Wacked Out on Goofballs

Published 17 years, 6 months past

Just so you know, assuming you care, the reset stylesheet is probably going to get a touch-up and possibly its own URL.  I made some edits here and there in the last couple of days, and almost without exception every single one was wrong.  Like, deeply technically wrong.  So I’ve stopped messing with it in hopes of not utterly ruining it.

I’m generally not one to pin my shortcomings on external factors, but in this case, I have to believe that the (over-the-counter) cold medication I’ve been taking has affected me far more than previously suspected.  I’ve been fighting an upper-respiratory soreness and cough for most of the week.  Cold meds don’t usually mess me up too much, but it would seem that taking it over an extended period has a cumulative effect.  The other night, I had a semi-feverish and disturbing dream about being afflicted with semi-feverish and disturbing dreams, and what’s creepier, the fact that I was marginally (but not fully) aware that I was dreaming the whole thing while within the dream within the dream seemed utterly normal at the time.

Also, I’m starting to get surges of light-headedness whenever I turn my head while in motion.  It’s kind of interesting.  Though not necessarily in a good way.  It also makes driving more challenging.  Scared yet?  Shouldn’t I be?

Anyway, the point being that I’m putting my thinking on hold until I get off the goofballs.  That means any further changes to the resets will have to wait, as will a mostly-completed post about form element weirdness.  The way I’m going right now, I’d probably start calling them “from elements” and then that would morph into “frum elements”, and it would make total sense to me that markup elements can be Orthodox.  And then I’d make ill-advised jokes about ways to put browsers into Sabbath mode, or something.

I probably shouldn’t even be writing this post.  If for no other reason than I’m committing a typographical error about once every three words, which ought to be a big red flag.  And it’s not like I keep up a regular blogging schedule anyway.  Still, it seems like the right thing to do.  Probably the best argument against it right now.

Nice weather we’re having, though.

Comments (21)

  1. Don’t drive under the influence – and this includes medication that affects your clear thinking, your orientation or your reactions.

  2. Meyer–

    What is or was your reasoning behind inclusion of the original {background:transparent} declaration? I am very much interested in knowing that when you are well, again.

    Cold, drugs, Nyquil, peyote, out-of-mind experiences whatever, you had a reason for it and that was based, at worst, upon accumulated instinct.

    I have been looking at variations: {background-image:transparent} and {background-color:transparent}, along with the original {background:transparent} declaration.

    I am not in anyway convinced that your original intent is and was without merit.

    I am seeing that :link{background:transparent} flattens some issues within Opera and Firefox in projection, screen and print media types, at least issues that I normally have encountered.

    The warm weather thing, well, that will soon warm up the waters of the Lakes and set off that damn hemorraghic fever virus. Point being there are much more important things than CSS .. health being one of them. The second being, don’t imitate any of the fresh water fish in the Lakes. Do whatever you need to get well.

    Thanks.

  3. I’ve had those kinds of dreams and that light headedness…without drugs even – seriously.

    The dreams are no fun actually – have you tried been aware that you’re dreaming and actually being able to wake yourself up ?

  4. Thank goodness, I thought background-image: transparent; looked weird.

  5. This is your Eric. This is your Eric on drugs. Any questions?

    ;-)

  6. To wit: the word you are looking for is: whacked…

    What color is the sky, where you are?

  7. @Paul : I was puzzled by the background-image: transparent too.

    The question is, is it the CSS that makes us ill, or an illness that makes us learn CSS?

    Get well soon Eric, The web needs you! (no-ones indispensible, but you know what I mean) :)

  8. Sebastien: yes, I know. Unfortunately, the symptoms came on while I was out driving. Since the medication I was using is one I’ve long used without any negative side effects and has no major “do not use while driving” warnings, there was no reason not to set out in the first place. And I haven’t driven since I got home. Though I now think the light-headedness was an effect of the actual illness, not the medication.

    Peter: just imagine your Eric on Darvocet. (It happened about a year after you left. Kat still giggles about it.)

    Dan: actually, I like “wacked” in this context, because my mental state was completely wack, yo. But yes, I’d ordinarily have used “whacked”. Besides, I can’t change it any more, since doing so would change the URL, and that would be wack. Or at least uncool. As for your question, the sky where I am moves between blue, gray, and black. Thanks for asking!

    As for the reasoning behind adding transparency, I was aiming to clear out any built-in backgrounds. What remains unclear to me at the moment is whether I was targeting images or colors. I think it was originally colors, but until the fog fully lifts, I don’t want to commit to either.

