The title felt apt as I am currently several days into being confined to my hotel room in the Netherlands sick with COVID and unsure when I will get home.
I was at my hotel and getting ready to go to my first speaking event, and did not feel quite right so a I took a self-test to be on the safe side and tested positive. Since then it’s been like a dose of flu. I’ve been able to do almost all of my events virtually (ironically some of them had been postponed from a planned visit in February that got put off by the Omicron surge because the organizers wanted to wait until I could be present in person!) though had to cancel some yesterday, being just not up to it. Still on the quest for the first symptom-free day so I can start thinking about the path home. I need a negative test or a doctor’s letter attesting recovery to get back into the US, and of course have had to cancel my existing flights. Not the most fun week I can remember. @djh, my leading hypothesis for where I picked it up is actually St Pancras. There were three delayed Paris trains, and the departure lounge was packed tight with people to the degree it was hard to move. I was masked (and have been cautious throughout the trip) but I still think that’s the most likely place.
I thought a "norn" was a creature in a 1990s video game or a guardian of the world tree. Apparently this album is played on a "monome norn" so I learned a thing: https://monome.org/norns/
I was at my hotel and getting ready to go to my first speaking event, and did not feel quite right so a I took a self-test to be on the safe side and tested positive. Since then it’s been like a dose of flu. I’ve been able to do almost all of my events virtually (ironically some of them had been postponed from a planned visit in February that got put off by the Omicron surge because the organizers wanted to wait until I could be present in person!) though had to cancel some yesterday, being just not up to it. Still on the quest for the first symptom-free day so I can start thinking about the path home. I need a negative test or a doctor’s letter attesting recovery to get back into the US, and of course have had to cancel my existing flights. Not the most fun week I can remember. @djh, my leading hypothesis for where I picked it up is actually St Pancras. There were three delayed Paris trains, and the departure lounge was packed tight with people to the degree it was hard to move. I was masked (and have been cautious throughout the trip) but I still think that’s the most likely place.
Knowing St Pancras as I do I can well understand that. I wonder how many new cases resulted from that "crush"? Get well soon and I hope you get your flights sorted.
@GP - we travelled through St Pancras to Brussels (on a train actually going to Amsterdam) - it was just before the problems started but it was really crowded queing for the train. We were slightly late because our train into St Pancras was delayed ( the first of many on our trip to Germany and Austria!) Typically English no masks were being worn at all. Once we got into Brussels onwards everyone in stations and trains wore a full FFP3 mask, us included. Being political the libertarians in our ruling party have so much hold over the government that masks are actiuvly discouraged. Do take care and I hope that you have plenty of music to listen to.
The title felt apt as I am currently several days into being confined to my hotel room in the Netherlands sick with COVID and unsure when I will get home.
Oh no! Where in NL are you? Give me a shout if you need something, I'm Amsterdam based but we have pretty good trains here. Or if you just feel like a beer or similar when you have your freedom again.
I was planning to post this link even before I read your update, but it seems more appropriate now.
The title felt apt as I am currently several days into being confined to my hotel room in the Netherlands sick with COVID and unsure when I will get home.
Oh no! Where in NL are you? Give me a shout if you need something, I'm Amsterdam based but we have pretty good trains here. Or if you just feel like a beer or similar when you have your freedom …
Thanks, I am in Gouda. Might take you up on that if this drags on, but for the moment I am being well looked after by folk from the university I’m visiting. Tomorrow they are moving me from the hotel room to the house of some friends of the university whom I have stayed with before, which will be a bit nicer and give me some freedom to get outdoors. I am tentatively optimistic that the symptoms are subsiding gradually. It’s been hard to sleep all week, so that’s not helping my general state of being. It would be extremely helpful to my wider schedule if I could get home by the end of this coming week. We’ll see. Next hurdle (apart from testing) will be that initial searches for short-notice flights are giving me itineraries that take 30 hours going all round the world and cost thousands.
Well I just got the best news I've had all week - the US plans to lift its negative test requirement for people flying to the US starting Sunday. That makes getting home much simpler, and means depending how symptoms play out from here on in I can be home by Friday at the latest, perhaps as early as Tuesday. Finally a light at the end of the tunnel.
As for music, the headaches I've had all week have actually made it hard to enjoy music much, (even tough, @greg, I have plenty with me) but I have listened to this album daily - it's just about the most soothing thing in my collection and a regular go-to when I need the world to feel a little calmer. I've been very thankful for it this week.
@Germanprof Good to read a positive update, hope you mske it back safely. Funnily enough the only time I've had to buy a flight at short notice was also The Netherlands. I'd been visiting my wife who was working in Amsterdam for a few months. I'd made the travel arrangements (I normally leave that to her) and when I got to Schipol for the return flight I couldn't find it on the departure board. The guys at the BA desk were clueless. Long story short I'd booked a flight a year in advance... how that was even possible on the system I don't know. Fortunately I was only stung about £100 for a trip on the next flight (which was in any case virtually empty).
@Germanprof Good to read a positive update, hope you mske it back safely. Funnily enough the only time I've had to buy a flight at short notice was also The Netherlands. I'd been visiting my wife who was working in Amsterdam for a few months. I'd made the travel arrangements (I normally leave that to her) and when I got to Schipol for the return flight I couldn't find it on the departure board. The guys at the BA desk were clueless. Long story short I'd booked a flight a year in advance... how that was even possible on the system I don't know. Fortunately I was only stung about £100 for a trip on the next flight (which was in any case virtually empty).
Best Wishes
Thanks. To my complete astonishment I was just able to rebook on a flight whose sticker price was more than twice what I paid for the original ticket without paying any extra at all. I suspect my Platinum status helped. If all goes well I'll be on my way home on Tuesday.
Comments
Did you find out after testing when you landed?
@djh, my leading hypothesis for where I picked it up is actually St Pancras. There were three delayed Paris trains, and the departure lounge was packed tight with people to the degree it was hard to move. I was masked (and have been cautious throughout the trip) but I still think that’s the most likely place.
Knowing St Pancras as I do I can well understand that. I wonder how many new cases resulted from that "crush"? Get well soon and I hope you get your flights sorted.
Tom Dissevelt
trk 3 Gamelan (1963/64)
Ton Bruynèl
trk 7 Reflexes (1961)
Ton de Leeuw
trks 2&8 Study (1957) & Antiphonie
Electronic Movements Fantasy In Orbit:
An Astronaut's Impressions While Orbiting The Earth
Opus '70 archive.org Ton Bruynèl Wolf Fifth Archive
Ton De Leeuw-Guus Janssen-Jan Van Vlijmen Litany Of Our Time / Clair Obscur
Wolf Fifth Archive Wolf Fifth Archive
HomeCooking Lagos No Shaking
Secret Agent
Townes Van Zandt
For The Sake Of The Song Delta Momma Blues
The Late Great Townes Van Zandt Flyin' Shoes
With thanks to @rostasi for sending me down that particular rabbit hole!