Could it get any worse?
My wife was out of town for four days on a girl jaunt … our internet line had been cut … and I had my first taste of Covid.
A perfect storm? Maybe, if that storm was raining cow dung on me and my daily routines and eccentric but comforting rituals.
First, my wife. If she goes somewhere for a day, maybe a day and a half tops, it’s sort of fun eating frozen pizza, putting my feet on the coffee table and not worrying about the position of the toilet seat.
But after two days, I start missing her terribly. After three days, my stomach bloats from lack of nourishing food. After four days, I start calling out her name at night. And all that’s when I am perfectly healthy — which I was not.
Then the internet. Landscapers accidentally cut our line while putting in a couple of posts for a sail above our deck. Yaaargh! Then our provider messed up the schedule and we went a whole week without TV when I was confined to the house.
And lastly, the Covid. I don’t know how or where I got it. I thought I had a bad cold but when I tested — three different times — that little blue line always appeared on the strip. And here I was starting to think that I was invincible to it after being around so many people who had Covid and not contracting it earlier.
My wife was already gone when I came up positive. So I was on my own. Fortunately, she had not left the cupboard bare.
I missed her almost as much as I did Netflix. Ha, ha — just kidding.
All in all, it was a pretty lousy 10 days or so. The symptoms eventually became like a cold on steroids, making it hard not to take a couple of naps a day. I tried not to feel sorry for myself because I know how devastating Covid —- especially its earlier versions — has been to many people.
I just hope I didn’t give it to anyone else before my own case was detected.
I did do a lot of reading — when my eyes weren’t watering too much — and I managed to put together a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle of a bunch of red and blue-clad cartoonish dogs intently watching a Chicago Cubs game on TV. Before that task was accomplished, I had a sore back and neck from leaning over all those pieces. A growing dislike for both puzzles and pooches also developed.
And thank goodness for the real Cubs who I could at least follow on my phone. For once, three and a half hours didn’t seen so long for a game. And the Boys in Blue went 4-2 during my week of isolation.
I also was “guilty” of being sick when I was scheduled for jury duty. The court administrator was nice enough to buy my excuse and said I would go back into the pool. Lucky guy that I am, I received another summons a few days later.
This whole unfortunate episode was on me. I haven’t been wearing a mask lately and I knew that Covid had been picking up in our area. I got lazy about protecting myself. I suppose a lot of us have. Covid fatigue.
Maybe I should have paid more attention to a couple of the doctors in our church’s congregation who have continued to wear masks during services. They obviously are a lot more vigilant (and intelligent) than yours truly.
Even after two weeks, I’m still a little weak but over the other symptoms.
Getting my TV and wife back had already helped improve my mood.
I also have a great jigsaw puzzle of canines in Cub colors that I probably would have never pieced together if I hadn’t had the down time.
I may Mod Podge the puzzle and use it as a desk mat. It will remind me of when I had Covid and was as sick as a … well … as sick as a dog. Or thereabouts.