Yesterday I had to take a rare sick day; I am, according to Dr. Girlfriend, suffering from a bad bout of food poisoning.
As I am writing this post—Tuesday afternoon—I’m feeling extremely lethargic, although the constant flow of fluids from both ends of my body has subsided somewhat. I’m hoping to be back at work today, but we’ll see.
I’ve been writing this blog for so long now, it’s amusing to see how cyclical life is. Apparently, I was running a low-grade fever right after Christmas 2021; this year, I was running a higher-grade fever around New Year’s 2023.
I’d completely forgotten that I rang in 2022 by going to bed at 10 PM after nearly a week of puttering around my house in a sickly fog. My Christmas Break in 2022-2023 was much more action-packed, but that just meant the “slow down there, sport” illness hit right when I was supposed to go back to work. D’oh!
That said, I do enjoy—in limited doses—the life of a hermit. I’m very thankful to have a supportive family, and a strong support network of neighbors and friends nearby who can help me out in times of trouble. But there is something appealing, especially during this dark, cold months, about holing up in my warm little house, eating frozen pizzas and watching horror movies.
For those that read my Tuesday post, here is a quick health update: I think I am on the mend. I went back to work Wednesday, as my fever broke. I’m still coughing a bit and have some gnarly congestion, but my voice is back, which makes teaching possible—hurray! Here’s hoping that as my health improves, I can use some of this slower wintry time to get crackin’ on several long-delayed book projects.
With that, here is 4 January 2022’s “The Hermit’s Life“:
Today is my birthday. I’m thirty-eight today, and on the downward slide towards forty.
Growing up, school always started back on my birthday, and this year is no different. I’ll be ringing in my thirty-eighth year with a long day of mind-molding, followed by a few after-school lessons.
I’m also sick, with the same mysterious respiratory malady that struck me last year. I can tell that I am on the mend—at least somewhat—at the time of writing, and I hope to wake up today breathing free, but I’m thinking it’s going to be a long day of popping cough drops and chugging water.
^Since writing that earlier on the day on Monday, my fever worsened. Here’s hoping it breaks overnight and I can get to work, but it’s possible yours portly will be sick on his birthday—and at home. I hate missing work if I can’t help it, so for me to contemplate taking a day off is a huge deal. An at-home test for The Virus came back negative, but I’m running a fever of 102.5-102.9 degrees Fahrenheit (Ponty, convert that into Celsius).
I was going to write a bit more about goals and aspirations for my thirty-eighth year, but I’m going to stop here. It’s time for a hot shower and some Vick’s Vapor Rub.
—TPP
During the long week between Christmas and New Year’s, I found myself struggling against some manner of illness (not The Virus, it seems, thank goodness). I ran a low-grade fever for a couple of days, then suffered with a sore throat and some fatigue for a few days afterwards. Fortunately, with the week off, I was able to hole up in Port Manor in Lamar, and regular reader and neighbor Bernard Fife brought me some homemade Christmas treats (and an at-home COVID-19 test, which came back negative).
I typically spend the holidays with my parents, or at least surrounded by family. That was the case leading up to Christmas, but my mystery malady thwarted my plans to return to my childhood home. Instead, from Tuesday (when the symptoms started coming on) through Sunday, I largely stayed home, with some occasional outings for groceries and the like as my condition began to improve (and once I realized I’d avoided the scourge of The Virus).
Needless to say, that is a lot of time at home. I am very much a homebody, and like being there, but the demands of work, lessons, family, friends, and all the other social and professional obligations I get myself into mean I rarely get days alone at home.
Be careful what you wish for: I had six days at home thanks to illness. Had it not been for being sick, though, it would have been glorious. Even so, it was pretty great.
UPDATE: In case anyone missed it, The Make-A-Wish Foundation REVERSED their decision to require terminally ill children and their families to be fully vaccinated in order to receive their wishes: https://theportlypolitico.com/2021/06/29/decency-prevails-make-a-wish-foundation-rescinds-mask-requirement-for-children/
Read The Foundation’s statement here: https://wish.org/news-releases/reemergence
* * *
The Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants children with terminal medical conditions a “wish,” has announced it will require all wish recipients and their family members to be fully vaccinated against The Virus.
