Y2/D275...TGIF
Dec. 17th, 2021 09:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatOne more day until I fly down to see my Momma, and my father.
She's feeling better, so head cold. She cancelled her dinner plans for Saturday and didn't see my Dad today, because head cold.
The head cold is going around. In the era of COVID, everyone is afraid its COVID.
Sigh, I want to smack Wales.
Dec 6
Wales: Hey, you want to meet to have dinner out next week?
ME: IDK - I'm leaving for Hilton Head soon, and want to play it safe. Avoid taking risks. I know that sounds silly.
Dec 7
Wales: When is your departure date?
Dec 8
Me: 12/19
Wales: That gives a little time. I'd really like to see you before you go.
Dec 9
Me: Can we get together when I get back instead? I had a scare this past week - but just allergies. I've not seen my parents in 2 years, and I am social distancing as much as I can prior.
ME: Can you send your address? So I can send you a card?
Dec 16
Me: Well this whole flying down for Xmas thing is stressful. Took test. Negative. Next one Saturday.
Wales: But you're 3x vaccinated. Why do you need a test? You can get a rapid one when you land? I flew. My family members are all fine from my understanding. I didn't get tested.
Me: Because of Omicron. My niece gets tested daily for school.
Wales: That's crazy in my humble opinion.
Me: NY's positivity rate is 7.8% now. It jumped in the last 3 days. My coworkers were suggesting to be safe, I get tested downstairs with PCR before I leave. My niece was sent home two weeks early from the UK. Several Bway shows cancelled due to outbreaks. Restaurants closed. University are on remote. The Mayor is distributing 1 million Kn95 masks, home tests. Various companies pushed back their office start dates.
Wales: I realize that. Wait, you're leaving Sunday?
ME: Yes at 4:30 am to airport on 12/19. Hoping all goes well. Hence the worry over tests. Eh clarification? No test needed to fly domestic. Finally got straight answer from Jetblue yesterday. Took over counter rapid to be safe for parents. Mother did the same. She has a cold.
Wales: No wonder you're stressed. Which airport?
ME: JFK. Send positive thoughts.
Wales: Jeese Louise (she actually typed that - I am not kidding) Why so early? Um. No you just need your vax creds and the usual. That's it. And wear the mask.
Actually you don't even need the vax creds. (I have them anyhow on my phone, twice.)
ME: 7:30 am departure. Takes anywhere between 35 minutes to an hour to get there. Security could be dicey. Boarding at 6:55 am.
Wales: Were the tickets that expensive? Why 4:30 am?
Me: See above. (Gave price). I want to ensure no problems.
Sigh. It's worth noting that Wales missed a flight once because she arrived at the gate after the plane boarded. She likes to cut things very close, and is perpetually late. I refuse to travel with her. I did it once - but with the caveat that went separately, and I wasn't responsible for her in any way. I booked the BnB though. She booked her tickets the week before she was to leave, and packed the morning before her cab arrived. Just threw stuff in a bag.
I remember her calling me in a blind panic, and I called a travel agent friend to help her out. Said friend called me back and told me that Wales was crazy. That she'd overslept, barely caught her cab, and arrived at the airport late, and insisted it was their fault.
I am weirdly not stressed at the moment, which makes me realize a lot of this could be attributed to work stress. My workplace is somewhat chaotic.
But I got everything I needed to get done, done. Everything that isn't completed can be done in January. (I'm going to be very busy in January, I'm half-way hoping we go remote again. But if we do, I may have to get Optimum to upgrade the wi-fi.)
Also, I don't have to pack until tomorrow. (I learned never to pack until the day before a trip. Otherwise I will stress about it constantly, and keep packing and repacking. I also finally realized the trick to packing is to accept that no matter what I pack it will be the wrong things. Because, honestly, it's a guessing game. And it's not like I can bring my entire closet with me. Although David Bowie apparently did, he also had a private plane.) Packing always stresses me out, because it's a guessing game, and I'm terrified I'll forget something crucial.
