I'm Finally Fully Back (August 4, 2008)

John T. Haller's picture
Submitted by John T. Haller on August 4, 2008 - 5:10pm

As many of you know, I've been "under the weather" for a while. I had said I was back a couple weeks ago, but it turns out that I wasn't quite fully back. Since this has impacted some of our progress since it began, I thought I'd let folks know what was up.

I've been sick for the past couple months, essentially. It was mainly some dizziness, some fogginess and some tiredness. It was impacting my ability to work but not consistently. And as the symptoms can be related to stress and sleep issues, I was trying to adjust things to solve them.

A few weeks ago, I fell. It was partially due to a broken desk chair and partially because my dizziness had gotten worse and had progressed to instability (inability to maintain balance properly). In the fall, I hit my head and the back of my neck. And the symptoms got worse and more varied, leaving me unable to work at all (added in vision issues, concentration issues, headaches and worse instability). The week that followed involved numerous doctors appointments and tests to rule out the worst possibilities.

In the end, they didn't find anything damning, so they believe it was due to some combination of stress, allergies and lack of sleep along with a virus initially followed by post concussion syndrome. I was on a couple drugs as well as doctor ordered rest and relaxation and they seem to have done the trick (knock on wood).

I'm mostly back at my normal schedule now, though I'm still making sure not to push out sleep or push the stress level too high. I pushed it a little the week before last with the set of releases I did so I took it easier last week. But I'm at the point where I feel good about getting back to the work I was doing 2 months ago.

Anyway, I just wanted to keep you all in the loop on what was going on and why there has been some slowness in terms of forward progress in the big stuff the last couple months and why there has been some weeks where there have been few or no releases recently. I've got some things to get out the next couple days and I'll be doing another Update post later this week.


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Welcome Back

Glad to hear you're feeling better :-)
Try not to push yourself too much.

Tim

"The wheels of John grind Slowly, But they grind Exceedingly Small" ;-)

Glad your back!

Glad your back!

Good gracious! There goes a kangaroo. I must have a practice with me boomerang- Now then, slowly back
If you throw that thing at me, I'll jump right on your head.
Innit marvellous? Got a land full of kangaroos and I had to pick that one.

Thats good to hear

I'm glad you're feeling well and better and I really hope it lasts now!
And even more I appreciate your telling us. Hope you enjoy the rest of the summer "over the weather".

"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate

You're the greatest

I just wanted to let you know that finding this site and all of the programs available on it has been a complete lifesaver. I am grateful that you are feeling better and able to work once again.

YAY! Glad your back and

YAY!
Glad your back and feeling well

Equal opportunity means everyone will have a fair chance at being incompetent.
Lead, Follow, or get out of the way.

Great!

I'm so glad you're back, John. Hopefully your recovery is more permanent than the last. :)

"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning." - Rick Cook

stress is a code name for

Stress is a leading cause of many deaths, heart disease, strokes, and ill health. Yet stress is not something that can be totally done away with. It's a normal part of life. Stress is just a code name for fear. Resolve your fears, learn to manage fear, recognise fear as a normal part of human psychology, understand that fear can be useful, and the stress is managed and subsides, and the results are better health.

yoga time! :D

yoga time! :D

Australia's Great Dividing Range : Dividing From What?
Patrick Patience is a key virtue.
behold, return of taneth111! (insert darth vader music here)

Learning relaxation

Learning relaxation techniques has helped save millions from stroke and heart attack. Dizziness is a warning sign that precedes an attack. So it's wise to take careful notice of the warning signs, and implement a relaxation strategy into the persons weekly activities before it's too late. The human body is good like that, it gives us warning signs before the nervous breakdown, stroke or heart attack hits, giving us a chance to alter our lifestyle.

Truthseeker,

This isn't the post to educate us on Health truthseeker, this is a post where you tell john your glad to see him back on the site.

@ John T. Haller.
Welcome back John. Glad to see your up and running again.

Computer: xUbuntu 8.10 Running ScrapIRC.

Am I the only one who didn't

Am I the only one who didn't know John was sick?

