I Have Topics I Need To Cover

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

But I’m really not feeling very well.  Our room at Cosine didn’t have heat for the first twenty four hours we were there and we both caught SOMETHING.  I had been TRYING not to catch something for two weeks, to be fair, and the cold weakened me enough it whomped me.  Dan is sick too.

On the good side, I finished Darkship Revenge and it is in.  I wrote two chapters yesterday (because I’d changed the thrust of the ending, different people died, and I had to adjust things.  I know the action chapter was good and I was there, because I was covered in sweat as I finished (eh.)

Anyway, today I feel ick.  I just want to sleep, and my ear is killing me.  There might be doctorage for the ear, as it’s not supposed to hurt that bad.

I’m going to take it easy, maybe do some art or house cleaning, and have a lot of chicken soup.  See you tomorrow.

128 thoughts on “I Have Topics I Need To Cover”

    1. We hope you get better soon, Ms. Sarah! Tell Mr. Dan that we hope he gets better soon, too.
      I’ll be keeping you in my prayers, and we love you. <3 :)

      Like

  2. “On the good side, I finished Darkship Revenge and it is in.”

    *wild cheering*

    Enjoy your day off. We promise not to trash the place too badly while you’re gone. (Or at least we promise to clean up well enough that you won’t be able to tell the difference).

    Like

            2. And while I’m on the subject, no ACME does not stand for ‘A Critical Mass, Exploding’ despite what some claim. Mainly those who refuse to read directions and heed warnings.

              Like

              1. Not that it isn’t complicated by the directions sometimes not shipping with the product. Usually it’s the directions for a different product, but at least you have something.

                Like

                1. I always get the right package insert, but it’s written in Linear A and with no pictures.

                  Granted, the first line is also in Egyptian hieroglyphs, but it’s always the same.

                  “Step 1: tell your friend to hold your beer and observe.”

                  Like

      2. But none of my suppliers will talk to me now, and I’m going to be fairly occupied with other things, so we have that in our favor.

        Like

    2. We promise not to trash the place too badly while you’re gone

      So nothing that a low-grade nuclear explosion won’t hide?

      Like

  3. Glad to hear you finally finished the next book. With that weight off hopefully you will have enough time to properly recover. Rest well.

    Like

          1. Oh, oh, can I be Cheetara? *bounces up and down on all four feet* Please oh please oh please I won’t break anything, honest. I’ve always dreamed of being lean and able to run fast.

            Like

  7. C and I used to volunteer at Comic-Con, which was in San Diego in midsummer, and hardly ever had cold weather. We came home every year with Godzilla scale con crud. I think that going to conventions is like having sex with prostitutes or raising small children: You’re exposing yourself to an environment rich in pathogens and your chances of escaping unscathed are poor.

    Like

    2. I used to go to Disney World every summer with my Brother’s family. Their two kids stayed at Children’s Disease and Incubation World Day Care. Every year, about 4-5 days into the trip, I would catch the crud everyone else had had during the winter.

      Liked by 1 person

    3. Being assigned to a boomer makes you an expert on disease cycles. Two weeks into a patrol, everyone has had what everyone else had, and is healthy the rest of patrol. (Barring the occasional OOPS! we didn’t refrigerate dinner properly, and midrats made most everyone sick incidents.) I think the real reason for 30 day R&R at the end of each patrol was because the first two weeks back, everyone caught what had already gone around the rest of the population.

      Like

      1. Had a coworker back in the early 80’s do a year or so in the Merchant Marine. He said pretty much what you said, after two weeks everyone had gotten what everyone else had, then it was great, until you got to port, and the first snot nosed kid to come within a 100 yards of you got you sick.

        Like

      2. been there done that.
        what I remember most was water. how funny it tasted for the first two weeks. (first two weeks of patrol + first two weeks back)

        Like

  8. Take care of yourself! Chicken soup is a Good Thing, but if the ear hurts that much you might need antibiotics for an ear infection.

    Like

  9. If it instills a bit of cheer, I passed on the Darkship news to my 11-year-old daughter, who is disturbingly fond of Athena. Her response, and I quote, was “EEEEEEEEEEEEE!” right before she contracted into a little ball of happy.

    Like

  10. When my ear hurts like that, I pour some hydrogen peroxide into it and let it sit for fifteen minutes. It helps me… This remedy came from my late-hubby and it helps me. Hugs and hope you feel better.

    Like

          1. can be, I think all you need is a bit of platinum screen.
            I only ever got to play with 42-45%,
            Enough to burn the heck out of you if you got it on you. Wasn’t too bad on the hands but you had white spots that looked like you had Talc all over them.

            Like

        1. And then you get to listen to your earwax crackle and fizz as it dissolves….

          Safety tip: Surround your ear with a towel as you put it in, so you won’t be a bleached blond with bleached clothing.

          Buying tip: Get one of the peroxide spray bottles they sell at Wal-Mart. Squirting is easier than pouring.

