Do hope you got a mild case.
I didn’t catch it until later in its world tour (thanks to a very careful hospital employee spouse). And mine was relatively easy to deal with. In fact, I’ve caught a cold since then that was much worse.
The only residual effect is that I have slightly less effective sense of taste. But on the bright side, I can eat spicy foods for the first time in my life!
Aghhhh, I feel your pain!
How would they react if you just asked “I could use something to read…”? That would give them an “out” of offering a magazine or a cereal box if they really have zero books.
But my hope is that they’d say “Oh, heavens, yes! We have boxes and boxes of old books in the basement!”
eta:
“… In fact, we have so many hardcovers, a lot of first editions, that the bookcase broke!”
I got it three years ago, and it was the worst headache of my life for about two days, but I never fully recovered. I have brain fog and exhaustion spells every afternoon and am sometimes depleted for weeks. That’s where it started, anyhow; I’m sure perimenopause is also a factor. It can be hard to know sometimes what the problem is. I’m also having a sleep study done. Just trying to tackle it on all fronts. But I think the going theory is COVID can exacerbate pretty much everything already wrong with you.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Good News! I found the notebook! For some reason when I was going through the papers piled on my desk I had tucked the notebook into a sorter on my desk where I keep things like address labels and notepads. I never put the notebook there; it usually sits on the shelf with my monitor or on the desktop next to my mousepad.
I’ve read about some of the online and database password managers, but have never gotten around to trying any of them. I do have FireFox keep some of my non-sensitive passwords on file, but not anything related to my finances.
I can’t imagine a house without books. All of my friends are readers; it was a running joke when I was living in Chicago that I should register my house as a branch of the Chicago Public Library.
I live across the street from a middle school. whe I moved in the drive for the school was around the corner, now it is directly across from my driveway. The parents pay no attention to the stop sign they have in the mornings, so I dont even try to go across the road to get out. They often have a police officer directing traffic in the afternoon and when I have come home early form work, the officer ignores my turn signal and tries to make me go straight. Which I apprecaite he isnt letting random strangers park in my driveway but “I” get to park there.
That and trash thrown in my yard is the main annoyances.
Not having books in your house doesn’t mean someone is not a reader. I have a great local library and get everything I read from there. Or nowadays, digitally.
A long time ago I took a trip to Mexico and ended up on a little ranch. Now, I did speak Spanish, so I figured I’d just read whatever they had on hand… And I did, but they had only two books! My choices were:
Awkward!
I chose Nicholas Sparks, and it wasn’t any better in Spanish.
*Message in a Bottle
*The Notebook
*Insert other melodramatic romance title. I’m really not a fan.
I’m so glad books are electronic now and I can bring my whole library with me anywhere.
Reminds me of a traffic ticket I once got for an illegal turn, which was only illegal during morning and afternoon rush hour. It was a turn into a residential neighbourhood that was bounded on two sides by major busy streets, and the purpose of the prohibition was to prevent drivers from using this quiet residential neighbourhood as a shortcut between the two streets.
The problem was, I lived there! I wasn’t shortcutting anything, I was just going home. Apparently my officer was a stickler for the law and wasn’t swayed by this argument.
It was the only time I ever disputed a ticket. It wasn’t necessary even to take it to trial, as the injustice was so blatant that I got it resolved in a pre-trial meeting with the prosecutor.
I have about 3,500 hard-copy books and about 2,000 on my iPad (one of the reasons for my username). I can’t imagine not having a book available any time I have a few minutes downtime. Commercial time on TV, waiting in line, sitting in a doctor’s office - this is why my iPad goes where I go and I have books all around the house waiting to be read.
Many many years ago, while moving into my current house, I was informed by an older relative that I have too many books. 
I’m not sure if she was kidding or not, but I can’t remember seeing bookcases when I was visiting her house.
My maternal grandparents didn’t have bookshelves either, now that I think about it…other than the bookcase in what was my mom’s childhood bedroom, loaded with old editions of World Book and The Book of Knowledge. My paternal grandmother had loads of books, and of course there were many shelves with old issues of National Geographic (conveniently at child level…I loved looking through those things).
I’m very sorry for you. I’m still a NOVID but I wanted to get my latest covid jab and learned that it is now prescription only at Walgreens and Kroger pharmacy doesn’t have it at all. As my doctor’s office hasn’t been able to get any covid vaccines for over a month, I’m now having to go to the office and waste everyone’s time so my doctor will write me a paper prescription that I can carry in my hand while finding somewhere to get jabbed.
It’s nice that I hated people before I retired, now that I don’t have to go out unless I want to…I spend a lot of time at home.
I have this sort of malaise where for no reason at all I feel sort of like shit and like something bad is going to happen. Today is one of those days. I don’t think it rises to the level of clinical diagnosis as it’s only during a few hours a day, and coincides with these afternoon brain fog episodes I’ve had ever since I contracted COVID. It’s the damnedest thing. My life feels compellingly destined for failure but I can’t point to anything concrete.
Not a fan.
So now is a vary good time to look into a solution in case it gets lost again. 1Password (inexpensive) and Bitwarden (free) are the ones I see recommended most by experts.
My pharmacy just told me that the latest version isn’t even available yet and to wait a month or so. The only thing available is still the previous booster.
I was planning on waiting, but am now hearing that the newest version won’t ever be available so think that being up with the older one would be helpful.
That is what the CDC recommended a few days ago, I’m sure that now they recommend no shots at all. New management and brain worms, yanno?
I went to the two biggest pharmacies today in search of a covid vax. Nary a one to be found after they checked all their assorted branches. At least one pharmacist kind,y explained why: just Tuesday the newest, updated version of the Covid vax was approved for use and so it is going to take a couple weeks or a month (depending on how large a town or village you live in) to get past one more bureaucratic approval hurdle and for the distribution channels to get set up and vaccine stock to be distributed to local pharmacies. I asked both of the pharmacies I went to today to call me when their stock came in and they both readily said they would.
TL:DR* Robert Kennedy Jr’s idiocy ain’t making it easy but stand by and don’t forget to get your flu shot in September or early October. Covid vax and flu vax can be gotten at the same time if that makes it more convenient for you.
I recently learned we’re going to start laying people off before the end of the year and it’s likely to be in the hundreds. Given Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, this doesn’t come as a surprise, but it’s going to suck. My department runs pretty lean, and I’m pretty sure my job is safe, but I think one of my coworkers is likely on the chopping block. I suspect we’ll end up laying more people off in the first quarter of 2026.
Missed the edit window re: finding a Covid booster vax locally. ETA:
It’s hard to wait but I’m going to turn that aggravation energy into showing up at some “Dump The Fascists” protests locally. I’ve already had the “Impeach Trump” and “Lock Him Up” signs professionally printed and I have my cane in the car that unfolds into a seat. I’m starting to think I need a sign impugning RFK Jr. Any suggestions for what it should say?
Take care of yourself. Other people depend on you as well, and most importantly you deserve to be well. You shouldn’t have to put up with that a few hours every single day.
I’m a hypocrite for advising you to take care of yourself because I’m shitty at it, but that’s also why I know sometimes you need someone else to say it to you.