Talked to cubicle aisle mate today about it. She said she's learned to fill her head with positive thoughts. And not to stress over what she can't control. Push the rest away.
***
COVID has risen in the city. And to the surprise of absolutely no one, Omicron is now virulent across the state. In three days the infection rate in Brooklyn jumped from 3% to 6.7% and the total rate in the state to 7.8%, first such jump since July. It's the unvaccinated that everyone is concerned about.
They do not want to do another lockdown. I don't know, I kind of do want another one. But that's my anxiety talking. It likes lock downs. It can huddle in my apartment and not have to deal with that many people.
Broadway has cancelled various shows due to cast members contracting the virus. (They are fully vaccinated). Cornell in Ithaca, NY has gone remote again due to an outbreak - all 900 of its students were vaccinated. Restaurants have closed due to staff calling in sick with the virus. Crazy workplace has upped its testing protocols, and now has drop in boxes for the saliva test. There's a box you pick up in, and a box you drop it off in, and they have staffed testing at various locations. It's also indicated various rules regarding what you do if you get COVID. I printed them off just in case.
On the Train ride home today, there was a bunch of idiots not wearing masks, young adults mostly at the front end of the car. Those of us with masks, retreated to the back end and got off there. I went to the front, saw a guy with his bike, someone with a scooter, and two other folks, with no real mask on outside of a bandana, and retreated quickly to the back of the car. Usually more folks are wearing masks. I wear a KN94. It's disposable and I have a new one each day. Also have KN95's. And the cloth and surgical masks. Hard and soft. (Basically I have a collection of masks in my closet.) I wear them everywhere I go, outside or inside. I live in a city. I wear them all day at work except in my own cubicle - because of the mask mandate and its not safe.
Work is getting slightly better - in that I get along with BYT better than expected and much better than I did with Boss. Also about the same as Jay.
I understand how she thinks. And she's not Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde, thank god.
***
Mother informed me that she felt no anxiety driving to the airport to pick me up on Sunday, which is good, since I'll probably have enough for both of us. I'm considering re-thinking this whole visiting at Xmas deal. It's incredibly stressful. I'm not uncertain that any other time of year would be far less stressful.
***
COVID
The basics haven’t changed. Even in this murky in-between moment where there’s a lot of unknowns about Omicron, the old rules to lower your risk still apply: Reduce your contact with other people, especially in crowded indoor settings; wear a mask, and upgrade it; use home tests before gathering; and get vaccinated, with a booster if possible.
What has changed is that Omicron is better at sidestepping some of the protection that vaccines give us, said my colleague Tara Parker-Pope, the founding editor of Well. Early evidence from South Africa has raised hopes that Omicron may be milder than Delta, but it’s still far too early to make broad conclusions. “Omicron is going to be disruptive for at least the next month or two, but we’re not experiencing a repeat of 2020,” Tara said.
“When we’re in a surge like this, I think we need to think about priorities a little more,” she added. “Maybe I’m going to skip the movie and dining at a restaurant, so it’s safer to spend time with friends on the weekend or visit my parents.”
Yeah, I've done all of this. I'm using a home test before traveling. I am wearing masks. I am social distancing. Staying out of crowded settings as much as I can. Sunday, I'll be going into one. But then I'm with mother, and we can most likely limit it.
There's information on masks in the NY Times. I have KN95 and KF94's made in Korea. The KF94's are the best - mainly because you can speak through them, breath, they have no gaps, and 95% filtration. I wear them at work. I adopted the buggers over the summer. Moved gradually from the cloth to the surgical, to the KN95 to KF94. Double masking isn't going to work - I won't be able to breath.
The N95's are hard to find. But available. Also not as comfortable.
While Omicron seems able to thwart some amount of immunity, boosters seem to do a good job of preventing infection. Even if you get sick with a breakthrough infection, scientists believe the vaccines still provide solid protection against severe illness and death.
That said, everyone should assume they are less protected now than they were before Thanksgiving.
