Did people got sick coming back from National?

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Posted by Ken Leung at 04/11/2001 2:09 PM EST


Student on team #192, Gunn Robotics Team, from Henry M. Gunn Senior High School.



I am just wondering, because a lot of my team got sick on the way back to California...

-Ken Leung, who went crazy celebrating for 2 minutes 31 seconds at 6am in the morning finding his multivariable-Calculus midterm got pushed till Thursday, but got really sad because he can¡¦t stop coughing every minute, had a painful headache for a couple of day, can barely walk around because he walk too much around the pit, can¡¦t speak because he cheered too much and talked to too much people, and can only see through one eye for couple of days because of eye-infection¡K .-(

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Posted by Pamela at 04/11/2001 4:10 PM EST


Student on team #166, Techno Insanity, from Merrimack High School and Texas Instruments.


In Reply to: Did people got sick coming back from National?
Posted by Ken Leung on 04/11/2001 2:09 PM EST:



Most team members I know stayed home on Monday b/c they were so sick! Then there were the ones like me who suffered through school all day with no voice, a sore throat, cough. But those things only kicked in passing in the hallways b/c once I got into my classes I was asleep on a desk :)! It's all worth it though! I love FIRST!!!!
Pamela 166

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Posted by Patrick Canale at 04/11/2001 4:31 PM EST


Student on team #250, Dynamos- Capital District Robotics Team, from Shenendehowa High School and General Electric and Verizon.


In Reply to: Did people got sick coming back from National?
Posted by Ken Leung on 04/11/2001 2:09 PM EST:



As a matter of fact i became sick on friday at nats and i still am! I had to suffer on the plane ride home because of my sinus problems and the cabin pressure.
Congratulations to everybody at nationals. Excellent job!

-Patrick-

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Posted by Eric Tarnowski at 04/11/2001 5:20 PM EST


Student on team #535, G-Force, from Huntington North High School and United Technologies Electronic Controls.


In Reply to: Did people got sick coming back from National?
Posted by Ken Leung on 04/11/2001 2:09 PM EST:



A lot of people on our team got sick too, and some still are. Isn't that odd. Do I smell a conspiracy?

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Posted by Adrienne at 04/11/2001 5:42 PM EST


Student on team #191, X-Cats, from Wilson and Xerox.


In Reply to: Did people got sick coming back from National?
Posted by Ken Leung on 04/11/2001 2:09 PM EST:



Alot of our team came back with some cold cough thing too!

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Posted by Michael Martus at 04/11/2001 6:04 PM EST


Coach on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central H.S. and Delphi Automotives Systems.


In Reply to: Did people got sick coming back from National?
Posted by Ken Leung on 04/11/2001 2:09 PM EST:



This very idea was discussed with my doctor as he prescribed more medication. The answer is: Air Travel.

Here you are all crammed into a little space with the air recirculating over your face. To make matters worse we all adjust the vents to blow on our face. A passenger in row 2A - First class ( I will never see ) coughs and sneezes and wham the germs are spread to all passengers. Then the exposed passengers get ( some of them ) on another flight and spread the germs to another section of the country.

Strange idea? NO! My doctor said illness ( colds, sinus infections ) are spread by the air systems and if your system is weak..... And you know after 3 days of stress, yelling, cheering and in general going crazy with little sleep we are in a weakened condition.

The answer is ...... be as healthy as possible when we start and hope not to crash and burn before the season is over.

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Posted by Patrick Dingle at 04/11/2001 10:46 PM EST


Coach on team #639, Red B^2, from Ithaca High School and Cornell University.


In Reply to: I have a theory
Posted by Michael Martus on 04/11/2001 6:04 PM EST:



I spent 30 hours on a bus each way, and I did not get sick.... Maybe it is something to do with air circulation in airplanes...

Patrick

: This very idea was discussed with my doctor as he prescribed more medication. The answer is: Air Travel.