          Liked by 1 person

  11. Harumph. “Ain’t gonna post” Sunday and now this? Unacceptable! I want my entry fees refunded!

    Oh, wait … er, never mind. Sleep well, eat lightly and recover.

    Like

        1. Okay, I remember Petticoat Junction, and the Shady Rest Hotel and Uncle Joe and all that. But what’s a bulkhead 30 moment? Firewall? Huh? You lost me at the semi-colon, I think? (Although I now have an earworm happily playing somewhere in the back of my head… he’s a-moving kind of slow, at the Junction…)

          Like

    2. She’s the one who suffers from it given she still hasn’t learned what kind of silliness we can get up to when she leaves us without a topic.

      Like

      3. How much silliness could the silly Huns get up to when the silly Huns ain’t got no topic? It’s not really a tongue-twister yet. Maybe we could get Silly Sally into it somehow? With her silly seashells from the Seychelles seashores?

        Like

    3. I’m just sleep deprived enough to write a bad attempt at a guest post, and stick it in the comments. I’m tempted.

      Maybe I’ll delay enough that I wake up or fall asleep enough that I’ll think better.

      Like

  15. What everyone else already said.

    You HAVE EARNED a day off from writing, publishing, shmoozing, housework, cooking, etc., if not more. Take what you have earned, do only what you FEEL like doing, and ENJOY IT, by gum!

    Sorry for shouting But much loving emphasis is intended.

    Like

  17. My go-to for illness is chicken soup with lots of garlic. I can’t taste the soup very well when I’m sick anyway.
    Best wishes for recovery. Being sick is no fun.

    Like

      1. Ooh, that sounds good too.
        I swear, I get more good ideas from the Huns.
        (And more than a few bad ones.)

        Like

        1. Straight Ramen gets old fast. At a minimum I’ll put in a couple of shots of hot sauce, dried minced onion, and some soy sauce. But there’s LOTS more you can do to it. Lots of spices, finely diced bits of leftover meat and/or veggies, and yes, an egg (though my preferred method is to drizzle it into the boiling water as if I were making egg drop soup.) A package of Ramen noodles is an ingredient, not a meal.

          Like

            1. The local restaurant supply sells a variety of rice noodles. I’ll use the medium (1/8″) Thai noodles for soup, with this and that for ingredients, making sure to work in a bunch of home-dehydrated tomatoes. I don’t care for the skinny Chinese ones, but these cook well (maybe 6-8 minutes in the microwave depending on what got tossed in). A good oriental market should have something usable if restaurant supply is off limits. (We get them at Cash and Carry, part of the Smart Food stores in the West.)

              We use the wide noodles for Chow Fun. $SPOUSE is flippin’ allergic to wheat/gluten, while the effects on me are slower, but pretty disgusting.

              I miss ramen, but not the after effects.

              Like

          2. Once I learned how to cook ramen al dente, (No easy feat. Your window of opportunity is about 120 seconds.) I could fry it lightly in a wok, sprinkled 1/3 of the flavor packet that came with it. Adding a little bit of sweet chili sauce and stir fry vegetables makes it delicious.
            We call it Cheap Chow Mein.

            Like

          3. I have Ramen as well as Pho done much the same way (takes 3 minutes to “cook”) and thinly sliced steak in it is great. I also sometimes add wild rice (precooked), or preshredded coleslaw mix.

            Like

    2. A tablespoon of minced garlic makes the “heart healthy lite chicken noodle” stuff in the green can (can’t remember the brand– they have case sales at the Exchange that drops it to a good price, though) perfectly edible, too.

      And yes, it kicks a cold’s behind.

      Like

  18. OK, the hostess is off relaxing for a while (at least five minutes, I’m sure). Who’s up for Random Portal Twister? It randomly turns one of the spots into a portal that transports you to a random room. I’m pretty sure I have the bugs worked out. It hasn’t sent anyone to the sewer treatment plant for a while now…

    Like

      2. I thought we had separate doors for “Solicitors” and another for “Protesters” that went to the Goblin tunnels. Ok, we can try that, but just remember that it IS random – they might wind up in the beer cellar.

        Like

        1. Were they called Goblins tunnels before or after we started sending “Protesters” down there? Cause if they’ve started breeding, we’re gonna need a “Big” bug-bomb.

          Like

  21. If you’re still tired tomorrow, there’s the article I sent you.
    Assuming it’s not either going to take too much work to use (hey, they’re like free couches– sometimes the work they require raises the price higher than a fancy new one!) or just Not What You Want To Deal With.

    If you do want to use it, I can re-send it instead of you fighting the filing system. I finally switched over to Thunderbird just so I can still move emails between accounts, and my goodness is it a pain. Wish I could use the Outlook android ap on my PC….

