Day #6 ..of Year #2 of Pandemic
Mar. 23rd, 2021 06:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatAfter three-four days of crystal blue sky, clouds are finally beginning to roll in again. I did take a walk - when it was very sunny and had blue sky - at noon to pick up high blood pressure meds. They'd automatically refilled them for me on Wed, of last week, but I convinced them to hold the pills until Monday of this week. Only to realize at around 11 pm last night - that I'd forgotten all about it. So I raced off at 12 noon today to get them.
Wallgreens - the local pharmacy - is as you already know doing COVID Vaccines. There wasn't that many people there today. But, I'd heard they'd had issues. (All the pharmacies have had issues.) They at least have a small waiting area - with evenly space seats for about twelve people. Someone goes up to one window and registers, then they go sit and wait or stand and wait to be called. They get the vaccine and sit somewhere for a bit, and take off. It's not very well organized. I prefer the Mobile Health Units that have been set up by the Feds and the State - at those vaccination sites. Which are admittedly harder to get to or get an appointment at.
People are posting on the neighborhood page information on which site has appointments available. It kind of reminds me of the early days of testing - where people were hunting for places to get tested, that didn't have a long wait.
My sister in law is scheduled for Thursday, niece is slated to get it through her school, and my brother went through hell trying to get it through the State sites, and pharmacy ones. He got one for May, but decided to jump around the system to see if he could get one earlier - he's 50 turning 51 in April, with slight ashma. Mother thinks he managed to get one for this week or early next week.
My family is at the moment 65% of the way vaccinated. I have a lot of folks over 60 in my family. Moderna and Pfizer. Yay team Vaccine!
The Governor keeps coming on telling everyone how United New Yorkers have been. That we're more united than anywhere else. How we all came together and fought off the vaccine - and we'd been blind-sided by the various.
ME: I don't know if I agree with him on this. Feels like a lot of showmanship..
Mother: No, you're right not to. You weren't that United.
Me: No more than anywhere else.
Mother: You had the Hassidic Community which was insistent on doing its own thing, along with others.
ME: Quite true.
Our Governor reminds me a little bit of a liberal version of Trump at times.
***
Mother has been able to arrange more visits with Father, and the home health aid coordinator has also arranged for her to visit him in her transport wheelchair, and not in the walker - so she's not throwing her shoulders out and hurting herself, also not putting unnecessary weight on the healing hip.
They've also worked out grocery deliveries for her, and getting her to and from places. So good news. And her cousin was pleased that both my brother and I told her that she needed a second opinion. (She doesn't listen to me, everyone else has to say it as well.)
I told mother that I was a bit depressed today. I think the stupid vaccine jump-started my period again. The first dose seemed to do the same thing. I'd not had one for about two months, vaccine? Two days later, lasted five. I get the second vaccine? Period starts two days later - and with just 19 days in between. Very weird. Wonder if this just me or it is happened to anyone else? Impossible to know, of course.
I'm worrying about the fact that I don't drive and haven't driven since well the 1990s. I think I might have driven once or twice under massive prodding and duress by mother - when I visited them in Hilton Head. But it is very hard to drive in a foreign place with an unknow vehicle when you haven't driven for an entire year. (I don't visit them that often). Driving makes me anxious under non-stressful conditions, add any level of complexity to it? And forget about it.) Part of the reason, I'm worrying - outside of the parental and family situations (they don't live near public transportation - even brother is 30 minutes out), is the MTA is struggling. Although I can't imagine it going under - just being a bit dicey for a bit.
Also worrying about my parents. And upset that I can't help anyone. I had made the mistake of going on the KWTMA Community Site - to see if I could help in my immediate community. But alas I don't have any of these skills: knowledge of slack, community organizing, language capabilities, social work background, medical background, probable educational background...nor do I have a vehicle that can transport stuff, or the ability to help folks fill out forms or schedule vaccines. I had enough issues doing it for myself. I guess I could check-in on folks - but the mere thought of calling people I've never met on the phone felt anxiety inducing. I have enough problems calling folks that I do know.
I felt very guilty and kind of useless. This is what happens when I'm bored and frustrated at work and waiting on people to do their end of things.
I get myself into trouble searching out stuff - I shouldn't.
Mother: I wish you'd stop beating yourself up for not volunteering.
Me: I feel useless. I want to help people. But I can do nothing but watch.
Mother: You are helping people. You help people in your workplace. You've been helping talking to me, you've gotten the vaccine, you wear a mask, you are keeping yourself well, you are keeping those in your apartment complex well, you give to others..
Me: Well, I'd think you'd get tired of talking to me...
Mother: No, I enjoy it. I get bored and lonely too...
Work has admittedly been making me crazy. It either comes at me all at once, and usually at the end of the week, or not at all. I'm waiting for Breaking Bad to sign my Directive to Proceed, so they can start work by this weekend. But he's ignoring me and sending stupid routine information requests out instead. Annoyed by these requests, I keep responding to them even though none of them relate to me at all - I've nothing really to add. The last one, I provided the names and descriptions of all of the projects next to the contract.
Also, tried to distract myself with a conversation on Scalzi's Whatever post about JL but got nowhere. No one is a film geek on that board, including Scalzi. If he was a film geek - he'd have written a different review. No, he's just a proflific sci-fi writer.
Also, distracted self with a meme on FB - which you could play at too if you want..."teach kids the alphabet with rock bands...A is for ABBA...keep it going". So far they've not made it past R. It took a while for them to get past M. And people are struggling with X. My cousin - realized he should do the entire alphabet - after getting to N - so messenged me instead.
(Via FB, I've managed to connect with approximately 80% of my cousins - I have about 30. My father had 7 brothers and 3 sisters, four of the seven brothers had kids (one's a 70 something gay man, who never told anyone in the family but my mother and father, that he was gay, and one's a Catholic Priest). All 3 of the sisters had kids. 3 of the siblings had more than one child. 3 of the siblings had more than 2. One of the siblings had more than 3. My mother had two sisters, one had no kids, one had three. Plus mother has two living cousins who are close to her age, that had no children. Add to that, of the grandchildren, about 10 had kids themselves. Needless to say, I've no concerns about my family line surviving me.
Did I give everyone a headache? I know I gave me a headache.
New York vs. The Corona Virus
Well California to date is still the only state to have more people dead from this thing than NY, that is if you accept the COVID MAP OF DOOM's tallying of the numbers. I keep waiting for Texas and Florida to pass us by, and I'm not completely certain that I believe they haven't. Any more than I believe Russia, India, China and Africa haven't. But who knows?
1. COVID hospitalizations rose to 4,681. Of the 143,521 tests reported yesterday, 6,801, or 4.74 percent, were positive. The 7-day average percent positivity is 3.33 percent. There were 925 patients in ICU yesterday, up 40 from the previous day. Of them, 596 are intubated. Sadly, we lost 53 New Yorkers to the virus. - So apparently we rose from last week in cases, but went down in the death toll? Good news that. This is the lowest we've been in about six months. So yay team.
2. As of 11am this morning, 26.5 percent of New Yorkers have completed at least one vaccine dose. Over the past 24 hours, 137,814 total doses have been administered. To date, New York administered 7,875,044 total doses with 13.8 percent of New Yorkers completing their vaccine series. See data by region and county on the State's Vaccine Tracker: ny.gov/vaccinetracker.
Well, I'm part of the 13.8% and the 26.5 %. Not bad. We can do better.
3. Reminder: New Yorkers age 50 and up are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccines. New Yorkers can check their eligibility and schedule an appointment at ny.gov/GetVaccinated or by calling the NYS COVID-19 Vaccine Hotline at 1-833-NYS-4-VAX (1-833-697-4829). - I told my mother this over the phone - when she said my brother was trying to get in by lying about a pre-existing condition. He doesn't have to - he's elgible. He's 50, and will be 51 next month. Hello.
4. We are expanding testing capabilities to commercial landlords. The New York Forward COVID-Safe Offices partnership with commercial landlords will expand access to COVID-19 testing for employers statewide. As part of the initiative, 21 participating landlords have committed to provide space and facilitate access to testing services for tenants interested in conducting regular diagnostic testing of employees. Interesting. Does this mean test kits will be available in my building?
Apparently folks in upstate NY figured out they could make quilts out of face masks. (I don't know why not - face masks are mostly patterned cloth, with few exceptions. Only certain folks can afford the ones not made from patterned cloth - which wouldn't work well on a quilt.)
Memory quilts can be made of anything—even PPE. To honor the memory of the struggle New Yorkers endured throughout the pandemic, the Village of Mamaroneck Arts Council started a mask quilt project collecting decorated face masks from the community. The eight-foot by five-foot quilt showcases around 250 hand-painted masks designed by Mamaroneck residents as young as five and as old as 85 and is currently displayed at the Rye Neck High School Library in Westchester County.
The Governor is working his darndest to keep moral up in the State. Meanwhile We Work is trying to convince folks to go back to the office - they provide shared office space. And apparently the Mayor is pushing to bring City workers back to the office in May (meaning Crazy Agency may follow suite. My guess is May or June, I'll be back in the office. Assuming they get everyone vaccine.
There are mice living in my walls. Not a lot I can do about it. It's an old building. And I don't own it. I rent. I could move, I suppose. The jump between apartments. I saw two tonight, or maybe it was just one and he got across the room without me noticing? He's a little brown mouse. I don't mind them really.
I'd get a cat - but cats don't really solve mice issues. I've put mint tea bags about. Did steel wool - didn't work. The sound thingies? Gave me a headache. And mousetraps are messy. The exterminator isn't much help.
