Year 2- Day 94 -Corona Virus Diaries
Jun. 18th, 2021 09:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatDidn't make it to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens after-all. Around 9 am, I checked the times - to see when it was open, and discovered that you had to get tickets ahead of time. Not only that - you had to purchase the tickets for a specific time and entrance, and you could enter fifteen minutes before or forty-five minutes after your timed entry point, but there were no refunds, just exchanges.
The price is about $18, which isn't bad. But I don't remember ever having to pay before. Also you have to pick an entry point - and I didn't know which one to pick. The logistics of this have become crazy.
It did explain how people were doing the Botanical Gardens during the pandemic. I'd wondered. Would have been nice if they'd included that information in their posts. Thank god, I checked the website for times - if I'd just wandered over by train, I'd have been disappointed. The Brooklyn Museum of Art is even more interesting - you get a mobile voucher to wait in a line for a ticket, outside the museum. (Also discovered via their web site.)
It amuses me considering that unsafe places such as restaurants, bars, gyms, sporting events are all opening up and lifting restrictions. Yankee Stadium is completely lifting restrictions. They strongly advise folks who haven't been vaccinated to wear a mask, but they aren't enforcing it any longer. I'm more likely to contract a virus from going to a Yankees game than from wandering about the Gardens, which only permits people with proof of vaccination to wander about outside without a mask, inside everyone must wear one.
So, instead, I wandered about the Lake at Prospect Park listening to a book on audible for about an hour and a half - or until my leg and stomach began to bug me, and I went home. Also I was sweating profusely. It was only 81 degrees, god knows what this summer will be like. At any rate, I was glad that I chose to just walk to the Park. Still considering getting up the courage to take a bike ride at some point. Maybe Monday, the Park is less crowded on weekdays now. The Cemetery is also less crowded now - that everyone can do whatever it was they were doing in NYC prior to the pandemic.
Full Bloom - the florist competition that I'd been watching on HBO Max, is not as good as the British reality shows, Great Pottery Throw Down and Great British Baking Show, possibly because it has a monetary award? Also HBO MAX has the worst interface on the planet (more on that later).
I think it's also the hosts, and how it's set up. I was doing fine up until the fifth episode, when I got really annoyed. I think the British shows are a touch more objective, and less "forced" sentimentality. It's kind of hard to care or believe tears, when there's a monetary award at the end. (We know you're all in it for the money, come on.) Also they do this team competition - which I could do without. The team competition bit worked up until the fifth episode, when the hosts pushed for the assistant to go home, over the team leader - when it was clearly the team leader's fault.
Even the team leader stated that the idea was his. But the hosts liked him better and sent her home. I was annoyed.
The next episode also grated on my nerves - the designs that I liked and were innovative, were blasted, while the designs that were boring and lacked oompf were rewarded. I wanted to tell the hosts - I hate to tell you this - but I'd not have bought those designs. Your taste sucks.
So, we'll see if I stick with it. I've yet to make it through a full season of an American Reality Show. I found American Reality Series grating.
Another problem - the HBO Max interface sucks. People on my flist are right about that. Getting to a new episode or the next episode in a television series is often close to impossible. I kept getting kicked back to episode 4 in Full Bloom. And when I was watching Friends, they kicked me out entirely and refused to let me watch future episodes or episodes out of order. Netflix is so much better in this regard. It's actually the best of the streaming to date, maybe because it's been at it the longest and figured out most of the kinks. That said, it even has serious glitches - often it will kick me out of a show or just crash completely.
I'm angry at my gynecologist and considering either getting a new one, or abandoning her completely.
Me: I'm having the hot flashes, the night sweats, and bouts of depression or crying jags. Can you help at all?
Gynecologist: As I already explained to you - I'm not comfortable prescribing any meds for you. Talk to your primary care. And for the bouts of depression - I suggest contacting a therapist.
Me: I figured out it was hormonal. I'm fine now. Nothing changed, except the hormones. It comes and goes. A therapist is useless with hormones.
I'm furious. Frigging medical profession. I've been trying to get help for my hormonal issues forever. They give me meds for everything but that. And the meds screw up the hormones. That's it. I'm going to see if I can get a referral to an endocrinologist.
And..
* The idiotic American branch of the Catholic Church voted to deny President Biden the Eucharist because he is pro-choice. While they did nothing to Trump, who is responsible for killing 600,000 people. This is one of the many reasons I despise the American branch of the Catholic Church - it's run by hypocritical misogynist losers.
* A COVID-19 outbreak that killed two IT staffers in Manatee County government and hospitalized three others has forced the shutdown of the county’s administrative building in downtown Bradenton.
At 2:30 p.m., the county announced on Facebook that it was immediately shutting down the building to the public and sending employees home. Epidemiologists with the Florida Department of Health of Manatee County are now working on contract tracing.
