Thought for the Day - 1/10/2025

 "I have a sore throat, a cough, and a fever of 103.  But I'll be in tomorrow."

Uh – no you won't, and we don't want you, anyway.  

People, no one is THAT indispensable.  The Big Four of Winter 24-25 (COVID, Flu, RSV and Norovirus) don't need to be perpetuated by the overly dedicated.  If you've got the symptoms, regardless of whether you chose to get checked out for them or not, use some common sense and wait at least 24 hours after your symptoms have gone (especially fever) before you decide to expose the rest of us to what you had.

In other words, STAY THE  %#&#  HOME !!!!!

Countdown to Spring - Well, We Made It

It was my intention to do a post yesterday on the last walk of winter and the first walk of spring, noting how it's so unusual to be able to do them both on the same day because spring started so late in the afternoon (5:58 PM EDST). 

However, I was sick yesterday with a fever that ultimately got to 104°F, sore throat, body aches, and feeling more than a bit tired.  Sounds a lot like flu, doesn't it?  But since I had the flu shot, med folks (yes, I did see my doctor, thank you) are loathe to call it that three-letter f-word without testing and nobody, including yours truly, wanted to jump the extra hoop.  So, stick a fork in it and  call it a 'flu-like illness' instead.  My apologies to any co-workers who were exposed to whichever it was.  I'm feeling much better today, with fever broken, sore throat and body aches just about nonexistent, and a lot more life in my swamp. 

But, I'm taking it easy for an extra 24 hours, and not taking a walk in the rain that is presently coming down at my location.  So my first walk of spring, and the subsequent blog entry, will likely be tomorrow or Saturday, whenever it stops raining.

See you then.

Happy Spring.

Countdown to Spring – This is More Like It

After a week of staring at the walls and ceiling of my apartment and feeling like a barking seal with an energy crisis living at the equator (translation – coughing, fatigue and fever), I am finally past it and am looking forward to the next few days or gorgeous and, may I add, warm weather.  Warm, as in 60s, possibly even 70.  Yeah, I know, I know, it’s too early, it’s not going to last.  Whatever.  It beats -7°F, doesn’t it?

Our little clipper storm Saturday into Sunday which was supposed to bring 1-3” of snow brought us about 4” locally.  It wasn’t supposed to start until 9 PM, but by 7 PM when I looked out, we already had an inch of snow on the ground, dashing my hopes of a dusting that I could easily sweep away.  Sunday morning, out came the shovel and in about three trips, I had cleared my deck and walkway and then my parking space out to the road.  I didn’t do a great job because it was already sunny and above freezing.  Let solar heating be your friend.  It was, too.  By the end of the day, all shoveled areas were down to bare ground.

It’s been in the 40s during the day the last few days and most of the snow is gone.  Yesterday, it was in the 60s.  It hadn’t melted all the way yet, but it was an 9:1 mix of bare ground to snow instead of 50:50.  By the end of today, well, I won’t even care if it’s not gone.  I’m just going to enjoy those warm southwest breezes.

I did manage a little walking at the end of flu/flu-like things.  Looking up at trees, I am seeing more and more buds at the tips of all the branches.  The pussy willow I walk by to go to the post office is really starting to come to life, with catkins (really, that's what they're called) now starting to peek out from just about every branch.  I have a running permission from the owner to clip a few branches every year.  That'll be coming up soon.

On a sad note, a critter – likely a squirrel – squeezed through the holes of the milk-crate type container that I had protecting my planter with crocuses in it, moved the leaf mulch and had a late winter snack of crocus root and sprout salad on at least half of them.  I suspect squirrel because of the debris pattern they left outside the container and yet still left the container in place.  Ladies and Gentlemen, a round of applause for Houdini the Squirrel!

Only 27 days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring – Melt, Baby, Melt

So, let’s see.  As I was writing last week’s entry, the snow was just starting to come down.  When it got to about 3-4”, I went outside and shoveled my deck and walkway.  Oh, look, it’s light and fluffy.  Not too bad.  About two more inches fell, then the temperature went up and it went from light and fluffy to sogged and glazed over snow.  What had been an easy job of clearing it away turned into a cardio workout at the end of it all. 

I normally appreciate the prettiness of ice coating all the tree branches, especially at night.  But at this stage of winter, it was enjoyed for maybe five minutes, then I just wanted it to go with the snow.

Over this past weekend, a lot of that wintery precipitation disappeared with above-freezing temperatures and a whole lot of rain.  There’s still snow out there, but enough of it’s gone now that it’s about a 50:50 mix of white to greens and browns. 

