The Arisia that was

This is the only Arisia I can recall in my 25 years of going that I went with a major illness or disability. For those whom I haven't told - my back seized up a week ago Tuesday. Guess I'll put that in a separate post. Suffice it to say that I am in a lot of pain, have trouble with some lifting and some motions, and it interferes a lot with my sleeping. So, yeah.

I was also working again this year - as Press Liaison. That had its own problems about which I need to write a post-mortem for Arisia, but the major effect on my con was that I missed part of one panel I wanted to see and most of the IgNobels.

I was on four panels this year, moderating three of them.
( panels )

( Parties, et alors on dance )

( Other entertainment )

Overall this Arisia was about a 6 to 7 for me. If I had not been hampered by physical issues and dealing with family things it probably would've been a solid 7. I was sad that my panels Saturday meant I didn't get to see and photograph the belly dance show, usually one of my yearly shooting highlights. I also missed out on snuggle time with loved ones - between scheduling and working and body issues it was a lot harder to get to places and do what I wanted to do.

Back blogging

I seem not to have written much about my back problems last year except for this one entry about PT. I'm writing this entry today to document the problems I've been having for the past week+.
( First, let's recap last year )

( So what happened last week? )

At this point my baseline pain level is about a 4, often 5-6 and spiking into the 7-8 range.
( Well that sucks; what did you do next? )

So here we go - there's not a lot I can do but ride this out. I'm 90% convinced that the ultimate cause is the shitty little pen that my workplace has shoved us into. I still don't have a dropdown keyboard tray and it's cramped. I have to turn my head to the left to see my second monitor and that motion definitely sets off the crampy muscles. May be coincidence but I don't think so. We're moving to our final building a week from Friday and if they don't set it up more ergonomically I'm going to raise holy hell.

Oh and I think I caught the Arisia con crud (cold, cough, runny nose). Go me.