Ventured outside today

I ventured outside today. Twice. The first time was when I broke down, and took out some garbage. But still, I put my mask and my shoes on. On ubereats today, Whoppers were 50% off. And so my brother and I had Burger King for lunch. And I ordered an extra one for supper later on tonight. But I needed a beverage to wash it down. And so, another trip to 7-11 for a diet pepsi (normally I’m a Coke drinker, but sometimes you want something different).

After my second trip out today, the thermometer that my brother had ordered arrived. It’s official, no fever. I look forward to returning to work this week. Probably later than sooner, but I’ll be at work….

Render Unto Ceaser, 2021 Edition

First of all, I’m pretty much over all of the Covid symptons. I even wrote personnel at work, and let them know that I can return to work. However their rule is 2 weeks’ LOA from the date of the positive test. So I have until next week before I can even entertain the thought of returning to work. And I’m totally broke since during a moment of lucidity during my illness, I logged in and paid my bills.

Tonight, while drinking my first cup of coffee in two weeks (surprisingly sleep can be a good substitute for caffeine), I realized that I had all my tax forms in order. So, off to credit karma, and I filed. The IRS has already accepted my return, and I’m getting a refund. At least it’s taken care of for another year.

It all started a couple of weeks ago…

A couple of Wednesdays ago, I was on my way to work. And I started felling the standard body aches and pains. At work, we have to go through a brief health screening before we can start our shifts, and body aches and pains are one of the specific symptoms we were asked about. I answered truthfully, and asked for a member of management. He decided that since I had only one symptom, he’d personally clear me to work that night, or I could go home. I chose to go home (mainly because I have no way of getting home from 11 pm to 6 am). The next day, I received a phone call from personnel, and it was decided that if I wasn’t getting worse, then I’d come to work. Which I then did for two more days.

Then Saturday came. With all the snow that we had received, I had made arrangements to carpool with my boss to work. Well, the roads were so bad that my boss had called out, and I decided that if he’s calling out, then there’s no point in me coming to work. At this time the body aches and pains were getting worse, and a fever was developing. I knew that I had caught something, but I still thought it was simple cold.

Then Sunday night came. I was really miserable. Fever. And the body aches and pains were the worst I’ve ever felt. But my boss was able to drive, so I went to work and went to the same health screening. I had a fever of 103+. Anything over 100 and you’re supposed to be sent home, no ifs ands or buts. But my boss said that it was because I was in a well-heated suv. So, with some fanning, and waiting I went from a go-home fever of 103+ to a I-can-work-just-barely 99.7. And so I had to work. And I was miserable that night. And the next morning when I went home, I was barely able to keep myself from barfing on the on the bus ride home (but right when I got off the final bus stop, yeah I tried to hurl it…).

Monday and Tuesday (of last week) were my days off of the week. So I stayed home and suffered. Still had the 100+ fever. Tuesday night, I launched an e-visit with Kaiser Permanente (my health insurance provider), described my symptoms, and was invited to get a Covid test. Which I did Wednesday morning. Personnel had also put me on a 10 day LOA (since I had also told them that I was getting worse.

So come 4:30 Thursday morning, and log in to Kaiser, and my results are in. And I’m positive. I have Covid. Personnel put me on an immediate 2 week paid loa with explicit directions not to go anywhere near work until I'm clear of the fever.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, I basically slept though everything. I only got up to take insulin, ibuprofen, or to puke. I found that setting a 4 hour countdown timer on my phone really helps with not going too far between insulin shots (I am after all still a diabetic).

Sunday, I started ‘coming around’, but I slept through most of it. Monday, I started eating solid food again, and surprisingly, I still have a sense of taste and smell. Yesterday, I ordered teriyaki, and kept it down.

I’m still sleeping a lot. But that’s because I’m sick, and that’s how my body heals itself. My brother (who has since tested negative) has ordered a thermometer, so we can see if I’m officially free of the fever….

D’oh!

So last week at work, I decided I needed some time off. So I pulled the app on my phone, selected the dates and put in the vacation requests. My intent was to make a normal 2 day weekend a 4 day one, and I had attempted to book it a month in advance. Earlier this week, I got a pop up notice that one of my vacation day requests had been approved. But when I took a closer look, one of the days I put in for was last week, a day that I had already worked.

So, I guess I’m getting an extra day’s pay on my next check. Though I fell like I’ve wasted a vacation day…