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Covid-19 Discussion

Still waiting in MA - My sister is a NP at Mass General and has received both doses, as those people should. They're still doing the 75 and up people.
About a week ago they admitted the 65 + group with at least 2 medical issues to get the shot (I'm "lucky" to be a part of that group).

The web site crashed instantly and still is DOA. One year to plan and that's the result...

Mass General sent me an E-Mail indicating that they would start the process of vaccinating my group on 3-1-2021 (tommorow).
The lady that works with me is a patient of Leahey / Brigham & Women's /Beth Israel and already got her first shot. A friend who is 65 +
lives in town and got his first shot at the town youth center.

That's a snap shot of the roll out in MA from my perspective.
 
The FL roll-out is going fairly well considering that it has never happened before in modern times.

FL went for the senior citizens first, and that is the market I play for. Some of the people that cancelled this winter have already booked me for early 2022. Since I haven't had a gig in 11 months, having something in the future is great!

Notes
 
Our dentist got COVID-19. He had only one symptom, he woke up and couldn't breathe. Three weeks later he got out of the hospital, and a few weeks after that he returned to work on a limited basis.

I've known him for over 30 years. He also plays trombone, plus he hired us for his daughter's wedding, and a few times for other parties, and he is a really nice guy. He is still having trouble breathing.

Be careful out there, you don't want anything that will compromise your lungs and of course, you don't want anything worse than that either.

Leilani and I got very aggressive when they announced vaccines were available for our group. Many bouts of
||: call | busy signal | redial :|| (repeat until answered)
The first two hospitals were full already, the third gave us appointments. We had to drive 20 miles each way, get there by 6:15AM, and pass one of the 'full' hospitals, but it was worth it. A month later we got the second shot.

Today for the first time in a year, we went out to eat, at a locally owned restaurant with outdoor seating. We met a friend who has also been vaccinated, and for a few hours it almost seemed normal. We monopolized the waitresses table for about 2 hours, and knowing that's how she makes her living, we left her an appropriate tip, in cash (just in case the house takes a cut of their tips).

This month marks one year since our last gig, but we are starting to get gigs for the 2021/2022 winter tourist season. Things are looking up.

Insights and incites by Notes
 
My wife got her second shot a week ago, so she has one more week and then she'll be at 95%.

At least the county I'm in (Maricopa) has shifted to 55+ for vaccinations. I'm happy about that. AZ has been hit pretty hard by Covid.
 
Still waiting in MA - My sister is a NP at Mass General and has received both doses, as those people should. They're still doing the 75 and up people.
About a week ago they admitted the 65 + group with at least 2 medical issues to get the shot (I'm "lucky" to be a part of that group).

The web site crashed instantly and still is DOA. One year to plan and that's the result...

Mass General sent me an E-Mail indicating that they would start the process of vaccinating my group on 3-1-2021 (tommorow).
The lady that works with me is a patient of Leahey / Brigham & Women's /Beth Israel and already got her first shot. A friend who is 65 +
lives in town and got his first shot at the town youth center.

That's a snap shot of the roll out in MA from my perspective.
My wife has two health issues so she was scheduled for (and received) her first shot (Pfizer) last week. Her second will be in 2 weeks.
She is a school teacher who has been teaching "remote" thus far this year but recently the Governor decreed that all public schools go back into full-time session in April. The gov recently added school teachers to the list of eligible vaccinees(?). What a coincidence.

I went on the state website last Thursday and got scheduled for my first shot during this upcoming week.

**a note in MA; I went on the site this past Thursday morning (7:30am), got in the que, and was able to schedule at about 8:15am....
you will need the following: take a picture of BOTH sides of your insurance card plus your driver's license and have them on/in-you-computer ready to upload.......... Once you que up you'll have 10 minutes to complete the scheduling....
Go on the state site, pick a location and see what times are available.
 
I get a shot next Friday, hafta travel 40 miles one way to get there. Been working on this for weeks. Suzy isn't eligible yet in our state. Gotta say, there is some relief in getting that scheduled. The brand will depend upon what they have when I get there. Crossing my fingers for J&J.
 
