Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

Finally feeling well enough to return to work. Actually this isn't true: it's more the case that I'd become very bored and I'd taken enough time off to convince myself that I'd passed the point where I was likely to be infectious. Arrived in time to sit in on the integration — we had AJS and AK over from the US to help smooth things along — all of which went largely to plan, despite some unanticipated delays debugging some of the cabling.

Despite not starting at 6am, like some of the others, today — actually I'm shamelessly retconning this from the weekend — was a real slog. I sat in with the rest of the gang as they ran through a CLE update, with the usual range of unexpected glitches.

As the day wore on, I felt increasingly tired and unwell. By the time we'd reached what should've been the end, I realised that I was very febrile and my body temperature was skyrocketing. But just as I'd accepted that and was working to put my post-upgrade tunings in prior to going home, we discovered an particular unfortunate oversight that required an extra hour of work; something I managed to do despite feeling worse by the second.

With the work finally done, I managed to catch the bus home, snuggling into my down jacket as if conditions were arctic and not unexpected warm for the time of year. When I got back, I texted my sister who advice her standard aggressive cocktail of antipyretics, and collapsed into bed, all the while dreading the morrow...

I'm beginning suspect I might have caught the unpleasant cold that seems to be doing the rounds at the moment. Unfortunately it's hard to be definite: I've also got a big mouth ulcer right at the back which seems to be kicking up a lot of pain in my throat, so it might just be spill-over pain from that...

It hasn't been the easiest of weeks. Actually, it hasn't been the easiest of months. June has been marked by endless injuries and a constant series of health problems, culminating in various worries about my on-going blood chemistry problems. But at least these seem now to be easing, thanks to positive news from the hospital and gradual but definite improvements in my hearing.

And work hasn't been much better: we're at the peak period in our usual five year cycle; we're short of people and things are likely to get worse before they get better; and we're up against a series of deadlines which have suddenly become contentious, requiring a great deal of scrupulous attention to detail. But on the plus side, at least I've discovered a use for my philosophy MA: a solid grounding in how to write a short, clear, pointed email with precise attention to the points being answered...

While this may be chancing fate, it looks like my the problems with my hearing are finally starting to clear. It's still a bit tentative but the last couple of days have seen something of an improvement and, although it comes and goes quite lot, my bad ear seems to be working better than it has been for most of the last month.

Still feeling pretty rubbish what with a bad ear and, thanks to yesterday's bouldering, a slight finger injury, I spent my bank holiday at home, zipping my way through Cassandra Clare's City of Bones, which I enjoyed far more than expected.

Nice afternoon of bouldering, which saw me knock off a couple of new problems without too much trouble. On the downside I seem to have picked up some sort of knee problem which seems unpleasant enough to merit a once over from the doctor...

Finally beginning to feel somewhat recovered from my recent indisposition; although, on the plus side thanks to all the time spent in bed, I seem to have caught up on enough sleep to reach the point where I no longer feel completely and utterly exhausted.

Having just got rid of one cold, I find myself immediately going down with another. I blame my neighbour at work, who has had something for a while and spent most of today sounding as though he was breathing through a leaky pair of bellows.

ETA: In the end the dreaded cold never really materialised and I managed to shake it off with little more than a day's worth of feeling slightly delicate...

General malaise has left me feeling utterly exhausted and mildly sick — probably the bug that seems to be doing the rounds at work. Consequently I've cried off tonight's outing to a local curry house in favour of an early night with a book.

ETA: I made the right decision. Both of the others, who stuck with the curry plan, complained of poor sleep due to intestinal heaviness. Thus, I suspect, had I gone in my already delicate condition, it would have well and truly done for me...