... because the old man has COVID.

His wife seems to have brought it back with her last week from her trip to Chicago. She started feeling poorly the day after she got home, and he came down with it last Friday. And neither one of them would know what it is if I hadn't spent the entire weekend calling him up and badgering him to go and get tested... which of course he didn't do until today, because their local walk-in clinic isn't open on the weekend and he wouldn't go to the emergency room.

To paraphrase something comedian Dave Gorman once said about his father, "I love that man to bits, but he's... stupid."

Anyway, they told him to stay away from people until at least 24 hours after the symptoms are gone, and he's not starting on Paxlovid until tomorrow, so it'll probably be a while before my immunomoderated ass gets anywhere near the shop again. :/

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Aw, that sucks. Hope he gets over it fast and has no lingering side effects.

>Aw, that sucks. Hope he gets over it fast and has no lingering side
>effects.

Thanks, me too.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>To paraphrase something comedian Dave Gorman once said about
>his father, "I love that man to bits, but he's...
>stupid."

Yeap, know that one ALL too well.
Stupid or not, best hopes and wishes.

...!
Stoke Mandeville, Esq & The
Victorian Ballsmiths
"Nobody Want Verdigris-
Covered Balls!"

>... because the old man has COVID.
>
>His wife seems to have brought it back with her last week from her
>trip to Chicago. She started feeling poorly the day after she got
>home, and he came down with it last Friday. And neither one of them
>would know what it is if I hadn't spent the entire weekend
>calling him up and badgering him to go and get tested... which of
>course he didn't do until today, because their local walk-in clinic
>isn't open on the weekend and he wouldn't go to the emergency room.
>

Yikes.

Hoping this goes well for him, and that he won't fall victim to this in the future. (In case he does, there are good home tests at most pharmacies; it might be easier to buy a couple and drop them at his door than badger.)

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.

>Hoping this goes well for him, and that he won't fall victim to this
>in the future. (In case he does, there are good home tests at most
>pharmacies; it might be easier to buy a couple and drop them at his
>door than badger.)

I considered it, but then I would just have had to badger him to seek treatment instead. At least this way he was already at the clinic.
--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

On the plus side, Dad and his wife received their second negative test result this morning, the prescribed 48 hours after the first one, so we're clear to get back into the shop tomorrow.

On the very minus side, it looks like Ollie's taking his last ride to the vet on Monday, so tomorrow's probably going to be a pretty tough day. :(

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

Oh, no. :(

I'm sorry to hear it, man.

------
Authors of our fates
Orchestrate our fall from grace
Poorest players on the stage
Our defiance drives us straight to the edge

>Oh, no. :(
>
>I'm sorry to hear it, man.

Thanks. He's lived a good long life, and it really seems like it's time--he's been battling kidney disease (and possibly dementia, which I didn't even know dogs could get) for a year and a half now, and he's reached the point where he's having more bad days than good. But it's never easy...

Today was a very subdued day. Ollie came out to the shop with us, but he's developed such separation anxiety that he's not even satisfied to be in the same room with the old man any more--he has to be held or he just cries. So we mostly just sat around and talked rather than trying to get any work done. I'm not going to mark it down as a wasted trip, because I think Dad needed that, and I wanted to see Ollie. Even though he's not my dog, we've been pals for a long time. I was away at school when my childhood dog died, and I've never entirely forgiven myself for not telling him what a good boy he was one last time.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

I understand. Days like that aren't wasted. Even if that's not what you intended to accomplish, it was important.

As for your childhood dog, is that Wolfgang? Judging by how he's treated in your stories, I don't think you have anything to worry about concerning how much he knows you love him.

------
Authors of our fates
Orchestrate our fall from grace
Poorest players on the stage
Our defiance drives us straight to the edge

>As for your childhood dog, is that Wolfgang?

No no, Wolfgang came along in my mid-20s. I did have the chance to see him off before he departed. My childhood dog was this goofus:

His name was Randy. He was a present for my fifth birthday, and after I moved away to college he went to live with my mother. The night he died (at the ripe old age of 15, which is pretty good going for a golden retriever, especially one who developed a seizure disorder in middle age), Mom tried to call me several times before she finally had to tell the vet to do what he had to do, but... well, who remembers dial-up internet? Yeah. So I didn't find out that he'd taken a sharp turn for the worse until after it was all over. One of the lingering regrets of my life.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

I understand. No matter how much your brain tells you you didn't know and couldn't have known, your heart says something different.

RIP Randy.

------
Authors of our fates
Orchestrate our fall from grace
Poorest players on the stage
Our defiance drives us straight to the edge