THIS MESSAGE IS OPEN SOURCE!!! WOOO WOOO

Glad your feeling better

Glad your feeling better John. ^_^ Your health is way more important than this site.

Bensawsome AKA BJ
Wrld Dmntn/Sm Assmbl Rqrd
(\__/)(='.'=)(}><{)o(")_(")
"We can mean anything. We three, we the people, or my personal favorite: WEEEEE!"
PLEASE USE SEARCH: http://portableapps.com/search/node/

I'm glad you feeling better.

I'm glad you're feeling better. Welcome back! You know, I figured someone who survived 4 years in Bingo (Vestal really) couldn't be kept down too long!

Glad to hear your feeling

Glad to hear your feeling better and thank you for your forthrightness in telling us all. I realise in part it is none of our business which is why I think it is so cool of you to share as it demonstrates how much you value the PA community. Hope you bounce back so well your better than ever ^_^

Live To Learn. Learn To Live.

Ouch

I'm glad you feel better now :D. Perhaps Tanisthalon's workrave portable would keep the stress under control more mindlessly :P ;).
(oh, and somebody wants permission to post something).
How long has that desk chair been broken :P?
EDIT: Now I know what you felt like. Last night I got a headache from swimming 4 hours and then watching the Olympics opening ceremony (OMG that was amazing!). I didn't feel good until I layed down.

Somebody give me a portable video editor... Please!
If ya wanna see my email, go to digitxpsemail.tk (at least for now!)
My dad saved over $850 a month, by switching to Geico! :P

Take it easy

This goes out to everybody... after graduating from the university and finally getting my first "real job" I realized that no matter how hard you work, how fast, how much you worry about getting things done, stressing over deadlines, etc.... THERE WILL ALWAYS BE MORE WORK TO FINISH!!! So just do what you can.

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." -- Robert Frost
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: baby ain't mine." -- Adam Holguin

John, DO NOT

I repeat, do not neglect your sleep. I have health issues related to sleep deprivation from my younger, more carefree years. I never thought it would bother me, but they snuck up and bit me in a big way. I'm on meds now, for the rest of my life because of my carelessness. Take care of yourself, get some sleep!

In a mother's scolding voice: Get that proprietary software out of your computer!
You don't know where it's been!!!!

Now I'm really glad

that my mom makes me sleep at 8 :D.

Somebody give me a portable video editor... Please!
If ya wanna see my email, go to digitxpsemail.tk (at least for now!)
My dad saved over $850 a month, by switching to Geico! :P

Glad you're better. And

Glad you're better. And don't let the demands of selfish people (like me ) cause you to neglect what is truly important.

"If you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything."
--- Count Rugen

I am not my signature.

Maybe you can delegate

some of the responsibilities and tasks to one or two of your higher-level devs?

That way, when you need to take time off, you don't have to worry about the work backing up.

As one of the members that has been working in CorpAmerica for many many years, I'll tell you, the most beautiful phrase they came up with is "work-life balance". I've cut back from 60 hrs a week to 40, and started classes at uni that are 100% fun; I've also learned to stop thinking about work the minute I walk out the door at the end of the day. My BP has dropped, I sleep better and feel better, too.

Remember the old saying, nobody says at the end of their life "I wish I'd spent more time working"!

Harmony and understanding; sympathy and trust abounding;
Mystic crystal revelations and the mind's true liberation.

Glad

to hear you are truly feeling better this time John :)

'...and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard...' JFK

best wishes...

I've been traveling mostly incommunicado for the past few weeks, so I am just now learning of your recent (and surprisingly severe) health issues. I don't have much to add to the well-wishes that came before, but I'm glad to hear that you're back in the saddle. Take care.

All the best.   -hea

P.S.  I replied to your email — oddly enough, your original message was so Spamtastic® that the self-CC of my reply got nabbed as well.   ;-)

srry for the late post...

but glad to see you back and hope something like that doesnt happen again (plzz dont jynx him)

I Am We Todd Ed, I Am We Todd Ed, I Am Sofa King We Todd Ed. ;)