Ed Yong at The Atlantic put it this way: “As a crude shorthand, assume that Omicron negates one previous immunizing event — either an infection or a vaccine dose. Someone who considered themselves fully vaccinated in September would be just partially vaccinated now (and the official definition may change imminently). But someone who’s been boosted has the same ballpark level of protection against Omicron infection as a vaccinated-but-unboosted person did against Delta.”
(Yong recently canceled his birthday party and explained the risk analysis behind his decision.)
Should I change my plans for holiday gatherings?
There isn’t a simple answer to this question, Tara said: “That said, I can still give you one simple tip that can help you figure it out: Plan your event around the most vulnerable person in the room.”
Think about the things you would need to do to protect an older grandparent, for example, and that will give you an idea of whether the event should go forward with extra precautions, be scaled back or canceled.
You can lower your risk by asking that everyone get a booster, if eligible, and take a rapid test a few hours before the event. Focus on ventilation, and ask everyone to scale back their social activities before the event.
“If you’re celebrating Christmas Eve, get tested on Wednesday and then take a home rapid test on Christmas Eve, right before the party. One doctor I know takes his rapid test in the driveway before he enters his parents house,” Tara said. “I think family gatherings, especially now as we head into our third year of pandemic life, are really important. If everyone is willing to do what’s needed to protect the most vulnerable, you can lower risk and gather more safely.”
Yeah, that's why I'm took the home rapid tests. Also, I've got the booster - got it in October. And got the Flu shot in November.
There's two mobile outdoor testing sites in my neighborhood, next to the subway, one outside Atlantic Terminal, an urgent care testing site, Wallgreens apparently does it, and so does my work place. Rapid Home Tests come in and out of Wallgreens. They came in on Wednesday and were sold out before Friday. They can't keep them on the shelves. I bought two boxes. One for before I go down, and one for when I return. Mother bought two boxes too.
If you get sick, the guidance is the same for Omicron as it is for other variants. If you’re vaccinated, the C.D.C. says you should isolate for 10 days and rest. If you live with other people, you should stay in a specific “sick room” or area, and use a separate bathroom, if available. Wear a mask and don’t share dishes.
The 10-day isolation period begins the first full day after your symptoms develop. If you test positive, but don’t have symptoms, the 10-day clock starts the day after you test positive. If you develop symptoms later, reset the clock. At any point if you have an emergency warning sign, like breathing trouble, go to the hospital.
I’m traveling for the holidays. What if I test positive away from home?
The responsible thing to do is to isolate for 10 days, but whether you’ll be forced to do so depends on where you’re traveling.
In the U.S., it’s mostly up to the individual to decide how to proceed. States, airlines, airports or most other forms of transportation do not require a negative coronavirus test from domestic travelers, with a few exceptions. Dr. Emily Volk, the president of the College of American Pathologists, says isolating after a positive test is “the morally and ethically correct thing to do.”
If you test positive while traveling internationally, the rules will depend on where you are. Some places won’t let you board a plane, while other places might require you to stay in a government hospital for more than 10 days. If you’re traveling abroad, here’s some advice: Learn the local rules and pack as if you’re going to get stuck.
Sigh. Traveling by plane is going to be fun. But the truth is - I've been commuting in and out of the Air Train Building - a major transportation hub off and on since July. Taking trains, and subways with folks who may be sick and not gotten tested.
I've not gotten sick outside of an allergy attack that lasted just one day.
Elsewhere:
* France plans to tighten restrictions on the unvaccinated.
* Britain recorded more than 93,000 daily infections, a new high.
* For the staff at one inundated Michigan hospital, “you come back to work and you ask who died.”
* Boeing joined other federal contractors in dropping its vaccine mandate.
* An Italian province has relied on pure air and herbal remedies. But nature isn’t protecting it from the coronavirus.
* Three Iranians tried to sue the country’s supreme leader over Covid but were jailed before they could file the complaint.
* The N.F.L. rescheduled three games amid an outbreak of “a new, highly transmissible form of the virus.”
***
Random Photo of the Evening...
She's feeling better, so head cold. She cancelled her dinner plans for Saturday and didn't see my Dad today, because head cold.
