Thoughts – Notes & Thoughts

Reading List (5/7/21)

I got my second dose of the Moderna vaccine on Wednesday, so here’s looking forward to May 19, my Immunity Day. W00t!

I do advise trying to take the day after off, though. I thought I was cool yesterday, but the side effects hit me like a freight train yesterday afternoon and I was out of commission for the rest of the day. Feeling all right this morning, though.

At any rate, I will happily deal with feeling like garbage for a day if it means I don’t die of COVID, so get your shots, people.

On Not ‘Quitting Lockdown’

The Atlantic has this dumb fucking article this morning:

🔗 The Atlantic: The Liberals Who Can’t Quit Lockdown

Progressive communities have been home to some of the fiercest battles over COVID-19 policies, and some liberal policy makers have left scientific evidence behind.

And just, jesus, this shit is exhausting. The pandemic is still surging. Variants are rampant. People won’t vaccinate and are still bitching about masks. And here’s these asshole journalists all like “But the liberals are still being cautious, why?”

Reading List (4/30/21)

Recently one of our kitties escaped. Our cats are strictly indoors, and one is fine with that, and the other considers it a terrible injustice. Injustice Kitty slipped outdoors last weekend at some point, promptly got lost because he’s just very very dumb (super sweet, but so dumb), and was taken to the local humane society by some kindly soul.

We left a message there as soon as we realized he was missing, and they called us back, so we retrieved our cat fairly quickly. He was extremely upset about the whole thing, for about a day, and then he promptly forgot all about it. Because, as I said, so dumb. Now he has no idea it ever even happened and he’s back to trying to slip out the door whenever we open it.

So, of course, this means he has to have a collar from now on. We got him one, and it came with a teeny little bell on it, which completely baffles him. There is a jingle toy, and it’s following him around constantly, and he thinks it may be invisible. The other day I watched him go to scratch his neck, and he kicked the bell then did a startled double-take because his foot was jingling.

This cat.

At any rate, some good reading for the weekend:

News Roundup (4/19/21)

It seems like Blue Check Twitter was taking turns whining about wearing masks outside all weekend. 🙄 “WhY aRe VaCcInAtEd PeOpLe WeArInG mAsKs OuTsIdE?” they complain, and then go on to pontificate about the incredibly low odds of catching COVID-19 while wandering around outside.

I dunno, maybe because over half a million people have died in the US and we’re all still feeling a little twitchy about it? Maybe because we don’t know shit yet and better safe than sorry? Maybe because not everyone is vaxxed yet? Maybe because not everyone can be vaxxed and they should get to be/feel safe too? Maybe because even mild or asymptomatic COVID can still cause lasting harm and we don’t want to deal with that?

And like, yeah, it’s fairly safe to be outside without a mask for most people, especially if you’ve been vaccinated. I don’t wear a mask outside unless I’m going to be an area where there’ll be other people around and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to stay away from them. Like, walking my dog around the neighborhood where I can step off the sidewalk or cross the street if I see people? No mask. In town where there’ll be folks wandering around everywhere? Mask.

But we have a population that’s still, a year later, failing to understand that the mask needs to cover your mouth and your nose. Maybe don’t complicate things for people? Just a thought. Wear a mask.

News Roundup (4/14/21)

I got my first shot of Moderna a week ago today. I had a sore arm and some swollen lymph nodes for a couple days after the shot, no biggie.

This morning I woke up with a swollen lymph node, again. Just the one. I assume that’s either a slacker lymph node who just noticed she had work she was supposed to be doing, or an overachiever lymph node who’s still firing out antibodies like some kind of Type-A middle manager or something.

Or maybe she just got back from vacation and was all like “What the hell happened while I was gone, guys? Jesus,” and had to scramble to catch up. We all know that feel.

Anyway, some news I read this morning: