Con-Comitant

 It's a sad fact of cons ~ meaning conventions ~ that one comes home with "Con Crud," some sort of viral respiratory mess or gastric disaster.

The World Con folks did everything they could to follow CDC guidelines for attendance. All members had to be vaxxed and boosted. All workers had to test negative right before the con. Masks were mandatory and enforced; you couldn't get in the door without one. I personally was dutiful, although while outside, I did remove my mask around the firepit.

Still, I came home with something.

I started a cough on Sunday night, a little "a-heh" tickle that by morning sounded like a walrus bellow. My entire body ached, but I wasn't sure if it was the virus or the coughing that made me ache so much. I also took on a fever, very slight but annoying nonetheless. I searched for a Covid test at the stores, but there were none on any shelves anywhere I felt comfortable driving. I went online, and no stores offered a drive-thru test until after Christmas. I finally found a testing site an hour and a half from my home that had an opening for Thursday. As I handed my little tube back, I was told I'd have results in 3 to 5 DAYS. 

I was sad. I'd miss seeing my kids and grands for Christmas. I wasn't half as sad as my husband, who sees himself as the master of Christmas and insists it be done a certain way and that's how it is. He wouldn't even let the two of us have a Christmas. Not that I felt up to it anyway; I had lost my sense of taste and smell. I couldn't even enjoy chocolate, much less the fine steak dinner and vintage wine.

To crown it, Christmas dawned, and my husband was coughing.

It is now 5 days since I tested. I thought I was getting better, but after a good ten hours of sleep, I came downstairs, finished my computer tasks, and fell on the couch and slept another four hours. When I awoke, I had an email from the testing site: Sorry, your results have been delayed.

So I'm sad. I don't mind Con Crud, but in these days fraught with fear, flu, and infections, it makes me sad to be sick.