Just...................whatever

My best friend is a nurse on a covid ward, she says 90% are unvaccinated, and the other 10% are older people with chronic illnesses/obesity/smokers. She is very meh! and cool about the whole thing and keeps asking me to meet up. She doesn't seem to bother about the risks, maybe she needs that attitude to survive her job. She is just not phased and I admire that attitude, but then she doesn't suffer from anxiety or paranoia.

{{ I go for my booster tomorow- I wanted to get it before I go back to work in the hotel start of December as its been at least 6 months since my 2nd dose.
Way I see it is the risk of dying from covid may be small (but as a smoker its higher than otherwise would be) but its still there, and if I can take something which makes it a lot more unlikely I will catch it then madness not to.
Or to put this way Forest if you could take a pill or get an injection that meant you were 70% less likely to have acar crash, even though you've never had a crash before, I reckon you'd still wnt to take it (and glad you have got the vaccine).
Lifes full of ways to die, being able to cut down the likihood of any of them is probably worth it. }}

it's crazy for old folks not to get the vaccine, but the booster timing is less crucial.   I agree with Forrest that things have been a bit overblown, but basic precautions are the only intelligent thing to do up to the point where it begins interfering too much with life. People shouldn't be hiding in fear, especially with vaccines available.

Ah Petty but if the pill was offered to me by someone with a stick in one hand and a carrot in the other, you better bet my cantankerousness is going to make me tell that person to shove that pill you know where. I'm not fond of authority figures that I do not respect.

Covid fear has estranged my sister from the family, and from myself. She was already growing apart, but the pandemic accelerated things terribly. You see, she was living with her boyfriend in his mother's house. The mother is a life-long hypochondriac, so Covid was basically the peak purpose of her life. For a year my sister refused all family events and holidays on account of the mother telling her she would be booted if she did not isolate herself. (And also from not caring as much about these events anymore.)
At one point my sister had to cancel a special trip with me to see our dad in Minnesota THE NIGHT BEFORE WE FLEW OUT, as the bitch (the mom) had last minute changed her mind (probably after an especially fear-mongering bit of television) and told my sister that she wouldn't be welcome back, even if she followed precautions, quarantined for two weeks at my place before returning to the house, etc. My sister called me in tears, cried for an hour on the phone. And then having to call my dad, when he had just bought new towels for us, stocked up on groceries, and was just getting to bed so he wouldn't be too tired to come pick us up the next day... This was in January, which is a sad month to be alone in Minnesota. It's dark and cold. And then to face that kind of disappointment as well.

And then after the vaccines finally came out, she still hasn't come back to the family. Thanksgiving was today. And she didn't call or respond to any invites.
Again, she was drifting away already, but damn if Covid didn't hit at the perfect time for pushing us apart.


Oh right, so anyway, yeah better safe than sorry, certainly. And I did get the vaccine to err on the safe side. But I have no patience for Covid paranoia. I hate what it's done to my sister. And resent the loathsome influence of her boyfriend's mother.

{{ Well its understandable why you'd be inclind to think that way Forest given your family troubles. Ive not had those issues, my family has neither those who are overly paranoid refusing to go anywhere, or those who are anti-vaxxers, most of my lot just got it soon as was available no fuss. Obviously precuations are still taken, mask wearing in shops and stuff, handwashing, social distancing, opening a window indoors if theres more than a couple of folk there, but thats about the extent of it. }}

I take a bit of exception to hypochondriacs being called 'bitchy'. Its a mental illness, its not her fault and she doesn't do it deliberately. It might seem on the surface to people who don't have mental health issues that a person with hypochondria is being deliberately difficult or unreasonable, but you have to try to look at it from her perspective. Fear is fear. It is horrible that it causes rifts in families, and I understand that it has caused difficulties for other members of the family. You have to understand that a pandemic is a hypochondriacs worst fear. I should know, I am a hypochondriac, its just one part of suffering from anxiety, depression and OCD. If someone called me a bitch for having a mental illness I would think that person needs to do a bit of research and have a bit of compassion.

Don't identify with that woman. You're not the same kind of chondriac or whatever.

{{ Well Im about an hour out from getting my booster, so far so good but early days yet. }}

I am getting mine on Sunday and I really hope I don't get a fever like last time because on Tuesday I have my B1 Italian exam for citizenship. because it cost a packet. Mind you it only lasted one day, so maybe it will be over by Tuesday. I cant wait to get it done and dusted.

Oh but you'll fly through your italian exam. That's nothing for you to worry about.

yep I don't worry about the exam itself, just being zonked out and having a fever, because they measure your temperature on the way in.

Rather ironic to be tossed out because you've gotten vaccinated.

sure would be.

Well it's unlikely to last more than a day. Just get lots of sleep and drink lots of water. You'll be good!

{{ Well Im happy to report only side effects so far since I got the pfizer jab yesterday was a bit of a sore arm, nothing to write home about though. }}

Well you two have gone and done it - I had some work to do and realized I could just copy some previous work and make a few alterations, and suddenly I had a couple hours on my hands. So I went and got boosted. We've got several walk-in sites, so I was in and out in 15 minutes plus the 20 minutes each way to get there.

 cool, its important with this new variant doing the rounds.

Yeah but we don't know yet how useful it is against this new variant. It's more than just a variant, it's shaken and stirred and pasted back together.

Just got it done, sore arm but at the moment its too early to say.

It looks like I may be doing my next studying/junketing in Bonny Scotland, Edinburgh to be precise.  bloody hell! does this mean.... do I really have to drink Buckie at some stage?

Well this is dependant on me getting funding, which is about as possible as me firing myself off in a rocket to rub toes with that freak Musk, so I need to hold my horses a bit. I haven't yet heard from NY, so its too early to tell.

I predict you'll hear from NY on Dec 15.

But yeah, getting funding is a sucky, horrible process.

But we're hoping for a genuine non-native Bucky report!   (Tinuvial failed us.)

why is it December 15? is there a particular reason.

{{OOh coming to Eru's Country Figg? I shall have to try shunt through eatsward to Edinburgh to say hello. Best bring extra buckie too, not for you, ofr me to help with dealing with those bloody east coasters }}

Mrs Figg wrote:why is it December 15? is there a particular reason.  

We had a holiday on Nov 25 that are normally counted as extended until Nov 30, then Dec 15 is a nice round number that I expect they'll shoot for.