home, he has managed to cough holes in both eardrums. Some boys just don't know when to stop in the "I have this worse than you" game.
* Monday evening after long deadline day I take cat to vet with her now larger lump. Abscess, requires surgery.
* Tuesday, pick up groggy cat with drain through face. Hand over almost exactly the same amount I paid for the TV. Goodbye dreams of new laptop and printer, goodbye! Bring cat home to a novel life of being indoors and wearing a bucket. Luckily, she is both toilet trained and fastidious, plus a genuinely sweet cat, especially given she used to be feral.
* Last week and a half is spent with three sick people being asleep a lot and awake at odd hours and living on toast and deli soup. Missed at least three other things I really really wanted to go to and was so sick I hallucinated Harry Potter passages.
So, in short, I'm not avoiding anyone or anything except inasmuch as I like most of you and do not want to infect you. Also, have exactly enough energy to walk up hill to ATM and back. This is actually a big improvement on Monday when running for the train required 10 minutes panting until lungs worked again.
If someone near you sneezes, RUN, FLEE, THROW ON A FACEMASK! This is a horrible, horrible flu and is knocking people over like some crazed skittles metaphor that I'd construct elegantly if only my brain was not still full of snot.
And there are three posts lined up ready to go as soon as I can write again: Midwinter, Peerage Secrets You May As Well Know, and, my personal favourite, What My Cat Looks Like in a Bucket. You lot stay well. And to Phil, Deense and other plague victims, get better!
Recently a few people have rung to ask if we have fallen off the face of the Earth. No, and yes. We're still physically anchored to the planet, but have been so disgustingly debilitated by the horrible flu this year that for the last four or so weeks we have done exactly nothing.
Actually, that's not quite true. This is what I have done for the last four weeks:
* Get off plane from New Zealand, all enthused about great event with lovely people.
* Start feeling a bit under the weather.
* Struggle through the next week toughing it out.
* Attend grandmother's funeral in blisteringly cold weather.
* Sleep for the weekend, which was unfortunately the same weekend as Harry Potter VII came out and Bunch of Classes was on – an event at which I was meant to be teaching a class and running a pot-luck feast. Luckily J took over the latter, bless him.
* Was dragged out TV shopping on Sunday morning with J, because TV is more important than me not dying. As a result of my weak and febrile state, he now has a big shiny TV that I paid more than twice as much as I wanted to for. I'm taking the blessings back.
* Struggled into work on Monday for deadline.
* Slept Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon, J announces that he is now sick with the flu, too. I pointed out that if he'd stayed in the spare room as I asked him to, he would still be healthy and we'd both have had more sleep. He grunts at me and asks me to cook up soup. I am thankful that expensive deli soup exists, since it's no effort but tastes good.
* Saturday, after three days of coughing, J asks me to look at his ears. "They're bleeding," I say. "That's not a good sign. You should go to the doctor, or maybe the hospital."
* Sunday, much as Saturday.
* Monday morning at 12.30am, J decides to go to the hospital. This is seven hours before I start work. I walk him up to Newtown, make sure he's settled, taxi back.
* On arriving home I pick up the cat to move her out of the way. Notice she has a lump on the side of her face. Leave instructions for J to take cat to vet next day.
* 4.45am J gets home, he has managed to cough holes in both eardrums. Some boys just don't know when to stop in the "I have this worse than you" game.
* Monday evening after long deadline day I take cat to vet with her now larger lump. Abscess, requires surgery.
* Tuesday, pick up groggy cat with drain through face. Hand over almost exactly the same amount I paid for the TV. Goodbye dreams of new laptop and printer, goodbye! Bring cat home to a novel life of being indoors and wearing a bucket. Luckily, she is both toilet trained and fastidious, plus a genuinely sweet cat, especially given she used to be feral.
* Last week and a half is spent with three sick people being asleep a lot and awake at odd hours and living on toast and deli soup. Missed at least three other things I really really wanted to go to and was so sick I hallucinated Harry Potter passages.
So, in short, I'm not avoiding anyone or anything except inasmuch as I like most of you and do not want to infect you. Also, have exactly enough energy to walk up hill to ATM and back. This is actually a big improvement on Monday when running for the train required 10 minutes panting until lungs worked again.
If someone near you sneezes, RUN, FLEE, THROW ON A FACEMASK! This is a horrible, horrible flu and is knocking people over like some crazed skittles metaphor that I'd construct elegantly if only my brain was not still full of snot.
