Coronavirus general discussion and chit-chat

The Quarantine Zone
484

Here it is Sunday again. I think I will go sing in the choir today. Everyone in the choir is vaccinated, and I don’t mingle with the congregation. I will be very careful, keep my mask on (everyone does), and leave as soon as we sing our special piece (“Panis Angelicus,” one of my faves).

Re the techie issue- I spent all Friday off and on at UBreakIFix trying to get a new battery installed in my BlackBerry Key2. New battery did not work properly, so another new one is on order, should be here Wednesday. I don’t doubt the repair person’s competence WRT fixing cell phone stuff. And I know from YouTube that the Key2 battery is quirky to replace. No problem there.

BUT when I went back yesterday morning to discuss more stuff (couldn’t phone him because – duh! – phone not working) the guy told me he has NOT BEEN VACCINATED!! We were both masked the whole time, but holy shit!

After spending all day with him Friday, we got pretty well acquainted, and really liked him (he’s young enough to be my grandson). I will admit, however, that I cursed him out loudly :face_with_symbols_over_mouth: when he told me he had not had the vax and didn’t plan to get it. He stayed cool-- I was LIVID! He is one of those “I’m gonna wait and see.” When I pointed out that hundreds of millions of people have had the vax – he said, “Yeah, and some of them have died.” :woman_facepalming:t4: He said he’s not a trumper, but clearly he believes internet/TV bullshit.

He’s also a “My positive energy will protect me” idiot. I said that I believe in positive energy, but also in medical intervention, e.g., if you step on a rusty nail, be positive, by all means, and get a freaking tetanus shot! He has even known people who have died of COVID (as have I). I’m just so furious that I spent that much time with an unvaccinated person unawares.

And here he is dealing with the public every day. While I was there (full disclosure: I spent more than half the time waiting in my car), people came and went, some masked, some not. Damn! Why are people so FUCKING STUPID?? Sigh. I know. No answer to that one.

485

Just got home. I can’t edit this activity out of my life. There’s the singing, of course-- I was one big goosebump all through Panis Angelicus. But there’s the fact that this is the only time I’m with other people in the flesh. I like them and they like me. The choir director (my good friend and the main reason I’m in an Episcopal choir) told me that when I’m not there, they ask after me, “Is ThelmaLou okay? Where is she?” Today several people told me how glad they were to see me. That doesn’t happen anywhere else in my life. It means a lot to me.

486

We like you, too, so just be careful. Do what you have to do, but continue taking the precautions that you think are necessary. For most of us vaccinated folks, this year is going to be a balancing act between complete isolation (again!) and catching up on the things that are necessary to actually feel human and alive. For you, it is probably choir. For me, it’s finally visiting vaccinated family, but having to wade through the unvaccinated a bit to get there.

487

:musical_score: UNSCHEDULED MUSICAL INTERLUDE :musical_note:

Speaking of goosebumps.

I looked up this video when I got home from church. I remembered that Sting was all in black but had forgotten the sleeveless top and leather pants.
Those arms…

:open_mouth:

[Thus endeth the unscheduled musical interlude.]

488

Oh, my. Glorious. I was about to search for “Panis Angelicus” on YouTube, and I might not have clicked on this version. Thanks much for sharing.

And FWIW, I think you’re doing just right: you’re being very cautious but balancing bread with hyacinths for the soul.

489

@nelliebly You are so sweet. What a lovely reply. Thank you. :heart:

I’ve watched that video about six times. Need to go splash cold water on my face…

490

I agree!

491

I agree as well that if you need this, it’s a reasonable calculated risk.

I’m back to using real N95 and similar masks despite being vaccinated, because I don’t want to get sick from going to the grocery store. But we’ve had vaccinated relatives come stay with us because we haven’t seen each other for a year and a half.

My kids are too young to be vaccinated. We made the plans for the visits before we had the current info about delta. I’m not sure we’d do it again before they can be vaccinated, but I’m glad we did it and it turned out OK.

I think we need to take care of physical and mental/emotional health.

ETA: My daughter just got tested because she’s been sick – summer cold symptoms, for the most part. If it turns out to be Covid, I may wind up second guessing some other choices we made, including returning to in-person school. But even that, it’s a tough calculation. The isolation has been so rough on them, and the school is taking a lot of sensible precautions. The decision seemed more reasonable before the info about delta ramped up.

492

Many businesses around here went to “masks not needed if you are fully vaccinated”, but I maintained a mask requirement at my business, despite some complaints. Now some other businesses are going back to requiring masks, which resulted in one client demanding to know what my source of “inside information” was.