Oh well, could be worse. Could be spiders. And I'm terrified of those.
Wallgreens - the local pharmacy - is as you already know doing COVID Vaccines. There wasn't that many people there today. But, I'd heard they'd had issues. (All the pharmacies have had issues.) They at least have a small waiting area - with evenly space seats for about twelve people. Someone goes up to one window and registers, then they go sit and wait or stand and wait to be called. They get the vaccine and sit somewhere for a bit, and take off. It's not very well organized. I prefer the Mobile Health Units that have been set up by the Feds and the State - at those vaccination sites. Which are admittedly harder to get to or get an appointment at.
People are posting on the neighborhood page information on which site has appointments available. It kind of reminds me of the early days of testing - where people were hunting for places to get tested, that didn't have a long wait.
My sister in law is scheduled for Thursday, niece is slated to get it through her school, and my brother went through hell trying to get it through the State sites, and pharmacy ones. He got one for May, but decided to jump around the system to see if he could get one earlier - he's 50 turning 51 in April, with slight ashma. Mother thinks he managed to get one for this week or early next week.
My family is at the moment 65% of the way vaccinated. I have a lot of folks over 60 in my family. Moderna and Pfizer. Yay team Vaccine!
The Governor keeps coming on telling everyone how United New Yorkers have been. That we're more united than anywhere else. How we all came together and fought off the vaccine - and we'd been blind-sided by the various.
ME: I don't know if I agree with him on this. Feels like a lot of showmanship..
Mother: No, you're right not to. You weren't that United.
Me: No more than anywhere else.
Mother: You had the Hassidic Community which was insistent on doing its own thing, along with others.
ME: Quite true.
Our Governor reminds me a little bit of a liberal version of Trump at times.
***
Mother has been able to arrange more visits with Father, and the home health aid coordinator has also arranged for her to visit him in her transport wheelchair, and not in the walker - so she's not throwing her shoulders out and hurting herself, also not putting unnecessary weight on the healing hip.
They've also worked out grocery deliveries for her, and getting her to and from places. So good news. And her cousin was pleased that both my brother and I told her that she needed a second opinion. (She doesn't listen to me, everyone else has to say it as well.)
I told mother that I was a bit depressed today. I think the stupid vaccine jump-started my period again. The first dose seemed to do the same thing. I'd not had one for about two months, vaccine? Two days later, lasted five. I get the second vaccine? Period starts two days later - and with just 19 days in between. Very weird. Wonder if this just me or it is happened to anyone else? Impossible to know, of course.
I'm worrying about the fact that I don't drive and haven't driven since well the 1990s. I think I might have driven once or twice under massive prodding and duress by mother - when I visited them in Hilton Head. But it is very hard to drive in a foreign place with an unknow vehicle when you haven't driven for an entire year. (I don't visit them that often). Driving makes me anxious under non-stressful conditions, add any level of complexity to it? And forget about it.) Part of the reason, I'm worrying - outside of the parental and family situations (they don't live near public transportation - even brother is 30 minutes out), is the MTA is struggling. Although I can't imagine it going under - just being a bit dicey for a bit.
Also worrying about my parents. And upset that I can't help anyone. I had made the mistake of going on the KWTMA Community Site - to see if I could help in my immediate community. But alas I don't have any of these skills: knowledge of slack, community organizing, language capabilities, social work background, medical background, probable educational background...nor do I have a vehicle that can transport stuff, or the ability to help folks fill out forms or schedule vaccines. I had enough issues doing it for myself. I guess I could check-in on folks - but the mere thought of calling people I've never met on the phone felt anxiety inducing. I have enough problems calling folks that I do know.
I felt very guilty and kind of useless. This is what happens when I'm bored and frustrated at work and waiting on people to do their end of things.
I get myself into trouble searching out stuff - I shouldn't.
Mother: I wish you'd stop beating yourself up for not volunteering.
Me: I feel useless. I want to help people. But I can do nothing but watch.
Mother: You are helping people. You help people in your workplace. You've been helping talking to me, you've gotten the vaccine, you wear a mask, you are keeping yourself well, you are keeping those in your apartment complex well, you give to others..
Me: Well, I'd think you'd get tired of talking to me...
Mother: No, I enjoy it. I get bored and lonely too...
Work has admittedly been making me crazy. It either comes at me all at once, and usually at the end of the week, or not at all. I'm waiting for Breaking Bad to sign my Directive to Proceed, so they can start work by this weekend. But he's ignoring me and sending stupid routine information requests out instead. Annoyed by these requests, I keep responding to them even though none of them relate to me at all - I've nothing really to add. The last one, I provided the names and descriptions of all of the projects next to the contract.
