Want to pretend COVID is gone? Come to Moscow!
Nobody masks here. NOBODY. It’s actually wild. It almost seems like COVID doesn’t exist here…
…Except it does. The lack of masking is quite distressing, honestly.
Anyway.
2020
I think it’s easy to forget how things were in that first year of COVID, even though it hasn’t been that long since 2020.
Or has it?
Time has no meaning anymore.
It’s also easy to forget all the non-COVID stuff that happened that year, too.
And god, that hope at the end that came with the vaccine, remember that? We should have known that would have devolved into ridiculousness with all the anti-vaxx garbage.
It’s the FIN-AL LEC-TURE (da-na-naaaa-na, da-na-na-na-naaaa)
WOO THIS SEMESTER IS OVER
Has it been an exceptionally stressful one? Yes and no. Yes because we switched from being online to in person IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEMESTER LIKE WHAT THE F and no because it wasn’t really any busier than most of my semesters.
Last semester, however, was brutal. And all the semesters since COVID have had their share of extra work. So I think I’m just really, really burnt out.
PLUS I haven’t been able to go back to Moscow since December 2019, and going down to Moscow is a very physical stress relieving activity.
So yeah. I’m glad I’m not teaching in the spring semester, ‘cause I need a few months to just chill back out and get ready for the summer and semesters beyond.
Edit: YAY A MIGRAINE WHAT A GREAT WAY TO END THE SEMESTER THANKS BRAIN OL’ BUDDY OL’ PAL
The Bridge to TeraTEETHia
(That’s a fucking horrible blog post title, sorry)
So when I had all that dental work done back in 2020 and they sawed off the outer part of that tooth and told me I needed to get the rest of it removed and a bridge put in its place, I asked them about the timeline of when that all should be done.
They said to do it within a year.
That was June (July?) 2020.
So clearly that didn’t happen, and that’s mainly because of all the COVID nonsense. Every time a wave died down, I wanted to wait a few weeks to make sure cases were SUPER LOW before going back into a place where I knew I couldn’t (for obvious reasons) wear a mask.
But each time I’d wait a little bit too long and another wave would start back up.
Now there’s omicron, and there’s no way in hell I’m going to the dentist during the omicron wave party that’s happening up here.
I don’t know what the point of mentioning that on here is, apart from maybe using it as a reminder to myself once I get these posted in, oh, late 2022 (optimistic date).
TEETH!
The buuuuuuurn
I totally have “COVID arm” from the booster shot, haha. Check it:
It looks a lot worse in person than in the picture. It’s also super hot to the touch.
But hey…beats a higher odds of getting COVID later.
Boosted!
In preparation for the upcoming semester, I got my COVID booster shot today!
After cancelling and re-booking my appointment like twenty times (just like I said I’d do), I got a good appointment time this morning at the pharmacy just across the street. Which is great, because it’s still too freaking cold to walk anywhere else.
I wonder what side effects I’ll have this time, haha. I guess we’ll see!
OH GOD IT’S BOOSTER SHOT TIME BITCHES
So we’re behind the US in terms of the booster shot timeline, but I saw on Twitter this morning that they’ve JUST opened up booster appointments for my age group. Got in the queue as soon as I could to try to get the optimal appointment time and location and managed to get something relatively close (a mile or so) in January.
We have a pharmacy right across the street, though, that apparently administers the shot; that location would be a LOT more convenient since it’s supposed to stay obscenely cold well into January.
I’ll probably do like I did for my first two shots and end up changing my time and location about 20 times before settling on something.
WOO!
Online?
Ooooooooh so we just got an email saying that the remainder of this semester’s final exams will all be converted to online delivery. I think there was a COVID case in a big chem final room and now everyone’s freaking out because it’s probably omicron and super-spreadable.
I wonder what this means for next semester?
OH THE FUN ROLLERCOASTER OF COVID AT UNIVERSITY, AMIRITE????
??
?
WTF IS OMICRON, NOW???
Bro, I SWEAR TO GOD if this new omicron variant cause things to regress back to where we were in the previous wave, I’m going to lose my mind. I’m so sick of this nonsense.
Edit from January: well, this escalated.
Flu in a Bog
So remember that day last month when Nate and I were certain we had COVID but both tested negative and “got over it” in like seven hours?
That’s because we didn’t have COVID.
We were idiots who left our humidifier half-full of water over the scorching summer, didn’t clean it, and then started running it that day. Nate actually suspected that the humidifier was the cause because that was the only thing that both of us were exposed to and the only thing that had been “different” over the past several days, but this was confirmed today when, after being stupid and running the humidifier again, I felt the same sort of awfulness I felt that day (Nate was feeling a little crappy as well, but I sit much closer to the humidifier all day than he does, so I get more exposure).
Supah fun.
At least that makes us more confident that we actually didn’t have COVID.
So hey… (part 2)
THANK GOD
Nate is negative, too.
But I have NO IDEA what that was. It felt EXACTLY like the post-second-COVID-shot night.
Beh.
So hey…
I might have COVID.
Last night while Nate was getting ready for bed, I noticed that I was feeling kind of cold. Cold enough to start shivering a little. That’s not too unusual; I am a lizard, as you know, and sometimes I get cold enough just sitting in our 73 degree house to start to shiver.
But then I noticed that the shivering was getting worse.
And then I took my temperature and found that I had a fever.
And when was the last time I had uncontrollable shivering and a fever? Right after I got my second COVID shot.
And considering that I don’t recall ever feeling that exact way at any other point in my life, I was sure it was COVID.
