More Mac Pro, Leopard Preview and my unknown illness

Ars Technica has it’s review of the Mac Pro including some nice comparative graphs. When this one popped into my feed reader, I immediately clicked in and was not disappointed.

Ransom Note Typography has a nice, more personal first glance here.

As a bonus, Hardmac​.com has a write up and some screenshots of Leopard from their own install.

060814_westnile.jpgAnd then there is the crazy, migraine-like and flu-like pains and fatigue which could be West Nile Virus as I have all of the symptoms. The scariest part of West Nile is the encephalitis or meningitis that could come as a result. Heather and Leta took me to urgent care on Saturday. They drew blood and told me that my white cell counts were super normal, which is good. They also did a urinalysis and found no sign of bladder or kidney infection. After the white cell count, they drew another vial of blood for testing to determine if I have West Nile. So I wait for now. I expect to hear from them either later today or tomorrow. Kind of scary.

Heather has been absolutely wonderful in nursing me. I’ve been in bed since last Thursday afternoon. Thursday night I had a temperature of 101.5 and every day since it’s dropped. Last night my tempurature was 99.5 and then this morning it was normal. These are good signs. I just wish I didn’t have this crushing headache. The body aches are likely more from laying in bed than anything, but the headache is nasty and relentless.

I determined in 2002 that our lives would never be “normal”. I’ve been right so far.

I’ll keep you posted.

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  • Teeny225

    Oh dear that all sounds nasty… And yet you still find the energy to post!

    Hope you start feeling better soon.

    Teeny
    xx

  • http://eviljulie.com Julie

    I’m guessing it’s not West Nile. Deep in the heart of West Nile Country (NYC), we’ve all been told that healthy people would probably not even notice if they had West Nile — it’s only the very young and very old that have bad symptoms. And while this past birthday has put you past the “very young” part of the population, you don’t quite qualify as “very old” yet.

    Of course, what do I know, it was probably Guiliani/Bloomberg PR telling us that we wouldn’t feel it. Feel better soon!

  • http://www.the-o-spot.com JohnO

    One of my friends girlfriend was one of the three people in the state of Kentucky to contract West Nile. Most cases of West Nile end happily, and I’m pretty sure those that don’t are the people that either don’t go to the hospital, or the people that God hates. Not for sure which ones.

  • http://aredeaf.blogspot..com Coelecanth

    West Nile has reached my part of the world too. A couple of weeks ago I had a headache and minor fever for 5 or 6 days and wondered if it was West Nile. But then I’m a hypochondriac and every little twinge is cancer or leprosy or ebola.

    The good news is if it is West Nile you’ll never get it again and encephalitis or meningitis as symptoms are really rare. The bad news is of course how much it sucks to have an unrelenting headache.

    I hope you feel better soon.

  • http://sadandbeautiful.typepad.com Sarah

    I hope you feel better soon and that they figure out what is going on!

  • http://silentgoddess.squarespace.com Lane Meyer

    Well crap, Jon!!
    I sure hope you start feeling better and that the headache lets up. Your post kinda freaked me out a bit…you all have had a seriously crazy year…and in my opinion, it is time for you three to have some peace and quiet!!

  • http://workman.blogspot.com Workman

    Take care, Jon.

    It may be West Nile, but it would be so much cooler if you could kick it old school with SARS.

  • http://stunewsandphotos.blogspot.com/ Stu mark

    Soak your hands in warm water. Your headache will ease a bit. Obviously this will relax your bladder, but I’m sure you knew that.

  • ryan

    man, I hope you keep feeling better day by day… I didn’t realize body aches were a symptom of WNV.

  • http://thoughtfloss.livejournal.com Thoughtfloss

    If it makes you feel any better, I’ve heard of several people who have had similar symptoms (myself included) but didn’t have West Nile. I had a fever, headache, body aches, and general misery, and the doctor’s office was suspecting West Nile or similar (when they asked if I could touch my chin to my chest, I knew they were suspecting meningitis!) It resolved itself after several days, but not before a good bout of diarrhea. Just cause you wanted to know. I’ve known several others who had the same thing in the last few weeks!

