Farren's bitching and moaning thread

[Farren]

I have to get this off my chest because I'm perfectly miserable.

The Sunday after New Year's I tried cleaning out excess wax in my ears with earbuds and went 90% deaf in the process. For the next four working days I struggled to hear anyone 2 metres away. The discomfort and disorientation this caused kept me up at nights, resulting in me having about 2-4 hours sleep every night of the week.

On Monday I was trying to repair a machine and blew the processor on my work computer in the process (swapping out parts to isolate the problem).

On Tuesday I took my spare machine to work and used that. On Tuesday night the boot sector of my home pc's hard drive failed and after doing a whole lot of shit I realised I needed another working Windows machine to sort it out. This is the first day, ever, I've taken my spare machine out of my home.

On Wednesday I take my spare machine back from work and find enough parts to take home and construct a new work machine. On the way home I get one ear cleaned at the doctor. They can't do the other one cos the wax is too hard so they give me stuff to soften it and tell me to come back the next day.

I fix up my home and work machine and go to work on Thursday happier, if still slightly sleepless. On thursday afternoon, they attempt to clear the other ear and I get the most horrendous pain across that entire side of my face. We stop for the day, they give me more softener and tell me to come back friday. I'm in pain until 12pm, when I take Myprodol. I get to sleep at about 2am.

When I wake up on friday watery blood is trickling out of my ear. Suspecting the worse, I go to the doc and say I think my drum burst. On examination he says no, the inner ear is infected as all hell and the wax was sealing it in. Antibiotics and ears drops are issued. I go home.

Friday night I try to access the net and discover my modem has blown. Today woke up feeling rotten after 15 hours sleep, went and bought another modem, got home and set it up.

I was in the process of installing a game I wanted to play when the power supply on the computer just packed up. I found another power supply (on the spare system) and installed it but by this point I felt so goddamn rotten I went back to sleep.

When I wake up (properly I mean, the sleep was profoundly fitful) I realised I have a raging fever. I'm flushing hot then cold and there's so much pressure on my eyes, nose and ears it feels like I'm gonna explode.

I think the infection has spread throughout my face and I'm back to square one because I can hardly hear anything again.

Its been a very fucked up week. Thanks for listening and sorry I'm being such a crybaby.

[Ymir's blood]

Man, I hope the coming week is better for you.

[Socratoad]

Good grief Farren one would have to be an amoeba not to cry and bitch after that extended string of mini-calamities.

Is that why perhaps google did not report that you had excepted the gmail account I sent you. The only reason I ask is yours is the only one that appears not to have been accepted. If you accepted another offer then not to worry. I just have been wondering whether you actually received it.

[lisarea]

You poor baby.

Have you gone back to the doctor yet?

I had a horrible rash of ear infections several years ago, and I know how much they hurt. I ended up popping my eardrums several times, losing some hearing in the process. And as I recall, it did take WAY too long for the antibiotics to kick in, and I did have to go back and whine to get more drugs at least once. So you should definitely bitch to everyone about it. Us, your doctor, people on the street, hell, write a LTTE about it. That shit SUCKS, and if you can't feel better, the next best thing is to make everyone else feel a little worse, just to even things out.

I am going to send you some chicken soup, so if you get a really greasy, dripping manila envelope in the mail, don't be scared.

[Farren]

Ymir: Thanks

Socratoad: Yeah, I haven't checked my mail all week.

Lisa: I love the smell of wet envelope in the morning.

[freemonkey]

{{{Farren}}} I also know how terribly painful earaches are, enough to make me cry when I've had them. Sounds like you've had a miserable week, its ok to be a crybaby.

[Socratoad]

Ah friend Lisarea, I'm so happy that we both belong to the school of philosophy that states that when standing in shit up to your neck, it does bring solace to be able to note that some of your friends are in the same state. :yup: :D

[livius drusus]

God that's horrible, Farren. :( What are earbuds? Does the package say anything about potential problems they might cause? Meanwhile, I second Lisa on the whole seeing a doctor and bitching and moaning to heart's content thing. Oh, and also on the poor baby... :flu:

[Farren]

Earbuds are small soft plastic sticks with wads of cotton wool on the end that can go right into your inner ear. This week for the first time I learned from a doctor that they are terrible, terrible things. Johnson and Johnson make most of the one's I've seen.