I told Nate all this and he said that he’d been feeling kind of crappy, too, so we were like ALL RIGHT, FREAKING AWESOME, WE PROBABLY HAVE COVID. He went to bed and I crashed on the couch, feeling just as miserable as I did after my first COVID shot (well, without the muscle soreness, except for the soreness in my rib muscles due to the uncontrollable shivering).
This morning I was feeling a LOT better, but I emailed the Department Head and told him what was going on and said that I would have to teach my calculus class from home tomorrow – which was fine.
Then later, Nate and I drove to a testing site and got COVID tested. Now we have to wait and see what the test results will be.
I’m not optimistic.
[Edit: we did not, in fact, have COVID. We’re just dumb regarding our humidifier and aerosoling mold into our lungs. See future blogs for details.]
GOOD JOB, ALBERTA
This freaking province, man.
We’re not even the most populous asldfjweurdfhlsdfhssd.
Nerves
I’m so nervous about having to go back in person for teaching, yo. I’m not ready for it. COVID is still EVERYWHERE and even if there is a mask mandate campus-wide, there’s still that risk.
I haven’t been around that many people since we ended in-person classes back in March 2020, so the thought of just being in those hallways is…scary.
Remember
Remember when people actually cared?
For like…six months?
I don’t feel like this virus is going anywhere anytime soon, but I think people will get more and more polarized by it and the government’s response to it.
(Edit from late 2023: LOL YUP)
WELL, THERE WERE SIDE EFFECTS
So unlike the first COVID shot where I had basically no side effects, I definitely had some after the second shot.
Let’s rewind to yesterday. I was actually feeling fine for several hours after I got the shot. I walked home without incident (though my arm was just a little bit sore by the time I got back), cleaned the kitchen a little bit, did dishes, went grocery shopping, all that fun stuff.
Normal.
But then around 9:00-ish or so, I started to feel a little off. All my muscles started to get really sore. Then they all started to feel like they were on fire. Nate and I played a Jeopardy! on the couch and I was having trouble concentrating because ALL MUSCLES WERE BURNING.
Then I started to feel cold.
Really cold.
Like, I’m always kinda cold because I’m basically a lizard with poor blood circulation, but I could NOT get warm. Despite the fact that this was one of the warmer days we’ve had this summer so far, I had to huddle under my heavy blanket on the other couch and even then I was shivering uncontrollably.
I fell asleep under the blanket for a good while and when Nate finally woke me up I guess I was super hot. I have a very vague memory of giving Jazzy her night meds and saying goodnight to Nate and then sitting at my computer and just staring at the screen for like three hours. I took my temperature and it was 103, which is well above my usual temp of 96.
Eventually I made it to bed (somehow) and when I woke up this morning I was feeling a lot better. My muscles were still a little sore, but not nearly as sore as yesterday. And instead of being smart and taking it easy by doing my walk on the treadmill in case I started feeling worse, I decided to be the idiot that I usually am and went running instead. It was probably one of the hardest runs I’ve ever had and my legs were SUPER SORE afterward, but mileage comes first.
Anyway. Party hard. Apart from my throbbing legs, I still feel a lot better than yesterday.
Shot: Part II
So today I walked downtown to get my second COVID shot!
Annnnd…done!
I’m not feeling anything yet, so hopefully any side effects I eventually get (if I get them) won’t be too bad.
Yay science!
JABBY JABBY PART II: MODERNA’S REVENGE
So guess who’s suddenly eligible to sign up for their second COVID shot?
THIS LOSER RIGHT HERE!
Time to get in the virtual queue….
…oh. Okay, so time to sit in the virtual queue for three hours.
Edit: Booked!
GET IT, CANADA
Go, Canada, go!
We got off to a very slow start up here, but things ramped up quickly. Now we’re one of the top countries when it comes to the percent of the population with at least one shot. Hopefully our rate of second shots will start increasing at the same rate.
WOO THERE MIGHT BE HOPE FOR THE FUTURE YET
More Vaccine Humor
Because it’s fun.
I got Moderna and I haven’t been murdered…yet.
Maybe that comes with the second shot.
[Edit from the future: OH MY GOD IT DOES]
SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOT-SHOT-SHOTS (errrrrrybody!)
I got my first COVID shot today!
It was at the little clinic in Brentwood Mall right behind campus. I got Moderna. It’s pretty late at night and I honestly haven’t felt any side effects at all. Nate had a few and I was expecting at least a headache and maybe some tiredness, but nope.
I AM JESUS
[Edit from the future: HAHAHA WAIT UNTIL YOU GET THE SECOND SHOT YOU POSER]
An Eventful Day
So there was a lot of stuff going on today! Let’s run through it.
First, today was the first day where I felt like it was light enough to get up early (5:30-ish) and run in the morning rather than the afternoon. I’ll have to start doing this in earnest next week, since running before class will be a necessity as it gets warmer.
Second, COVID vaccination registration opened up for the 30+ crowd today at 8 AM, so while Nate and I were sitting in the car during Jazzy’s vet appointment (to check her eye pressure – it’s still in the normal range!) I decided to get in the queue to pick an appointment time. And the number of people waiting in line ahead of me?
But I actually had to wait less than the estimated time and got an appointment for May 20. WOO!
And finally: a new Coldplay song? LET’S GOOOOO!
GOD, his voice…
UGH FREAKING PEOPLE SLJFLSAKGFJALSGHFLAG
So Alberta’s going back to the Phase 1 restrictions because people suck and can’t follow the rules and now variant cases are making up like 60% of our new daily cases (which have risen back to the ~1,000 per day level).
I just want to see my mom. It’s been FIFTEEN MONTHS.
I hate everyone.
Eigenblogger 