What is Happening, part II

[Priscilla]

Mawra, I suppose if one of you gets a test and it is positive you might assume the other two as well. I will hope it is negative as there are other illnesses around, not just the virus. Crossing fingers for you.

BD1, when I got each shot I made sure to get them in my left arm as I sleep either on my back or right side. I hope your arm is better by the end of today. It will certainly improve.

[mawra]

Oh goody, sister's Covid came back positive. I'm not going to bother getting tested. I assume I have the cuddies

[Priscilla]

Take very good care, I hope all of you have mild cases. Crossing fingers and holding thumbs.

[mawra]

My sister got her test results, she has Covid. I'm not going to bother testing. I'm just going to figure Huuby & I have it. We've all been vaccinated so I don't think it will be that bad.

[BD1]

When I next need ostomy supplies, gonna let my mom know and she'll call the company.

[BD1]

Priscilla, I'm left handed so I took the shot in my right arm.

[Priscilla]

I am also left handed. I figured sleeping on my right side was more important since I don't do any repetitive or strenuous things with either arm during the day. We each had to decide which worked for us, I guess.

[BD1]

In dragcave.net, I just now grabbed a leetle tree! Got it before anyone else!

[BD1]

A little while ago, I heard the weather forecast for this weekend. Very cold. Possible snow for parts of the Atlantic seaboard.

[Priscilla]

Mawra, you mentioned Kibby and her work. They certainly can't expect or want her to come in and potentially bring the virus. I hope they continue to be understanding.

We are expecting snow here in CT on Saturday. We have shovels, a snowblower and a guy who plows most if not all the driveway. The last storm Jeff did the driveway with the snowblower. He may leave it to be plowed. We have a fairly good sized deck off the back of the house that we usually slide the snow off of. It does get to be a chore that at 69 and 72 we should maybe consider is too much. Our daughter has bought Jeff a small, electric snowblower for his birthday in March. He does not know about it and the rest of us are now deciding if he will get it "early" before this weekend. Might only get 5 inches of snow, might be 8 to 10.

[R'zil]

What do you all do for hobbies? I just retired at the end of last year. It's not even been a month but I'm already getting bored. I also miss the structure that work gave my life. I read a lot (of course), watch movies and I'm spending a lot of time on line but I need to find something to focus on, something that I like and think is fun. Any suggestions?

[Priscilla]

I do cross stitch and needlepoint. I started out with cross stitch and I've done pictures and Christmas ornaments as well as greeting cards. You can buy kits from catalogs. Herrschners has some nice ones. Oh. Forgot. I also did full sized (stamped on pattern) tablecloths and napkins for both our kids. Then about 3 years ago I branched into needlepoint. At first I bought kits, then I got a light table and with a photograph and either blank fabric or blank fabric in a zip up coin or cosmetic bag, I can create my own things to sew. I only have a tablet now so no way of showing here some of the things I've done. I also read.

[mawra]

Originally Posted by Priscilla

Mawra, you mentioned Kibby and her work. They certainly can't expect or want her to come in and potentially bring the virus. I hope they continue to be understanding.

We are expecting snow here in CT on Saturday. We have shovels, a snowblower and a guy who plows most if not all the driveway. The last storm Jeff did the driveway with the snowblower. He may leave it to be plowed. We have a fairly good sized deck off the back of the house that we usually slide the snow off of. It does get to be a chore that at 69 and 72 we should maybe consider is too much. Our daughter has bought Jeff a small, electric snowblower for his birthday in March. He does not know about it and the rest of us are now deciding if he will get it "early" before this weekend. Might only get 5 inches of snow, might be 8 to 10.

Kibby called work, they said normally if someone been vaccinated then you work with mask. Kibby does a lot of coughing which will make it harder to know if she has Covid, they told her to stay home. This will be the 3rd week she hasn't worked. Luckily her landlord, us, is understanding. Her not working is killing the budget.

[vyon]

BD1 Mine hurt for about two days after all three of the shots (Pfizer) - also the right arm because I have a massive scar on my left arm. And it's a nuisance not being able to reach up because your arm hurts if you do. But my flu shot hurt for longer. And it's all better than getting the Covid and getting in hospital with it. The Covid modellers are all freaking us out - they think we'll go from the current 90 Omicron cases, most of them already in isolation, to 8,000 by Waitangi Day in two weeks time. Even with Omicron version two allegedly even more contagious than Version one, I think the modellers aren't taking into account that we don't have the background cases here.

