Spinning on that dizzy edge

So I was going to post about how I'm proud of myself for making a treat for Festivids, and accepting that it received an average response and not the glowing dozens of comments I've had in previous years, which is fair because it was kind of a slapdash effort, but then I tested positive for Covid yesterday and I'm just done with this week.

I mean, I do have a lot of feelings, like determination that NEXT YEAR I'll have made an impression on the vidding community such that someone will at least post my vid in the "Guess the Festividder" chain, even if my name isn't mentioned, maybe by working on a treat in advance so it doesn't end up a hot mess.

I also have feelings about the friend who attended a gaming session sick and didn't mask or test beforehand, thereby infecting me AND the kid, but I'm trying to be gracious, because 4 years was a good run to avoid it, and it's partly on me for not getting the family in for the latest vax (though I did get the flu shot, and spend most of December and January slogging through with an unrelated cold), and apologies were offered, but we're still sick. At least our schedules are flexible enough that it's more of an annoyance than a crisis, and so far our symptoms have been pretty mild, and I am not borrowing trouble by worrying about Long Covid just yet. Though the taste of a metallic rat having died in my mouth can go away any time, thanks Paxlovid. Today we wait to see if the spouse is also positive; it was almost cute yesterday the way he kept forgetting that maybe he shouldn't be in close quarters with me until he's confirmed one way or the other.

I took yesterday and today off work, since my brain is noping out of concentrating right now. Heartstopper in its various forms has been keeping me company. Bless fandom for sharing.

In short: UGH.

UGH. So it turns out that the real reason my period stayed away was so that it could come back with a vengeance when I was out of town for almost a week on a business trip.

( TMI, menstrual variety )

The trip itself wasn't bad; I got to meet some of my new teammates and take a prep course for a Microsoft certification on the company dime. I even managed to get my steps and exercise in every day.

Then I got home, and having breathed a sigh of relief that my monstrous period was done, I was struck down by a vicious cold, which resembles what the poor Emperor had a couple of weeks ago: fever/chills, coughing, chest rattles, aches - like a freaking viral truck had run over me. I took Monday and Tuesday off entirely, and have been working from home (with varying levels of success) since then. I'm hoping this means I'll have all this ick out of the way when I'm traveling to NY at the end of the month to see "Hamilton".

These aging meat bags we call bodies are so inconvenient. *SIGH*

Well, there's nothing like getting the stick after the carrot. I glumly decided that I couldn't justify the Burbank trip, what with the economy tanking and making muddy the solid financial ground I thought we'd found. Then the husband's car broke AGAIN, and yeah, it looks like we're going to have another case of happy bonus money being eaten by mundane costs.

This is on top of entering week five of cold symptoms, and having the PA diagnose it as a combination of cold and allergies. (I staunchly maintain that this doesn't feel like any case of allergies I've had before, since I don't want to scratch my face off, but the chest congestion is driving me batty.) Plus the husband is on antibiotics for his own sinus infection, and the Emperor's birthday is in two weeks and 75% of the prospective guest list have already canceled, and I'm evidently insane because I'm actually pondering hosting Christmas this year, and...the brain, it just doesn't stop.

However, I am bound and determined to find some silver lining here, so I am by gum going to get myself a new laptop.

Of course, now this opens up a huge Vista* of dithering. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go PC rather than Mac, as much as I still feel brand loyalty to the latter company. I'm poking around the Dell site, especially the outlet deals, but there are so many choices for my limited brain power! My needs list is: supports basically unlimited online surfing, including as many YouTube offerings in a row as I want; runs Microsoft Office; supports whatever software I need to start vidding; wireless is a given; as big a hard drive and as much RAM as I can get; DVD RW drive; decent battery life.

I am useless when it comes to hardware, I know, and it's a willful blind spot. That's one of the reasons I count on my husband so much.

So, anybody feel like offering an opinion on computers, especially when it comes to specs and software to enable vidding?

* Vista = DO NOT WANT. Do they actually sell computers loaded with Windows XP anymore?

The good news is, I'll be missing another day of work.

The bad news is, I've got strep, again/still/some more. *sigh*

On top of all the symptoms of a Nyquil commercial. But, hey, $21 and 3 prescriptions later, I should be sleeping very soundly tonight. Let's hear it for cough syrup with codeine.

And many cheers to my wonderful husband, who has been very good at waiting on me. When I commented earlier that the only thing I'd successfully done today had been holding the forces of anti-gravity at bay by sitting on the couch for several hours, he pulled off a great visual joke while I went to get dressed for a visit to the doctor. I came back to find that he'd bungee-corded the couch to the surrounding furniture, so my earlier efforts wouldn't be in vain. I love my dork of a husband.

Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get some of things done that I had every intention of doing today. Among them, my second crack at raincitygirl's Helo prompts.

I picked up an upper respiratory bug this past weekend. I'm choosing to blame my mom, as she's always stridently blaming daycare for getting the Emperor sick, and turnabout is fair play.

We had a nice visit with my folks this past weekend -- well, at least I did, and the husband got through tolerably well. *sigh* The Emperor had a ball playing with his grandparents, and he seemed really wistful after they left. He even added them, of his own volition, to the night-time litany of people who love him. (It goes something like, "Remember that Mommy loves you, and Daddy loves you, and Mika loves you..." "Gramma and Granpa!" "Yes, "Grandma and Grandpa love you, too"). He's such a sweetheart. I hope he avoids getting my cold.

I think I'm leaving work early today. My chest hurts, my voice is hit or miss, and thinking is very fuzzy. The 'Tussin CF is calling to me.