The timing is terrible. I developed a nasty sore throat last night that kept me up half the night — I’m going to be gulping down tea with honey all day long. I’m giving the first big exam of the semester tomorrow, so I’m giving extended office hours this morning and afternoon, which means I’m going to be dealing one-on-one with students while suffering from this croaky voice.
Mask on. More tea. Don’t ask me to sing.
Hope you get better soon! There is no Influenza there yet or winter viruses, but Covid variant PJ.2.1 is surging, so it could be that. Please wear FFP2, not surgical, they don’t block aerosols.
Do you not get sick leave even if just a few days and do they not have substitute lecturers or is that a silly question given you are living and working in the USoA and not a civilised nation?
Hope you feel better soon and best wishes from me, PZ.
What’s the point in pre-exam office hours if you’re not gonna calm my nerves with a sweet serenade?! ;-P
We do not have substitutes. I live in one of the most remote places in the western prairie, there is no backup crew around here.
Instead of a serenade, they’ll have to settle for knowledge.
@2 To be fair, like the proverbial “Curates egg” the United States of America is good in parts with many civilised people and places in it and, of course, what even counts as “civilised” is a big question in itself with no clear answer. Although being the sort of nation that doesn’t vote for the likes of Trump, rejects Fascism, does NOT send people broke when they get sick or allow regular school shootings for the sake of gun festishists etc.. seems applicable to whether a country meets the definition and qualifications for being “civilised” vs “uncivilised” here. Subjective but still.
Does you no good, but I got my COVID and flu shots late last week. Not sure how close the former is toward the prevailing variant making its rounds. Google News informs me I might have pulled the trigger too early on the latter. Plus it wasn’t the new-fangled mRNA flu shot which I coveted. Hopefully I don’t get flu again this next February despite the vaccine.
Hopefully what you have isn’t a baddie.
If it helps any, PZ, I was also up half the night with a sore throat and stuffy head. Suffering in company with you.
My sympathies. I’m getting over a cold that started last week, Thursday, with a sore throat and burning sinuses. The throat pain was gone after a couple of days as the plague seemed to moved from my head to my chest. Now, I’m just coughing out the crud.
Please get a more effective mask. Don’t give your students a nasty infection along with your teaching.
Take good care of yourself, PZ.
For us, everyday is mask day when we’re in public and in enclosed spaces.
1) They protect others by preventing us from communicating any ‘bugs’ we have with them.
2) They protect us from any ‘bugs’ others might spread to us.
3) They help us avoid airborn allergens.
4) Our masks are a reminder of the millions tRUMP murdered with his covid plague bullshit. So, our masks piss off the magats!
And, if people read the real history of this country, (Howard Zinn, Dan Sjursen) they would know that there always were just a few small segments that were civilized. And, today, it is a nation run by murderous, barbaric aholes. Of course, most nations are founded on, or have extended periods of barbarism.
Crap. This reminds me that my partner will inevitably bring back a bug from his students at the beginning of the school year, and I will inevitably get it, too.
Just put on a hoodie and pretend you’re Emperor Palpatine.