The head cold is going around. In the era of COVID, everyone is afraid its COVID.
Sigh, I want to smack Wales.
Dec 6
Wales: Hey, you want to meet to have dinner out next week?
ME: IDK - I'm leaving for Hilton Head soon, and want to play it safe. Avoid taking risks. I know that sounds silly.
Dec 7
Wales: When is your departure date?
Dec 8
Me: 12/19
Wales: That gives a little time. I'd really like to see you before you go.
Dec 9
Me: Can we get together when I get back instead? I had a scare this past week - but just allergies. I've not seen my parents in 2 years, and I am social distancing as much as I can prior.
ME: Can you send your address? So I can send you a card?
Dec 16
Me: Well this whole flying down for Xmas thing is stressful. Took test. Negative. Next one Saturday.
Wales: But you're 3x vaccinated. Why do you need a test? You can get a rapid one when you land? I flew. My family members are all fine from my understanding. I didn't get tested.
Me: Because of Omicron. My niece gets tested daily for school.
Wales: That's crazy in my humble opinion.
Me: NY's positivity rate is 7.8% now. It jumped in the last 3 days. My coworkers were suggesting to be safe, I get tested downstairs with PCR before I leave. My niece was sent home two weeks early from the UK. Several Bway shows cancelled due to outbreaks. Restaurants closed. University are on remote. The Mayor is distributing 1 million Kn95 masks, home tests. Various companies pushed back their office start dates.
Wales: I realize that. Wait, you're leaving Sunday?
ME: Yes at 4:30 am to airport on 12/19. Hoping all goes well. Hence the worry over tests. Eh clarification? No test needed to fly domestic. Finally got straight answer from Jetblue yesterday. Took over counter rapid to be safe for parents. Mother did the same. She has a cold.
Wales: No wonder you're stressed. Which airport?
ME: JFK. Send positive thoughts.
Wales: Jeese Louise (she actually typed that - I am not kidding) Why so early? Um. No you just need your vax creds and the usual. That's it. And wear the mask.
Actually you don't even need the vax creds. (I have them anyhow on my phone, twice.)
ME: 7:30 am departure. Takes anywhere between 35 minutes to an hour to get there. Security could be dicey. Boarding at 6:55 am.
Wales: Were the tickets that expensive? Why 4:30 am?
Me: See above. (Gave price). I want to ensure no problems.
Sigh. It's worth noting that Wales missed a flight once because she arrived at the gate after the plane boarded. She likes to cut things very close, and is perpetually late. I refuse to travel with her. I did it once - but with the caveat that went separately, and I wasn't responsible for her in any way. I booked the BnB though. She booked her tickets the week before she was to leave, and packed the morning before her cab arrived. Just threw stuff in a bag.
I remember her calling me in a blind panic, and I called a travel agent friend to help her out. Said friend called me back and told me that Wales was crazy. That she'd overslept, barely caught her cab, and arrived at the airport late, and insisted it was their fault.
I am weirdly not stressed at the moment, which makes me realize a lot of this could be attributed to work stress. My workplace is somewhat chaotic.
But I got everything I needed to get done, done. Everything that isn't completed can be done in January. (I'm going to be very busy in January, I'm half-way hoping we go remote again. But if we do, I may have to get Optimum to upgrade the wi-fi.)
Also, I don't have to pack until tomorrow. (I learned never to pack until the day before a trip. Otherwise I will stress about it constantly, and keep packing and repacking. I also finally realized the trick to packing is to accept that no matter what I pack it will be the wrong things. Because, honestly, it's a guessing game. And it's not like I can bring my entire closet with me. Although David Bowie apparently did, he also had a private plane.) Packing always stresses me out, because it's a guessing game, and I'm terrified I'll forget something crucial.
Talked to cubicle aisle mate today about it. She said she's learned to fill her head with positive thoughts. And not to stress over what she can't control. Push the rest away.
***
COVID has risen in the city. And to the surprise of absolutely no one, Omicron is now virulent across the state. In three days the infection rate in Brooklyn jumped from 3% to 6.7% and the total rate in the state to 7.8%, first such jump since July. It's the unvaccinated that everyone is concerned about.
