JoeP is back, and sick

[JoeP]

Howzit folks (Howdy y'all, in translation).

I'm back at home, after a day in Sheffield, a day in London, three days in Brighton, another day in London and an afternoon in Heathrow (meetings, meetings). The Brighton bit was the conference they paid me to attend and speak at, and it was not bad as they go. I wish I had a video camera for the enormous flock of starlings wheeling and banking around the old (burnt-out) pier for 20+ minutes while I waited for a taxi on Wednesday.

Whine about illness follows.

I had a slight tickle in my throat before I left, and I was afraid the flight would make it worse, but I seemed to be OK until Tuesday night (when I stayed up a bit late at the "gala dinner" :blush: ). On Wednesday morning I was definitely croaky, but managed to cope with delivering my presentation with the support only of a glass of water. But on Thursday morning I was coughing and had blocked sinuses and flying back on Thursday night was pretty bad. Friday and yesterday I felt very tired, and intermittently coughing, headachy or very tired. Now :fingerscrossed: I seem to be getting better.

Boring old familiar whine about internet connection follows.

I don't know how much I'll be able to catch up with the forum today
New posts: 2,608
... in 148 threads
because my :fuming: internet connection keeps dropping. I've reported this problem to :fuming: Telkom twice now (plus follow-up calls) and they just don't get it. They clear the report when they feel like it. No one has inspected any of the lines or equipment at this end.

Anyway, nice to be back. Got myself a digital camera; prepare for photos of geckos and such like! :gecko:

Joe

[Leesifer]

Welcome back, Joe. :wave: Glad to hear you're starting to feel better now.

[livius drusus]

Joe's back! :banana: Joe's sick. :sadnana: Joe's dial-up sucks even more than usual. :angrynana:

If it's any consolation, I missed the hell out of you and it's great to have you back. Bring on the gecko pics. :glomp2:

[wildernesse]

:wave: Welcome back--hope you do feel much better very soon.

[viscousmemories]

Welcome back, Joe. :)

I'm sorry you're sick and that your 'net connection sucks, but I'm glad your trip went well. I recommend NyQuil for everything. Nothing says "It's good to be me" like a syrupy shot of sedatives.

[JoeP]

Will you mail me some nyquil? Is it even legal to transport across international borders? I'm counting hours until I can dose myself up with painkillers again (and then go to bed); meantime I've had cough syrup, Fisherman's Friends (the nuclear option of throat sweets), menthol for the nose and currently I'm on hot coffee.

[viscousmemories]

Wait, don't you have NyQuil in your country, or is it just that YOU don't have any NyQuil? 'cause surely you've got someone in your house who can make it to the store... :sick:

[JoeP]

I have only heard of this substance on internet boards.

[pescifish]

It sucks to be sick while traveling! I'm glad you are on the mend and back to posting. My condolences on your slow (and unreliable on top of that) Internet connection.

As for obtaining Nyquil, does drugstore.com ship to you guys?

[Petra]

Hello, Joe!

Bummer about being sick. Hope you feel better soon. Hot fresh lemon and honey drinks is what you want. But I only know that because we also don't have NyQuil.

Take it easy, rest up, and you'll be better in no time - even if ytou do have a sick internet connection.

:wave:

[beyelzu]

I have only heard of this substance on internet boards.
seriously, that sucks. nyquil cures what fucking ails you.

maybe they sell some sort of alternate grean licorice death syrup that has aspirin and is like 80 proof in South Africa.

[Godless Wonder]

I recently had a bad experience flying with a cold. My eustachian tubes got blocked in my right ear, and I could not equalize the pressure. Fluid (blood serum) seeped into my inner ear due to the pressure differential and I could hardly hear. I went to the doctor and he game me some (essentially) prescription strength sudafed and it cleared up, but for a couple days I wa nearly deaf in the right ear. He also told me I was lucky that my eardrum didn't burst (it hurt like hell) and he told me it still might burst. "aero-otitis" is what I had. I think I'm past the danger of it bursting now, but -- pretty scary. I value my hearing quite a lot.

What scares me about this is before I got on the plane I had a feeling that my ear was going to give me problems, but, dammit, I still got on the plane. The thing is, it was at a plane change in Atlanta that I realized it would quite likely become a problem. My other option was what? Stay in Atlanta until my cold disappeared? Actually, the aero-otitis had already just started, so I would have had to go to a doctor in Atlanta, get some sudafed, wait around for things to clear up a bit, then fly home. Ugly stuff.

Luckily whatever damage I suffered to my ear wasn't too bad, but I can still tell it seems a little bit different when I blow my nose, like my eardrum is weakened or something. Just be careful when flying.

in such a situation, it's hard to sit there and tell yourself, "I cannot get on this plane with my family, I have to go find a hotel and a doctor, and wait this thing out, at great expense." Somehow especially when it's the 2nd leg of a 2 leg flight and you're almost home. But, I think, having been through this scare, I would not get on that plane again. I hope I would have that much sense.

Edited to spell "Eustachian" correctly. Interestingly, google says "did you mean 'eustation"" if you search for "eustacion," even though "eustachian" is the correct spelling -- at least I think it is.

[maddog]

Hi, Joe,
I'm glad you're back. Being sicky kinda spoils any fun you might have had at the conference. Sorry you had to do it all when not feeling well. Airplanes are evil for that! Anyway, welcome home.

#81

[Dingfod]

Joe, glad you made it home!

Nyquil's basic active ingredients are aceteminephen (Tylenol, 500 mg), ethanol (20% or so), dextromethorphan (cough suppressant), doxylamine succinate (antihistimine). To get the same impact, mix up a dose of cough syrup in a shot of whiskey, pop a Benedryl and some Tylenol tablets in your mouth and wash them down with the whiskey cough syrup mix. Then sleep, sleep, sleep.

[livius drusus]

Damn. What do they hand out DIY Meth Lab pamphlets when you renew your license in Oklahoma?

[Dingfod]

License? What license? :innocent:

[JoeP]

Hi, Joe,
I'm glad you're back. Being sicky kinda spoils any fun you might have had at the conference. Sorry you had to do it all when not feeling well. Airplanes are evil for that! Anyway, welcome home.

#81
Oh, I had fun at the conference, be assured! I didn't feel really bad until the day I had to come back, and even then it was not as bad as the weekend. (Not fair! Not fair!)

Today I feel somewhat better inside (OK, I slept quite a bit of the morning), but my voice is all cracked. I took the day off work, but still had to talk to people and despite throat-clearings and sips of water, I always sounded like I'd had a laryngotomy or whateverotomy.

GW, I've had bad experiences before with painfully dry throats and blocked tubes (on separate occasions) on planes, so I was prepared with nose drops and sprays, but fortunately I didn't have to put them to the test this time.

joe