[Socratoad]

I use those all the time. I've been sticking nails, hairpins and everything else in my ears for years without much ill results. Strange because I know every doctor advises against it. Every time I think an ear infection is starting I dip the ear bud, called cotton ear swabs here on the tundra, in a 3 percent hydrogen peroxide solution. That fixes everything. I use the same method with any critters having ear problems.

I'm not dispensing medical advice here or even recommending that anyone should do this. I'm just saying what I do.

My wife's mother always told her that she should never try to stick anything in her ear smaller than her elbow.

[wade-w]

Earbuds are small soft plastic sticks with wads of cotton wool on the end that can go right into your inner ear. This week for the first time I learned from a doctor that they are terrible, terrible things. Johnson and Johnson make most of the one's I've seen.

Ah, OK. Those are called Q-tips here.

[Socratoad]

Earbuds are small soft plastic sticks with wads of cotton wool on the end that can go right into your inner ear. This week for the first time I learned from a doctor that they are terrible, terrible things. Johnson and Johnson make most of the one's I've seen.

Ah, OK. Those are called Q-tips here.

I forgot that Wade. Yes they are also called Q-tips here. I was looking at the package of a cheap generic brand. Now you all will know just how cheap I have become. I believe its sometimes known a necessity :D

[Farren]

I use those all the time. I've been sticking nails, hairpins and everything else in my ears for years without much ill results. Strange because I know every doctor advises against it. Every time I think an ear infection is starting I dip the ear bud, called cotton ear swabs here on the tundra, in a 3 percent hydrogen peroxide solution. That fixes everything. I use the same method with any critters having ear problems.

I'm not dispensing medical advice here or even recommending that anyone should do this. I'm just saying what I do.

My wife's mother always told her that she should never try to stick anything in her ear smaller than her elbow.

When bitching to a friend of mine on the phone, he said after getting an abcess in his ear (the most painful thing I can imagine) he stopped doing shit like that.

The doc I saw said nothing smaller than your pinky finger - apparently drying out your outer ear with something clean is a good thing because moisture aids infection, but the inner ear is too risky.

Anyway one positive side to all of this is when the fluid temporarily clears from time to time I can hear better with my left ear than I ever have. Obviously it was a problem that developed over some time and I wasn't aware of the hearing loss. People complain that I speak too softly sometimes and I think its directly related to hearing.

Hopefully the outcome of all of this will be better hearing :)

[Socratoad]

I certainly hope something positive comes out of your miserable week my friend. :wave:

Think back...... you had'nt bin sinnin had you? :chin:

[Farren]

I done so much sinnin' without any repentance that if I was of a religious bent I might think all the gods of all the religions of the world had gotten together to fuck me royally in the ear.

[viscousmemories]

I'm so sorry about your week, Farren. :(

Your OP scared me, 'cause I thought you meant you'd lost 90% of your hearing permanently. This one sergeant in my unit in Germany went deaf in one ear 'cause he was trying to clean it with a Q-tip when he was bearhugged from behind by someone.

I have eczema in my ears. This means that my ears itch unbearably for at least one bout a day. So I'm constantly scratching with my pinky, or when it's really bad with a Q-tip. Often until it's bleeding. This also packs the wax in so my hearing has been less than perfect for several years. Every once in a while I use this ear drop solution you can by at the drugstore that softens the wax, and then I use the accompanying rubber squeeze-ball to flush my ears with water. This isn't as effective as the doctor doing it, but it's much cheaper.

And now for your daily slice of Americana:

In 1923, Leo Gerstenzang noticed that his wife had stuck a bit of cotton on a toothpick and was using it to clean their baby's ears. Thinking that this jerry-rigged swab might cause some damage to the kid, Leo designed a safer cotton swab.

