Miscon: had a wonderful time…

…but feeling oh, so guilty. I fear Typhoid Mary and her minions may have infected the entire con.

Yes, for those who haven’t heard, CJ came down with some virus the day we left for the convention and spent pretty much the whole convention in the room,  face down in the beandip. Now, this isn’t quite as horrible as it might seem, as outside the window was a rushing stream whose sound permeated the room and inside were two kitties to keep her company, but still…this is not the way to “do” a convention, especially not one as friendly and relaxed as Miscon.

I did something like eight hours of programming on Saturday, filling in for her on panels and readings as well as my own. My lips were really chapped and dry, so I wasn’t all that surprised that by the end of the day, my throat was a bit raspy. Then, I spent the evening in the “smoking room,” spending some time with guests Steven Brust and David Boop. Since I’m pretty sensitive to cigarette smoke, I really wasn’t surprised when I still had a sore throat the next day.  I felt good other than that, tired, but good, and so I just kept going. By the next morning, I had to admit, the Cherryh crud had zapped me. It was my job to drive, so I packed us up and got us out of there while I was still functional, but by the time we hit 10,000 Silver Dollar tourist trap we love to stop at, shall we say I was really glad we still had one functional driver and happily turned the rest of the trip over to Sharon.

Who’s sick today (Tuesday), too. Sounds like she’s (fortunately) about a day behind me. I could have gotten us home safely, but was very glad I didn’t have to. Instead, I dozed off in the back seat with the cats. We got home, got the car unpacked, then zoned out in front of the TV watching the Mariners lose another game.

I do not know what’s gotten into them. Began the season so great, then, that series with the A’s a couple of weeks ago and the killer extra inning games…they just haven’t been the same since. What did your guys do, Bret? Put a voodoo hex on them?

But I digress.

I have to admit, I left about the sixth inning and went face down in my own plate of beandip.  I think I got up for dinner and vaguely remember watching some Bleach, but there’s no question, I’ve got the crud.

All I can say to anyone I might have infected at the con is gomen! I’m sorry, sorry, sorry! I tried. I took stuff so I didn’t cough…much. And when I did, I coughed into my sleeve. And I kept my hands meticulously washed. So, hopefully, I kept the infections to a minimum.

Thursday: Hmmm…it says something that I don’t really remember writing the above. Not a good sign. Yesterday, I spent a lot of time sleeping. For anyone who comes down with this crud, all you can do is treat the symptoms. It’ll last for about four days.

What worked for me: for once Theraflu did nothing. Mucinex, two pills twice a day, to break down the thick mucus, Benedryl, also double strength, to stop the production of it and the post nasal drip that causes the uncontrollable cough, Sudafed, to help with the stuffy nose, though I’m not really sure it did much, and a good nasal spray to actually open the nasal passages when you really have to breathe. And when you do get the nose open, use Ayr sinus saline rinse, or some equivalent. It’s the weirdest thing, but boy does it help. You squirt a steady stream of saline solution up one side of your schnozolla til it comes out the other, taking yucky goo with it. Since I began doing this regularly…over two years now…I haven’t had anything remotely like a cold or bronchitus or sinus infection…all of which I used to have chronically. Even my allergies have been vastly reduced.

And this time, I seem to have gotten off very lightly, at least compared to CJ and Sharon, for which I’m very thankful. Tuesday was the worst and mostly I just slept…because I could. But then, I’d worked hard this last weekend and operated on very little sleep, so I needed it anyway. Yesterday, my USB PCI card came in, so…guess what I was doing? The card itself went in and performed like a champ. Problem solved.

If only I’d left it at that. Being an idiot, I didn’t. It occured to me that this printer has a networking capability. I’d tried to set it up when we first got it and the network just couldn’t seem to find the printer.  As per most HP hardware the documentation on the machine sucked pond water, so, since I had the USB ports and the room on the desk, I just left it connected and used it that way. Well, we all know what happened there. So, I decided, having nothing else to do with my copious spare time and the two functioning neurons that remained in my head between sneezes and nose-blowings, that it was time to make it join the network.

Rather than bore you all with the details, let me just say that the operation was long, but successful. The main problem was that I have a secured wireless network. Somehow, you’ve got to get the WEP number into the printer. Once that was done, all the other computers in the house (save one) were able find and access the printer without a hitch.

Getting the WEP into the printer was a case of trial and error. Basically, you have to completely install the machine, software and all, into one machine using the USB connection, then “add another device” (i.e. the wireless printer) using that USB connection. It will prompt for the SIDD and the WEP, find the printer, then complete the install. You just have to be careful not to unplug the USB cable until after the post installation reboot, or everything fouls up.

Then, there’s my laptop, which has been subbing for the desktop and onto which I had installed the printer via the USB. It couldn’t find the wireless printer.  So, I tried the install disk and attempted to “add a device.” It seemed to work, it “found” the printer on the network, but something flaked and after the install finished, I couldn’t get any program to recognize the wireless printer.

So…I uninstalled the software and the printers, rebooted twice, then reinstall the software opting for the “network Printer” option. And low and behold…it worked. Glug. Timing. The essence of comedy.

Anyway, that took about all yesterday’s energy. Then, I just settled in and watched So You Think You Can Dance, which is my all time favorite reality show and one of my faves period. 

Today, I woke up feeling pretty darned good. Too good. We’re supposed to be getting hot weather, so I wanted to get some things done outside while the weather was still a bit forgiving. Mostly, I needed to replace a sprinkler head. I think our front lawn will be much happier now. But there was a lot of just cleaning up to do, and one thing led to another, and, predictably, dummy here overdid it. Shall we say, I wasn’t as hale as I thought. Ah, well, the driveway and front lawn look a whole lot better, and what else do I have to do but sit here like a lump with my head swimming in circles.

Speaking of circles… the fishlets have discovered gummy worms!!!! Actually freeze dried Tubifex worms, but it’s Fishie Candy. It turns them into swarming sharks! They’ll be eating out of our hands (literally) in no time! I wasn’t sure they’d do it again, but I went out after writing the above and tried again.

 You can’t really see it, but the little guy in the center has the worms in his mouth.

The picture below will link you to a You Tube minute of baby fishlets in motion. Silly, but hey, they’re cute.

I need to do a real con report, but for now, I’m just going to get something posted! 

Thanks again to everyone for the well-wishes.