493

I hope you replied, “I’m not allowed to reveal that.” :slight_smile:

494

Early on, there were a few discussions about quarantining incoming material such as mail, nonrefrigerated food, etc. As I recall, most of the people doing this mentioned that they would quarantine materials for three days. Any further news or recommendations for this?

495

Wish I was there. My receptionist passed along the sentiments.

496

So far as I’m aware, this was never necessary. In short – COVID virtually never spreads via ordinary contact with surfaces.

497

So, it’s now recommended that everyone gets a booster after 8 months to help protect from Delta.

I currently have a very mild case of Delta. I’m wondering if a booster is needed in my case, and also about the morality of getting a third shot while most of the world are still hoping to be able to get their first one.

And, I’m wondering if my booster calendar should start over from when I test clean (hopefully tomorrow) or if it stays at when I got my second shot.

OTOP, hubs has just found out about the boosters and now realizes that he’s going to have to get them. The air is thick with despair, LOL.

For anyone wondering, he will get them. He is a man of honor and his word means everything to him. He’s just going to whine about them a whole bunch!

498

Early on we did a 5 day quarantine on things coming into the house, but my thread here on the subject pretty much determined it was likely unnecessary so we reduced that time but continued to quarantine things for 2 days out of an abundance of caution until after we were vaccinated.

5 days was a real burden, but leaving the mail in the garage and putting canned goods on a special shelf for two days knowing it was all likely unnecessary was really no big deal.

499

We, also, quarantined stuff for a few days until i was vaccinated.

(I was the most anxious, and also the at-risk in the household. Well, the charts say my husband should have been more at risk, but he barely catches colds, and I’m sick for weeks from the common cold, and individual immune systems vary a lot in ways that aren’t captured in broad demographic categories.)

500

Remember the scare from people sending anthrax via the mail… And the postal service started to “sanitize the mail.” I always thought that sounded like bogus PR but I wonder what actually happened. I really doubt that they are still “sanitizing the mail.”

501

The Lancet has recently published an article about effects from Covid, specifically cognitive effects.

Cognitive deficits in people who have recovered from COVID-19 - EClinicalMedicine (thelancet.com)

502

I’ve already posted this – people who are infected with COVID, particularly those who end up with “long COVID” end up with lower IQs. There is a cognitive decline. Whether it is permanent is not known, but this is the sort of thing that can be a career killer.

This is why I have been an “alarmist.” People here - and elsewhere - think that they are vaccinated; therefore, they are safe. That may not be the case. Yes, people don’t die. Okay, great. But what happens if you end up in the hospital? Who wants to pay $10,000 - 100,000 in medical expenses? That’s a very realistic outcome.

Who wants to have brain fog so badly that they can’t work – maybe forever? I know someone who had to take an early retirement because they can’t remember what they said or did 10 minutes ago since their COVID diagnosis.

People are relying on CDC data. I – and I have to say this, only I – have been “the alarmist” here in pointing out that CDC data has been behind by several weeks. I – and only I – have pointed out that, in the era of the Delta variant, these vaccines have holes. Absolutely, the vaccines are better than no vaccines, and I absolutely suggest getting them ASAP, as well as boosters. But too many damn people are letting their guard down. Too many people - vaccinated people and unvaccinated people - don’t realize how close they are to making a life-altering decision, like having a family gathering, or going to a movie, or going to an outdoor concert, or going to work a few times a week…thinking it’s ‘safe’ 'cause Fauci and the CDC said so, only to end up getting fucked up for life.

Sorry guys, I know I’m a Debbie Downer, but my world is the real one. The people who survive this pandemic will be the ones who DON’T follow “conventional wisdom.”

People who had recovered from COVID-19, including those no longer reporting symptoms, exhibited significant cognitive deficits versus controls when controlling for age, gender, education level, income, racial-ethnic group, pre-existing medical disorders, tiredness, depression and anxiety. The deficits were of substantial effect size for people who had been hospitalised ( N = 192), but also for non-hospitalised cases who had biological confirmation of COVID-19 infection ( N = 326). Analysing markers of premorbid intelligence did not support these differences being present prior to infection. Finer grained analysis of performance across sub-tests supported the hypothesis that COVID-19 has a multi-domain impact on human cognition.

503

Test was negative – yay. We almost forgot those regular kids’ colds with fevers. We were worried because of the gastrointestinal symptoms, but she does have those semi regularly anyway.