At work (in Riga) we had a themed Pixel Party corporate event at the railway museum. The party was quite pixelated, and cool, with bright clothes, a 3D Mario game, pixel crosswords, and all that. But! Right now there's a vicious virus going around (not COVID) that causes a severe cough and chills, and for some, a fever. I googled it, looks like bronchiolitis, even though it's more common in kids. Colleagues and friends have been getting sick en masse, some took three weeks to recover. This cup didn't pass me by, either.
Last night I woke up from shaking with cold. I usually have a couple of spare blankets nearby, but a couple didn't help. I even stole the cat's blanket! And it still wasn't enough. The same thing happened to me after the AstraZeneca vaccine, but at least that passed by the next day. But here, I barely managed to find a fever reducer and a super-warm fifth blanket. After an hour or so of heavy coughing that tore at my throat, I finally managed to fall asleep. And so I slept right through until 1 PM. Good thing I had the brains during the night to shoot my manager a quick email saying I wouldn't be online.
Walking to the doctor is out of the question — weakness and fever, plus a nasty ache. Luckily, we live in the age of telephony, and I was issued recommendations and a sick note remotely. If I don't take ibuprofen or paracetamol, the shaking gets pretty rough, even though the doctor said not to bring the fever down if it's under 38. Some colleagues even hit 39. I hope I'm not one of those.
My brain is foggy, and I don't particularly want to do anything. On the other hand, they gave me sick leave for a week for now, and there's time to read something useful, if I can force myself. I haven't been sick for a long time, since I don't go to the office, and you can only really catch an infection at a store or a board game club. My parents, being Soviet people, of course, always blame drafts and the cold. I don't really buy into that, because a virus is a virus, and a draft has nothing to do with it. I was at a bash with a hundred humans — so I copied the virus to myself.
It's just a shame that I had grandiose plans for Saturday, and now there's a high chance of having to cancel them. Luckily, this is all temporary, so we're waiting for amendments to my constitution. Take care of yourselves, friends, and know that besides the flu and COVID vaccines, there is also a pneumococcal vaccine. I totally blew it, but you still have a chance, unless, of course, you're one of those.