He started the Leo Gerstenzang Infant Novelty Company to sell his new creation, which he dubbed Baby Gays. In 1926, he changed the swab's name to Q-tip Baby Gays, and eventually the product name was shortened to just Q-tips. Over time, the brand name has come to stand for any cotton swab, another example of a propriety eponym like Kleenex or Xerox.

-source (http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20030701.html)

[Socratoad]

I done so much sinnin' without any repentance that if I was of a religious bent I might think all the gods of all the religions of the world had gotten together to fuck me royally in the ear.

Thats one hell of a picture your post paints in my feeble but overly imaginative mind. :D

I imagine that you are feeling rather serene right now as nothing is quite so relaxing than the removal of unbearable pain. Over the years I have become somewhat of an expert in the field of pain: bearing it, not administering it.

One could always consider Dr. Toad's counter pain remedy. If you should ever be so unfortunate to suffer such pain again may I suggest dropping a large boulder on one foot. It works.

[Ex-zombie]

Ouch Farren. Sounds downright painful. Hope things look up for you real soon.

[Farren]

Ouch Farren. Sounds downright painful. Hope things look up for you real soon.

Thanks.

Its upright painful too. And sideways. Depending on which side I'm lying on.

[Socratoad]

Oh Jeez Farren I would not be playing the clown had I realized you were still in pain.

What are you taking for the pain.

[Skep]

:pat:

[Darren]

Hope the rest of the (y)ear will get better Farren! :cheerful:

Ouch Farren. Sounds downright painful. Hope things look up for you real soon.

Just how insensitive can you get? :cheerful:

[Farren]

Thank you all for restoring my sense of humour. I feel a lot better this morning after lots and lots of sleep, some medicine and this thread.

[Farren]

Oh Jeez Farren I would not be playing the clown had I realized you were still in pain.

What are you taking for the pain.

As much as I hate quoting Readers Digest, "Humour is the best medicine"

[Petra]

Whoa! That's a real bad week, Farren. You poor kid, you.


Is there anything I can do to help - puff up your cushions...fetch you a nice bowl of Lisarea's soup....sing sweetly to you...give you a rub and kiss you better? :therm:


:bigglomp:

[viscousmemories]

As much as I hate quoting Readers Digest, "Humour is the best medicine"
And as much as I hate that I know this, it's actually "Laughter is the best medicine". :)
Is there anything I can do to help - puff up your cushions...fetch you a nice bowl of Lisarea's soup....sing sweetly to you...give you a rub and kiss you better?
Hmm, now I'm starting to feel a little sick...

[Farren]

Opportunist. Lay off my kiwi fruit.

[JoeP]

Farren, how are you doing now? I'm impressed you can post the whole story while still suffering the earache and fever, as I assume you are. For me, it's tiring enough reading all the thought-provoking posts here; I have hardly any energy to reply let alone post new threads.

I'm going to continue using earbuds, to avoid build-up of wax (in my teens I had an ear infection and was prescribed drops to soften the wax, and a regime of syringing out the gunk, which my father did. Eventually, after days or weeks, the stuff coming out was a slimy green - and I decided that was about enough - the drops were probably building up a primitive colony in there) ... just very carefully. (However, :toad:, I am certainly not going to look for hydrogen peroxide. Nor am I going to start dropping boulders on my foot. My estimation of your advice has dropped somewhat.)

Blown modem? Lightning strike by any chance? One of my modems is not hearing the perfectly good dialtone - I expect it's blown as well. I heard the crack. And almost the sizzle.

joe

[Farren]

I'm feeling much better already thanks Joe. And hey! I didn't advise dropping boulders on your feet!

Regarding modems, I lose about three every summer. Lightning fer sure.

[Lauri D]

Dearest Farren,

I apologize for having missed this thread until now, and also the fact that the friend I am staying with has one of those weird-ass keyboards that makes typing an excercise in the backspace-and-delete-keys-marathon. I am sure it's true that once you are used it, it becomes more natural, but I'll be damned if at the moment it's not the most awkard thing ever. EVAR!!!