: Here you are all crammed into a little space with the air recirculating over your face. To make matters worse we all adjust the vents to blow on our face. A passenger in row 2A - First class ( I will never see ) coughs and sneezes and wham the germs are spread to all passengers. Then the exposed passengers get ( some of them ) on another flight and spread the germs to another section of the country.

: Strange idea? NO! My doctor said illness ( colds, sinus infections ) are spread by the air systems and if your system is weak..... And you know after 3 days of stress, yelling, cheering and in general going crazy with little sleep we are in a weakened condition.

: The answer is ...... be as healthy as possible when we start and hope not to crash and burn before the season is over.

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Posted by Billy Mallard at 04/11/2001 8:16 PM EST


Student on team #254, the Cheesy Poofs, from Bellarmine College Prep and NASA.


In Reply to: Did people got sick coming back from National?
Posted by Ken Leung on 04/11/2001 2:09 PM EST:



Man, and i thought my laryngitis was bad. It developed the day after we arrived, so i couldn't talk to anyone without getting weird looks. I sounded like that lady from the smoking commercials ... you know, the one who smokes through her neck? When i called home, my little sister hung up on me 4 times because she thought it was a prank and didn't believe it was really me.

Though nobody else on the team got it (until later in the week from me), i suspect that it was plane-related.

--> Billy


: -Ken Leung, who went crazy celebrating for 2 minutes 31 seconds at 6am in the morning finding his multivariable-Calculus midterm got pushed till Thursday, but got really sad because he can¡¦t stop coughing every minute, had a painful headache for a couple of day, can barely walk around because he walk too much around the pit, can¡¦t speak because he cheered too much and talked to too much people, and can only see through one eye for couple of days because of eye-infection¡K .-(

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Posted by Angela "Fish" Hall at 04/12/2001 3:01 PM EST


Student on team #180, SPAM Robotics, from Martin County High School and UTC/Pratt&Whitney .


In Reply to: Re: Did people got sick coming back from National?
Posted by Billy Mallard on 04/11/2001 8:16 PM EST:



I also couldn't talk on the first or second day of nats and I didn't even fly. At least I didn't annoy as many people as I usually do..

: Man, and i thought my laryngitis was bad. It developed the day after we arrived, so i couldn't talk to anyone without getting weird looks. I sounded like that lady from the smoking commercials ... you know, the one who smokes through her neck? When i called home, my little sister hung up on me 4 times because she thought it was a prank and didn't believe it was really me.

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Posted by Anton Abaya at 04/11/2001 11:55 PM EST


Coach on team #419, Rambots, from UMass Boston / BC High and If only we had free donuts....


In Reply to: Did people got sick coming back from National?
Posted by Ken Leung on 04/11/2001 2:09 PM EST:



Seriously... cough, fever, cold, phlemn...the works!

i hugged too many people to even remember....

wait, maybe i did it? i was probably the carrier ?

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

-anton

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Posted by Stephen Riley at 04/12/2001 10:43 PM EST


Engineer on team #419, RAMBOTS, from Wentworth Institute of Technology and sponsors? what are they?.


In Reply to: who the heck gave me the flu!?!?!?!?
Posted by Anton Abaya on 04/11/2001 11:55 PM EST:



i think it was Igor that did it, i got it too :(

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Posted by Ashley at 04/12/2001 6:46 AM EST


Student on team #240, Mach-Vee, from Jefferson High School and Monroe Visteon.


In Reply to: Did people got sick coming back from National?
Posted by Ken Leung on 04/11/2001 2:09 PM EST:



Team 240 was sick during and after nats. It sucks; a few of us will be leaving next week for a band trip to Hawaii and we all hope it won't continue then!

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Posted by Erin at 04/12/2001 6:56 AM EST


Other on team #65, Huskie Brigade, from Pontiac Northern High School and GM Powertrain.