“It’s been devastating to staff and it’s been difficult for the organization,” County Administrator Scott Hopes said. “The SARS virus is still in our community and the vaccine protects people.”
On Monday, one of four IT staffers who had been hospitalized with COVID-19 died, according to Hopes. A fifth IT staffer who went to the doctor on Wednesday, died at home Thursday from COVID-19.
One staffer in the department who worked closely with the other five and didn’t contract the coronavirus was vaccinated. All five who contracted the virus had a sore throat as their initial primary complaint.
Source: https://www.bradenton.com/news/coronavirus/article252212853.html
* "The S&P 500 fell 1.3 percent, the fourth consecutive daily drop, bringing losses for the week to 1.9 percent — the worst showing in nearly four months. Wall Street’s focus has been on the Federal Reserve and the potential for it to increase interest rates or take other steps to cut back its emergency support for the economy."
* For those who hate to read, and need a cartoon to explain Juneteenth.
Juneteenth Explanation by way of Blackish or the Roots or School House Rock
or
OR
Why Do We Celebrate Juneteenth
* Republican-controlled state legislatures are seeking to thwart President Biden’s gun control proposals.
In Missouri, a new law threatens a $50,000 fine for police officers who enforce certain federal gun laws. While the bill would most likely have little immediate impact on enforcement, it does aim to guard against any future gun control legislation from Washington. At least eight other Republican-controlled state legislatures have taken similar steps, like in Texas, above.
In other G.O.P. news, Republicans in Arizona have attacked Katie Hobbs, the Democratic secretary of state, for opposing their efforts to overturn the presidential election. But it has appeared to backfire. Her star power in the state has risen rapidly, and she is now running for governor.
* Finally, 19 Lines that Turn Anguish into Art - or Analysis of Elizabeth Bishop's Poem, the Art of Losing isn't Hard to Master
The price is about $18, which isn't bad. But I don't remember ever having to pay before. Also you have to pick an entry point - and I didn't know which one to pick. The logistics of this have become crazy.
It did explain how people were doing the Botanical Gardens during the pandemic. I'd wondered. Would have been nice if they'd included that information in their posts. Thank god, I checked the website for times - if I'd just wandered over by train, I'd have been disappointed. The Brooklyn Museum of Art is even more interesting - you get a mobile voucher to wait in a line for a ticket, outside the museum. (Also discovered via their web site.)
It amuses me considering that unsafe places such as restaurants, bars, gyms, sporting events are all opening up and lifting restrictions. Yankee Stadium is completely lifting restrictions. They strongly advise folks who haven't been vaccinated to wear a mask, but they aren't enforcing it any longer. I'm more likely to contract a virus from going to a Yankees game than from wandering about the Gardens, which only permits people with proof of vaccination to wander about outside without a mask, inside everyone must wear one.
So, instead, I wandered about the Lake at Prospect Park listening to a book on audible for about an hour and a half - or until my leg and stomach began to bug me, and I went home. Also I was sweating profusely. It was only 81 degrees, god knows what this summer will be like. At any rate, I was glad that I chose to just walk to the Park. Still considering getting up the courage to take a bike ride at some point. Maybe Monday, the Park is less crowded on weekdays now. The Cemetery is also less crowded now - that everyone can do whatever it was they were doing in NYC prior to the pandemic.
Full Bloom - the florist competition that I'd been watching on HBO Max, is not as good as the British reality shows, Great Pottery Throw Down and Great British Baking Show, possibly because it has a monetary award? Also HBO MAX has the worst interface on the planet (more on that later).
I think it's also the hosts, and how it's set up. I was doing fine up until the fifth episode, when I got really annoyed. I think the British shows are a touch more objective, and less "forced" sentimentality. It's kind of hard to care or believe tears, when there's a monetary award at the end. (We know you're all in it for the money, come on.) Also they do this team competition - which I could do without. The team competition bit worked up until the fifth episode, when the hosts pushed for the assistant to go home, over the team leader - when it was clearly the team leader's fault.
Even the team leader stated that the idea was his. But the hosts liked him better and sent her home. I was annoyed.
The next episode also grated on my nerves - the designs that I liked and were innovative, were blasted, while the designs that were boring and lacked oompf were rewarded. I wanted to tell the hosts - I hate to tell you this - but I'd not have bought those designs. Your taste sucks.
So, we'll see if I stick with it. I've yet to make it through a full season of an American Reality Show. I found American Reality Series grating.
