It’s Just Allergies

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Hello My Imaginary Friends,

I have recently been no-so-subtly accused of faking sick. It’s not the first time and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

I’m used to the usual scenario where I mentioned to someone that I have severe allergies and they either nod condescendingly or roll their eyes.

I get it, seriously, if you’ve never had to deal with allergies it’s easy to dismiss. I mean the most common portrayal of people with allergies in movies and television are either ridiculous nerds or hypochondriacs, mostly both. (I’m looking at you Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis.)

Even people with mild allergies don’t fully understand what it can be like. They’ll have the sniffles in spring or get red itchy eyes when they pet a cat.

I’ve lost track of the amount of times people have told me, “Oh yes, I’m allergic to cats too but you get used to it living with them.”

So here’s a short partial list of things I’m allergic to:

  • Cat hair and dander
  • Dog hair and dander
  • Oak pollen
  • Spruce pollen
  • Poplar pollen
  • Ragweed pollen
  • Grass itself and the pollen
  • Dust and Dust Mites
  • Mould
  • Bees
  • Mosquitos
  • Coconut milk and coconut oil

That’s the most common and it’s about a quarter of the things I’m allergic to. Also among the worst.

Symptoms

I am extremely lucky not to have anaphylaxis. My throat has never fully closed and I’ve never had a seizure. Every person reacts differently to allergies, despite what the commercials try to tell you.

My milder symptoms are mostly itchy ears, itchy eyes, cough, runny nose, itchy throat, and hives.

The more severe symptoms are nasal pressure, diarrhea, nausea, breathing difficulties, and sleepiness.

The absolute worst symptom is the weakness. When I get hit with a bad allergy attack I’m weak as a kitten. Before I got the shots, I had days were getting out of bed was such a struggle that I burst veins in both my eyes from the effort of sitting up. I always make the joke of, “Who turned up the gravity?” because it feels like everything is extra heavy and draining.

The weakness means that around Christmas time I usually feel like total shit. If that sounds odd think about what happens when business and people bring out decorations that have been in basements and attics, bring in dying trees, or bring out old dusty trees. What happens is the amount of indoor mould and dust skyrocket.

Linked Conditions

As if those symptoms aren’t bad enough, allergies cause and aggravate secondary conditions.

Oral Allergy Syndrome

This is a fun thing where your body thinks you’re ingesting your allergy when you eat something else. Basically, certain raw fruits and veggies have proteins that are similar to pollen.

If I eat a raw apple my tongue tingles and mouth itches because my body thinks I’m eating Oak pollen. Thankfully this doesn’t happen with cooked fruits. Before the shots, my throat would start to close.

My wife still laughs about the time I told her, “Isn’t it cool that celery is a little spicy?” Apparently it’s not supposed to be spicy.

IBS

I think it’s because my body is weakened but during a bad allergy day, my IBS becomes ten times worse.

Migraines

The nasal pressure combined with stress will trigger migraines. My vision blurs, I get dizzy, I lose sense of time, I feel like I’m going to puke, and my head hurts more than any pain I’ve experienced.

Anxiety, Depression, and Insomnia

This is a combination of antihistamines and fall out from the other symptoms.

It’s hard to concentrate or feel good about yourself when just going to the washroom is exhausting.

If I have a certain type of antihistamine, I get shaky, and feel like my entire body is vibrating. It lasts for 12 hours and makes sleeping hard.

Bad Day?

So I’ve talked about bad days. I’ll be completely honest that on my best day I still have most of the mild symptoms. That’s despite having done shots for 5 years and using antihistamines.

A bad day, however, happens if I am accidentally, or unavoidably, exposed to an allergen. Some it’s only once like coconut oil, coconut milk, or bug venom, some it has to be prolonged like dust, mould, or trees.

Either way, a bad is a day I can barely move, feel sick, and just generally want to die. I’ve done work during those days, but it’s not my best work since I’m totally out of it. Most of the time I have enough energy to watch tv, shower (the steam does wonders for my nose), and eat.

What Now?

So what do I want you to do about this? Nothing. I just wanted to vent and explain what it’s like being me. Hopefully it’ll make you more compassionate to people with allergies.

