The COVID-19 coping thread

[MrLobster]

Some teachers coping... a parody of this song...

[sweeterthan]

fun update: i was told my email was disrespectful and condescending. at least i tried?

here’s what i wrote

Hey (person)

(another person) told me that you two discussed you not wearing a mask in public while you are not vaccinated for covid. I agree with her that this is not a good idea. Have you talked about this decision with your doctor? The CDC says only to go unmasked if you’re vaccinated. I know you know the importance of CDC's guidance as we have discussed it. I'm concerned about your health and safety and I know (that other person) is too. Part of being able to gather together during this weird time is taking precautions wherever we can. If you're not participating in masks or the vaccine, how are we supposed to feel safe inviting you to events with our children (and other people’s) who can’t get the vaccine?

I personally can’t wait for covid to go away and not have to deal with it anymore but we’re not there yet. I need to open this dialogue with you because its important to me that you are protecting yourself. When I texted you about my concerns at easter, you ignored me. That really hurt me because if we can’t have a dialogue, there is no understanding. Your lack of a response made me feel like you don't care about how I feel. I've been doing what I think is right for my children and our household for 15 months now. Am I being overly cautious? Maybe but when I got sick in january 2020, it was bad. I couldn't go up the stairs without struggling to breathe. I even had to have surgery on my eyelid. I'm not playing with a deadly disease if I don't have to.

I am writing to you because we love you and we don’t want you to get it. We are concerned for your safety. Covid is bad for people your age. That's why that age group was given priority access to the vaccine. (person), (person), (person), (person) and (person) and I have all been vaccinated under the emergency approval and have all been fine. The vaccine was not rushed and it was studied. (person) was actually part of the pfizer trials and she had no side effects.

Before (person) was born, I asked a bunch of people to get the TDaP vaccine, including you, so that my baby wouldn’t be exposed to whooping cough. That vaccine has long been approved, i know. But the idea is the same, safety from communicable disease. polio was virtually eradicated by vaccine. If everyone would buy into the covid vaccine, we could be rid of it too.

I definitely think you should get the vaccine. I don't know why you won’t since you haven't told me. But I will tell you before my second dose, I heard about a yoga person I follow suffering what they believe is a vaccine injury after their second dose. It sent me down the google rabbit hole and made me scared to get the second dose. I talked to Dr. G and he eased my fears. I was brave and got that second shot and I'm so glad I did. I want to be a part of the solution. I hope you will consider it.

The numbers are going down which is so exciting but people are still getting covid. (person) said a couple of employees tested positive last week and this week there are cases at (person)’s school. Covid is still out there and we still need to be cautious. Please heed the advice of the CDC and either continue to wear a mask or get that vaccine. Protect yourself. You deserve it. You are worth it.

Love you so much,
Carrie

[poinoup]

https://edmontonjournal.com/news/edmonton-pro-wrestler-in-icu-with-covid-19

This is a friend of mine from the indie feds around here I assist with. For him to get it that bad is a pure shock, and it affected him more than some of his crazy ass bumps.

[MrLobster]

https://edmontonjournal.com/news/edmonton-pro-wrestler-in-icu-with-covid-19

This is a friend of mine from the indie feds around here I assist with. For him to get it that bad is a pure shock, and it affected him more than some of his crazy ass bumps.

Oh, from The Hat are ya? *waves from Calgary*

[Jinsai]

I'm intentionally avoiding listening to this band's music because I don't want it to play into how I feel about this in any way...

I guess they're saying that if you aren't vaccinated, the show is gonna cost 1000 dollars. And I think that's fine.

https://edmontonjournal.com/news/if-...e-not-its-1000

These people making this a line-in-the-sand moment, saying that this is an example of persecution against people who either can't get vaccinated or have religious reasons... on no! You mean your religious beliefs are going to make it much more expensive to see a punk rock show? Oh dear! Oh my stars and garters!