Another problem - the HBO Max interface sucks. People on my flist are right about that. Getting to a new episode or the next episode in a television series is often close to impossible. I kept getting kicked back to episode 4 in Full Bloom. And when I was watching Friends, they kicked me out entirely and refused to let me watch future episodes or episodes out of order. Netflix is so much better in this regard. It's actually the best of the streaming to date, maybe because it's been at it the longest and figured out most of the kinks. That said, it even has serious glitches - often it will kick me out of a show or just crash completely.
I'm angry at my gynecologist and considering either getting a new one, or abandoning her completely.
Me: I'm having the hot flashes, the night sweats, and bouts of depression or crying jags. Can you help at all?
Gynecologist: As I already explained to you - I'm not comfortable prescribing any meds for you. Talk to your primary care. And for the bouts of depression - I suggest contacting a therapist.
Me: I figured out it was hormonal. I'm fine now. Nothing changed, except the hormones. It comes and goes. A therapist is useless with hormones.
I'm furious. Frigging medical profession. I've been trying to get help for my hormonal issues forever. They give me meds for everything but that. And the meds screw up the hormones. That's it. I'm going to see if I can get a referral to an endocrinologist.
And..
* The idiotic American branch of the Catholic Church voted to deny President Biden the Eucharist because he is pro-choice. While they did nothing to Trump, who is responsible for killing 600,000 people. This is one of the many reasons I despise the American branch of the Catholic Church - it's run by hypocritical misogynist losers.
* A COVID-19 outbreak that killed two IT staffers in Manatee County government and hospitalized three others has forced the shutdown of the county’s administrative building in downtown Bradenton.
At 2:30 p.m., the county announced on Facebook that it was immediately shutting down the building to the public and sending employees home. Epidemiologists with the Florida Department of Health of Manatee County are now working on contract tracing.
“It’s been devastating to staff and it’s been difficult for the organization,” County Administrator Scott Hopes said. “The SARS virus is still in our community and the vaccine protects people.”
On Monday, one of four IT staffers who had been hospitalized with COVID-19 died, according to Hopes. A fifth IT staffer who went to the doctor on Wednesday, died at home Thursday from COVID-19.
One staffer in the department who worked closely with the other five and didn’t contract the coronavirus was vaccinated. All five who contracted the virus had a sore throat as their initial primary complaint.
Source: https://www.bradenton.com/news/coronavirus/article252212853.html
* "The S&P 500 fell 1.3 percent, the fourth consecutive daily drop, bringing losses for the week to 1.9 percent — the worst showing in nearly four months. Wall Street’s focus has been on the Federal Reserve and the potential for it to increase interest rates or take other steps to cut back its emergency support for the economy."
* For those who hate to read, and need a cartoon to explain Juneteenth.
Juneteenth Explanation by way of Blackish or the Roots or School House Rock
or
OR
Why Do We Celebrate Juneteenth
* Republican-controlled state legislatures are seeking to thwart President Biden’s gun control proposals.
In Missouri, a new law threatens a $50,000 fine for police officers who enforce certain federal gun laws. While the bill would most likely have little immediate impact on enforcement, it does aim to guard against any future gun control legislation from Washington. At least eight other Republican-controlled state legislatures have taken similar steps, like in Texas, above.
In other G.O.P. news, Republicans in Arizona have attacked Katie Hobbs, the Democratic secretary of state, for opposing their efforts to overturn the presidential election. But it has appeared to backfire. Her star power in the state has risen rapidly, and she is now running for governor.
* Finally, 19 Lines that Turn Anguish into Art - or Analysis of Elizabeth Bishop's Poem, the Art of Losing isn't Hard to Master
no subject
Date: 2021-06-19 04:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-20 04:30 pm (UTC)Of the services though - HBO has the most problems, not sure why - maybe because its the newest? (shrugs)
no subject
Date: 2021-06-19 10:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-20 04:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-21 12:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-19 01:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-20 04:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-06-19 06:01 pm (UTC)I also thought that was surprising about the gardens' visit setup given the alternatives, such as the ball games.
no subject
Date: 2021-06-20 04:25 pm (UTC)It's not that doctors don't care about their patients, so much that the quality of care is uneven. It depends on "how many patients" they see. If you can afford it - you can get a doctor who only sees a few and puts you as a priority or if you live in an area that has a better doctor - patient ratio.
The problem is most doctors only have 15-20 minutes to spend with you tops. Sometimes 30 if you are lucky.
I also thought that was surprising about the gardens' visit setup given the alternatives, such as the ball games.
It's strange. It's as if some places are going overboard, and others aren't doing enough? Or the places that were open during the pandemic and had restrictions in place, haven't bothered to change them.
Greenwood Cemetery for instance still has masks at all times rule (not that it is really enforced or anyone follows it really.) But Prospect Park has kind of let people do whatever. Although most people are wearing masks. Not everyone in the area has been vaccinated.
The uneven or inconsistencies are the problem and have, I think, been so from the start.