The forecast for my area for today and tomorrow is near to above 50°F, followed by a return to 30s, then 40s, then 50s, then 30s again.  It’s a little uneven, temperature-wise, blamed on anything you chose to blame it on in the moment.  But with temperatures remaining above freezing during the day at least, and no forecast for any precipitation but rain showers for the next ten days, maybe all these wet, white crystalline structures hanging around will go bye-bye and we’ll head into March with bare ground.

Then, it’ll likely snow again.  That’s winter for you.

In a final note, I am on the downside of what may have been either the flu or a flu-like illness.  Sore throat, body aches, chills, fatigue, and a decent chunk of fever on top of sneezes, sniffles and barking like a seal.  Definitely not a cold.  I normally don’t get sick during the winter, but this year was an exception.  Just another reason for not liking this winter season anymore, eh?

Only 34 days until Spring

On Going Into Work Sick

I am presently home from work due to what is either the flu or a flu-like illness.  Am I going to go out of my way to find out which one it is?  Seriously?  It doesn’t matter.

What matters, at least to me, is that I broke one of my own cardinal rules yesterday.  I went into work with a fever.  I knew I was running a slight fever the night before and deliberately did not check my temperature in the morning because I knew we were short-staffed.  By the time I got home yesterday, my slight fever of 99.4°F had turned into 100.8°F.  I felt miserable and was starting to sound pleasant on the phone.  No, really.  When my voice initially gets affected by some upper respiratory tract thing, it takes on this really nice quality that I can’t recreate when I’m feeling better. 

I digress.  I’m here to discuss going in to work sick because, well, gee, they’re already down staff and they need you there.  Plus you don’t get paid if you’re not there.  No, no one said that to me except me.  Sometimes, the little voice at the back of my brain is not speaking from a place of logic and reason.

What you’re doing when you go in sick is subject those around you to what you have.  Colds and flus are passed in the air and in contact with things you are in contact with (phones, equipment, etc.).  People can sluice down every square inch of the place with disinfectant during and after your sick person is there and it still will not prevent it from potentially being passed to other workers and even the general public.

Because I recognized the risk of infection in even my earliest days of employment, I never, ever went into work with a temperature above 98.6°F.  Yes, people grumbled when they were inconvenienced by my absence, but they got over it.  I also encouraged similar behavior in my fellow employees.  Was I listened to?  Of course not.  I can’t tell you how many times people came in sick anyway.

No one, I repeat, NO ONE is indispensable.  If you take a day off, if you take a vacation, what do you think happens when you’re not there?  Answer, things continue.  People take up the slack and things continue.  Depending on the size of the business, yes, your normal contribution will likely be missed, but they’ll make do without you.  Any place that crumbles when people are absent needs an overhaul.

This flu season has been particularly brutal.  Those who say it’s because the flu shot was ineffectual aren’t seeing the real issue.  We need to work to prevent the spread.  Certainly, handwashing and proper cleaning/disinfecting play a huge part.  But, another important part of that is setting some ground rules with regard to coming to work under less than perfect health conditions.  Whether those rules are made by the employer or by self, they need to be adhered to. 

I forgot that yesterday.  That will not happen again. 

Ah-Choo, Sniffle-Snuffle

Every year about this time, I get a cold.  It’s almost like a rite of passage that must be endured in order for the immune system to handle the winter season at its best.  Once it’s over, I’m good until next year about this time.  Unfortunately, getting there is not half the fun. 

It’s starts as a sore throat which makes me sound kind of gravelly and sexy for about a day before I start making those little coughing and sniffling sounds that make anyone on the other end of a phone glad they’re not in the same room with me and those who share my space wish they were anyplace else.  Along with a head that feels like its painfully overfilled with wadded cotton, there's also lots of sneezing from a stuffy, runny nose – who would have thought that stuffy and runny could so happily coexist?  It’s the only time of the year I have to buy Kleenex in those pretty decorator boxes that don’t make me feel any better to look at or use them.  Eventually, the sneezing and clearing of throat turn to full-out coughing, and I can bark with the best of the seals – go ahead, throw me a fish.

I may or may not have body aches and a low-grade fever, although if I do, guaranteed I’m cranky, which turns to a cranky and whiny combo as the cold progresses.  No, I’m not good at being sick.  My infirmed persona is likely enough to make any prospective love of my life think twice before getting involved with me.  Okay, that’s not the only reason, but seriously, one practically needs the patience of Job for about the middle 48 hours of the total 120-150 hours that the cold runs its course.  Best bet is just to leave me alone with lots of fluids, ibuprofen, and whatever other cold symptom remedies I might need demand. 

It mercifully starts to subside around Day 4 and I’m back to being my normal sounding sweet self in no time.  I’ll even be nice and not tease those around me who are now getting sick, possibly the result of contact with me during the contagious phase which started even before the first throat tickle.

