I have been floating through a sort of fever dream for the last 24 hours. Yesterday passed in a soft, unfocused blur as I mostly slept. I am not a late sleeper or a napper by nature, so spending so much time asleep is a very strange thing for me. My temperature in the afternoon climbed to 101.6º F (or 38.7º C).
Needless to say, I'm not going to Norfolk today to the christening of our co-worker's baby. I'm sending Dave along on his own. He has miraculously not come down with whatever this is. I feel bad for missing the christening; I was looking forward to going if only to experience something new. (I've never been to a christening before, but I've been to baptisms, which I suppose are basically the same thing.) Anyway, it is not meant to be.
I tried to read a novel yesterday but I couldn't even do that very well -- I just couldn't concentrate. The words swam about on the page. I caught up on the news instead, reading more about Boris Johnson's resignation. Somehow I don't think we're finished with him. I think he'll be a bit like Trump, pulling strings and making waves even when he's technically no longer in the top job. He's a big personality (i.e. loudmouth) and that's what they do. In my opinion, Boris did most of his damage before he even became prime minister, leading us down the rosy path of Brexit and paving it with empty lies and promises. Isn't our National Health Service supposed to be awash in money right now?
On another topic, a few days ago I read an article in the Daily Mail about the Chicago shootings, and it contained this astonishing sentence:
The US has now seen 309 mass shootings so far this year in which four or more people, excluding the shooter, were shot or killed. Eleven alone took place over the holiday weekend.That sums up the crisis of gun proliferation in the United States more succinctly than I think I've ever seen anywhere else. And this is the Daily Mail! Hardly a bastion of liberalism.
Also, I read a curious column about the scourge of American candy shops that have been popping up on prime shopping streets in London. Yes, you read that right: Candy shops. They're all over Oxford Street and Covent Garden -- one even took over the former HMV music store and displaced its fabulous old neon sign. I've been wondering how much of a market there could possibly be for American candy, and it turns out that these shops may be more of a tax dodge or money laundering scheme than anything else.
So, as I said, today Olga and I will be lounging around the house while Dave boards a train for Norfolk. I do think I'm on the mend, though. I had a cup of coffee this morning, which I couldn't manage at all yesterday, and I feel much more normal overall. We'll see what my temperature does over the course of the day.
(Top photo: A shop window in Brussels, a few weeks ago.)
26 comments:
I like the shop window. I also hope you feel much better very soon and that Dave doesn't then come down with whatever this is. Olga looks nicely relaxed there.
I used to respect you Steve... until you admitted that you read "The Daily Mail"! To be fair, maybe it was the fever that addled your mind. Drink a lot of water and get well soon!
So sorry you’re still coping with whatever you came down with, although I’m sure Olga is happy to have you lounging around with her. The Daily Mail? How do you “stomach” that? I go to bed each night telling myself I will not read the news first thing in the morning. And then I do. And then I feel ill. We have English acquaintances who visit here regularly who must be very happy about Brexit since now they don’t have to buy unbent bananas.
I'm impressed you still wrote a blog post! I hope you'll feel better soon.
Wise not to go, even if you don't have Covid.
The candy shops could also me an immigration rort. Invest in a business...
Sad to say that, with so many shootings here, most don't make the news. I wonder, though, if they did, would some people's thoughts on gun control change.
Take care, and drink plenty as YP said.
At least you have relaxing weather x
Candy shops? How bizarre.
Please take care of yourself. You obviously have some sort of virus and I wouldn't doubt that Dave may yet come down with it.
I had mysterious fevers last fall and winter...which never turned into COVID. Thank heavens for that. But it did keep me from taking part in a few things. I hope you feel better soon, from whatever you've got. Rest and fluids, and whatever pain reliever/fever reducer you wish.
I hate that you're still feeling poorly! At least it now sounds like a "bug" rather than something Mrs. K might have slipped you. ;) Speaking of bugs (hover flies in particular), go back to this post of mine and scroll down to the black-eye susan. I'm 99% sure it's a hover fly!
https://ksrgmck.wordpress.com/2022/06/17/instagram-photos-19/
Wonderful photo of the flower with Olga in the background!
Please take care there, Steve. It's such a bummer to get sick and have a fever like that. I hope you are truly on the mend.
I read a similar article about the number of shooting in the US since the beginning of 2022. Something is so crazy in our country it's a nightmare.
Well, I guess you really were sick. Glad you seem to be on the mend.
Mass, murder, our new national pastime.
If you have a rapid covid test around, it would be worth taking it. Apparently the new strains of the virus include GI symptoms. It's crummy to be sick no matter what the cause is, and I hope you continue to improve, and quickly. The mass shooting statistics really are awful, and I don't see how those against gun control can't see it. It's hardly even surprising anymore to hear this news from the U.S., whereas the recent shooting in Denmark and the assassination of former Prime Minister Abe in Japan were shocking.
