Tag: vaccine

The First Wave Continues

I stopped logging COVID-19 numbers on June 20th. Things were improving rapidly and I just didn’t want to be bothered keeping to the schedule anymore. One month later I started keeping track again. I’ve heard people refer to the current spike in the numbers as a new wave. I don’t think it’s a second, or third, or anything wave. I think we have done such a colossally terrible job as a nation of respecting our neighbors that we’re still very much in the first wave. It looked better for a minute there, but it was a ruse.

Massachusetts doesn’t post numbers on the weekends anymore so I can only track the national counts.

In the last 24 hours there have been 164,776 new COVID-19 cases in the United States. The vaccine has been available for free for months and months and we had over 100,000 cases today.

Again, I say this to all Americans who have not yet taken the free and effective vaccine: Fuck You.

As the World Continues to Fall Apart

When did Disney World become my personal Covid canary in the coalmine? I don’t know, but what I do know is that they have reinstituted their indoor mask requirement regardless of vaccination status.

Yippee. Why is this necessary? Because half the people in this country are fucking garbage who have no concern for their fellow citizens. That’s why. They make up 100 fake reasons for not getting vaccinated that all boil down to a simple I-don’t-wanna-be-inconvenienced. Fuck them. Fuck them in their eye and then fuck them in their other eye.*

Today is my parents’ 54th anniversary. My sister was able to take my mother in to the rehab hospital to see my father. I’m sure that helped both of their mental states. You know what else would help their mental states? Everyone getting vaccinated and stop being little spoiled fucking brats.

I wasn’t planning on writing a pissed off post about the slime living in my country. I’m just feeling angry about it all. Angry enough that I completely forgot what I was planning to write about.

Get the fucking vaccine, you fucking mental midgets.

*Thank you to South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone for that little nugget from their musical, The Book of Mormon. Sometimes a phrase just fits the occasion, you know?

Get the Damn Vaccine

I mentioned my mother’s ears are blocked. That means she has the volume on the television cranked. It is literally as far away from me as it can be while both of us are still in the house and it sounds like it’s scotch taped to my head.

She’s watching the morning news. They are interviewing people who are not taking the Covid-19 vaccine because reasons. All of the reasons are false and total bullshit, but reasons.

You cannot exist in the year 2021 and be so stupid that you choose to not take this vaccine. You simply cannot be that stupid.

Take the fucking vaccine.

So Much for That

I hate it when your musical heroes say the private part out loud, you know?

I think it was around the time that the pandemic was starting, I told Jen that my musical hero, Eric Clapton, had developed some neurological issues that affected his ability to play guitar and as a result I wanted to see him live one more time while I still could. Even if that meant traveling to see him, the way we used to travel to see Rush.

Click the image and read the article. I’ll wait…..

(have you finished the article?)

Now?

Fucking douche.

Thoughts on a Tuesday

I spent my whole afternoon so far looking through a customer’s database for an example of a piece of data that I am now pretty convinced does not exist. Le Sigh, as the French (don’t) say.

The Bruins moved into third place in the division with a win over New Jersey last night. The win also clinched a playoff spot. There will be a post season for the Bruins in this Covid Season #2. There are still a few more games to play but if it ended today they’d be matched with Pittsburgh in the first round. Le Yikes, as the French (don’t) say.

I tore the cellar storage apart twice and that little purple knock off uni-vibe pedal is still MIA. Before the great cellar disaster clean up (I’ll give the details someday, but the wound is too fresh for now) it was in a cardboard box on top of the table next to the bulkhead door under one of the last remaining functional fluorescent lights. All of that stuff was packed up and moved into the storage area just to the left of the washer/dryer. Everything else is there, but the little purple knock off uni-vibe pedal with Jimi Hendrix painted on it is not there. (It’s a Moen Shaky Jimi, if you’re curious). I did have a thought as to one place it could be… it could be over Mike the Bass players house. I have an amp (my beloved Fender Deluxe Reverb) and a small board there that have been off limits to me since Covid. I know my Wampler Tumnus is on that board as well as an MXR Phase 95 and a Seymour Duncan Vapor Trail. I have no memory of putting the Shaky Jimi on that board, but there is a chance that it’s there. Waiting for me. Taunting me. Le Lame, as the French (don’t) say.

I’m going to see my father in the rehab hospital tomorrow. I haven’t been there yet, you need an appointment to visit patients, but my brother has. I talked to him a little today. He said I am going to have to take a Covid test before I can see my dad. He suggested I bring my vaccination card with me. Well, I bring that little cardboard bastard with me everywhere I go. I am willing to pull it out and flash it for all the world to see at the slightest moment’s notice. Hell, most times I leave the house I have to stop myself from stapling it to my forehead on the way out the door. I want everyone to see that little guy. I am vaccinated. Two shots plus two weeks, babie. I am up-to-date. Le Groovy, as the French (don’t) say.

