Called in sick today. I could use some company.

[Aristus]

[RazBerryBeret]

1. how's the weather where you are?

I'm in Ohio, where it's a chilly 19. brrrr. lows in the single digits for the next few days, hitting a -4 on monday. one of the weeks where I wonder why do I still live in Ohio? Am I just supposed to live here? Am I too scared to venture west or south? hmmmm.....

[Aristus]

3. Raining like a son-of-a-gun...

A half-day of rain was enough to dissolve the snow we got for our nice white Christmas. It's all gone, and the rain is pouring down like crazy...

[The Wielding Truth]

2. Sorry, you are sick. Hope you are better for NY's eve and can party!

[ret5hd]

4. He didn't say he was sick.

[Aristus]

10. I'm sick...

[The Wielding Truth]

12. 300 hrs? That's 37 1/2 days. You should plan a trip to Tazmania. I guess you are needed at work

though. Can you save them until you leave or retire and get the money?

[Aristus]

14. I haven't had a real vacation in close to four years.

Mrs. Aristus and I put everything on hold while she tried to get into Physician Assistant School.

She finally got an interview last month, but was not accepted. After three applications, the first two of which didn't even net an interview, she's packing it in, and is resigned to finishing her career out as a dental hygienist.

On the plus side, not having to put her through school next few years has freed us up to finally start planning a vacation. We could both use one...

[The Wielding Truth]

15. Hey, that's really something to look forward to! Feel better. Close your eyes and dream.....

[Aristus]

16. We're having fun trying to decide:

Cruise the Baltic or the Mediterranean?

Either way, we have to get her to conquer her fear of flying...

[The Wielding Truth]

17. Cruise. Eww. Sounds lovely. Have fun planning.

[Aristus]

18. I already am.

A Baltic cruise would include stops in Scandanavia, which I really want to visit ( and God wouldn't I love to LIVE in Denmark or Sweden right about now...)

A Mediterranean cruise would include a stop in Morocco, so I could cross another continent off my list.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

25. My brother did the Baltic/Scandinavia cruise last spring

and has been raving about it ever since. It was on Viking Cruise Lines (one of the larger ships, not a river boat); said the food was excellent, lots of great sight-seeing. My other brother visited Norway and took one of the shorter Hurtegruten tours along the fjords. He is still pining for the fjords.

[NNadir]

37. I help my family members get over fear of flying by watching...

..."Air Disasters" on the Smithsonian Channel.

Nobody's going anywhere, except me. I often enjoy flying, although too much of it sucks.

[diva77]

36. sorry about Mrs. Aristus not gaining admission to PA school - I have friends who

were at first rejected by med schools, but then they earned other degrees as a stepping stone, finally getting the acceptance -- would she consider becoming an RN and then going for PA after that? or perhaps my question is out in left field !!

on edit: oops, just saw the discussion below about nurse practitioner, hoops, etc. -- you can disregard my post!!

[Aristus]

6. Me too.

A lot of it is exhaustion. I haven't had a solid day's rest in forever. At work, I'm the go-to guy to fill in for others who are sick. Now it's my turn for a little time off.

I have more than 300 hours of paid time off saved up. I finally got sick enough to use some of it...

[ailsagirl]

24. There are no limits as to how many hours you can accrue?

That's nice

I'm sure you and Mrs Aristus will come up with a good plan!

[Aristus]

26. I think after a certain period, they no longer roll over to the next year.

But taking a day or two here and there has kept me under whatever rollover limit they set.

Hoping for a two or three-week break here before too long...

[ailsagirl]

27. Sounds like you need it-- hope you seize upon an extraordinary vacation!!

Good luck!!

[Aristus]

28. Thank you...

[underpants]

5. Here you go

[Aristus]

8. That's a LOT of company!

Thank you...

[Control-Z]

7. I'm sorry you are sick, Aristus.

Do you have access to pay per view or other movie programs like Netflix or Amazon. If you're anything like me it is the perfect opportunity to watch all those movies you may have missed in the theater.

I'll drop by throughout the day to see how you're doing. Hope you feel better real soon.