So don't go to the show. Be honest, NOBODY who is mad about this was actually a fan of this band and was planning on going to the show. I hate this sort of thing, where people are claiming that their rights are being violated because they can't go to see some band called Teenage Bottlerocket. So sick of this shit. Just stop lying and get the vaccine or just shut up. Everyone else is sick of hearing your fucking whining. Or maybe the worst part about this is a bunch of lawyers pretending that they're speaking on behalf of butthurt Teenage Bottlerocket fans who can't get the vaccine. Just obscene. I don't think people who have a compromised immune system, who wish they could actually get the vaccine but cannot, are really bummed that now they can't go and see Teen Bottlerocket.

on some level, you just have to be offended by the blatant dishonesty.

[allegate]

[allegate]

My MIL has her Aunt visiting and it wasn't until she arrived back at her house with said Aunt that the Aunt's daughter - who's a nurse, btw! - told her "oh she may have had a small stroke". Considering how the Aunt is acting, it was not a small stroke. The daughter also got pissed because they're in a 'rural' area of Washington* and didn't want her to get the Covid vaccine but that was the first thing that the MIL did after getting her settled.

To reiterate, she's a nurse! How do you want to help people but selectively? Is this like the small-c 'christians' of the world who aren't really because they only selectively read (or believe what they're told about) the bible?

*(Wenatchee, which isn't actually that rural but the thinking there certainly is)


But the good news is my son got his second poke and he's doing alright.

[eversonpoe]

sarah's officially moving out july 9th and then i get to begin the terrifying process of finding a roommate for the first time in my life hahahahahaha

[MrLobster]

[Haysey_Draws]

I fucking miss After Hours!

[shade]

Restaurants are finally opening up here again. I think I haven't been out in 1.5 years.
What a strange feeling to be served and asked if everything was alright.
I haven't been heavily affected since I'm an introverted person and solitude isn't a big deal to me, but I really start missing live shows by now. I just want to stand in a stinky crowd, close my eyes and feel the bass vibrate through my body.
Hell, I'll take the drunks, smartphone filmers and incessant chatterers at this point.

On the bright side, with businesses opening up again the average sheep are back to their normal lives and I get the forest to myself again on evening runs. I really hated how fucking overcrowded trails have been with nothing else to do for people.

[Erneuert]

I wish I had an evening forest to go to.

[shade]

Couldn't do without. Living in a concrete cesspit is just not for me.
I'm surrounded by forest and vineyards now and it keeps me sane.

.. Are there any forests left in Australia after the 2019/2020 inferno?

[Erneuert]

haha, forgot that even happened to be honest. It was the talk of the world/nation and then not long after that Covid hit. It was like “hold my destruction beer”.

[shade]

Reminds me of this

And I somehow don't think this is over yet. I don't know what's the news in the US and down south these days, but here media and everything are celebrating summer like the end of the pandemic and "gradually going back to normalcy". ......oh wait. Should I mention there's elections in Germany in fall?

The only question I wonder about is if I'll be able to catch at least one concert before the next mutation hits.

[sweeterthan]

happy update: my family member called me and we talked. they’re afraid of the vaccine cause someone they know had issues for 2 months after receiving it. they said they will continue to wear a mask and social distance in public situations. i’m glad the lines of communication are open. Fingers crossed those numbers keep going down.

[Erneuert]

Every week I’m reading a new article about people here in Australia dying of blood clots from the AstraZeneca jab. It’s getting worrying.

[shade]

I would have passed on Astra any day, already ticked off the thrombosis on my life's shitlist and I'm not voluntarily going there again.

The current assumptions and studies are all around the molecular processes within the cell nucleus; JnJ/Astra vaccines have to be delivered to the cell nucleus first, compared to the mRNA ones, which don't have to go into the nucleus.

