Muh Muh Muh My Corona (virus)

I used Skype for editorial meetings a few years ago and have to ask people which platform they mean when they say, "Let's Skype." or "Zoom."

 

I am still amazed that I can sit in the stands at a Browns game and get pretty much instant highlights of any other NFL game on my phone. And the picture is perfect. It is just amazing.

 

“Or are we doing this on Slack? If it’s Slack, are we doing this on video on Slack or just chat?”

 

Heck, I can check my updated fantasy football score within a few seconds of a play on my iPhone. I remember in ‘94, having to go to my college library, log on to a computer, type in some special code to get online, then being stunned the first time I was in a chat room and someone said they were from Argentina.

Modern tech truly is amazing.

 

The idea that I can be walking and taking on one continent to my wife walking and talking on another, live, in perfectly synced high-definition on devices no bigger than playing cards - for free* - remains an astonishment.

Next up, my flying car.



*not free of course when considering the cost of the device and the ISP, etc. But think of what a long distance call used to cost and humor me.

 

It all makes you wonder about the future of office space. The expense simply can no longer be justified.

Driving or commuting 200 miles a week? At the expense of alienating family and pointless expenditures? Cannot be justified. This experience has taught us our lives have more meaning than the people instituting these policies believe they have. And that we don't need to travel each day and sit next to some guy with body odor just because it's how it's always been done.

 

Bozeman is struggling with it. Mountain towns were already unaffordable for the folks needed to keep them running. It’s just getting worse.

Pandemic Crowds Bring ‘Rivergeddon’ to Montana’s Rivers

 

<Sigh>

Music Legends Eric Clapton, Van Morrison Team For Anti-Lockdown Single - Variety

 

Some pages ago there was a link to a story pondering people who came down with both the flu and COVID-19 simultaneously. Here’s what that looks like (and the author is a teacher, OBTW, for you people who are still deluding yourselves into thinking we have to open the schools no matter what because children and the adults will just have to be brave):

My painful excursion into the world of dueling infections started on a Tuesday afternoon with a scratchy throat and a mild-yet-annoying cough. I chalked it up to fall in Kentucky, where sunny afternoons in the mid 70s can be followed by freezing temperatures at night. I’m no stranger to respiratory infections, having lived for years with the triple threat of allergies, asthma, and low immunity.

On Wednesday morning, I was having coughing fits that made me dizzy. I went to see my doctor, who assured me that I almost certainly didn’t have Covid-19, even though our county had been considered a “red” one for more than a month and the case count was climbing.

I was a bit suspicious of my doctor’s reassurance because I had learned that morning of a student who had tested positive for Covid-19 the week before in the high school where I am a Spanish and social studies teacher.

As a precaution, I was tested for strep, influenza, and Covid-19. I was shocked when the nurse let me know that I had tested positive for the flu, and I left with a prescription for Tamiflu and instructions to stay home for a week.

On Thursday, I was tired and achy — both mild flu-like symptoms — but was able to complete all my work virtually. Aside from the occasional coughing fit, one of which brought me to my knees, I believed I just had the flu.

The next day I got a call that I had also tested positive for Covid-19. I should have expected that news, because the night before I had lit a pumpkin-scented candle but didn’t realize until later that I hadn’t smelled its fragrance.

I was extremely scared. But I was also angry. I was angry at my school for not following state recommendations to keep students home and use remote learning, at my doctor for downplaying the increasing threat of the virus, at my family members and friends who brushed off my concerns, and even angry at myself for creating a false sense of security that using an N95 mask, an air purifier, and a plexiglass shield in my classroom would keep me safe.

…
Over the weekend, it was difficult to know which symptoms were due to Covid-19 and which ones were due to the flu. The coughing began to slowly improve, and I had a temperature above 99.9° only once, though I experienced extreme fatigue, chills, aches, a severe headache, and diarrhea.

By Monday, the coughing had stopped and my fever was down, but I felt even worse than before. I believe that was the point where I was over the flu and Covid-19 was taking over. I slept so much that my sister dropped in on my Alexa because I didn’t answer calls or texts for hours at a time. I didn’t leave my bedroom except to use the bathroom and drank room-temperature orange Gatorade Zero that my mom had bought in bulk and I kept next to my bed. Trips beyond the bathroom were carefully planned for efficiency as they required all of my strength and a nap immediately after.

I watched TV, but found I couldn’t focus or would fall asleep. After trying to watch the first episode of Lovecraft Country four times, I resorted to browsing TikTok or re-watching The Office as I couldn’t keep up with the simplest plot. I had several rounds of severe abdominal pain and experienced a completely new sensation: small tingles that would randomly move throughout my lower and upper abdomen.

Over the next few days, I constantly checked my oxygen saturation, knowing that if it dropped below 93% I would need to go to the hospital. From a starting point of 98%, the pulse oximeter readings crept down to 93% on Wednesday, at which point I was having mild shortness of breath and chest pain when I took a full breath. That said, I was feeling a little better. My doctor ordered a chest X-ray, which I got at a hospital a three-minute drive from where I live. It was normal. I started to take oral steroids, which helped immensely.

It wasn’t until Friday — a full week after I first learned that I had Covid-19 plus the flu — that I made the move from my bed to the couch. It felt like a momentous occasion.

During that week, I had lost 12 pounds. After a few bites of food, I would feel nauseous and completely full, and there were days when I ate nothing even though my family and friends delivered food to my porch. It took me two full days to eat one donut, taking just one or two bites at a time.​

Dueling infections: I had the flu and Covid-19 at the same time - STAT

 

This is a worthy cause.