They do not want to do another lockdown. I don't know, I kind of do want another one. But that's my anxiety talking. It likes lock downs. It can huddle in my apartment and not have to deal with that many people.
Broadway has cancelled various shows due to cast members contracting the virus. (They are fully vaccinated). Cornell in Ithaca, NY has gone remote again due to an outbreak - all 900 of its students were vaccinated. Restaurants have closed due to staff calling in sick with the virus. Crazy workplace has upped its testing protocols, and now has drop in boxes for the saliva test. There's a box you pick up in, and a box you drop it off in, and they have staffed testing at various locations. It's also indicated various rules regarding what you do if you get COVID. I printed them off just in case.
On the Train ride home today, there was a bunch of idiots not wearing masks, young adults mostly at the front end of the car. Those of us with masks, retreated to the back end and got off there. I went to the front, saw a guy with his bike, someone with a scooter, and two other folks, with no real mask on outside of a bandana, and retreated quickly to the back of the car. Usually more folks are wearing masks. I wear a KN94. It's disposable and I have a new one each day. Also have KN95's. And the cloth and surgical masks. Hard and soft. (Basically I have a collection of masks in my closet.) I wear them everywhere I go, outside or inside. I live in a city. I wear them all day at work except in my own cubicle - because of the mask mandate and its not safe.
Work is getting slightly better - in that I get along with BYT better than expected and much better than I did with Boss. Also about the same as Jay.
I understand how she thinks. And she's not Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde, thank god.
***
Mother informed me that she felt no anxiety driving to the airport to pick me up on Sunday, which is good, since I'll probably have enough for both of us. I'm considering re-thinking this whole visiting at Xmas deal. It's incredibly stressful. I'm not uncertain that any other time of year would be far less stressful.
***
COVID
The basics haven’t changed. Even in this murky in-between moment where there’s a lot of unknowns about Omicron, the old rules to lower your risk still apply: Reduce your contact with other people, especially in crowded indoor settings; wear a mask, and upgrade it; use home tests before gathering; and get vaccinated, with a booster if possible.
What has changed is that Omicron is better at sidestepping some of the protection that vaccines give us, said my colleague Tara Parker-Pope, the founding editor of Well. Early evidence from South Africa has raised hopes that Omicron may be milder than Delta, but it’s still far too early to make broad conclusions. “Omicron is going to be disruptive for at least the next month or two, but we’re not experiencing a repeat of 2020,” Tara said.
“When we’re in a surge like this, I think we need to think about priorities a little more,” she added. “Maybe I’m going to skip the movie and dining at a restaurant, so it’s safer to spend time with friends on the weekend or visit my parents.”
Yeah, I've done all of this. I'm using a home test before traveling. I am wearing masks. I am social distancing. Staying out of crowded settings as much as I can. Sunday, I'll be going into one. But then I'm with mother, and we can most likely limit it.
There's information on masks in the NY Times. I have KN95 and KF94's made in Korea. The KF94's are the best - mainly because you can speak through them, breath, they have no gaps, and 95% filtration. I wear them at work. I adopted the buggers over the summer. Moved gradually from the cloth to the surgical, to the KN95 to KF94. Double masking isn't going to work - I won't be able to breath.
The N95's are hard to find. But available. Also not as comfortable.
While Omicron seems able to thwart some amount of immunity, boosters seem to do a good job of preventing infection. Even if you get sick with a breakthrough infection, scientists believe the vaccines still provide solid protection against severe illness and death.
That said, everyone should assume they are less protected now than they were before Thanksgiving.
Ed Yong at The Atlantic put it this way: “As a crude shorthand, assume that Omicron negates one previous immunizing event — either an infection or a vaccine dose. Someone who considered themselves fully vaccinated in September would be just partially vaccinated now (and the official definition may change imminently). But someone who’s been boosted has the same ballpark level of protection against Omicron infection as a vaccinated-but-unboosted person did against Delta.”