Mostly, if I tell you I’m not feeling well, know that I’m not lying.

 

Thank you for reading,

Éric

Our Trip to Paris Part 1: Disneyland Paris

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My family (minus one) and I recently took a trip to Paris! We had a lot of fun, and I thought I would break down the experience into three parts. (Part 2, Part 3)

Part 1: Disneyland Paris

Disney Hotel Santa Fe:

Location: was pretty good, if you like to walk. We were placed in the building closest to the rest of the hotels, and it was a beautiful walk along a canal. There is a shuttle to the parks.

Santa Fe hotel

Room: very clean. Beds were very hard. Crib took a long time to arrive (longer than they told us, even after a phone call), so the toddler had quite the meltdown because she couldn’t nap.

Staff: less than helpful. We needed to transfer to Hotel New York after one night in Hotel Santa Fe (because we wanted to be in NY, but there wasn’t any available rooms on the first night we were in Disney, so we stayed in SF) and we asked if there was a luggage transfer service, but we were simply told no, with no suggestions for assistance.

Disney Hotel New York:

Location: perfect location to walk over to visit the parks. If you can walk easily, walk to the park and don’t take the shuttle, because it takes a long way to get there, picking up guests at other resorts before getting to the park.

New York hotel

Room: we ended up with the “show room”, which was perfect for us. It had a queen size bed and a sofa bed, instead of the standard 2 double beds. So we folded up the sofa and had tons of room for the crib. The bathtub had a very wide and tall side, which might be difficult to access if you have any mobility issues.

The bed was really hard, but not quite as grooved as the bed in Santa Fe, possibly because it hadn’t been used very often (see: show room).

Very clean.

We were annoyed that they took our soap that we had brought from home – it was a special soap to help with excema, but it looked very similar to the hotel soap, so I guess they though that it would be nice to give us a fresh one? I feel like that was a waste of their resources, and frustrating to us.

Staff: supremely helpful. When they learned that we had no way of getting our luggage from Santa Fe to New York (other than walking it over), they sent a driver over to pick up our luggage for us. They managed to get us a room in the same wing as my parents, even though there technically wasn’t any space (see comment above about being given the “show room”).

Pool: be warned – the pool is 5 feet deep EVERYWHERE. There is no shallow end. It’s also colder than you would expect. We didn’t go in the hot tub, because of the toddler.

Problems: the main lobby was overpowered by incense. I understand its purpose; to hide the stench of cigarette smoke blowing in from the smokers outside the doors, but it was cloying in the worst way. If there is one law that I would love for France to borrow from Canada, it is the 9m law: no smoking within 9m of any door. Walking through the smokers to get into our building was not a pleasant experience. The hallways were also perfumed with apple smell, although it was less pervasive. No scent got into our room, thankfully.

Walt Disney Studios Park:

Walt Disney Studios park

It’s sad that my first thought when asked to describe a Disney park is “so much smoke”, especially when the parks are advertized as Smoke-Free. And there are definitely signs declaring that. There are clearly marked designated smoking sections on the map. And yet we still saw/smelled/gagged over people lighting up in lines (like in the line for the small children’s ride Slinky Dog Coaster) and while wandering the park in general. YOU HAVE TO ENFORCE YOUR RULES!!!

This park was cute, and we really enjoyed the Backlot tour, and our daughter enjoyed her first roller coaster (Slinky Dog), but there wasn’t much to do in this park. The best part was the Mickey and the Sorcerer show – highly recommend it. My father wanted to see it twice, and he never does that!

Also – why on earth would you close one of only two counter service restaurants BEFORE dinner (5 pm)? Talk about frustrating.

Disneyland Park:

Disneyland park

We had the same problem with smokers in this park as well. There are clearly marked designated smoking sections on the map. And yet we still saw/smelled/gagged over people lighting up in lines (like while waiting for a show, or in a restaurant’s outdoor patio) and while wandering the park in general. YOU HAVE TO ENFORCE YOUR RULES!!! I know I’m repeating myself, but it was seriously disgusting.

One of the attractions we were most looking forward to (Phantom Manor) was closed for renovations, which was incredibly disappointing. There were technical difficulties on a lot of the rides we went on, including Pirates of the Caribbean.