In a (very basic) nutshell:
You use a viral vector delivery system, in this case adenoviruses, which are DNA viruses (unlike Corona, which is an RNA virus). Within the nucleus, a process called splicing (basically cutting things out) happens. So I got my "blueprint" for the corona spike protein (again, RNA virus) paired with a adenovirus vector delivery system (again, DNA virus). RNA viruses are evolutionary not set up for these splicing events, as they do not naturally occur here.
So now arbitrary splicing events can happen during translation of this spike protein blueprint within the nucleus, leading to random, shorter protein variants, which then leave the nucleus and cause inflammation within blood vessels and can, not must, ultimately lead to blood clots.

Well, I tried. Molecular biology can go anywhere from a two sentence children's book talking about strands and scissors to a 2000 page book where you might be lucky enough to understand a section after reading it thrice.

[allegate]

edit: upon further review this is a filter. You can see it on his hair and it's an oval/circle chape. boo, hiss!

[Erneuert]

I would have passed on Astra any day, already ticked off the thrombosis on my life's shitlist and I'm not voluntarily going there again.

The current assumptions and studies are all around the molecular processes within the cell nucleus; JnJ/Astra vaccines have to be delivered to the cell nucleus first, compared to the mRNA ones, which don't have to go into the nucleus.

In a (very basic) nutshell:
You use a viral vector delivery system, in this case adenoviruses, which are DNA viruses (unlike Corona, which is an RNA virus). Within the nucleus, a process called splicing (basically cutting things out) happens. So I got my "blueprint" for the corona spike protein (again, RNA virus) paired with a adenovirus vector delivery system (again, DNA virus). RNA viruses are evolutionary not set up for these splicing events, as they do not naturally occur here.
So now arbitrary splicing events can happen during translation of this spike protein blueprint within the nucleus, leading to random, shorter protein variants, which then leave the nucleus and cause inflammation within blood vessels and can, not must, ultimately lead to blood clots.

Well, I tried. Molecular biology can go anywhere from a two sentence children's book talking about strands and scissors to a 2000 page book where you might be lucky enough to understand a section after reading it thrice.

My stomach tested positive for Adenovirus a couple of weeks ago, then I had a very positive test result for Helicobacter pylori following a breath test (had bad stomach pains). Getting a colonoscopy and endoscopy done on the 18th to make sure the latter didn’t cause a bleeding ulcer.

Oh the fun of the human body.

[ickyvicky]

good luck @Erneuert ! i'm sorry this is happening to you.

[Erneuert]

good luck @Erneuert ! i'm sorry this is happening to you.

Thanks Vicky. It’s a pain in the ass (literally).

[poinoup]

Second shot in 3 hours... let's do this!

[poinoup]

Done! 10G here we come!

[allegate]

watch out, you might become magnetic as well and you don't want to be degaussing everything.

[allegate]

[MrLobster]

[Magnetic]

Ha!
Sadly, now I talk to my plants because I'm without the dogs (they're better off with my mom).
I'm not that bad, but I talk to them when I open the blinds before I leave for work.

I'm still wondering if I can talk my boss into letting me have a small "office dog" for emotional support. He's really conservative, so I don't think it'll float.
But I would love to have a small <10 lb dog I could have with me in the apt, take with me to work. I need the companionship.

[shade]

I'm still wondering if I can talk my boss into letting me have a small "office dog" for emotional support. He's really conservative, so I don't think it'll float.
But I would love to have a small <10 lb dog I could have with me in the apt, take with me to work. I need the companionship.

I don't know what kind of person your boss is and your situation in the workplace, but if you don't try and go for it, you'll never know.
I like keeping the '10x rule' in place. Works a lot for me. Only give up on something after trying 10x. Of course don't harrass him 10 days in a row.
Sucks for you with a long distance and heavily Covid-affected relationship. Anything else for social contacts? Meet up for dinner with a coworker, friend, random phone/zoom date? Organize a digital ETS get-together?

[Magnetic]

Eh, my boss is pretty traditional, and I doubt he'll go for me having a dog in the office. It's a good daydream though.
My friendships at work are pretty good. I'll probably offer going to lunch or something with one or two. The loneliness comes and goes.