And there are three posts lined up ready to go as soon as I can write again: Midwinter, Peerage Secrets You May As Well Know, and, my personal favourite, What My Cat Looks Like in a Bucket. You lot stay well. And to Phil, Deense and other plague victims, get better!
posted by Miss D at 12:28 am
17 Comments:
You can add me to your list of plague victims. I thought it was just a combo of jetlag and graduation week, but turns out it is the flu.
I love how doctors give you the helpful advice of "It's the flu, nothing you can do except rest, stay hydrated and eat vitamins". Then when you ask "how long till this thing buggers off?" they say "Oh anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months".
I'm in week 2 and I'm a very impatient sick person.
Love you, J and Minny. Looking forward to seeing photos of "cat with bucket".
Woohoo! Once again my cast-iron constitution sees me through.
I had this flu, (yes, I really did! I had all the symptoms, only less so) for about 2 weeks, but was fit enough for pretty much all my normal activities, so long as I went to bed early, cutting out the wandering around the house doing cleaning and projecting bit.
I feel fine now.
Hope you're all well by the time I get up there for Rowany 25th!
Who needs an Iron-constitution...just dont get the Flu...its much easier...
This is made much easier by not having a major flu outbreak where you are living, in fact in the city you are living. This makes dodging flu much easier.
Now all we need is to keep dodging the flu for the next week. Unfortunately we havent managed to dodge evil colds and gastro, but then you cant have everything
Oh no! Get well soon Art!
As for you, Elf boy, you so did not have this flu if you just felt a bit under the weather. Last night it killed a big Army man (as opposed to the five feebler people it's already killed). And while yes, you may shake off lesser germs as though they were flies, that's because you're barely more than a foetus in age and live in the few parts of Australia where the air is see through. I make dismissive hand gestures at you.
Penguin, protect your dear wife and the rest of your city: seal the borders. Adelaideans have long looked for an excuse to deny Sydneysiders the pleasures of your delightful locale, I feel this may be it.jamesp
Why did it type Jamesp there when I was typing that in an email window? Stoopid internets ...
To late.
Alfar brought the plague with him last weekend.
Now our dear baroness has become a victim of the dreaded illness.
Get better everyone!
I work in those viral traps called schools, but have avoided the plague. I feel very thankful. (And a tiny bit smug, with is clearly a defect in my character.)
Among the many risk factors we identified in our Coronation planning was "Coronation flu". After a bit of thinking, we realised it wouldn't take hold until afterwards, hence Not Our Problem. Though it knocked me out for a fortnight too.
At present, we're blaming either Tycho or Yseult as our Typhoid Marys; both admit to being a bit under the weather while at the event. But hey, we would have missed them if they hadn't come...
Get betterer.
I add much sympathy, wishes for the getting better for everyone and requests for my cat with a bucket on its head.
I have had a cold, not the flu. I have jestingly called it the plague and milked Mr B for kindness mainly because I knew I had escaped the real thing for the time being. Of course, I have 3 stitches in my thumb, but that is a minor inconvenience.
You STILL have a present waiting for you, miss d. One day in spring.....
Sorry to hear you have both been unwell and hope you recover soon! Unfortunately the plague is rampant in Radburne as well! I'm still recovering from Bronchitis - the dreaded cough just wants to hang on!
All the best - Katrijn
Gah!
Your poor things. I hope you're both feeling a bit better now. (I need a memory transplant so that I can remember to check my non-LJ friends bogs more often!)
We all came home from Coronation with it, in fact I came down with it in a big way on the Sunday afternoon. Am all but over it now, what, six weeks later? Damn stupid suppressed immune system.
And cats with buckets. Both the most amusing and most heartbreaking thing ever. When I had the Stripey Monster de-catted when she was tiny, she'd forget she had the bucket on, and I'd wake up in the middle of the night with the bucket in my face while she tried to sleep on my head.
hope you are better and the bucket-headed furry one is mended. Why do men when ill or slight green around gills think they are dying..my beloved should audition for a american soap opera with his skills at melodrama.
I got the frakken flu twice now. This thing is evil and has wrecked my plans of being a mountain biking/fighting god for 2007. :(
It's all a deception. You have, in fact, fallen off the face of the planet.
"We're not dead..."
Well, you're doing a bloody good impersonation of it! *Poke, poke*
Anyone know why the writer stopped writing?
Is this some sort of complete & utter holiday?
Missing your wisdom & funny comments.
H
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