Anyhoo, just wanted to pop in there that I am sorry for your recent difficulties, as you most certainly not deserve them in a universal-global-karma sense, and I hope that all is well in your world.

Love (as always... :affection:

Lauri

[Dingfod]

Double sympathy here, Farren. About 10 years ago I had ear infections in both ears, the swelling very painfully burst the eardrums in both ears, leaving me with scars on the eardrum membrane and permanent tinitus.

A few years back I had a boil develop inside the ear canal, the swelling caused pain just like an earache. I went to the doctor. He lanced the boil, draining it. I got immediate relief of the pain.

The wax problem? My wife has dug in her ears with the rounded end of a bobby pin for years with no ill effect. vm, she has bad excema in one ear too, is it related? I've never ventured very far into the ear canal with a cotton swab (another name for ear buds or Q-tips) out of fear of damaging something.


I often use something my sister, the medical doctor, prescribed for swimmer's ear, an outer ear infection. I mix rubbing alcohol and white vinegar 50:50 in an eardropper bottle I obtained from the pharmacy, administering a few drops in each ear after swimming or when I start to feel an itch inside the ear. She says the alcohol kills the bacteria. I don't remember what she said the vinegar was supposed to do, I suppose it might kill some bugs too, or establish a more acidic pH in the ear canal, one less condusive to bacteria colonization. I've had no ear infection problems since. I don't know if it does anything at all for the earwax, maybe the isopropyl alcohol helps dissolve it or maybe it's the vinegar. I just don't know.

[JoeP]

I'm feeling much better already thanks Joe. And hey! I didn't advise dropping boulders on your feet!

Regarding modems, I lose about three every summer. Lightning fer sure.
On which derail, have you bothered using surge/lightning protectors? I haven't recently as I've been trying to eliminate components in my struggle to persaude Telkom :devil: that my line has faults :badcon:. Instead it eliminated my modem. I haven't had one die before, when I was using protectors.

[Farren]

Dearest Farren,

I apologize for having missed this thread until now, and also the fact that the friend I am staying with has one of those weird-ass keyboards that makes typing an excercise in the backspace-and-delete-keys-marathon. I am sure it's true that once you are used it, it becomes more natural, but I'll be damned if at the moment it's not the most awkard thing ever. EVAR!!!

Anyhoo, just wanted to pop in there that I am sorry for your recent difficulties, as you most certainly not deserve them in a universal-global-karma sense, and I hope that all is well in your world.

Love (as always... :affection:

Lauri


Thanks Lauri.

I've gotta agree that natural keyboards are the most foul and unnatural interfaces imaginable. Some people rest their hands gently on the edge and others swing 'em in from all angles with the passion of Rachmaninov, or even flap them wildly round their heads making hooting noises. Those fucking natural keyboard designers are on the vanilla track. They have no imaginations.

I also have major issues with keyboards with an "ON/OFF" switch. For God's sake! Don't these people imagine that people actually post DRUNK! And the "Windows" key! Smack that in the middle of an intense shoot-em-up game and you're staring at a soothing frickin' wavescape or whatever bland picture graces your desktop while some toss is racking up another kill courtesy of an idiot marketing guy at Microsoft.

Every time I get a new keyboard I apply a kitchen knife to it immediately and only use it after some keys have been gouged from it's surface.

[livius drusus]

How are you feeling today, Farren?

[Farren]

Still physically shit. I can't afford to stay off work at the mo' and its quite demanding. Also strong antibiotics always screw me up.

But generally far better emotionally. Especially since I just laid my hands on Vampire: Bloodlines, which is a kick-ass game even though its dated. Thanks for asking :)

[livius drusus]

Ugh... Working when you feel like shit always sucks, nevermind when you're fucked up from the drugs and your hearing/equilibrium are off. I hope you don't have to do anything physically onerous like lifting cement blocks or walking a tightrope.

I'm glad you're feeling less blue, though. Enjoy your Bloodlines. :)

[Ensign Steve]

Farren, I heard a song about you on the radio, today. It goes:

All is (all is) all is farren love and war...

It was beautiful, and it made me think of you. :wave: