Open Mike: COVID and Water (OT)

Tomorrow will mark two weeks I've had symptoms. I'm feeling generally better now, except for a few things: mainly fatigue and a cough. The cough isn't bad; it's what I'd describe as "nagging." I don't cough much, and it doesn't hurt much. I also have a dry congestion and some sinus pain. I've stopped losing weight.

The fatigue is what has power. I had difficulty staying awake all day yesterday—my mentation kept slipping into the "wakeful but confused" state that I recognize as stage 1 sleep. That's when you think you're awake but your thoughts are beginning to wander off in bizarre directions that aren't logical. Many people aren't consciously aware of this state—it's the normal first stage of falling asleep. At those times I'll have my eyes closed without realizing it, or catch myself beginning to doze. Happened all day long. I took naps twice yet still slept all night. Small chores are enough to make me tired, and I'll do things like sleep for 10 hours and then need a nap five hours after waking up. And I had a strange sensation two days ago—I was sitting at my desk, perfectly idle and relaxed, but at the same time was feeling a strong urge to go lie down. That was odd.

As a bonus, I'm sleeping soundly, which is a pleasure. I've had trouble with sleep literally all my life. I have vivid memories of learning how to get out of my crib for the first time when I was a toddler—one of the first skills I remember mastering. My parents would have to put me back to bed multiple times.

Danger, Will Robinson
I quarantined for five days as required (really six days, because the first day you notice symptoms is counted as day zero) and my doctor's office assures me that I'm no longer contagious, but I'm still keeping to myself and informing people that I've had COVID recently. I figure I'll let them make their own decisions as to whether they want to be around me. I'm doing most of my food shopping at open-air farmer's markets. I've been to grocery stores a few times, but I go at off hours and wear a KN95 mask.

Nationwide, we're still losing 517 people a day to COVID. That's the current five-day average. That's less than heart disease, cancer, and accidents, but more than stroke, Alzheimer's, and diabetes. Older people and those with severe underlying conditions are most at risk. You're five times more likely to get the disease if you haven't been vaccinated, and several times more likely to have severe consequences. I could kick myself—I probably have the Omicron variant, and I didn't get the latest booster that covered that. I meant to...I just didn't get around to it. I don't get around to a lot of things. That's not age-related—I've been that way all my life.

I'm doing my best to take it easy. My life doesn't scale down well—there are just things that I have to keep up with. A downside of living alone. No one else is going to cut the grass. I can be sick, just not very sick.

Water
In the middle of all this, the water failed! That was a significant worry while it lasted, mainly because of ignorance: I didn't know what was going on or what was going to fix it. Did you read about those people in Jackson, Mississippi, who were without water for weeks? I don't know how they did it. I was only partially without water for two days and even that was a significant hassle. You can go two days pretty easily without washing clothes or taking a shower or running the dishwasher. That gets a lot more difficult if you're talking about two weeks. Never mind two months. I found it easy to consciously ignore the plight of the Jacksonians when I was just hearing about it tangentially on the news (you know, that's them, doesn't affect me)—but I have a lot more empathy for them now.

I couldn't find a plumber at first—didn't even manage to speak to one—but I'm fortunate to "know a guy." He's a contractor, and hires lots of tradesmen. So if he asks for a favor, people step up for him, because he's the guy who gives them work. He had a plumber here within hours.

We went on a scavenger hunt in the woods. I vaguely knew where the well head was, but not exactly. It seemed to have disappeared. But of course it was just all overgrown. It's on the neighbors' property, which used to be part of this property.

Here's my shiny new possession that I paid a lot of money for! I treasure it so much I had it buried 150 feet in the ground. As you can probably guess even if you don't recognize it, it's a well pump. The date of manufacture on the old one was 1993, so it lasted 29 years, seven of which benefited me. Lucky me...I'm the guy who gets to pay for the next 29 years. If and when I sell this house, the next owner will get a lot of the benefit. You know what they say: Oh well. (Get it? That must be one of my best puns ever.)

A lot of expenses in life are a sort of lottery. When did you buy your house? What was the market like and what were the interest rates? Is your car a lemon or a peach? Did you ever have to buy a new roof for a house you only lived in for a few years? How expensive are your vices? It's a lot cheaper to collect cameras than cars.

I need to clear out around the well head so it doesn't get buried, and so it drains. That's going to have to wait until I feel better, though. 

So I'm back above the wash line, to use Hans Rosling's term. (If you've never watched that video, you should: you'll probably never again wash clothes without being grateful.) I have just what I had four days ago, except I'm poorer, and yet I'm all the more grateful for what I have. In fact, I think I'll go experience some first world luxury...by doing a load of laundry. Ahhhhh.

Mike

Book o' the Week

Migrant Mother, by Sarah Meister. "Each volume in the One on One series is a sustained meditation on a single work from the collection of MoMA." Forty-two pages with many illustrations. An engaging guided tour of the history and lore of "American photography's Mona Lisa."

This book link is a portal to Amazon. You're very kind use our links, as they help support the site.

B&H Photo

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

PaulW: "Nine years ago I had a new roof, and many upgrades, installed. Two weeks later my home was destroyed in a flood. I caculated that it cost me a bit over $1,000 a day to own that roof. I should have bought some Leica gear and saved money."

Kevin: "Re 'The fatigue is what has power.' You said it !! Saturday evening, the 17th, marked three weeks since I first had COVID symptoms. My case was mild, in the grand scheme of COVID. But it was quite enough for me. Leaving work on Friday, September 16th, I thought; 'I feel like myself again.' The first time I'd had that feeling since before I was COVIDed on August 27. You'll get there, Mike. Just gotta wait it out."

Kye Wood: "Ooh! I reckon on winning this one. Since March this year, I have...

• Had a professional house clean $2,600
• Had the four water tanks cleaned $1,800
• Had the roof cleaned $1,000
• Replaced the hot water system $2,200
• Replaced the toilet $1,700
• Installed a water purifier with ultraviolet and dual filters $2,200
• Installed a 6.6KW rooftop solar system $8,000
• Replaced a retaining wall that stops the mountain swallowing the house $11,000
• Replaced the electric meter box and circuits $2,200
• Replaced IT cabling in roof and connection to street optic fibre $2,500
• Had dangerous trees felled and mulched $3,800
• Installed a concrete driveway entrance $5,800

"But...my two water pumps are working perfectly. So there's that."

Mike replies: Whew. You're right, you definitely win. If that's the right word....  :-)

Dan Khong: "Thanks for pointing me to the video clip on the washing machine. Enjoyed that. I still remember the days when we had a washer lady come by every few days to wash the laundry. Because of her, my mother had more time to spend with me. Now we have washing machines—and laundromats—so people have more time to write for blogs, read books and take pictures."

Mike replies: A reader pointed out that video to me originally, so I can't take credit for finding it.

SA: "I had the post-COVID cough too this summer and it didn't go away for over a month and was even getting worse. Doctor gave me cough suppressants and steroid, which didn't help much. An acupuncture specialist in my town cured me with a single treatment. She said that she has helped a lot of patients like this.

"She said that COVID can leave the immune system in an activated state for months, which leads to such symptoms. (Note that inflammation is a sign that your body thinks it is still fighting infection.) She pointed out some some sore spots on my body—various lymph type areas, the adrenal gland, etc. She stuck needles in various places for half an hour and when I got up the cough was almost all gone. She did another followup treatment a few days later, and I have not had any trouble since then.

"(She has a master's degree in Aerospace engineering by the way! Very nice person.)"

Comments

[Albert Smith]

Hope you recover soon. I must be the last guy that hasn't got Covid, a benefit of being a virtual hermit/recluce.

I had my well crash in 2004. It completely failed in the submerged pipe and sucked Florida sugar sand into my whole house. It's not one of those things that you can live without, nor something that some backyard mechanic can knock out for you. I had a completely new well and pump plus water softener put in and fingers are crossed.

So many potential fails left to make me lose sleep, septic, roof, air conditioner.

In the immortal words of Rosanne Rosannadana (Gilda Radner), "Its always something!"

[Tom Burke]

Glad you’re feeling better, Mike. Some of the symptoms will hang around for a while. In my case, the cough.

Also I ought to say that in my case I was testing positive for nearly 10 days: if the day symptoms start is day 0, then I tested positive (we had a couple of boxes of lateral flow tests left over from spring) on days 1, 6 & 9, and then negative on days 11 & 12. Although the UK government has said that it’s only necessary to quarantine for 5 days, my experience has been that I was clearly infectious for several days after that. I found a research paper that found the same things - maybe 30% of people were infectious beyond 5 days.

[robert e]

Glad you're on the mend, Mike, and that you're being patient. COVID seems to be a pernicious affliction, and while some bodies cope with it better than others, the road back to previous health levels is apparently a long one.

I don't know much about the housing market, but surely things like the age of well pumps (and, more generally, proper upkeep) matter in the valuation? i.e., that expense is not 100% lost?

Re Leica and collecting: I have only ever made two non-trivial (for me) Leica purchases, both of them "beaters" bought second hand. I sold the old M body ten years later for more than I paid for it (accounting for inflation), and I would likely make a decent profit on the lens as well if I sold it today. Best rental deal ever!

Are there peaches and lemons in photo gear? I think there must be. I suspect I've encountered both kinds of lenses, at least.

[Grant]

When I was a boy, we would have brought buckets of water from QKA Lake up to the house. There's no way that we would have sent Mother down to the lake to do the laundry.

[Pak]

Having COVID myself recently I can completely relate to the tiredness. But, I did end up working on a personal project for 3 interrupted days between my time in bed and it was some of the best "flow" work I've ever done. It highlighted the awful distractions of daily life that was eroading my productivity.

I hope you get well soon!

Cheers, Pak

[Kye Wood]

And... forgive me father, but it's been three weeks since my last shower.

Getting the bathroom renovated. Three weeks in. At least two more weeks to go.

So now my wife and I are experts at "showering" with 11 baby wipes. Yes. Your are dead right Mike. Far too much information.

