briarwood | And today's drama...

I nearly died today.

At least, that's what it felt like. I had an asthma attack and just could not get my breath. I don't mean I was wheezing, I mean I physically couldn't breathe in. For what felt like a long, long time. My asthma is pretty mild; it really only bothers me in winter and I haven't used an inhaler for years, so I had nothing with me. Someone came close to breaking my spine banging my back - I was so out of it I have no idea who it was, even, but I guess it worked as I'm here. I was seeing stars, literally, for a while after that. Scary. And embarrassing, having that happen in the office.

In other news...I spent most of the day learning about the web software we're supposed to use at work. It's...absolute crap. I mean, seriously. And they PAID for this rip-off. Probably paid way over the odds, when there's open source stuff out there that's far superior. And the training person? Gave me the blankest of blank looks when I asked about the interface "So, that's just a HTML editor, then?" Is HTML still some esoteric language that only geeks know about? I mean, I understand not knowing how to use it, but don't most people in IT at least know what it is?

Project H is on its way! Boy did I underestimate what that was going to cost. Or, more accurately, I underestimated the weight. I don't have a reliable scale at home so I kinda guesstimated by weighing it against a sack of spuds. Lucky it occurred to me to ask the nice chap in the post room at work to weigh it for me before I headed to the PO; it was over the max weight for the tarrif I'd planned so I skipped the post office and took it direct to Parcel Force. Sorted!

I know everyone's got big things happening tomorrow - there's the Big Bang deadline, there's Dreamwidth's open beta... but for the SPN fans out there don't forget

spn_summergen sign ups open tomorrow, too. Together with

pinkfinity I'm modding the exchange this year. So get your creative hat on and sign up!

Oh, and the whole Swine flu thing: guys, the panic in the media is just that - panic. The world is due a pandemic, true, and if this thing gets widespread it will have a big economic impact what with all the sick leave and the knock-on effects of that. But this is not the Plague. People will get sick; that doesn't mean we're all gonna die. Right now the evidence is this is no worse than a normal winter flu: i.e. miserable but not fatal to most people. So take normal precautions and don't panic.

(Although, my calm may be influenced by my genes: one good thing I inherited from my mother's side of the family is a natural immunity to most forms of flu. I've been around flu plenty and never caught it yet, and the only time Mum ever caught it was from the vaccine back in the 60's when they used live virus. So I reckon if it does turn out to be the plague, I'll end up being an improptu nurse.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The Daily Show and Colbert are having a lot of fun with swine flu. It seems very clear (to me, anyway) that you're absolutely right. Swine flu is a whole lot of panic. You need to be careful, sure, but you ALWAYS need to be careful in flu season. You don't need a quarantine in your house. Everything will be fiiine.

And holy crap, the asthma attack. ~rubs your back~ I mentioned something in my LJ just now about you breathing a sigh of relief. Who knew how accurate that would be? :)

Oh, don't rub my back - it's still bruised from earlier.

And dude, isn't it against the rules to write fanfic for your own stuff??? :-)

Ee, sorry! ~gently squeezes your shoulder~ :)

And I don't know, let me check with the original author. It's all right? He says it's all right. ;-D

Oh, gods, don't! It hurts to laugh... :P

Woah that does not sound good! I hope you're going to the doctor. True, it might only be a one-off, but sounds like a good idea to get it checked out, just in case.

We've got some new software coming in that will be controlling things like procurement, as well as payroll and annual leave etc. It's supposed to be all-singing and dancing, but the training is based on an absolutely rubbish package and the system itself is so bad, our admin ladies haven't been able to make an order for stationery yet.

It's supposed to start 1st June for Payroll, so I keep saying they better have a contingency plan for when it doesn't work, or they'll have all 8000 or so staff suing over missed mortgage payments and unpaid bills!

No, no doctors. Aside from the poor dears being inundated with flu-panic about now, they can't help me anyway. I get an asthma attack maybe twice a year, if that. Granted this was the worst ever, but it's over now. I'm fine.

The asthma attack sounds scary. Are you planning an assessment of your medication needs? ::stern face:: However, much word on the flu. It seems fairly clear that it's a new strain but normal flu, and the panic is getting a little tiring now that the worst that local papers can come up with is 'scientists fear flu may mutate'.

IT person who does blank face at letters HTML. Yes, that's encouraging.

It was scary, but there's no point in medication. I get an attack twice a year at most (normally not near this bad), and having an inhaler in my bag wouldn't have helped me today - I couldn't think clearly enough to have gone for it if I'd had one.

::hugs:: It might be spring allergies which set them off; mine are usually quite mild but I've been having issues so the pollen count must be high.

Could be. I've never had hay fever before though.

Thanks for the hugs.

I choose you on my plague apocalypse team it helps to have a plan!

It sure does. Team apocalypse!

You poor love, that must have scared the heck out of you, even if you knew what was wrong. I can't imagine how frightening it must be. Here's hoping you never get an attack like that again. ::pets gently::

Project H is on its way!

Wheeee! ::high fives you:: *g*

Ack. Flu. Totally with you there. Like running around making flappy-hands is going to help. ::rolls eyes::

Here's hoping you never get an attack like that again. ::pets gently::

Yeah, here's hoping.

Like running around making flappy-hands is going to help. ::rolls eyes::

Exactly. I'm not totally fatalistic, but there is literally nothing anyone can do about flu. Short of living in a hermetically sealed environment, anyway. And this flu doesn't seem to be a bad one. Nothing to fret over.

It's scary not being able to get a breath. I'm not surprised you got a fright. As an asthma person myself I can understand.

I sent you an e-mail yesterday, did you get it ok?

Glad you are feeling better

I sent you an e-mail yesterday, did you get it ok?

Uh...no, I would have answered it. I don't see anything in my spam folder either. What email addy did you use?

Oh wow, that's worrying. I'm glad you came out of it okay in the end.

Thanks :) This morning I'm more embarrassed than anything.

I hate when something triggers my asthma like that. I'm like you, mostly it's pretty mild and I don't have an inhaler (though I'm rethinking this), but I've had that happen before, though not to that extent. WOW. Scary shit!

Scary shit...but I'm fine today. Just embarrassed.

I, for one, am VERY glad you are alright now! I sure hope that doesn't happen to you again.

::very, very gentle hugs::

Thanks. I'm fine, honestly. It was scary, but I don't think it'll happen again :-)

*hugs*

That must have been so scary! ::hugs you::

It was...but today it's just embarrassing.

Oh hon, sorry to hear about the attack, I know how scary that can be *hugs you*

Thanks. Scary, but the hard part now is facing everyone who witnessed it!

How are you? Did the op go okay? It was the 21st, wasn't it?

Yikes, not being able to breathe scares me more than most things so I am really glad you are okay! O_O;

And hear-hear about the stupid swine flu. I am sick of everyone panicking about it - it may of come from pigs, but its just a damn flu and like you say, its no more a killer than 'regular' flu. Sheesh.

Thanks, I'm fine :-)

The flu thing...seems like it's all about selling newspapers. Nothing like a panic for that.

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