The most frustrating thing about this park was the restaurants for dinner. We were sticking with counter service meals, because the price of food was super expensive, and half the counter service restaurants closed at 5 pm!? It meant that the restaurants that were left open were over-run with people, and it limited our choices. Not only that, but it wasn’t indicated anywhere that the restaurants were going to close, so you didn’t find out until you got there that your dinner choice was not an option.

The best part of this park was the Pirates versus Princesses parade. Definitely worth seeing multiple times, so you can watch both halves.

Overall thoughts on Disneyland Paris:

The food was VERY expensive. I’m not sure whether a food plan would have been come out cheaper, but it is definitely a very strict meal plan; the one we would have gone with (Half Board) includes breakfast and one other meal. In Florida, you are not limited by time with any part of your meal plan, so the comparable plan allowed us to have a lot more wiggle room.

I think our main problem with this experience was that we have been to the Florida parks. The Paris one suffers where the Florida one excels, and it is very noticeable. There were definitely some high points (the shows and parades were excellent! The hotels were comfortable to stay at) but we struggled to find the magic of Disney, after having gone to Florida last year.

Are you interested in travelling to Paris? Jen has retired from working as a travel agent. Hope you’ve enjoyed Fandom Travel . 

What I Learned Not Having a Phone for 8 Days

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Hello My Imaginary Friends,

We recently went on a vacation to Paris. After looking into the roaming plans and their cost, we decided to leave our phones at home for the vacation.

I knew it would bug me, but I had no idea how or how I’d react.

A little background before we begin. I haven’t been without a cellphone since 2002. In high school, I was the dork with the digital organizer. I had an HTC-Dream in 2009 and remember Android 1.6 Cupcake. All that tells you I’m a little of a gadget nerd and haven’t been far from the convenience in almost a decade.

One of the first pictures I took and posted directly from my HTC-Dream to Facebook in October 2009. (604×402 pixels in size)

Like most people my age, I rarely make phone calls with my phone. Only when I have to or if I want to speak with my older relatives.

What I didn’t miss

I expected to miss the constant social connection of my phone, but it’s the part I missed the least. It was actually kind of nice to disconnect and ignore things that weren’t important.

I’m a little bit of a digital hoarder. Take for exemple that before this trip I had a mailing list subscription to TeeFury in 3 of my 5 emails.

The vacation and only being able to clean out my facebook and email once a day, sometimes less, gave me the push I needed to start cleaning out subscriptions, groups, and even a few friends.

What I have now is a quarter the amount of incoming emails and a lot less of an urge to check my phone every four seconds.

What I did miss but was glad I didn’t have

The camera on my phone is exceptional and I have a nasty habit of relying on it too much. I have a fantastic Mirrorless SLR and need to use it more often. No matter how good your phone’s camera is, at the moment, an SLR will be much better.

This forced me to reach into my bag and grab the camera instead of just pulling out my phone.

What I missed

Being able to search for random information, directions, locations, and even identify landmarks; was something I truly missed about my phone.

The ability to pull out my phone and be told what a landmark is and its history is extremely useful. Being able to ask where to find the closest café is extremely useful. Being able to find out the hours of operations for business over a holiday is useful.

I have terrible handwriting so being able to write a list for groceries on my phone is something that I love. The list is shared with my wife so if she forgets something while I’m out, she can add it to the list no problem.

Despite being French Canadian, there was a language barrier and some words I had no idea what they meant. It would have been nice to have a universal translator in my pocket for shopping.

We went to Paris with my in-laws and being able to separate without detailed plans of where and when to meet is something I greatly missed.

I also missed being able to listen to music, read, play games, and jot down ideas.

 

I still think that the roaming is excessively expensive, but I sure missed the convenience of having my phone.

Éric

The Sign of Faust – Cover Reveal

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Hello My Imaginary Friends,

My wonderful cover designer Nathan sent me the cover file for my book that should be out this spring, hopefully in time for Renaissance Press’s 5th anniversary.

Without further ado, here is the cover for The Sign of Faust:

The Sign of Faust will be available at Amazon and Renaissance Press.

 

My hope is that by the end of the series, all the books together with make a rainbow.