Also, tried to distract myself with a conversation on Scalzi's Whatever post about JL but got nowhere. No one is a film geek on that board, including Scalzi. If he was a film geek - he'd have written a different review. No, he's just a proflific sci-fi writer.
Also, distracted self with a meme on FB - which you could play at too if you want..."teach kids the alphabet with rock bands...A is for ABBA...keep it going". So far they've not made it past R. It took a while for them to get past M. And people are struggling with X. My cousin - realized he should do the entire alphabet - after getting to N - so messenged me instead.
(Via FB, I've managed to connect with approximately 80% of my cousins - I have about 30. My father had 7 brothers and 3 sisters, four of the seven brothers had kids (one's a 70 something gay man, who never told anyone in the family but my mother and father, that he was gay, and one's a Catholic Priest). All 3 of the sisters had kids. 3 of the siblings had more than one child. 3 of the siblings had more than 2. One of the siblings had more than 3. My mother had two sisters, one had no kids, one had three. Plus mother has two living cousins who are close to her age, that had no children. Add to that, of the grandchildren, about 10 had kids themselves. Needless to say, I've no concerns about my family line surviving me.
Did I give everyone a headache? I know I gave me a headache.
New York vs. The Corona Virus
Well California to date is still the only state to have more people dead from this thing than NY, that is if you accept the COVID MAP OF DOOM's tallying of the numbers. I keep waiting for Texas and Florida to pass us by, and I'm not completely certain that I believe they haven't. Any more than I believe Russia, India, China and Africa haven't. But who knows?
1. COVID hospitalizations rose to 4,681. Of the 143,521 tests reported yesterday, 6,801, or 4.74 percent, were positive. The 7-day average percent positivity is 3.33 percent. There were 925 patients in ICU yesterday, up 40 from the previous day. Of them, 596 are intubated. Sadly, we lost 53 New Yorkers to the virus. - So apparently we rose from last week in cases, but went down in the death toll? Good news that. This is the lowest we've been in about six months. So yay team.
2. As of 11am this morning, 26.5 percent of New Yorkers have completed at least one vaccine dose. Over the past 24 hours, 137,814 total doses have been administered. To date, New York administered 7,875,044 total doses with 13.8 percent of New Yorkers completing their vaccine series. See data by region and county on the State's Vaccine Tracker: ny.gov/vaccinetracker.
Well, I'm part of the 13.8% and the 26.5 %. Not bad. We can do better.
3. Reminder: New Yorkers age 50 and up are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccines. New Yorkers can check their eligibility and schedule an appointment at ny.gov/GetVaccinated or by calling the NYS COVID-19 Vaccine Hotline at 1-833-NYS-4-VAX (1-833-697-4829). - I told my mother this over the phone - when she said my brother was trying to get in by lying about a pre-existing condition. He doesn't have to - he's elgible. He's 50, and will be 51 next month. Hello.
4. We are expanding testing capabilities to commercial landlords. The New York Forward COVID-Safe Offices partnership with commercial landlords will expand access to COVID-19 testing for employers statewide. As part of the initiative, 21 participating landlords have committed to provide space and facilitate access to testing services for tenants interested in conducting regular diagnostic testing of employees. Interesting. Does this mean test kits will be available in my building?
Apparently folks in upstate NY figured out they could make quilts out of face masks. (I don't know why not - face masks are mostly patterned cloth, with few exceptions. Only certain folks can afford the ones not made from patterned cloth - which wouldn't work well on a quilt.)
Memory quilts can be made of anything—even PPE. To honor the memory of the struggle New Yorkers endured throughout the pandemic, the Village of Mamaroneck Arts Council started a mask quilt project collecting decorated face masks from the community. The eight-foot by five-foot quilt showcases around 250 hand-painted masks designed by Mamaroneck residents as young as five and as old as 85 and is currently displayed at the Rye Neck High School Library in Westchester County.
The Governor is working his darndest to keep moral up in the State. Meanwhile We Work is trying to convince folks to go back to the office - they provide shared office space. And apparently the Mayor is pushing to bring City workers back to the office in May (meaning Crazy Agency may follow suite. My guess is May or June, I'll be back in the office. Assuming they get everyone vaccine.
There are mice living in my walls. Not a lot I can do about it. It's an old building. And I don't own it. I rent. I could move, I suppose. The jump between apartments. I saw two tonight, or maybe it was just one and he got across the room without me noticing? He's a little brown mouse. I don't mind them really.
I'd get a cat - but cats don't really solve mice issues. I've put mint tea bags about. Did steel wool - didn't work. The sound thingies? Gave me a headache. And mousetraps are messy. The exterminator isn't much help.
Oh well, could be worse. Could be spiders. And I'm terrified of those.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-24 12:43 pm (UTC)Everyone has issues with X, mainly because there's only maybe two bands that start with X - that aren't heavy metal. Ann1962 came up with the other one X. My cousin came up with XTC, but had to look it up.