The Dystopian Present

Are you feeling a little down as the last day of Easter hols officially comes to an end? For those that had already homeschooled, or worked from home, things aren't much different; but for people with a regular away-from-home work schedule, the kids who would normally go back to school, and the parents that now need to juggle their work with homeschooling, the spring holiday may have been their only opportunity to get away. And while many are getting a break, the necessary workers are working long hours to keep things running for the rest of us; hopefully they were able to enjoy some semblance of a break over the holiday times too. So, what does a holiday look like without being able to spend time with our friends or family outside of the home? We were meant to be in Arizona and California for 3 weeks, spending much needed time with friends and family who we hadn't seen in over a year.  Due to Covid-19, our flights were cancelled and we were forced to spend the whole 2-week h...

It's December. I awaken with flu-like symptoms. My microbiology and nursing background tell me to wait out the pain; which for me is quite bad. The first time I got the flu I was 17 and in college, which means the symptoms are a lot worse for an adult body that has never "seen" flu virus before. It means that any subsequent flu symptoms carry the echoes of the 'baseball-bat-bashing-my-lumbar-region' pain which were so memorable from that first encounter. This flu was odd though, as I did not feel that oh so familiar lumbar nerve pain, but rather had a concentrated throb in my jaw with overall, dull body aches.  ("I knew I shouldn't have tried to help those zombie children...") Day 3 hits and I am not sure how much longer I can suffer. I try the typical pain medications. First an NSAID (despite not seeing inflammation), and then Tylenol. I calmly tell Christian that I think it may be time to go to the hospital; the pain was so great that I ha...