  • http://www.agirlandaboy.com leahkay

    Eek. Feel better soon, Jon. To die would be so…ordinary and normal.

  • megchem

    http://​www​.westnilesupport​.org Jon check out that website. I had west nile in 2003 and would have rather given birth 100 times with no drugs then go through what i did. The worst was the meningitis headaches and the eye pain.…I hope you don’t have it!!!!

  • http://www.noshowmo.com noshowmo

    Ugh, the undiagnosed malady parade. Good luck navigating the system. If the headache doesn’t subside today, demand a shot of toradol. Before my migraines were diagnosed (I don’t have the typical symptoms) and I could get the right preventative drugs, toradol was the only thing that would save me. Vicodin and percocet didn’t even help. Hang in there, and feel better.

  • Leta

    Hope you feel better soon, man. Your post made me grimace(but then Workman’s comment made be laugh out loud, so I’m pretty much even keeled now). I hope that it’s not WNV, but just a mundane and brief flubug.

  • http://cowjumpmoon.blogspot.com Shalini

    Hope you feel better soon!

  • http://rivetergirl.blogspot.com rivetergirl

    Yes, please feel better soon. That West Nile is nasty stuff. We’ve had friends who’ve gotten it and while they were very sick and tired, it didn’t advance beyond that.

    My husband claims every Sunday after a night of too much social lubrication that he has West Nile, but he’s usually recovered by Monday.

  • http://jonniker.com Jonniker

    Statistical probability is way in your favor, symptoms or not, given that .7% of cases morph into encephalitis, and that’s of the <20% of people who actually get symptoms with West Nile. And I understand that those who are most deeply impacted are those who are either very old or very young and/or have compromised immune systems. I do not think you fall in those categories.

    There *is* a flu-like thing going around these parts, too, which is unusual for summertime.

  • http://jonniker Jonniker

    I know I went on more than just that partial sentence, but I’m not sure where it went. I think it was something about the .7% being of the 20% of people who get it and those who do are usually ancient and/or compromised and blah blah blah.

  • http://tastethehappy.wordpress.com monkeyaker

    Sure-fire remedy for West-Nile-like illness:
    1. Buy dime-to-quarter-sized quartz crystals, and tape to both nipples.
    2. Drink tea made of bitter-root and bat feces.
    3. Sit in comfy chair, put head between knees.
    4. Give me $200.
    5. Hold breath and count to ten. Release.

    Feel better? I do.…

    But seriously, hope you feel better soon.

  • http://www.leahpeah.com/blog leahpeah

    my advice: get heather a sweet nurse’s uniform with a short skirt.

    xo

  • http://www.amanda.veryzen.com Amanda B.

    Holy Jeepers Jon.

    I hope you feel better soon, kiddo. I’m sure you don’t have West Nile, but I’m going to say a little prayer and do a little voodoo just in case.

    (I blame the clogs for this)

  • jeporter

    Well, I can relate to the mystery disease thing. I had a headache (24/7) since November last until April, when the drugs kicked in. Headaches went away, drug side effects suck, go off drugs a few weks ago & headaches come back. Now I’m back on the drugs (and taking drugs for the drugs side effects), still have headaches, and no idea what’s going on.

    That’s the bad news. The good news is that I’m writing this on my Macbook Pro and it ROCKS!

  • http://www.jonsagara.com/ Jon Sagara

    Bummer, dude. Hope you get well soon!

  • http://www.k1969.blogspot.com k.

    All our kitchen appliances have come down with the same thing. I hope you get better faster and cheaper.

    I am impressed with your mate’s nursing ability…myself, I am lousy at it. My bedside manner is to passively-aggressively stomp around the room until they buck up and get well.

    Take care,

    k.

  • moonrattled

    Keep your diet pure, Blurb, especially if your immune system is compromised.

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