Did people got sick coming back from National?
 

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 .-(

Re: Did people got sick coming back from National?
 

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

Re: Did people got sick coming back from National?
 

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-

Re: Did people got sick coming back from National?
 

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?

Re: Did people got sick coming back from National?
 

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!

I have a theory
 

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.

Re: I have a theory
 

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.

Re: Did people got sick coming back from National?
 

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 .-(

Re: Did people got sick coming back from National?
 

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.

who the heck gave me the flu!?!?!?!?
 

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

Re: who the heck gave me the flu!?!?!?!?
 

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 :(

Re: Did people got sick coming back from National?
 

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!

My plane could have crashed...
 

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

Re: My plane could have crashed...
 

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 ;)

T330 had problems too from what I heard -- take greyhound ;)
 

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)