Éric

Blush: Rim shot

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A couple of weeks ago, an article popped up on my news feed (I like to write posts about topics that come up in conversation online or in person, especially if they are ones that I don’t know much about, so I feel like I’ve said this opening sentence often) and out of curiosity, I clicked on it to read it. It was about a gastro parasite contracted by rimming. Here it is, in all it’s graphic detail.

Image from youtube video screenshot.

So there’s a couple things that I’d like to talk about in this article.

The first thought that came into my head as I was reading was, “I’ve only really thought about STIs being transmitted!”

The second thought, almost immediately following the first, “It makes complete sense that bacteria could be transmitted as well. Why isn’t this discussed more often?”

And third, “Why wasn’t this guy using a dental dam?”

I’ve talked about dental dams before, so I won’t repeat myself. However, I hadn’t mentioned that they are a good barrier method for oral-anal (or analingus) sex. I’ve now done some research, and yes, they are safe (and recommended!) to be used on the anus.

My search history is quite varied and unusual.

My first attempt at finding out more information on bacteria transmission via analingus didn’t turn up anything about bacteria. I found a lot of confirmation (references #1-6) that dental dams are safe for anal use, but only that they protected against STI infections.

Reference #7 finally mentioned bacteria, but only in reference to anal sex, and didn’t go into any detail about it.

Finally, references #8-10 discussed the topic I was interested in, and I was able to learn a bit more about what the original article described.

Parasites in the gastrointestinal tract invariably leave it in one direction: via the anus. Cleaning, even as thoroughly as one would before sex play, will NOT get rid of all the bacteria. Any time anal play is involved, protection should be used, even in an exclusive relationship.

(Side note: reference #9 suggests plastic wrap as a barrier method – THIS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA! Plastic wrap is porous, and is not a viable method of protection.)

The fact that it was so difficult to find references (at all, not just good ones) on the subject means that very few people have considered the consequences of not using protection while rimming. That’s kind scary.

To sum up, use protection!

References

  1. https://www.optionsforsexualhealth.org/sexual-health/sexually-transmitted-infections/barriers/oral-dams
  2. https://www.islandsexualhealth.org/2006/06/dental-dams/
  3. https://www.islandsexualhealth.org/sex-safety/using-oral-dental-dams/
  4. http://hshc.ca/dental-dams/
  5. https://www.cdc.gov/condomeffectiveness/Dental-dam-use.html
  6. https://www.cdc.gov/std/healthcomm/stdfact-stdriskandoralsex.htm
  7. https://www.webmd.com/sex/anal-sex-health-concerns#1
  8. http://goaskalice.columbia.edu/answered-questions/does-good-washing-anilingus-remove-bacteria
  9. http://www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,20188681,00.html
  10. http://www.healthcommunities.com/anal-health/index.shtml

    If you’re enjoying the Blush blogs, consider learning more with Blush: The Card Game from Renaissance Press.

Devices of Desire (Serial Story) Chapter 4

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

Chapter 4: Flying Fruit and a Oracular Ambush

The master hit her in the head with another orange. “A true warrior can defend themselves blind.”

Artemis, still disguised as Arty, tried to stop thinking about Ezekiel, the Princess, or Didi. What was wrong with her? She’d never been this easily distracted by pretty people before. Blindfolded, she heard and deflected an apple from the master.

“You’re still slow. It’s not the blindfold that has you blind. It’s your distraction, ” the master said and then tutted. “It’s your distraction that blinds you to the universe. Now concentrate.” He launched a grape at Arty.

Feeling the grape flying towards her, she took a deep breath to centre herself, she moved and caught the grape in her mouth. It was sweet but the skin was sour, creating a pleasant contrast.

Maybe it was the forced celibacy of the monastery that made her constantly think about the beautiful people in town.

“Better,” mumbled the master. “Remember that a real man and warrior can suppress his emotions in order to concentrate on the battle. Emotions are what lead you towards distraction and darkness.”

She tuned out the speech, it was the most tedious part of monastery life. The insistence that emotions led to evil was not only ridiculous; it was dangerous. Without the ability to process and understand their emotions, the monks were nearly constantly stressed. It was the reason she tried to sneak out as much as she could.

