Late Appearing Con Crud
Posted on June 1, 2006 Posted by John Scalzi 31 Comments
When you sleep until 10:30 and wake up feeling like crap a few days after going to a science fiction convention, that’s so very much not a good sign. Late-attacking con crud is the worst kind. See, this is the dark side of going to conventions: they’re like kindergartens for grown-up geeks, in terms of swapping communicable diseases. Pretty sure I got sideswiped and whatever it is I got has gotten done incubating and is ready to say hello.
I don’t need this; I have to be in Chicago tomorrow for my 15th year college reunion. Let’s hope it’s just about waking up feeling crappy. Like hangover, three days late, for a guy who doesn’t drink. Yeah.
Wisconites (and others who went to conventions this last weekend): How you feeling?
Wisconites: How you feeling?
Pretty Good!
Oh wait… I didn’t actually attend WisCon… I’m just originally from Wisconsin… I guess catching whatever you have all the way out here in Maine would be quite the trick…
You obviously failed to consume enough beer and bratwurst… Beer and Bratwurst cure anything.
Which is why you should simmer your brats in beer before slapping them on the grill – it makes them that much better for you…
Now that you mention it I have noticed a persistent cough that is getting worse. It’s hard to blame WisCon, though – I simply hung around for a couple hours, not really talking to many people.
I did have a cup of ice water at the closed down signout. Hmmmm.
Maybe my problem was no beer or bratwurst.
I had a tough time waking up this morning and I felt woogie for a while, but better now. Not sure if I’m imagining a slight sore throat and swollen glands, because of course the more I worriedly check them the more tender they get. Am drinking tea and more tea.
It was good to meet you and Kristine, I’m already counting down until next year. Hope you kick the crud quickly.
Thanks, Barb. Looking forward to seeing you again too! And am likewise hoping to kick the crud as well, hopefully by 6, when I have to take Athena to her baseball game. I seem to be maintaining at the moment, which is a good thing.
My heritage requires me to recommend Chicken Soup.
(or, in your case, nanobots? It is, after all, Science Fiction crud…)
Went to 1 day of BayCon this past wkend; came home and slept 34 hours. I don’t think it was just the con, I must’ve been sleep deprived for some time and have been ignoring it, but man! what a shock. Have felt much better since.
So how does Doselle Young feel today?
Feelin’ like crap, sir!
Well, not feeling superb, anyway. Tired. Dragging. Gastro-intestinal issues that may or may not come from eating entirely too many cheese and onion hot dogs over the weekend.
At any rate, my husband calls it “Cangst” [con + angst].
I’m in Milwaukee dealing with a sinus thing that makes me feel like I tried to French kiss a speeding cement mixer. Other than that, though, I feel pretty chipper. It’s probably the result of the inhuman number of life-saving, beer-soaked brats I had on Memorial Day.
Get well soon.
Nearly comatose, and that’s after the first two solid nights of sleep I’ve had in ages. It’s a combination of germ warfare and emotional decompression; happens every time. Just roll with it.
See, this is WHY people drink at cons. Alcohol kills germs!
Sick too, from Balticon. I just put a public service announcement about this subject in the intro to my podcast.
Woke up this morning with a pretty wicked sore throat, and my wife has it worse than I do. Definitely late-appearing con crud. I’m hoping it stops at post-nasal drip and doesn’t spoil my weekend.
Feel better!
I seem to have come through Balticon at least mostly intact, which has to be some kind of miracle given that the panel rooms were all overcrowded EZ-Bake ovens (they have a really awesome new hotel, but combining broken AC with overcrowded panel rooms (Neil Gaiman as GOH drew in a flood of newbies) and individuals who are already disinclined to excercize rigorous hygene isn’t generally conducive to public health).
My solution is Vitamin C. 500mg chewable every day for the entire con, three days prior, and two days after. There’s also that stuff they sell at airports that has Vitamin C and echanacia and some other stuff in it… someone could make a killing offering that in the dealer’s room.
…really long migraine.
I made through Marcon (Columbus, OH) just fine. Maybe you should have stayed in Ohio.
Are you going to the ChicaGO gala on Saturday night? If so, I’d love to say hello.
I hope to, George. We’ll have to see.
I think my alcohol levels pretty much killed anything that might have tried to take me down. Running on too little sleep post-con and I’ve been expecting the crud, but so far…
Egads, Justine was sick too. But it only lasted two days. She seems mostly better today.
I took a gram of vitamin c daily throughout the con, as always. I also stretch out before Iggy Pop concerts. (I’m sure he does too.)
Maybe I got it from Justine.
I am so totally sick. Lots of nose-blowing. I blame this on the fact that my no-get-sick command center of emergen-c, echenacia tea, and other potions is back in LA, while I am in philly. sci-fi carrousing will never make you sick. it’s good for you. i swear.
I am sick unto death. And not sure how I feel about having something called “con crud.” That’s what I get for making out with all the GoH, I guess.
I hope everyone feels better, and does not die.
I am suspicious… because I feel Just Fine. I live in fear and waiting for the crud to kick in. I simply can’t believe after all the handshaking and hugging of BEA AND Wiscon, no snifflies at all (besides the normal seasonal allergy kind). Of course, justifying my guilt over the weekend, Emma the Dog appears to have a urinary tract infection and is headed to the vet tomorrow.
Con crud it is, today. Sore throat, dizzy, feel like a truck drove over me, various unpleasantnesses.
Found something that helps, though: lots of vitamin C and lots of capsicum. (My preferred delivery system is those tamarind candies the Mexican grocery down the block sells, but I figure any serious pepper fix will do.)
I fear I may have been Patient Zero. I got onto the plane to Wiscon feeling fine, got off feeling not so fine, had crud all weekend. It’s still with me. I hacked so hard at the day job yesterday that people came running to see if I was dying. Alas, I disappointed them.
No sleep => immune system down => opportunistic germs.
Of course, WisCon requires sleep deprivation just to keep up with the firehose.
So far, I’m still healthy, but I just found out that my WisCon roomie has come down with the crud, so I’m a little afraid.
I am sort of going through the opposite.
I used to teach- for a few years, I was sick all the time. Then, I got immune to everything, and I laughed off a few winters. Up until about 2005, I could probably drink AIDS and not get sick.
Now, I basically hang out with two babies all day. My immune system is losing the edge it used to have, and I’m sure I’ll be a mess once Gabby starts bringing home new illnesses from school.
Anywho… you’re the science guy and everything, but the old teacher logic was that… ummm… if you’re sick, you got the bug 2 weeks ago. That would eliminate that black guy you were kissing in the photo you posted last week.
My guess is the meat-delivery guy, or maybe the meat itself. I don’t know how deep in the country you live, but I’m hoping they don’t run out and butcher a steer when you call.
Clearly the evil Sign Out from Heck is to blame. I escaped Wiscon unscathed (and unSigned Out).