[Aristus]

9. Yeah, I'm going to Netflix some 'West Wing' here in a little while...

[Control-Z]

11. Perfect.

I have the complete boxed set on DVD. It was a gift a few years ago because everyone knew how much I loved the series.

Enjoy!

[Aristus]

13. I always do.

There are sub-sets of fans of The West Wing. Those who watch the entire series all the way through over and over. Those who watch isolated episodes at random times, those who watch multi-episode story arcs, etc.

I'm in the sub-set of those who only watch the first four seasons when Aaron Sorkin was writing the series.

Seasons 5-7 have their admirers, and I respect that. But after Sorkin left, it may as well have been a different show.

[mnhtnbb]

19. Sorry you are sick!

Never fun.

Has Mrs. Aristus thought about going the nurse practitioner route? Or too many years involved in first getting the RN?

As for cruises, I did a Baltic cruise in 2014. Started in Stockholm--took an extra two days before the cruise--and ended
in Copenhagen with an extra two days there. Loved it. Most disappointed in St. Petersburg. We went late May and the weather
was AWFUL in St. Petersburg. Rained the entire time. Chose a cruise line that had 3 full days in port in St. Petersburg. The L'Hermitage was more
crowded than the Louvre. Really serious crowds. They apparently don't control entry and even though our tour was early,
it was terribly crowded in the museum.

Also, the traffic in St. Petersburg is terrible. We heard our bus tour guide tell us when we were going to the ballet one night that another bus
took 75 minutes to go 3 blocks the previous day. St. Petersburg has an excellent subway system, but nobody uses it. Everyone wants to
drive their cars to show off their status. Capitalism seriously run amok.

I really liked Copenhagen.

[Aristus]

20. Yeah, she considered it, but the extra academic time was too daunting.

She's already been a mid-level provider ( which is what a PA is ) for fifteen years, and she updated a lot of her pre-req classes just to be able to apply to PA School. She's done jumping through hoops.

Me, all of her colleagues, and even members of the PA school's faculty thought she was a shoe-in for selection. It came as a shock to everyone when she wasn't selected.

[benld74]

21. Im just feeling better today after getting gift of

Intestinal flu for Xmas
NOT what was asked for!

Wife came down with it
Xmas day no night

Kids ok

Lucky we have 3 bathrooms😉

[roamer65]

39. Its a wonderful lite version of Norovirus.

Lasts for about a day or so.

The 2015 version I had was germ warfare grade. Made me think of King’s “the stand”...lol.

[In_The_Wind]

22. Dang!

Did one of the clinic patients share a germ with you?

[Aristus]

23. Could be. We're smack-dab in the middle of cold & flu season.

I was getting really run-down yesterday morning, and wanting to go home. But it was following up on an infant's visit to the emergency room for cold symptoms that convinced me to cut the day short.

The baby was fine. More or less suffering from Panicky Parent Syndrome. He was breathing fine, temperature, heart rate, respiration, and oxygen saturation all within normal limits. Lungs were clear on exam.

But I realized that in his immunocompromised state, I could pass on whatever I had. So I told the manager I was packing it in for the day...

[In_The_Wind]

33. It's better for everyone that you took time off to care for yourself.

[Aristus]

35. I haven't spent this much time in bed in I don't know how long...

[roamer65]

40. Bed rest and chicken soup for you!

[samnsara]

29. didnt call in sick as im retired but the weather is frightful so.....

.....I just started Godless on Netflix. pretty damned good so far...kind of a cross between peaky Blinders and Gunsmoke.

[Aristus]

30. Oh, to be retired...

I'm only 49. I've got a ways to go...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

31. I'm so sorry, my dear Aristus!

It's a hell of a way to get some time off so you can recover.

Hope you feel better soon, but not so much better that you have to go back to work!

[Kimchijeon]

32. Heya, sick at home too 😷☠

Fever and chills and fun times lol.

Hope you feel better quickly 🌈

I should stick to the lounge, I think I made someone all angry-pants at me for my lack of filter lol.

Just take it easy, get lots of vitamins, fluids, recover!

Sending you some healing vibes

[Aristus]

34. Thank you.

Feel better...

[roamer65]

38. Nasty bugs going around this year.

The Aussie flu and an annoying winter vomiting bug (aka Norovirus).

Hope you feel better soon!