Pro Tip - don't move the drains around if you can avoid it. It's a BIG deal to hack up a concrete slab and then get it certified termite proof. Who knew? Everybody, apparently. Final bill on the bathroom will be $34,900. And it's a tiny bathroom.

But, what price for a happy wife? Not to mention Italian Terrazzo.

[C.R. Marshall]

My wife and I both got Covid last month (before the new booster was available). We were both double vaccinated and double boosted, so I assume we got the new variant.

My doc told me that the fatigue can last for two or three months.

[Sal Santamaura]

...I could kick myself—I probably have the Omicron variant, and I didn't get the latest booster that covered that. I meant to...I just didn't get around to it...

Don't kick yourself too hard, Mike. Your post at TOP announcing that you had COVID-19 was September 8. Bivalent boosters were not widely available until just about then or, at most, a day or two earlier. Given the incubation period, you likely couldn't have prevented infection anyway.

[I guess I have my facts wrong. All I know is that I could have gotten two boosters but have gotten only one. I'll have to talk to my doctor. --Mike]

[Mr T P Mc Cann]

As a favour to the next occupier of your house I would find a definitive way of locating the water pump and leaving the details somewhere easily found At the back door ?

[Harry B Houchins]

Mike, I'm 78 years old. I'm very careful of my health. I'm suffering from various cancers. I keep on top of them. When Covid struck I immediately got masks and still wear them when going out to stores or anyplace public. Even today. People may think we are saf(er). But, people are still dying. 400 (+/-) in Oregon in the past month. I don't like being sick. I keep up to date with shots and haven't been sick since the pandemic began. I may get the looks from others but I'm still well and shooting.
Gotta keep on keepin' on,
Harry

[Colin]

I'm sorry to hear about your slower than would be hoped for recovery from Covid. Please do take it easy, don't push yourself, don't think about building up your exercise day by day. Just do what you feel able to do. I say this because my wife contracted Covid in March 2020 and has suffered Long Covid ever since. Previously healthy, she hasn't been able to walk for more than half an hour maximum since. If she overdoes it, she suffers from PEM (post-exertional malaise) the next day. We think her condition is attributable to a dormant underlying health condition. It's hugely impacted our lives and sadly the NHS here in the UK has been of virtually no help at all.

[Sam]

Exactly! No blaming yourself for not getting an Omicron booster that was not yet available in time to prevent your illness. (Plus, we don't yet know if the new Omicron booster, if it had been available, would have prevented virus transmission to you, or just reduced the risk of serious illness. Data from human testing of the Omicron booster [actually bivalent vaccine with both original and Omicron variant mRNA] won't be available until about January, 2023.)

[Mike Plews]

Ahh the joys of suddenly burying a house payment in the back yard.
Our well is in good shape but a decade ago we learned our septic system did not meet code and five grand was the price of getting things right.
That will inspire some sailor talk for sure.
Oh well, having a sketchy septic system is like harboring a psychotic uncle in the basement.
Happier if poorer now.

[Bryan Hansel]

In March of 2020, I got very sick with all the symptoms of COVID.

The county only had a few tests and wanted to save them for someone going through worse, so I never got confirmation that I had or didn't have COVID. I had a cough, chest pains, couldn't think, and couldn't move off the couch without dizziness, etc...

Afterwards, I had a cough for two months and fatigue until late summer. I regularly slept until mid-morning and was tired to exhaustion again by mid-afternoon. I didn't really feel right until after getting my first dose of vaccine, which caused a high fever, brain fog, and fatigue.

During the middle of my extended symptoms, I had a tele-health appointment with my doctor. He said, "Well, if you had it, you survived."

It didn't feel like it.

[robert e]

Came back to this post to thank you for the "stage 1 sleep" tip, Mike! It's something that will help me whether I'm trying to fall asleep or stay awake. It already has, in fact.

[Bear.]

Evidence in Oz shows 3rd booster (of any type, not Omicron specific - not yet widely available here) has had significant impact in reducing the severity of Omicron infections but anecdotally is not so great at preventing infection (mandatory reporting is no longer required, so accurate statistics on the infection rate don't seem to be available). At greater than 98% whole of population over age of 16 years double vaccinated and over 71% triple vaccinated, the death rate from Covid has dropped from just under 4% of all cases in mid 2020 (max rate) to under .015% of reported cases (which mostly required hospital care or significant medical intervention - therefore implying a significantly lower percentage of all cases). And 90% of deaths now occurring are with non-vaccinated cases, the balance being those with pre-existing conditions, especially those who are immuno-compromised. My statistics are from Oz Department of Health - health.gov.au. Moreover, there is significant anecdotal evidence that Omicrom infections do not increase future immunity but actually increase the prospects of later re-infection. Conclusion - get the 3rd booster, asap!

[David Bennett]

"That's when you think you're awake but your thoughts are beginning to wander off in bizarre directions that aren't logical. "

Oh yes, and having a conversation with someone who IS awake, with the brain gamely trying to make sense out of nonsense, driven by vanity to shore up its stature. It's both embarrassing and interesting.
What is going on. Where does this need to be seen to make sense come from?

When I think about it, we spend a lifetime honing our skills at making sense, like it's a life raft.