No vaccination, no wish fulfillment.
Naturally, this requirement is absurd, and represents a new low in the race to virtue-signal in The Age of The Virus. At this risk of sounding macabre and insensitive, The Make-A-Wish Foundation is requiring children who are already dying to take a vaccine against an illness with a 99.5%+ survivability rate.
It’s a purely symbolic action that achieves nothing beyond making it more difficult for dying children to enjoy one last bit of whimsy before they cross over into the arms of Jesus.
This past weekend I was sick with a low-grade fever, a cough, and some mild chest congestion. I got home from work Friday and sat in a chair in my mudroom for about two hours without moving, thinking I was just worn out after a long week of work.
I spent most of Saturday and Sunday sleeping, and finally began feeling some relief Sunday evening. I took Monday off, as my temperature was around 101.4 Sunday evening.
That doesn’t make for exciting reading, but every time I am sick, it reminds me of how thankful I am for the vast majority of days I am well. God and genetics blessed me with a very hardy constitution, so I get sick a.) infrequently and b.) mildly. Rarely—about once every five-to-ten years—I get very sick for a spell of a week or two, such as last summer’s bout of Maybe-The-Virus and The Great Christmas Flu of 2014.
Today marked the first day of the Summer 2020 session of my History of Conservative Thought course. Because I’m sick and awaiting COVID-19 test results, we held the inaugural session on Google Meet, discussing the big picture question “What is Conservatism?”
The session went quite well (and I was pleased to see that even with a fever I could last around 75 minutes). The students hit upon these concepts as being key to conservatism:
To that list I added the classically liberal concept of natural rights and the Burkean idea of “ordered liberty.” We also talked about how the earliest conservatives of the Enlightenment Period were largely monarchists, and explicitly rejected the concept of natural rights (at least, rejected the concept as Americans understand it; that is, that all men are created equal and God gives them their rights).
They’re reading Russell Kirk’s “Ten Conservative Principles” for next week, and we’ll check Kirk’s principles against their list.
My apologies to regular readers for the lack of real content this week. There are race wars and Antifa street gangs to discuss, but I’m so weary with fever, I can only slam out these short medical updates.
I had enough symptoms—chills, fever, and headaches—to get test for The Virus. I should find out those results in a day or two. Fortunately, my breathing is unimpaired. I spoke with a physician’s assistant from the neurologists office regarding my migraines, which increasingly seem linked to my fever (although I would still like to shell out for a scan to rule anything else out). Everything is in a bit of a stasis, however, until I get the COVID results.
My appetite is doing well, though I have taken this bout of ill health (and the stomach-related issues I was experiencing last week) to begin correcting and improving my diet. Primarily, I’ve been cutting down on salt consumption, and calories in general. My blood pressure is elevated, and needs to come down substantially.
I am teaching my first session of History of Conservative Thought for 2020 on Wednesday afternoon—online, of course. If necessary, I will take acetaminophen in the morning to help get through the discussion. Here’s hoping I can meet with the three young men enrolled in person next week.
That’s it for now. I just awoke after dozing on the small twin bed in my study (one of the darker, cooler rooms in the house) for over an hour. My fever is coming down without medication—I last took acetaminophen around 6 AM—which is promising.
Thank you for your continues support and prayers.
—TPP
I’m still sick, and based on my symptoms, I may very well have The Virus. Let’s hope not. Fortunately, I am doing well enough when taking over-the-counter medications.
Hopefully I will know more tomorrow. I’ll keep everyone posted.
Hello again, readers. As I noted yesterday, I am suffering from a gnarly migraine. I thought I was recovering last night, but I awoke in the wee hours with more spikes.
I have been lounging like Goethe all day, trying to recover. I know have some Excedrin Migraine and a cold pack for my head, and have been drinking plenty of caffeine.
Hopefully I will be better soon. I am seeing a neurologist either Monday or Tuesday, so we’ll see if he can shed some light things.
—TPP
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