Blergh

Blergh

Is blergh a word? It’s how I feel. The last week I’ve been coughing and feeling slightly febrile with a mild constant headache. It’s like an aborted viral infection. I just wish it would abort completely so I could feel better. There is some mild nasal and paranasal congestion but none of the usual common cold symptoms and no muscle and joint aches and pains associated with influenza. Is it a low-grade enteroviral infection? Who knows? It’s enough to take the shine off every day. I am awake through most of the night so I feel exhausted. I just wish I could sleep. I have this overwhelming feeling of fatigue.

The worst thing is I’m about to spend some time away with my daughters and parents. I don’t want to be sick near Mum and Dad. They are very frail and if they get an infection it takes them so much longer to recover. I also want to enjoy the time with my daughters and not be coughing and spluttering all the time.

[social_warfare]

This week

So apart from feeling under the weather, what else has been happening this week? Work has been fairly busy and I’ve been doing a little travelling for work. On Wednesday I was in Sydney for a meeting and on Thursday I was in Melbourne. The weather in Melbourne was a little like Canberra in September. It was fresh, meaning it was cold, and there was a strong wind during most of the day. During the meeting, I was told that Melbourne Airport had closed a runway and to expect delays. That’s the last thing anyone likes to hear when all they want to do is finish a day’s work and get back to their abode. While the flight was delayed, it was only by 30 minutes and the tail wind meant the delay into Canberra was only about 10 minutes from the scheduled arrival time. In my mind that was sufficient excuse to not cook, so as I drove back to the flat I stopped at Jamison Takeaway and got a serving of chips and some potato scallops.

You know I’m not feeling that flash when I don’t finish the chips. I finished the potato scallops but only about half the chips. The remainder is in the freezer. I’ll work out what to do with them another time. I’ve come across a few old chip recipes lately so I may do one of those.

[social_warfare]

Hot chips and potato scallops cure the blergh

Hot chips and potato scallops Gary Lum after feeling blergh
Hot chips and potato scallops

APSC guidance on social media

I suppose the big news this week has been a revision and release of the Australian Public Service Commissions (APSC) guidance on public servants and their use of social media (“Making public comment on social media“). You can find the new guidance document here. It’s not really much different to the previous version and if anything the revised version clarifies the intent and meaning of the document. I know some people are concerned, but for me, I don’t mind it. It’s made it clear to me that on social media I do need to be careful not just about comments I may make but also how I react to material shared by others, i.e., liking and sharing material on social media can leave an impression with a reader. In addition, I need to be more conscious that anything I write or say on social media can be shared even if that is not my intention. While most of my accounts are public, some are private, but all it takes is for someone to capture a screenshot and if it’s clearly a comment made by me it’s as good as me sharing it. The same holds for private e-mail which can be forwarded on or elements can be captured as a screenshot and shared. This may signal a return of making telephone calls using standard telephone services. I wonder about services like FaceTime and Skype whether the audio and video are retained in the cloud for long. I know that the audio when using Siri is kept by Apple for up to 2 years after we’ve asked Siri a question. The difficulty is that for most of my online friends, I wouldn’t know their telephone number to make a call to say hello. For some friends though, a telephone call is so much better. I’m pretty boring on the telephone, but with the right person I can speak for hours.

[social_warfare]

How will the revised guidelines affect me?

So what do the revised APSC guidelines mean for me and my multitude of social media accounts? I’ll carry on much the same as usual. I don’t make comments about political events, especially domestic politics. I rarely make comments about events that are culturally topical. Yummy Lummy is a food blog and I’ve recently taken to just having recipes there with the occasional review. The only problem with my food blog is that there will be some people who may object to a health professional sharing recipes that don’t necessarily align with current health doctrine. I see that more of a professional issue than a work related matter as a public servant. Here, on My Thoughts and Stuff I’ve been careful not to engage in political commentary so I think in terms of blogging and podcasting I’m doing the right thing. When it comes to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram I will need to be more conscious of the things I write and post, but more importantly, I need to be more mindful when I like something or share or retweet or regram something.
If anyone who reads my blog posts or other social media activity, feels I’ve crossed a line, please tell me. I want to make sure I stay within the APSC guidance.

So, back to feeling blergh. I hope in the next week I pick up and feel better. I really don’t like blergh!

14 Replies to “Blergh”

  1. Hot chips and potato scallops look (the cliched) delicious. You have an interesting blog. Best 🙂

  2. Here’s hoping you feel better soon – that feeling where you’re not so sick you can’t function, but not so well that you can function well is never fun.

    1. Thanks, Sarah. I’m currently in Brisbane and not feeling 100% hasn’t been good, but hopefully, as this week moves on I’ll get back to feeling well again.

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