Since I couldn’t fend off this bloody flu virus by myself, I went out and got me some antibiotics. Big yellow pills – 20 of them. And I have to take them in 10 days.
Now, you might be wondering why I titled this stupid blog post with that stupid pun.
Well, I’m glad you asked.
See, back when I was a youngen, and I was first beginning to appreciate the appearance of lovely female robots, I used to watch the “Six Million Dollar Man” and “Bionic Woman” shows. Since the main characters, and a few other characters were “bionic” and not fully robotic, I found it a drag when a woman, for example Jaime Sommers, had some nice looking damage to her leg, which was shown as a tear in some skin-coloured latex which revealed some nice looking electronic circuitry. It was a drag because I knew that only her legs were bionic, along with some other parts, and that she was a human.
I was hoping with each new (syndicated) episode I watched that those incredible and “remarkable” fembots would reappear. I’ve seen people on the interwebs describe them as “nightmare inducing”, but I felt differently about them. I still think that the fembots that appeared on that kitschy 70s TV show were the sexiest representation of female androids ever made.
Can I get a faceoff?
Yeah, that’s what it’s about.
And I’m glad to see that there are plenty of inspired works based on that.
But to see some bionic damage and find out that it wasn’t attached to a fembot was a letdown for me. All those precious minutes spent watching what, let’s face it, is horrible TV (as if there’s any other kind). That’s why the faceoff is so powerful in revealing the character in question to be completely robotic. You can have bionic limbs, organs, and other parts, but you can’t have a bionic head. (Ghost in the Shell notwithstanding) If the head is electromechanical, so is the rest of that lovely lady.
So… I am Antibionic.
And Profembotic, Promechatronic, and Proelectromechanical. But You knew that already.
And now that I’m done talking about things I like, I’ll talk about things I don’t like.
Here’s the list of side effects for clarithromycin:
Most common side-effects are gastrointestinal: diarrhea, nausea, extreme irritability, abdominal pain and vomiting, facial swelling. Less common side-effects include headaches, dizziness/motion sickness, rashes, alteration in senses of smell and taste, including a metallic taste that lasts the entire time one takes it. Dry mouth, anxiety, hallucinations, and nightmares have also been reported. In more serious cases it has been known to cause jaundice, other liver disorders, and kidney problems including kidney failure. Uneven heartbeats, chest pain, and shortness of breath have also been reported while taking this drug.
Clarithromycin may cause false positives on urine drug screens for cocaine.
Adverse effects of clarithromycin in the central nervous system include dizziness, ototoxicity and headaches, but delirium and mania are also uncommon side effects.
When taken along with some statins, drugs used to reduce blood serum cholesterol levels, muscle pain may occur.
There is also the risk of oral candidiasis, due to the increased yeast production in the body from the antibiotics.
All I have is that metallic taste and fatigue, though the latter is probably due to the flu itself and the cough syrup I’m drinking. If I survive the antibiotics, I’ll continue to support Antibionics.
SCIENCE!!!