    Pete b: thanks!

  9. What you’re describing sounds to me very much like the experience of mid fall for me. Watch your sleep schedule, it’s easy to mess it up when your perception is off.

    Hope you feel better soon!

  10. The other night, I had a semi-feverish and disturbing dream about being afflicted with semi-feverish and disturbing dreams, and what”s creepier, the fact that I was marginally (but not fully) aware that I was dreaming the whole thing while within the dream within the dream seemed utterly normal at the time.

    One browsers too many will do that to you.
    Ok, we all know which browser will do that to you, right ?

    Take care, Mr.Meyer :)
    F.O.R.

  11. Dude, stay off all those medications. If anything all they do is hinder your ability to get well faster. A fever is the bodies way to kill off a bug, so stopping it just lengthens the sickness.

    Obviously, comfort is important, so I only take cough medicine (non-drowsy) if I absolutely have to at night so I can sleep.

    Instead, I do what my nutritionist told me, which is take 1000mg of C an hour. AN HOUR. With this advice I have broken fevers w/in 24 hours, and gotten over colds in as little as 2 days.

    Remember the SARS epidemic in China? Turns out, good ‘ol vitamin C was all that was needed to handle it. So it does work.

    Before this advice I could be sick for weeks.

    Godspeed!

  12. Actually, I wasn’t taking a fever-suppressant. It was a cough suppressant mixed with antihistamines, which are supposed to act as a soporific, but don’t in my case. I’m well used to fevers; a half-degree elevation is my body’s way of signaling that I was in the same room as an infectious germ or bacterium. Anything up to 104F/40C is unworthy of concern. Only if my temp exceeds 105F/40.5C do I think about seeing a doctor.

    I use the exact same vitamin C regimen when I have a cold, and I tried it this time. Unfortunately, it did nothing but give me intense intestinal discomfort (he said euphemistically). This is because I’ve come to realize that there was no cold involved. Instead, I was experiencing a combination of a sinus/ear infection and spring allergies. Individually, I’d have recognized either one immediately, but having them attack in concert confused me. I started taking antibiotics for an unrelated reason in the middle of it all, and the infection symptoms (including the light-headedness) immediately started to recede, leaving the allergy symptoms. And that’s when I figured it all out.

    Oh, for fun…

  13. I’ve had those dreams within dreams (without drugs) – it does get creepy, especially when you wake up and wonder if you are really awake or if it is just another dream.

    As for the light-headedness, I’ve had that when my sinuses get congested. If I remember correctly, there’s something up in that area that helps provide a sense of balance for the body. If it gets congested up there, it affects it’s ability to provide that sense of balance.

  14. Great viewpoint Eric.

  15. Eric,

    Have a well earned rest.

    I look forward to more reset when you are all better – that feeling dizzy thing is, perhaps, a spring-is-here allergy thing? I and two others I know have had the same thing.

    A rest micro-site would be cool and not a waste I think.

    -Alan

  16. Meyer–

    I know you have the forms control CSS underway and am looking forward to that.

    I am wondering if it is practical, feasible, worthwhile or even possible to tackle some of the page zoom display issues within IE7 with some sort of CSS reset and to accomplish it without interfering negatively with IE’s hasLayout property?

    Hope your health is improving.

    Thanks.

  17. Time for Ephedra.

  18. Eric ;)

    hope you’re feeling better by now – and if not – it’s your body telling you you need some proper rest ;) I think you should concentrate on getting well – then take some extra time off to spend with your girls which will surely recharge your batteries :)
    all the best ;)

  19. Join the club. I have a cancer-suppressant hormone jab every three months and, although it does not make me woozy, it does produce severe stiffness in the joints after sitting for any length of time, plus extreme hot flushes that seem always to occur just before a client raises a tricky problem. That is in addition to coping now with the extreme heat and humidity of a Hong Kong spring and approaching summer.

    The practical effect is also to result in numerous typos and failure to notice obvious mistakes at first sight. You learn to live with it, but it’s comforting to know one is not alone in the symptoms though the cause is different!

    Looking forward very much to your latest update once you re-establish your equilibrium.

  20. Eric –

    Hope ya feel better soon. In the meantime, you could put together some background graphics for the new URL and page you’ll post for this stuff.

    I suggest a little tye-dye, some big pastel flowers, a Hendrix watermark, etc. This would be the perfect time for it.

    On a more serious note, watch that “turn the head and get dizzy” stuff. That’s sometimes an indication of blood pressure difficulties, man.

  21. Hilarious post. Hope you feel better soon!

    Troy