Day 19 since I was injected with the J&J vaccine

L. gets her first ‘jab’ today…

4/27/21. Tuesday.

7:15–8:15 - I set my alarm for 7:15 today, but I need transition time so I lay in bed until 7:45. I’m up and I go downstairs to say good morning to the dog.  She’s still asleep, but rolls over so I can rub her tummy three times.  She grabs a tennis ball and we go outside, but she doesn’t seem to want to go potty.  I stand around for awhile until she does her business and back inside we go – chicken for her and coffee for me.

I unload the dishwasher and return upstairs.

8:15-9:15 –I’m at 99.5 pounds today.  I drink my coffee in the shower. Lotion. Covid-19 uniform. Light make-up. I grab my lunch bag and leave for my therapy session.

9:30 – Arrive for my session and for the first time in about 10 months, my therapist and I sit across from each other, unmasked, in a contained room, where there is no circulating air and all of the windows are closed. In what I find to be passive-aggressive and a possible commentary on how my therapist views Covid-19, I want to note how my therapist never featured an econosize bottle of hand sanitizer prominently for her patients.  Of course we now know that hand sanitizer doesn’t make a difference, but it placates customers, clients, etc.  Hand sanitizer has almost taken the case of a social greeting…you know, like how you arrive somewhere…anywhere really…and put two squirts in your hand?  It doesn’t matter because I have my own, but still.

My therapist knows I’m vaccinated and that I’ve waited the appropriate time to talk to another vaccinated person (her), per CDC guidelines.  She opens up the conversation saying how great it is that I’m finally vaccinated…I don’t have to worry anymore…She says, “Don’t you feel like you can go anywhere and do anything?” No. I’m not one of those people who felt an instant sense of relief after I got the ‘jab.’ In fact, I don’t want to do anything in doors.  As usual, throughout this entire pandemic, I believe that we are opening too soon and I anticipate future outbreaks…bad ones. I’m still in shock from the death and havoc that occurred under Covid-19 and I’ve been irreparably changed. 

For example, I will never substitute-teach again which is something I planned on doing two to three times per month in retirement. I simply cannot enter a classroom with 30 to 40 little kids, breathing in their combined “respiratory plume.” Unless things have changed, teachers are still not allowed to open their classroom doors and windows in the event an “active shooter” might stick his gun in or simply walk inside the classroom. That means I would be teaching in a tin can, with 30 little kids, for 6 hours at a clip, allotting for a couple of recesses and lunch. It is too anxiety-provoking.  My subbing days are over.

Sitting across from my therapist, both of us unmasked, is also anxiety-provoking.  There is no fan going in this room!  I don’t understand it…  Also, who was here before me? Since there’s no ventilation, I’m sitting in the previous patient’s “respiratory plume.”  I don’t care if I’m vaccinated. Recall that I said in my last post there are only three ways to avoid the virus: 1) mask; 2) ventilation; 3) and remain outside.  We’re doing none of that in this room right now.  My therapist recommends doing small things that make me uncomfortable, a little bit at a time…when nothing happens and I don’t get infected, I will be emboldened to do bigger things, like maybe go to a movie.  Forget it.  Sitting across from her in session, unmasked, for 30 minutes, is the only uncomfortable act I will ever embark upon and that’s solely because I like her AND my session.

10:00 – 11:00 – Today is errand day, because I had a session today. If I’m scheduled to be out of the house, I typically run errands so I can batch-task. I leave and head to the recycling center to drop off my plastic bottles.  I double-mask even though the center is outdoors and leave $10.60 richer.

11:00-11:30 - I stop by the bowling alley to get some information on bowling leagues. On Sunday, at dinner, N., his Mom, K., me, and L. were joking about joining a bowling league and K. said the name of our team would be “3 Girls and a Gay” as N. is gay. We all laughed hysterically about it but then N. and K. seemed somewhat serious about the bowling league idea so I volunteered to get all the information. After talking to the employee, I know immediately there is no way the four of us can commit to this. It’s once a week for 15 weeks, from 7:00-9:00 p.m. AND $25 per person, every week. I don’t think so, BUT at least I got the information. I’m an “Obliger” [see Gretchen Rubin’s book, “The Four Tendencies.”]