“You will understand once you become a master. The cleansing ceremony will help you elevate yourself above your emotions.” The fruit kept flying and she wished she had a sword to cut them with; it would have been more satisfying. The cleansing ceremony sounded pseudo-mystical and she couldn’t decide if they had found a way to remove human emotions or if it was just another religious ceremony.

Eventually the fruit stopped flying and she was dismissed. The monks woke with the dawn and were supposed to retire to their quarters for meditation and sleep at sundown. Artemis waited a little and then snuck out.

The same training that had her learn to anticipate what was going to happen and move through it quietly helped her leave the monastery without being noticed. Once outside the gates, she traded her monk’s robes for a pair of comfortable denim pants and a casual button up white shirt.

As much as she wanted to dress as her real self, she was recognized now in town as Arty. If she tried to walk around as a woman, she’d still be recognized. She was thankful for the loose clothing and good breast-band that didn’t bind her but minimized her chest.  The telltale shaved head and sun baked skin of the Monks meant that unless she was willing to wear a wig and more makeup than she could afford, she’d be caught right away. So she’d play at being Arty, the monk in training who was blowing off steam. Running away to go to a concert in town was frowned upon, but secretly being a woman would get her killed.

“Hello young man.” The woman had barely made a sound as she started walking next to her.

“Madam. Can I help you?” The woman wasn’t old but wasn’t young. She had smile and frown wrinkles with blond hair that could be going white, or could have been just pale.

“My dear, I know who you are, Ezekiel.” The old woman stopped and waited. When Artemis tried to walk away, the woman put a hand on her shoulder. A crowd formed around them and Artemis started getting uncomfortable. This was too much attention.

“This boy is Ezekiel, the heir to the Apollo shipping company. He shall marry the Princess and their union shall be blessed by the gods!” That proclamation made Artemis realize that this was the Oracle of Espenson.

“I’m not Ezekiel. I’m Arty, a humble monk.”

“Sure you are dear.” She patted her face condescendingly. Her eyes focused on a face in the crowd and she pulled Didi out saying, “This innocent looking girl is in disguise.”

Didi’s face blanched and Artemis thought she was going to faint.

“This girl is actually the great warrior Artemis, Apprentice to the Hero Haus.” It was Artemis’s turn to go pale. The oracle continued, “She will stop the army of Demons from destroying the kingdom and will marry the long lost Prince of Cillian.”

The crowd was obviously entranced and skeptical as they yelled out variations on, “Where is the lost Prince?”

The Oracle held Artemis and Didi’s arms and didn’t let go. Her eyes were glassy and despite the growing animosity of the crowd, she didn’t move. Artemis was about to break free when the Oracle raised and pointed with both hands at a man who was obviously trying to get by the crowd.

The crowd moved the man closer. He was wearing a tight shirt with ripped denim pants and had a guitar case on his back. He wore large wire rimmed glasses and had a goatee. He looked vaguely like Ezekiel, but more glamorous, but that could have been the makeup.

“This boy doesn’t know it, but he is the long lost twin to our great Princess.”

The man looked like he wanted to run away. “I’m just trying to get to my concert. I assure you that I’m not a long lost anything.”

Unperturbed, the Oracle shouted, “He shall help the Princess rule, marry the Hero Artemis, and together with Ezekiel, the four shall stop the dreaded army of demons from destroying all of Cillian.”

A silence fell over the crowd, there was something in the way the Oracle spoke that made everyone listen and believe. Artemis looked at the other two who’d been sucked into this and shrugged. The three of them burst into giggles. The entire situation seemed ridiculous. The Oracle seemed to think that Didi was Artemis, that Artemis (disguised as Arty) was Ezekiel, and that this musician was the lost Prince. Artemis was glad the princess wasn’t there or the Oracle would have thought she was a sheep magicked into the princess or something equally as silly.

The Oracle gave them a dirty look and walked away; Artemis could have sworn the woman winked.

The crowd, sombre and itching to tell anyone willing to listen, dispersed.

Artemis hoped that the Oracle’s warning was as off-base as her identifications.

Read Next

If you’re enjoying this year’s serial story why not check out those from past years?