    Like

  22. Congratulations on finishing the book. Good job.

    I share your pain, I have an infected tooth. Tylenol 3 and heavy duty antibiotics plus a steroid mostly keeps a lid on it. Mostly. The weekend was interesting, I had to make due with Advil, Tylenol and ice cubes.

    I advise sleep and soup in equal quantities, let the housework go hang itself.

    Like

  23. I finished Darkship Revenge and it is in.
    This in and of itself is a goodness.
    On the other hand what it really means is that you’ve just surrendered your precious baby to the tender mercies of one or more Baen sub editors, Toni being otherwise completely occupied in her attempt to navigate the company through the rocks and shoals of modern publishing.
    Once upon a time I’d just say hallelujah, book’s done, but after the Through Fire debacle, not to mention certain recent incidents with Weber and Freer among others, I won’t breath a full sigh of relief until I see an eARC followed by the full final download.
    Book is currently advertised for release in May so everything is now on Baen’s plate to deliver the final product. I do sincerely wish then success with the process.

    Like

    1. I just sent the next Cat book to the editor. I have a few guesses as to what the problems are going to be (aside from “you’re overusing [word].” When I started it was “very.”) Thanks be that distribution and release messes are not among them.

      Like

      1. I’ve had tasks at work go that way, where I spent huge chunks of time trying to get back to where I was before the nth interruption. Tasks that should take x hours instead take 3x hours. I imagine a book and the sort of interruptions you’ve been subjected to could only be far worse.

        Like

  27. Interesting data point, one that just goes to show how far ahead of the curve Sarah really is:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/01/12/a-terrifying-and-hilarious-map-of-squirrel-attacks/?utm_term=.cab1284bcec7

    Who knew that the Rodent Liberation Front was so successful… Sarah has been warning us about these pernicious beasts for years, and now the mainstream media is finally catching up to things…

    So, too, the possibility exists that a cunning squirrel commando team was responsible for Sarah’s room not having heat at a critical moment. I would strongly suggest checking the wiring for signs that it was gnawed, or that a squirrel suicide arc team shorted things out.

    Question does come to mind, as well: How well are the current Hoyt demenses fortified against tree-rodent assault? Have appropriate steps been taken, to ensure safety? It would suck to lose Sarah’s voice to some crack squirrel sapper team getting inside the wire, so to speak, and shorting out the wiring in the attack and starting a major conflagration…

    Sneaky little bastards would probably disable the fire alarms, first, and then who knows what happens…

    Like

    2. I have ninja squirrels in the tree in the front lawn. I have not seen the myself, but new puppy says that they are their.
      also cars, birds, passer-byers, and evil cats
      * these cats are evil due to they are eating HER food on the front porch, in front of her, protected by the screen door

      Like

  28. Mmm, chicken soup! The whole country could be improved with chicken soup. You might want to get fancy and visit a Szechuan Chinese restaurant for a big bowl of hot and sour, which usually drains everything except gray matter out of a stuffy head.

    Like

    1. I second the Hot & Sour soup recommendation, with one caveat. I find it impossible to order just that and invariably pick up an order of Garlic Chicken or the like: onions, bell peppers and dried chilies so hot that all germs and viruses flee in terror.

      Like

  29. Current audiobook listen is Heinlein’s Expanded Universe and in his first story, Lifeline I found this phrase:

    “There are but two ways of forming an opinion in science. One is the scientific method; the other, the scholastic. One can judge from experiment, or one can blindly accept authority. To the scientific mind, experimental proof is all-important, and theory is merely a convenience in description, to be junked when it no longer fits. To the academic mind, authority is everything, and facts are junked when they do not fit theory laid down by authority.

    I suspect the Grand Master would not be a fan of the current state of Climate Science. While he might not be a “denier” he would surely condemn the structure of the debate.

    Like

    1. I miss my copy of that book. It would especially be useful to link/and or quote the essay on how to graduate university without learning anything.

      Like

  30. Seems like this is the time of year for just feeling like crap from unspecified somethings. Most of the teachers at the school where I work are under the weather, I’ve had a two-day long migraine, and at least a dozen of my students are out sick today.

    There’s nothing better than finishing something important like that, because then you can go pass out for 12 hours and not feel guilty (that’s what I did last night after lesson planning).

    Like

  32. Psst? Guys? Do you think we should check just where she put it? I mean, she says she finished it and it is in. In the breadbox, in the trunk, in the… there are so many places she might have sent it! Maybe if we had a little snippet, we could get the e-dogs to sniff it, and see if they can follow the scent through the wild and twisty intertubes and make sure that it ended up where it should be? I mean, what if there is some poor fellow opening their mailbox right now and saying, “What is this? Well, what the heck, I’ll read it…” And they’re going to get such a surprise! They won’t be able to sleep until they finish reading it!

    Like

  33. Hooray on finishing!! And I agree, let the housework go hang itself. I am a great proponent of unassisted housework suicide.

    Like

  34. Pingback: Everybody can do something better than you can – The Home for Wayward Statisticians

Comments are closed.