Road Trip

We’re about half a work day away from the weekend. Not just any weekend, but the first weekend where everyone in the house is fully vaccinated. Tonight there’s some new Marvel to watch. Will Sam take up the mantle of Captain America? I think so. If he doesn’t, will Bucky? Will the faux Cap become USAgent or will he end up taking a dirt nap? Part of me expects the latter.

Tomorrow there is a visit on the books as well as time for errands and hopefully a little music. Errands might include an oil change for one of the cars and maybe a stop at Best Buy? More likely I’ll order something from Best Buy. I don’t think I can deal with actually walking into a big box store yet.

Then there is Sunday. What to do about Sunday?

Well… both cars will have been serviced… we’re vaccinated… road trip? The first road trip in over a year? Bellana is just a few hours away in Vermont… might we head up for a visit?

I would not have had a problem with a long drive like that even at the worst of the Covid. I would just fill up the gas tank while wearing a mask and latex gloves, bring along a great big pile of snacks (via instacart), and go. If nature called I would pull off the road, find a tree, and take care of business. Jen, however, would not have had that nature calling luxury and there is no way we would go into a store or a gas station to do what needed to be done. That’s why long drives were off the table.

Now? I think we’d be okay going into a gas station to use a rest room. I don’t think we’d be happy about the situation, but if we’re masked up I think we can handle the weirdness.

Road trip to Vermont?

See Bellana for the first time in months?

There are still details to be worked out but… it could happen.

Am I actually making plans? I forgot what that felt like.

Vaccine FOMO?

I spent a good chunk of this morning going through nearly every vaccine distribution center in Massachusetts trying to luck into booking someone else’s cancelation. No dice.

Is it possible that part of my frustration at not being vaccinated yet can be chalked up to FOMO? The Fear of Missing Out?

No. No, it can’t. Not getting an invite to the Dispo app is FOMO (even though the entire concept of that app is flat out dumb, I still want in damn it, let me in!), but not getting vaccinated is not. The frustration over not getting a vaccine appointment is due to not having a vaccine appointment. That’s all, folks.

Jen is working today and Harry is at his dad’s so I am on my own. I’ll think of a cleaning project to do for a while then I’ll mess with my amplifiers. I said Jen is working, but the cat just ran into this room and Jen followed. Sometimes the cat gets into “Timmy’s stuck in the well” mode and makes us follow her places. It almost always ends on the bed where she just wants us to focus all of our attention on petting her. Our cat is both smart and powerful.

I am also trying to cheer myself up over my lack of a vaccination appointment by listening to Rush. Clockwork Angels, to be exact. Allow me to say that “Seven Cities of Gold” is possibly the best song ever recorded. The music annoyed the cat enough that she left the room (and allowed Jen to leave as well) but to me it’s pretty much the pinnacle of human accomplishment. I mean, that and the moon landing, but mostly Rush.

Okay, now that “Seven Cities of Gold” has finished, I’m listening to “The Wreckers” and I need to correct myself. “The Wreckers” is the high point of human accomplishment. There, fixed that.

The Vaccine Appointment Shuffle

It shouldn’t be frustrating but it is. I want a damn vaccine. We have three options now, I don’t care which one I get but I really can’t deal with waiting to get something.

Massachusetts is open for people under 65 with two of a short list of medical issues. They open new appointments at all delivery sites on Thursday at 8:00AM. It’s 8:07 and they haven’t released anything yet. They announced yesterday that there are so many people booked for their second dose now that there will be very few first dose appointments available this week. I was also hoping that next week they would be opening up to people under 65 with fewer than two comorbidities but they announced that they are opening up to all teachers and school staff first. That’s a good thing, and it’s something I wanted to see, but I wanted us to be done with those heroic folks already. That happens on March 11th. Pardon me while I spend another couple of minutes refreshing the appointment page….

It’s 8:10 now. Still nothing.

March 13th is the magic date for me. 3/13/20 was the last day I worked in my office. That’s the one year mark. I was hoping I might luck into my first shot before the anniversary. It doesn’t seem likely.

It’s 8:15, still nothing.

Frustrating.

8:20. Still nothing.

Methuen Vaccine Clinic

Methuen is setting up a vaccination clinic of it’s own. It’s at The Loop and it’s open on March 2nd. I just looked at the appointment sign up and it’s all booked solid. If you qualify, keep an eye on this site and maybe you’ll stumble on a cancelation or something. I don’t see anything about it being open beyond March 2nd, but I guess we’ll have to see. There are only so many vaccine doses available, and anyone with a brain wants one.

One More Down, a Whole Bunch to Go

My mother got her first vaccine shot today. I think in the whole extended family including the co-parenting household, that is four people with the first shot. We still have way to many waiting for the first round, and everyone needs the second round. My mother has an appointment for the second shot, one month from today.

Happy Vaccining, everyone! Bring it on!