Thanks for the info Mike M. I was reading your post this AM when my phone dinged with a text message from Mass General.
I have an appointment for Tuesday AM to get the shot. Mass General has all my insurance info, so just a quick form to fill out.

It's at a location about 1/2 hour drive. My sister tells me that it will be J&J. I do inspections for insurance companies and go into homes & businesses, sometimes with residents close to me and unmasked. I have been in 2 homes (that I know of) where the residents later came down with Covid.

Gandalfe, why do you prefer J & J? I'd rather have one of the other 2 that are more effective, but I'm glad to have the J&J.
 
I got Moderna shots, and don't know if that was the best one to get or not. I figured the best one was the first one offered and didn't even ask when I made my appointment.

A couple of weeks after your second jab, life is calmer. Of course, we still practice all the safety requirements the WHO and CDC recommend, but just knowing we have a greatly reduced risk of getting COVID-19 and if we do, it'll probably be a mild case takes a lot of the concern out of going out and doing what you have to do.

We still wear masks, wash hands, avoid high traffic non-ventilated areas like gyms and indoor restaurants, bring alcohol and/or hand sanitizer with us for when we can't wash, and schedule necessary things like grocery shopping for hours when the stores aren't crowded.

We have some future bookings for the 2021/2022 winter season, so things are looking up.

Notes ♫
 
Gandalfe, why do you prefer J & J? I'd rather have one of the other 2 that are more effective, but I'm glad to have the J&J.

Only one shot so that I can make the 5 April practice of one of my bands. We have a gig coming up in July. Good money too. But I'll take anything they have.
 
Argh, so amazing times to live through. Gives me a fresh perspective on the Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times" or words to that effect. I normally have 4 to 5 band thangs a week. All are canceled here at ground zero in the US, Snohomish/King county in Washington state. I've been seeing band mates complaining about being bored and I'm like I have so many projects to do around the house, how could anyone be bored? One of my groups is passing recordings around to dub and get up on our web site. Time to clean up our examples of why you might want to hire us said the leader. Here's hopin y'all are well and making ends meet.

I have been hearing about "The Bands" using multiples of these individual tents
1616011873315.png


 
↑ ↑ ↑ That should be banned :D

______________________________________________________

Today marks the one-year anniversary of my last gig.

I'm not complaining. I've read so many accounts of permanent lung damage, and I make my living with my lungs, I figure that it's better to be unemployed than it is to be breathing hard, without a mask, in a room full of potential COVID-19 carriers.

My mortgage is paid, I have a part-time business writing aftermarket styles for Band-in-a-Box, my wife and I get along so well that 24/7 isn't enough time to be together. I can wait this thing out.

We're learning new songs, I'm making new backing tracks, we're playing games, we're reading books, and we haven't the time to be bored.

I live in a small house on a half acre on a dead end street near the water. I planted over 30 trees on the lot, so its shady, the windows are open almost all year, and the fresh air comes in. It's a good place to be holed up.

We miss gigging, going to a nice restaurant, and travelling to foreign lands on our annual vacation, but we are determined to do what we need to do in order to get to the other side of this pandemic healthy. Without your health, you have nothing, and there is no Ctrl+Z on the event where you may have caught the plague.

Insights and incites by Notes ♫
 
As of this year, no mortgage, no car payments, no credit card debt and no job, just social security X2 and my military pension to carry us through. The stimulus checks go to the local food bank. We are setting up two raised bed gardens 'cuz the community garden has Suzy in pain because of her hip stuff. The postage stamp backyard has seven chickens and some nice indigenous flowers and grasses. We back up to a Natural Growth Protection Area which in this case is a lovely meadow.

We have a gig scheduled for the end of July and practices start up in April but I don't have my second shot yet. Suzy is too young to be eligible for shots yet. May 1 I guess. Because they are saying I could give covid to my wife, I can't go out until she gets her shots. :(
 
I'd love to start a garden, but I live on a 32' ancient sand dune (I call it The Florida Alps) that is composed of sugar sand. It's sterile silica.