P. S. Food poisoning can cause fever too, FWIW. Just reading your replies to yesterday's comments!
Good! You're feeling better. This country is broken, we have the usual thoughts and prayers after a shooting, and then we move on. It's not just the dead, think of all the friends and families left behind, the wounded who can never be made whole, it's just horrific.
Hope you are over whatever the illness was! Have a relaxing weekend and enjoy your beautiful garden!
I hope this finds you better, Steve. The difference between Boris and Trump is that the former wasn't/isn't enabled by his party. So I doubt that he can do the continuing damage that Trump has done and will in the future if allowed.I'm so ashamed of the U.S. these days. Common sense has disappeared.
I wish someone could make you some homemade chicken soup!
Feel better, more sleep!
I hope that whatever 'bug' you caught, makes an exit today.
I love that flower photo with Olga in the background.
Boris and Trump have so much in common with one glowing exception. One of them would never resign or apologize.
Feel better!
Hope you're feeling better soon.
American seem to have a gun addiction.
Lounge away and get well soon. That sounds rather grim -- I hope it isn't Covid but assume you've tested to the max. I don't even see American candy stores here much, unless it's a specialized chocolate store. And no Brit candy (darn!) or Brit anything much. I tried to buy some Thomas Fudge flapjacks and they were so expensive I decided that come fall I'll learn to make my own!
Between Boris, Shinzu, Killings here, January 6 -- my head spins....
You described perfectly the way i have felt for the past 2.5 weeks with Covid. I've gone through 2 runs of Paxlovid (the miracle anti-viral). Nearly through with the second but still sick. I hope the best for you.
I don't think gun violence or proliferation is going any place soon. Rapid recovery to you, Steve.
We were at a (small town) local festival today and my mind kept going towards 'this is where it could happen' .. what a world we live in ��. Feel better soon Steven!
I hope you feel better soon. You know, my daughter and I talked about those American candy stores. We didn't understand it either. Interesting that they might be used to mask nefarious goings on.
River: So far, Dave is fine, surprisingly. It's funny how illness can affect one of us and not the other, even living in such close quarters.
YP: I don't habitually read it, but it's great for visuals -- the web site always has tons of photos and I actually seek it out when an event happens. (Many Daily Mail readers, I'm guessing, don't really read!)
Mitchell: It's tough, because you want to stay informed, right? But then it's all so miserable. Including the unbent bananas.
Boud: It's my routine. My day would not seem complete without a blog post.
Andrew: Apparently they often have shady ownership and fail to follow through on taxes, at least according to that column.
Bob: I know! I was astonished at that number. Even though it seems I read about shootings all the time in the states, I haven't read about THAT many.
GZ: Yeah, if I've got to be sick, better now when I can lounge in the garden.
Ms Moon: He hasn't yet but only time will tell!
Barbara: Fevers are very strange things, but at least in this case I know mine was gastro-intestinal. We talk a lot about Covid but there are still plenty of other bugs circulating out there!
Kelly: Yes! That is indeed a hoverfly. So I've learned something new about their distribution. That's very similar to what's known here as a "hornet mimic hoverfly" (Volucella zonaria) which uses its hornet-like appearance for defense.
Robin: The world is a crazy place! I tell myself that every day!
Ellen: Was there a doubt about me being sick? LOL! I couldn't believe those shooting numbers.
Jenny-O: Yes, I did take a Covid test, even though it didn't feel at all Covid-like to me. The shooting in Japan was especially shocking. Sounds like the guy had a handmade gun? Did I read that right?
Allison: It IS horrific. Our 24-hour media culture contributes to our national forgetfulness, I suspect -- we are pushed to move on by the constant flow of new information. I wish we were back in the days of evening news broadcasts for half an hour each. We had more time to think about things (and crucially, live our own lives).
Ellen D: I am on the mend, I'm happy to say!
Margaret: Boris was enabled for a while, but he finally ran out of support. It's shocking that that hasn't happened yet with Trump.
Kim: Well, thank you for the virtual soup! I did heat up some chicken stock in water with rice yesterday for lunch, so I sort of had chicken soup. :)
Sharon: But even Boris, in his resignation speech, never said the word "resign." At least not in the clips I saw or read about. It's like he just couldn't bring himself to say it.
Pixie: I've never understood the American infatuation with guns. It's something to do with our frontier mentality but that was generations ago! None of my family members owned guns except my maternal grandfather, who pretended to hunt but never really shot much.
Jeanie: Definitely not Covid! The American candy thing is a British phenomenon, weirdly. I never realized America had a global profile as a candy producer, but maybe it does?
Claudia: Oh no! I'm sorry to hear you're dealing with persistent Covid! I hope it fades soon!
Red: It's amazing to me how the gun industry has such a lock on American culture. (And politics.)
James and Brigitta: I get that feeling too sometimes when I'm in a crowd or at a public event. It's terrible we even have to contemplate these things.
Debby: Yes, very interesting! I guess the stock never expires (and some of it's counterfeit anyway) and there's probably a lot of profit margin.
Post a Comment