remember me

It was a Christmas miracle: I tested negative for Covid on December 25th. It was nice to have a normal day with our two kids. I realize how fortunate we are that my wife and I had a relatively easy time dealing with the virus. Many people have had it much worse.

I was telling my daughter about my Die Hard advent calendar; since I haven’t been in the office since the 7th, Hans Gruber never completed his fateful fall from the Nakatomi Tower. She said it would be really sad for my coworkers if I had died from the virus and they found Hans pinned to day #7, knowing I would never return to have a laugh about it. I guess she’s right, although there would be much bigger concerns for my family if I didn’t make it.

I am also reminded that I need to start my next project: creating a “what to do if I die” file for my family. I’ll make paper and digital files with important account numbers, passwords, contact information, etc. I might include a list of GPS points where I want some ashes scattered, although I’ll make that optional.

I know I want to be cremated – it seems like the least harmful method of disposal – but I really don’t care what is done with my remains. Funerals and memorials are for the living, not the dead. Since I don’t believe in any afterlife it seems meaningless to me where my ashes go. I would like my surviving family to remember me in the way they feel is best.

Okay, enough of that. My fake birthday is tomorrow; I will attempt to accomplish something I need to do, plus have a little fun with the rest of the day.

ho-ho-hovid

I’m fighting the Covid infection to a draw so far. I had 3 to 4 days where I really felt horrible with cold/flu symptoms. I have been ingesting a constant supply of cold medicine to try to clear my head and to sleep. Sunday was the first time I had any energy to spare, and I spent it closed up in the home office trying to organize and recycle/throw away things. I have too much stuff I don’t need, and what I’m keeping is desperately unorganized. Stirring up dust is not good for my congestion though.

I thought I would be good to work from home today (Monday), and I did okay for about 4-5 hours, but then I ran out of energy and my brain started to get foggy. I am supposed to be in the office Tuesday through Thursday, so I took a test to rule that out for tomorrow. I must have lots of “viral load” or whatever still, because the two lines were immediately visible. I don’t think I will bother with another test until Wednesday afternoon to see if I can go to the office on Thursday. If I can’t, I probably will not see the office until January because I have vacation between Christmas and new year’s.

So for now, I’m still isolating in the home office to try to keep my daughter from catching the virus. I’m going through file boxes, important (and unimportant) papers, and collections of crap I can’t seem to get rid of. For example I have a lot of old and useless maps; some are old, some are useless, and some are both. Some of the old ones are pretty cool to a map geek though, so I’ll save those (like the detail of the Sacramento area which I think is from around 1960 based on the missing freeways).

old AAA map (click for detail)

I also have an abundance of CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes, books, electronics junk, and a few sets of baseball cards (which I thought would be worth a lot someday, but alas, no). I’m organizing files in my computer and making backups. I’m sorting my mp3 collection. I’m watching the Dirty Harry movies. I’m reading books. Yes, so many things to do which would never get done if I wasn’t infectious. See? There’s a silver lining here.

Okay, back to work. If I don’t post before Christmas, stay medicated my friends.

under the weather

I can’t brain much today, so this will be short. … My wife had Covid last week, and now I have it. We did all the right things last week – she isolated in the bedroom, we were both masked whenever she had to come out for something, we were both washing hands – but I still caught it. We both have had the latest booster, but it didn’t stop this variant. I feel miserable, but hopefully it won’t get worse than today. I thought I could work from home while sick, but I had to call off yesterday and today because I can’t think for more than a few minutes at a time. For now I’m watching movies or TV shows online when I feel like it, otherwise just resting and chugging shots of Nyquil. Wish me luck.