[BD1]

This morning, my arm doesn't hurt as much. Yesterday, I took some Tylenol.

[mawra]

Originally Posted by vyon

BD1 Mine hurt for about two days after all three of the shots (Pfizer) - also the right arm because I have a massive scar on my left arm. And it's a nuisance not being able to reach up because your arm hurts if you do. But my flu shot hurt for longer. And it's all better than getting the Covid and getting in hospital with it. The Covid modellers are all freaking us out - they think we'll go from the current 90 Omicron cases, most of them already in isolation, to 8,000 by Waitangi Day in two weeks time. Even with Omicron version two allegedly even more contagious than Version one, I think the modellers aren't taking into account that we don't have the background cases here.

I'm impressed that you only have 80 cases. Liberty University has 73 cases alone

[Priscilla]

A couple people I know seem to be playing something called Wordle. I play solitaire on my tablet and phone and that eats up enough time without starting something else!

[R'zil]

Originally Posted by Priscilla

I do cross stitch and needlepoint. I started out with cross stitch and I've done pictures and Christmas ornaments as well as greeting cards. You can buy kits from catalogs. Herrschners has some nice ones. Oh. Forgot. I also did full sized (stamped on pattern) tablecloths and napkins for both our kids. Then about 3 years ago I branched into needlepoint. At first I bought kits, then I got a light table and with a photograph and either blank fabric or blank fabric in a zip up coin or cosmetic bag, I can create my own things to sew. I only have a tablet now so no way of showing here some of the things I've done. I also read.

Priscilla, thanks but the last time I picked up a needle it was because my grandmother talked me into trying to make a crazy quilt while she did her quilting. I managed a piece about 6 by 10 inches before giving up.
she later finished it as a doll blanket. That was about 55 years ago. As to your more recent post I also have a few card games I play on my computer.

[R'zil]

Originally Posted by mawra

I'm impressed that you only have 80 cases. Liberty University has 73 cases alone

I'm also impressed. My relatively small and fairly low population county in southeastern Illinois is averaging about 35 to 40 new cases a day. Luckily they are mostly the omicron variation and that seems to have milder symptoms.

[Priscilla]

Hmmmm. Have you done any woodworking? Does that interest you? You could make trivets and coasters to begin with and maybe advance to footstools and other slightly bigger things. I have a cousin, Jere Osgood, who is a furniture designer and taught for years at Boston University. He's the closest I come to a "famous" relative as he has several pieces permanently at The Smithsonian. The rest of my family is pretty average but at least there's no ax murderers (That I KNOW of!)

[R'zil]

Originally Posted by Priscilla

Hmmmm. Have you done any woodworking? Does that interest you? You could make trivets and coasters to begin with and maybe advance to footstools and other slightly bigger things. I have a cousin, Jere Osgood, who is a furniture designer and taught for years at Boston University. He's the closest I come to a "famous" relative as he has several pieces permanently at The Smithsonian. The rest of my family is pretty average but at least there's no ax murderers (That I KNOW of!)

Priscilla, my problem is that I'm just not very artistic. I've done some photography in the past but I don't really have an "eye" for it. I was an avid aquarist for 35 or 40 years and at that time I had access to some of the rarest specimens in the hobby, I kept many of them and bred many of them over the years. I don't want to do that anymore and where I am in my life now I no longer have access to that. I thought about starting some gardening this spring, it would give me a reason to get outside and get some exercise but I'll definitely be a newbie at it. We'll see.

[BD1]

I used to do needlepoint on a plastic canvas. I also used to volunteer at my local library. I would shelve books. Sometime later this year, might go back to that. Don't know yet.

[Allen]

I think I've posted about all my different crafts, but I still don't do any sewing, needlepoint, quilting, etc. Hahahaha.

[R'zil]

Originally Posted by Allen

I think I've posted about all my different crafts, but I still don't do any sewing, needlepoint, quilting, etc. Hahahaha.

I've seen some of your stuff Allen, but I don't have your artistic talent.