No food crop will grow here without intensive fertilization and watering.

Downhill is the Indian River Lagoon, which is in trouble. So much so that there is a fertilizer ban for all summer long. Other than some compost that I make from veggie waste and garden clippings, I don't fertilize at all. The Indian River Keeper says compost is OK, and he also said my yard is the ideal yard for the health of the lagoon.

The lagoon is a fish estuary, so I do nothing to pollute it. The trees and other plants are mostly natives and a few non-native, non-invasive plants that thrive here. They are all xeriscape plants. Once established they get no water except for what mother nature provides.

It takes about 3 years of trickle watering to get a tree established here. Starting every other day and tapering off little by little judging on the rain and the way the leaves look. Once the trees got established, they create shade and leaf litter which feeds the ferns, but it's too shady to grow crops.

So if I can't feed me, I decided to feed the squirrels and pollinators. A dozen Live Oak trees, a trio of Royal Poincianas feed the squirrels and the native Honeysuckle, various Jasmines, Sabal Palms and Ixoras feed the bees, wasps and butterflies. Something eats the Sea Grapes, but I've never seen what does. The pollinators like it though. I planted one Neem tree, but it has never born fruit. Perhaps some day. The Gumbo Limbo trees as far as I know don't feed anything. I've seen them flower, but the seeds must be tiny.

I planted ferns under the trees, and the back of the lot is a native meadow. The only thing I mow is a few feet around the house and the 300' road right-of-way. I use a push propelled rotary mower.

Not only is it good for the health of the lagoon, but my maintenance time is very low and not very labor-intensive. That gives me more time to make music.

My next door neighbor fishes a lot and shares the catch, so my care for the estuary is probably helping us out.

Back on topic. I've got some reservations for the 2021/2022 winter season and 6 definite gigs so far. So there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Insights and incites by Notes ♫
 
I'm a little envious of people that were allowed to stay home with pay and job intact and do whatever they wanted. I already work from home, so there really wasn't much of a change for me.

One of my colleagues is currently in quarantine because his sister tested positive. He's had both the short and long COVID tests and he's currently OK. His father went for testing and was sent directly to the hospital.

While I'd often visit my sister and mom if they didn't live 2,600 miles away from me, my colleague's sister and father were around because my colleague's mother died about 10 days ago.

All of these are more reasons I'm not terribly envious.
 
I'm a little envious of people who still have jobs ;)

I've been unemployed for one year and 5 days now. I'm not complaining, it's better than getting COVID-19, but I sure miss gigging. I don't miss schlepping the gear though :D

Insights and incites by Notes
 
I'll definitely feel a bit less anxious. It'll lower my stress level when I go grocery shopping.
 
It's been 4+ weeks since I got the J & J. My wife got a Pfizer jab yesterday and will receive her second on 5-1-21.
Just in time, as we are getting on an air plane on May 15. I planned the trip in November of last year, figuring that things would be under control by May.

I bought cancellation insurance though, just in case!
 
I'll definitely feel a bit less anxious. It'll lower my stress level when I go grocery shopping.
Most definitely.

I'm on the careful side. I go grocery shopping early weekday mornings when the stores aren't crowded. I have a 3 layer mask that has a pocket for a filter. I buy enough for 2 weeks or more and I have lots of hand sanitizer.

I don't go anywhere that I don't have to go, especially if it is indoors.

My brother-in-law is a world-famous doctor among other doctors, and I've heard stories about survivor's lungs where the tissues have fused together limiting the capacity to oxygenate the body. He said they probably will never heal. He also said even some with mild symptoms end up with severe organ damage.

I use my lungs to make a living (sax, flute, wind synth, and voice) and even if I didn't, I rather like my lungs and don't want them damaged.

So my non-medical advice is get your shots, but don't change your self-preservation habits until it's all over.

Notes
 
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