(Yong recently canceled his birthday party and explained the risk analysis behind his decision.)
Should I change my plans for holiday gatherings?
There isn’t a simple answer to this question, Tara said: “That said, I can still give you one simple tip that can help you figure it out: Plan your event around the most vulnerable person in the room.”
Think about the things you would need to do to protect an older grandparent, for example, and that will give you an idea of whether the event should go forward with extra precautions, be scaled back or canceled.
You can lower your risk by asking that everyone get a booster, if eligible, and take a rapid test a few hours before the event. Focus on ventilation, and ask everyone to scale back their social activities before the event.
“If you’re celebrating Christmas Eve, get tested on Wednesday and then take a home rapid test on Christmas Eve, right before the party. One doctor I know takes his rapid test in the driveway before he enters his parents house,” Tara said. “I think family gatherings, especially now as we head into our third year of pandemic life, are really important. If everyone is willing to do what’s needed to protect the most vulnerable, you can lower risk and gather more safely.”
Yeah, that's why I'm took the home rapid tests. Also, I've got the booster - got it in October. And got the Flu shot in November.
There's two mobile outdoor testing sites in my neighborhood, next to the subway, one outside Atlantic Terminal, an urgent care testing site, Wallgreens apparently does it, and so does my work place. Rapid Home Tests come in and out of Wallgreens. They came in on Wednesday and were sold out before Friday. They can't keep them on the shelves. I bought two boxes. One for before I go down, and one for when I return. Mother bought two boxes too.
If you get sick, the guidance is the same for Omicron as it is for other variants. If you’re vaccinated, the C.D.C. says you should isolate for 10 days and rest. If you live with other people, you should stay in a specific “sick room” or area, and use a separate bathroom, if available. Wear a mask and don’t share dishes.
The 10-day isolation period begins the first full day after your symptoms develop. If you test positive, but don’t have symptoms, the 10-day clock starts the day after you test positive. If you develop symptoms later, reset the clock. At any point if you have an emergency warning sign, like breathing trouble, go to the hospital.
I’m traveling for the holidays. What if I test positive away from home?
The responsible thing to do is to isolate for 10 days, but whether you’ll be forced to do so depends on where you’re traveling.
In the U.S., it’s mostly up to the individual to decide how to proceed. States, airlines, airports or most other forms of transportation do not require a negative coronavirus test from domestic travelers, with a few exceptions. Dr. Emily Volk, the president of the College of American Pathologists, says isolating after a positive test is “the morally and ethically correct thing to do.”
If you test positive while traveling internationally, the rules will depend on where you are. Some places won’t let you board a plane, while other places might require you to stay in a government hospital for more than 10 days. If you’re traveling abroad, here’s some advice: Learn the local rules and pack as if you’re going to get stuck.
Sigh. Traveling by plane is going to be fun. But the truth is - I've been commuting in and out of the Air Train Building - a major transportation hub off and on since July. Taking trains, and subways with folks who may be sick and not gotten tested.
I've not gotten sick outside of an allergy attack that lasted just one day.
Elsewhere:
* France plans to tighten restrictions on the unvaccinated.
* Britain recorded more than 93,000 daily infections, a new high.
* For the staff at one inundated Michigan hospital, “you come back to work and you ask who died.”
* Boeing joined other federal contractors in dropping its vaccine mandate.
* An Italian province has relied on pure air and herbal remedies. But nature isn’t protecting it from the coronavirus.
* Three Iranians tried to sue the country’s supreme leader over Covid but were jailed before they could file the complaint.
* The N.F.L. rescheduled three games amid an outbreak of “a new, highly transmissible form of the virus.”
***
Random Photo of the Evening...
no subject
Date: 2021-12-18 04:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-12-18 07:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-12-18 07:29 pm (UTC)If it's any consolation, I had concern over what may go wrong COVID-wise with my Fall visit to Scotland and it all worked out as hoped in the end. Each negative test was, at the least, of enormous convenience. And my son has his booster scheduled for next week, yay.
no subject
Date: 2021-12-18 10:16 pm (UTC)