In Reply to: Did people got sick coming back from National?
Posted by Ken Leung on 04/11/2001 2:09 PM EST:



We encountered a delay at MCO on our way home, a part was broken on our plane and it took them a long time to find the part and fix it..and then we flew home on what was once a broken plane (if we flew it in the condition it was in, the electrical wiring for the cockpit could have shorted, I was too scared to really even listen)
Lets just say, I had blisters on my hands after we got home. I think I prayed for 96% of my flight.
Lots of turbulence too, a thunderstorm...but an unusually good landing.

Erin

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Posted by Matt Leese at 04/12/2001 8:42 AM EST


Other on team #73, Tigerbolt, from Edison Technical HS and Alstom & Fiber Technologies & RIT.


In Reply to: My plane could have crashed...
Posted by Erin on 04/12/2001 6:56 AM EST:



Usually if there's a mechanical or electrical problem with a plane and they know about it before take off, they fix it. And they fix it good. Because if they don't and there was a plane crash it would open up the airline to all kinds of liability because they knew about the problem and did not fix it. So if they tell you about a problem and that they fixed it, it's fixed. So don't worry so much. :) Then again I remembered that some of the FIRST teams have engineers that design airplanes....

Matt who remembers some of the catastrophic failure of robots and decides not to fly again ;)

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Posted by Lora Knepper at 04/12/2001 11:37 PM EST


Other on team #177, Bobcat Robotics - Adoptee, from South Windsor High School and International Fuel Cells.


In Reply to: My plane could have crashed...
Posted by Erin on 04/12/2001 6:56 AM EST:



Hrm....I heard team 330 had major issues with their plane as well going back to Cali. Bad year to fly to Nats I think -- ;o) but Patrick and I were safe on our Greyhound bus for 1400 miles! ;o)

~ lora (who didn't think the bus ride to Nats was all that bad and completely worth the effort)

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Posted by ChrisH at 04/13/2001 10:08 PM EST


Engineer on team #330, Beach 'Bots, from Hope Chapel Academy and NASA JPL, J & F Machine, Raytheon, et al.


In Reply to: T330 had problems too from what I heard -- take greyhound ;)
Posted by Lora Knepper on 04/12/2001 11:37 PM EST:



: Hrm....I heard team 330 had major issues with their plane as well going back to Cali. Bad year to fly to Nats I think -- ;o) but Patrick and I were safe on our Greyhound bus for 1400 miles! ;o)

: ~ lora (who didn't think the bus ride to Nats was all that bad and completely worth the effort)

You heard right, but the person you probably heard it from was on a different flight ;^) The Muses (362) and I think the RoboDox (?) were all supposed to be on the same plane. What a disaster that could have been.

But we still got back before you did!

Chris

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Posted by Chris Hardman at 04/13/2001 2:50 AM EST


Student on team #111, WILDSTANG, from Rolling Meadows and Wheeling High schools and motorola.


In Reply to: My plane could have crashed...
Posted by Erin on 04/12/2001 6:56 AM EST:



according to the pilot, there was a gash in one of the tires, so they replaced both of the front. A total of 9 guys were there while 2 people worked for 40 minutes.

chris


: We encountered a delay at MCO on our way home, a part was broken on our plane and it took them a long time to find the part and fix it..and then we flew home on what was once a broken plane (if we flew it in the condition it was in, the electrical wiring for the cockpit could have shorted, I was too scared to really even listen)
: Lets just say, I had blisters on my hands after we got home. I think I prayed for 96% of my flight.
: Lots of turbulence too, a thunderstorm...but an unusually good landing.

: Erin

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Posted by Scott England at 04/12/2001 8:50 PM EST


Student on team #401, The Hokie G.U.A.R.D, from Virginia Tech/MCPS and Virginia Tech/VBEP.


In Reply to: Did people got sick coming back from National?
Posted by Ken Leung on 04/11/2001 2:09 PM EST:



Many people on team 401 are now showing strepthroat-like symptoms, including myself, which sucks when I have a computational methods test in the morning. But I guess you can expect stuff like that when you cram 15000 people into tight quarters. A few people were probably walking around rather sick, coughing sneezing and shaking hands. Ah well
Scott