11:30-12:00 – I have some apple slices and almond butter then go to Home Depot for potting soil and a ceramic pot for one of my plants.  Still double-masking – the garden section is outdoors.

12:00-12:30 – I grab a coffee from Starbucks using one of my gift cards. I chew on more of Sunday’s leftover pork chop while I drive around.

12:30-1:00 – I go to the 99 cent store, double masked.  I’m in-and-out as fast as possible, but while I wait in line to check out, I see masks on the end cap, being sold for 99 cents.  I flash back a year ago when there was no toilet paper and you couldn’t find a mask to save your life…literally.  Now, they’re distributed as party favors and you can buy them at the Dollar Store.  Good ol’ capitalism.

1:00-1:30 – Return home and make a poached egg on toast.

1:30 – 2:00 - L. is awake, eating lunch, and properly hydrating pursuant to what the doctors advise before you get the vaccine.

2:00 – 3:30 – L. and I leave for her Pfizer vaccination appointment at Walgreens. L. has to fill out paperwork and is asked for her insurance card, which I find odd.  I provided no proof of insurance at my vaccine appointment, nor did B.  When L. accidentally gives the Pharmacy Tech the wrong insurance card, he says he can’t find her in the system and proceeds to turn her away!  I intervene and say, “You don’t need insurance to get the vaccine!”  He replies, “We bill the insurance companies.” 

Really…how does that work, exactly?  And the insurance companies are going to reimburse the pharmacy?  I am highly suspicious of this.  L. and I are covered under an HMO…we can’t make a move without getting a referral from our PCP to see a specialist.  In other words, everything starts with the PCP…and yet…L. simply showed up at a pharmacy to get the vaccine.  I bet you anything my HMO will eventually charge L. [meaning me, since I’m the primary] because she was NOT administered the vaccine at her general practitioner’s office.  These insurance companies are so shady…I’m predicting a stupid loophole that I will eventually end up paying for.  Stay tuned. 

L. finds the correct card and all is right with the world…I mean with the Pharmacy Tech.  We sit around, waiting, until a rushed, harried, Asian female Pharmacy Tech administers the jab to L., right in front of the Walgreens “Pick Up” window, where people are waiting in line to pick up their medications. One loser, a female, has her mask crumpled in a ball, like a dirty tissue, and is holding it over her nose and mouth that way while she stands in line waiting to pick up her medication, which is right next to L. and I.  Why won’t you just wear the mask, you fucking pig?  Ripped from the headlines: L. gets the virus from a disgusting Walgreens customer, on the day she gets the vaccine!

L. says the jab didn’t hurt and after 15 minutes she is none the worse for wear.  great.  Let’s get out of here. L. puts in a mobile order at Honu Coffee and we stop there so L. can pick it up.

3:30-4:00 – Return home. L. stops by Sprouts so I can run in and buy one onion.

4:00-5:00 – I try to read Aftermath, but keep falling asleep. I force myself to stay awake and muddle through.  I don’t like this book, but it’s a fast read and I’m trying to hit my monthly quota before April ends so I stick with it.

5:00-6:00 – I don’t like eating this late in the day, but the Parmesan chicken I made several days ago is about to turn.  I have to eat it…today.  I saved a bunch of the asparagus stalks from the other day and I steam them for 20 minutes to soften them up.  I eat the asparagus with the Parmesan chicken and read a Money Diary.

6:00-7:00 – I take the dog for a walk.

7:30-9:00 – Gardening. I sweep the patio and trim numerous potted plants, as well as the plants along the walk-way in the backyard. I perform “surgery” aka a “transplant.” One of my succulents has grown to big for the tiny ceramic pot it was in and I can’t pull the plant out, so I have to break it apart. I wrap the pot in a towel, put on safety glasses, and break the pot with a hammer. I talk to the plant the entire time and explain what I’m doing because I don’t want the plant to be traumatized and think I’m intentionally hurting it. Once it’s out, I put it in the new pot I purchased today.

9:30-12:00 – I’m not doing a workout tonight because I have a bike ride scheduled for tomorrow so I spend most of the evening catching up on my blog posts.

12:00-1:00 – Kitchen duty.  I make a batch of overnight oats for tomorrow morning.  Take the dog out, lock up, and head upstairs.

1:00-1:45 – Night time routine. Bed.