The Coronavirus-and Pip (the bird)

A coworker bought my GF's ticket off her so we're going tonight. I'll be wearing my mask and sucking it up. I've been on a flight to San Fran with a mask on, and that's half as long as the concert will be. Sure I may hyperventilate, but my lungs could probably use the exercise anyway. 

The nearest pharmacies all are on back-order for the last Pfizer covid in my area.  I have to call back in 3 days.... oof, they are going to screw up this release.

I truly thought I'd be the only one masked but there was a like 1:15 ratio at least from what I saw. Maybe because it's so close to Thanksgiving, but I've also seen an uptick on subway mask usage. I think people are getting nervous again.

pretty much as expected, woke up achy and with a headache. nothing too terrible when i can keep the pup from stomping all over my body. thanks for asking.

No, my give a shit if people think I'm weird because I mask is gone. I mask up most places I go around here.

I was in London last week - mask usage on the Tube was way less than in NYC - about 2% maybe? Also went to a Fontaines DC show and mask usage was *maybe* 1%. I am thinking maybe I really am one of those COVID immune people (and/or the vaccine and boosters work well for me) as I have never gotten it - have to say that I did not use a mask all week last week, even on the tube, nor did I on the airplane. Back here in NYC, I haven't worn a mask to a show since early October, two weeks after getting the new booster, and I have been to at least a dozen of them. I had still been wearing a mask on the subway, we'll see if I put one on tomorrow.

Forgot what it was like to just catch a straight-up cold. Recovered and it was only sniffles and sneezes. Used to be highly annoying, but compared to covid, that shit was so easy.

Got the head cold/sinus thing that is going around. Everyone at work pretty much has it (other than thejeremy and Nick). It's not covid, on day 6 of testing and still negative. It moved into my lungs yesterday and y'all know I have pretty severe asthma, so I texted my doctor. She is calling in Prednisone for me (thank god) so I can have a fighting chance. Last night while at work I got super sick right at the end of the night and that was horrible. My resting heart rate is so fucking high that making my morning coffee got me my active zone points. I haven't been able to do yoga for days due to no lung capacity which makes me mentally not great also. I have been adding mediation to try to offset that, but it's not quiet the same and kinda hard when you can't breathe.

This shit fucking sucks. I have only been sick once in the last two years and it was with covid and I think this might actually be worse. I have been lacked on my mask wearing, but I am going to be going strong with it this winter since getting this. Stay safe out there, y'all. The winter sickness is for real.

I’m sure you are using your nebulizar right? The steroids will help.
Just remember they are going to make you hyper as hell. Hope you get to feeling better soon.

So, this week, I was invited to join a couple of "Still COVIDing" groups on Facebook by a friend to whom I had expressed that it's feeling isolating being one of the only people I know who's still taking precautions (masking indoors in public places, not dining indoors, etc.). I thought, "Hey, great, I'll at least be able to connect with some other people who haven't decided to just throw caution completely to the wind, and it'll make me feel a little less alone."



It was like going through a portal into a dark mirror universe in which COVID is an apocalyptic plague that's going to wipe us all out. Everyone I see posting there (including my friend, which was kind of surprising to me) is in more or less a blind panic and convinced that it's eventually going to come out that COVID completely deactivates our immune systems and causes either universal long-term disability or early death. Nowhere is safe, not even outdoors.

Now, I kind of feel worse. I really fall somewhere in the middle - I'm not avoiding people, I go to concerts, etc. I just mask, avoid high-risk situations in which I can't mask, and test if I'm going to be around vulnerable people (i.e., before family gatherings). I've read the studies most of the people in those groups are referring to when they say their doom stuff, and I've also read the accounts of various reputable, middle-of-the-road scientists (neither doomy nor overly optimistic) who've said those studies don't mean what some people are interpreting them to mean.

So...yeah. Still isolated. Good times.

I agree! Run away!

I feel like this is what I have been doing. I still don't really eat in restaurants that often but I have and usually pick airy, open ones at less busy times, that you aren't all up on others. Same with stores, if the store is super busy I will mask up but I mostly play it by ear. I am trying to not let fear rule me. I still feel weird in stores without a mask on.

The COVID’s over.

I caught indoor live music last night, for the first time in around three years.

I figured that I needed to dip my toes back in the water, so I went to see a musician I know play at a small no-cover bar not far from me last night. I had intended to catch the entire first set, but after a long wait for a bus, I got there 10 min late, but stayed for the rest of the set (half-hour or so).

I was literally the only masked person there. #TeamN95

I'm really hoping that I don't come down with COVID again in the next few days, after testing positive a couple of days after Boston Calling (back when we were all told that you can't catch it outdoors.) After that experience, I couldn't even deal with seated outdoor shows for a long while (except for my 40th Elvis Costello show in August. No way I was missing that, and on my birthday, no less.)

It has been a year since my first booster (and after having 2-3 weeks of chest tightness and afib after my third Moderna shot, my doctor agrees with me that I should wait until Covaxin is available, unless a more virulent strain appears. Either way, though, at 64 and with an increasing number of health issues, I'm worried about risking another mRNA booster and worried about not getting one, as well. I'm hoping that three Moderna shots last year and a symptomatic case of Omicron in June will keep my immune system firing on all cylinders for now.)

I get the vibe she's around some MAGA types and doesn't know any better