Tales from Spring Vacation - in Hell!
Okay, I had to do something melodramatic there. It's just my way. Granted, my spring vacation wasn't a whole bucketload of fun.
Now if you're actually curious as to what I did and what I mean, read on.
All in all, my vacation got off to a relatively good start. I got to hang with my family, take a break from schoolwork, and do all that normal stuff people are supposed to do on their spring break. Sure, there was some regular paying work through into the mix as well, but hey, who can live without a paycheck? No, all in all, it was good and I was enjoying myself and I was able to get much further in some of the games I've been lacking the time to beat since before Christmas (like Fallout 3). Alas, it was not to last.
Last Tuesday I caught myself a case of the flu. One of my brothers had been recovering from it for a few days but I falsely imagined, since I'd escaped infection the last time such a strain had run through the family, that I would be safe this time round. No such luck. At about midnight I was suddenly beset by a storm of shivers and found myself unable to stay warm just sitting around at room temperature. I immediately soaked myself in a hot bath for about two hours thereafter and got to bed late. When I woke up I was so feverish and worn-out that standing for more than a minute made me faint-headed.
Then things got worse. Namely, I was stupid enough to imagine that I had some duty to finish my writing work that I'd been working on while I was healthy and so I took my laptop from downstairs and tried to bring it upstairs where I'd be laying around waiting for the sickness to be dispelled. This was a bad idea. As I said previously, I was so delirious that I had difficulty standing. This was no time to be carrying around a delicate laptop, let along plugging it into a power cord that a few too many feet away from its resting spot, located on the edge of a couch.
Yeah, ugly. Not fully in my right mind I yanked the tension on the cord just a little too much and pulled the laptop swiftly to the ground via its side, slamming the power cord as it hit the ground. In other words, I broke the spot on my laptop where electrical currents charge it up for use. Which is to say, I can't use the laptop right now, since it's got no power.
After mentally kicking myself in the head for about two hours, I eventually got over the mistake due to the fact that I was too tired to stay angry at myself. Instead, I decided to just lay back on my parents' couch and alternate between sleeping and watching videos with my youngest brother, who ended up staying with me while my parents picked up my other brother from his motorcycle training course.
I have to really thank him. I was too tired at the time to do much of anything except just sit in one spot, awake or asleep. Without his help I would have been hard pressed to feed myself. Thankfully, that portion of the illness soon passed and by the next day I was capable of walking without feeling dizzy. Of course, that's when the coughing came, which persisted with such vehemence for so long that I ended up being too ill to attend my brother's birthday party. Lame.
Now it's five days later and I'm feeling much better. I'm still not completely better but I'm almost there. My cough is down to pathetic whimper of what it once was and I haven't got the slightest fever. My most persistent symptom at this point is a stubborn sinus which alternates between been completely stuffed up and being dry and irritated. Neither states is particularly pleasant. However, I'm well enough to go back to school, which is a bit ironic since yesterday, I wouldn't have been.
So, yeah that was my spring break. Not so fun.
However, looking on it retroactively the flu might have been a blessing in disguise. While it certainly wasn't pleasant and it resulted in me paralyzing my computer it did serve a few useful functions. One thing, for instance, is that this is the first vacaction in a while that I've actually taken easy, if only because I knew it was the best way to beat the flu. I normally spend my "vacations" working close to as hard as I do when I'm not on them - not on schoolwork or somesuch but rather my own personal writing projects that keep my busy 24/7. By breaking my laptop and getting sick, I was actually forced to take a break. Similarly, I've had more rest per capita this past week than I've had for the past year, to the point that it actually appears I might be back on a semi-regular sleeping schedule.
And really, so far as the laptop is concerned, I've been trying to replace it for the better part of a year now and with it broken I have the first real incentive to actually do that. So, all in all, maybe my vacation wasn't so bad after all.
Cheers from the sick land,
Nivenus
Now if you're actually curious as to what I did and what I mean, read on.
All in all, my vacation got off to a relatively good start. I got to hang with my family, take a break from schoolwork, and do all that normal stuff people are supposed to do on their spring break. Sure, there was some regular paying work through into the mix as well, but hey, who can live without a paycheck? No, all in all, it was good and I was enjoying myself and I was able to get much further in some of the games I've been lacking the time to beat since before Christmas (like Fallout 3). Alas, it was not to last.
Last Tuesday I caught myself a case of the flu. One of my brothers had been recovering from it for a few days but I falsely imagined, since I'd escaped infection the last time such a strain had run through the family, that I would be safe this time round. No such luck. At about midnight I was suddenly beset by a storm of shivers and found myself unable to stay warm just sitting around at room temperature. I immediately soaked myself in a hot bath for about two hours thereafter and got to bed late. When I woke up I was so feverish and worn-out that standing for more than a minute made me faint-headed.
Then things got worse. Namely, I was stupid enough to imagine that I had some duty to finish my writing work that I'd been working on while I was healthy and so I took my laptop from downstairs and tried to bring it upstairs where I'd be laying around waiting for the sickness to be dispelled. This was a bad idea. As I said previously, I was so delirious that I had difficulty standing. This was no time to be carrying around a delicate laptop, let along plugging it into a power cord that a few too many feet away from its resting spot, located on the edge of a couch.
Yeah, ugly. Not fully in my right mind I yanked the tension on the cord just a little too much and pulled the laptop swiftly to the ground via its side, slamming the power cord as it hit the ground. In other words, I broke the spot on my laptop where electrical currents charge it up for use. Which is to say, I can't use the laptop right now, since it's got no power.
After mentally kicking myself in the head for about two hours, I eventually got over the mistake due to the fact that I was too tired to stay angry at myself. Instead, I decided to just lay back on my parents' couch and alternate between sleeping and watching videos with my youngest brother, who ended up staying with me while my parents picked up my other brother from his motorcycle training course.
I have to really thank him. I was too tired at the time to do much of anything except just sit in one spot, awake or asleep. Without his help I would have been hard pressed to feed myself. Thankfully, that portion of the illness soon passed and by the next day I was capable of walking without feeling dizzy. Of course, that's when the coughing came, which persisted with such vehemence for so long that I ended up being too ill to attend my brother's birthday party. Lame.
Now it's five days later and I'm feeling much better. I'm still not completely better but I'm almost there. My cough is down to pathetic whimper of what it once was and I haven't got the slightest fever. My most persistent symptom at this point is a stubborn sinus which alternates between been completely stuffed up and being dry and irritated. Neither states is particularly pleasant. However, I'm well enough to go back to school, which is a bit ironic since yesterday, I wouldn't have been.
So, yeah that was my spring break. Not so fun.
However, looking on it retroactively the flu might have been a blessing in disguise. While it certainly wasn't pleasant and it resulted in me paralyzing my computer it did serve a few useful functions. One thing, for instance, is that this is the first vacaction in a while that I've actually taken easy, if only because I knew it was the best way to beat the flu. I normally spend my "vacations" working close to as hard as I do when I'm not on them - not on schoolwork or somesuch but rather my own personal writing projects that keep my busy 24/7. By breaking my laptop and getting sick, I was actually forced to take a break. Similarly, I've had more rest per capita this past week than I've had for the past year, to the point that it actually appears I might be back on a semi-regular sleeping schedule.
And really, so far as the laptop is concerned, I've been trying to replace it for the better part of a year now and with it broken I have the first real incentive to actually do that. So, all in all, maybe my vacation wasn't so bad after all.
Cheers from the sick land,
Nivenus