There are a number of viruses which cause the illness we call the common cold, but for some reason once I’ve had one, I seem to be stay healthy and immune from all of them for the rest of the cold and flu season.  Yes, I do get the flu shot now, but that doesn’t protect against every sniffling, sneezing, coughing, sore throat making microorganism out there.  I wash my hands, use hand sanitizer, cough and sneeze into my sleeve as much as I can, and can only hope that all those around me will do the same. 

In the meantime, I can only apologize to those who must be around me while I’m working on my one and only cold this season.  I’ll try to be good and not get on your last nerve, but remember – you’ve been warned.

Flu Shot Versus Flu–The Lesser of Two Evils

This year, New York State sent down a mandate that required people who work in healthcare facilities either to have the flu shot or they would be required to wear a mask the entire time they were at work.  Not just when in contact with patients, but the entire time they were on the clock and on the premises.  The purpose of both options was to stem the tide of the flu season.  Okay, that didn’t work out as well as everyone might have hoped ‘cause the outbreak of flu here in the U.S. qualifies as epidemic.

Not absolutely requiring the shot is said to be an attempt to give people who don’t want to get the shot for whatever reason an alternative.  Nobody’s fooling me.  If you ever had to wear a mask that covers your nose and mouth for 8-10 hours straight, you already know how annoying and even inconvenient it can get.  If you had to wear it every day you worked, the words “absurd”, “ridiculous” “silly” and “stupid” might wander through your brain on a regular basis.  Yet, the mask must remain regardless of the mantra that those words become in your head.  Yes, it’s an alternative to getting the shot, but the inconvenience of a masked existence is also a way of getting people to comply without actually insisting on it.

Some object to the flu shot for religious reasons.  Even though I’ve heard the arguments as to why someone’s faith says that they shouldn’t take any vaccination, I still don’t get it, but I’ll respect their right to be flu shot-free.  There are also those who work in hospitals, etc. who object to getting the flu shot because they just don’t want it.  There are also some in that group who think it’s absurd to insist they get the shot when the public is still being exposed to the flu out in the great wide non-hospital world.  They’re right about that, but there’s something to the argument of taking extra steps in a hospital, nursing home or similar healthcare setting where some patients’ immune systems might not be up to par due to age, disease, or medications.

Truth is, anyone who objects to getting the flu shot, unless they’re allergic to some portion of it, is really doing so because they don’t want to be told what to do, either by a government entity or in general.  I can relate.  I’m a quiet little maverick myself and. up until a few years ago, I never got a flu shot, either.  It was when New York State required that everyone who worked in a healthcare setting get the adjunct shot for the H1N1 flu virus a few years ago that I reluctantly started lining up for the flu shot ow-ee.  Granted, my decision to cave in at that time was partly based in wanting to keep my paychecks rolling in, but compliance is compliance.  My argument was that I didn’t like the reaction I always had to every vaccination/immunization I got.  Yup, with every single shot, regardless of what it was for, I’d run a fever of over 101°F, get muscle aches and just get generally bitchy for 24-36 hours.  Then, I started to look at it from the perspective of people who got the flu and were so sick with it, some to the point of dying from it, and I decided that I could put up with my side effects on a once a year basis.  Now, I just get the shot on a Friday so no one has to listen to me whine the next day or so.

Many years ago, I had the flu.  It was just over a week of a 102-103°F fever, body aches, coughing, sneezing, sinus and chest congestion, and feeling like an 18-wheeler had run me over, slammed the truck into reverse and ran me over one more time for good measure.  Used up all my sick time and didn’t get to enjoy a hooky day from work for quite a while after that.  And yet, it wasn’t until 20 years later that I started to regularly get the shot to minimize the risk of repeating anything similar to that episode ever again.  Through the luck of the draw, I never came down with another strain of flu.  Oh, you didn’t know there was more than one?  Ha-ha – silly reader.

Some think that because they got sick after getting the flu shot that the shot gave them the flu.  Uh, no.  Anyone who understands the immune process and how modern vaccines do their thing will tell you it doesn’t work that way.  It takes about two weeks for the immunity to kick in to the max.  If you got sick during that time, either you’re like me and had side effects which weren’t flu, or you had something that was flu-like but wasn’t influenza, or somebody already exposed you to the flu, you were destined to get it and the timing just sucked.  Get over it. 

I understand the reluctance, fellow mavericks, and if you can live with wearing a mask all the live long day, then more power to you.  But, if you have to comply with getting immunized to get into school and college, or even travel the world,  what’s having one more needle once a year?  When you stop thinking about yourselves and start thinking about the people who can’t fight the flu fight as well as you, you might want to reconsider for their sakes.  Give it some thought.