[Priscilla]

Allen, your jewelry making and other crafts are truly art. What I do in cross stitch and needlepoint may turn out nicely after many years of experience but I do not think of it as "art." I follow a pattern or in the case of needlepoint I create a pattern with a photograph. A lot of men sew, knit and crochet and make beautiful things. I have a friend in South Africa who has an artist friend who makes beautiful pictures by intricately knotting thread. Not sure how he does it but they are wonderful! He does portraits of people, outdoor scenes and animals!

[BD1]

I can't wait until I get my illeostomy reversed. It's a bit of a hassle.

[mawra]

I want to read, but I can't concentrate. I've read the same page 3 time & have no idea what I've read. My throat hurts, can't sleep, because of coughing. If people who haven't had the vaccine get it much worse, I'm very glad I got it.

[mawra]

I can't even whine about feeling crappy, because sister & Hubby feel the same way, & Kibby is hiding in her room. She's try to stay away from all the crabby people. She still has no symptoms

[BD1]

Poor family! Hope y'all feel better soon!

[Priscilla]

Your poor family, mawra! I hope you all feel better soon. Being vaccinated certainly helps.

We are due to get 12 to 20 inches of snow tomorrow. I know. That is a large "amount range." Hedging their bets, these forecasters!

[vyon]

Originally Posted by mawra

I'm impressed that you only have 80 cases. Liberty University has 73 cases alone

We have a few advantages - like having a Prime Minister who took Covid seriously from the beginning, assembled a team of experts and set up a comprehensive testing routine, being an island nation with no land borders so we are able to isolate everyone coming into the country, and having a universal Government funded public health system, even if it is rather run down. Today's figures 105 new community Covid cases, making a total of 15,615 cases here since the pandemic began and 52 deaths. That's in a population of five million, and the daily "community" cases don't count cases coming into the country who all have to go into managed isolation for ten days. At the moment we are still in our long summer holiday for universities. I think the US has a much higher proportion of the students living on campus which would make the spread of anything infectious easier. But we did have a huge music festival which might have become a "superspreader event." We also have a very high vaccination rate, despite what appears to be a massively overseas-inspired and funded disinformation campaign.

In the middle of all that I've had five hospital appointments in the last month, a 24 hour heart monitor, various heart scans and a visit to the specialist - Only to be told "You're fit and well and don't need to see me again." It might have been more use to know that I've probably had an irregular heartbeat all my life when I was at school and totally useless at sport! I always knew that I danced to the beat of a different drummer, I just didn't know that it was that literal.

[mawra]

Just because life didn't suck enough, my sister's work closed down. So now she has no job. She's putting apps in, but can't do much until she's over Covid.

[Priscilla]

That is miserable! I hope whatever sort of work she does that there are open places in your area! Best of luck.

[mawra]

She's an EMT, but her age could be a problem, she's 61. She hopping to get on at a 911 call center.

[Priscilla]

I most likely do not know all areas EMT's work in. I always thought they worked for an ambulance service, possibly affiliated with a specific town. I've never heard of an ambulance service going out of business but I suppose it could. Is there any way her experience could translate into a hospital job? 61 is not that old (says a 69er who quit working at about 61!)

[mawra]

They take people, who can't use wheelchair, to Dr. Appointments, dialysis ect...
With Covid a lot of Dr are cutting back on patients, operating are being canceled, so they were down to mostly a couple of dialysis & it wasn't enough to do equipment & ambulance up keep & pay employees.

[Priscilla]

So a service rather than an ambulance connected to a firehouse? I can understand that. A lot of doctors have been doing video appointments. I hope she finds something.

[mawra]

Kibby is getting tested for Covid tomorrow. She doing a lot more coughing than normal. I hope it's not Covid. She can't take perception cough meds.

[Priscilla]

Crossing fingers for Kibby. I really hope she does not have it. I am guessing that at home rapid test kits are not very readily available? We have a hard time finding them around here. Then, I have friends in England that get handed boxes full from the school they work at whenever they want them. I don't understand why we have such a shortage when testing can be really important.

[mawra]

They are only 80% accurate. The one my sister used said she did not have. Her boss at the time told her to get a regular test. That came back she did have.