Silly Site o' the Day

My arm still hurts from the flu and COVID boosters, so here's a COVID Competency Exam (via BoingBoing). I found it tough!

Three Shots, Some Waiting

We left earlier than usual to get our shopping done in both our regular supermarket and the Asian market before our noontime appointment at CVS (in the strip mall next door to the Asian place) to get our flu shots and COVID boosters. Robin checked in just fine, but there were all kinds of issues getting me checked in properly, all having to do with computer issues on CVS' end. The poor pharmacist, who I believe may have been on the spectrum, was beside himself. Plus, the place was way more crowded than in past visits; I suspect a lot of folks are rushing to get their shots as soon as they're eligible due to the Powers That Be trying their damndest to eliminate preventive healthcare. Once I was actually in their system again the shots went off without a hitch; as frustrated as the pharmacist was, that's how good he was at actually administering medicine. Now we wait for our arms to start hurting and presumably stop hurting again a few days' hence. Naturally, since I bought all sorts of Asian goodies, tomorrow's a stir fry day, but nothing else planned as we're still a bit run down from our last illness...

Silly SIte o' the Day

At my brother's request we hopped into the car again and, instead of taking it to the auto shop for needed maintenance (which I can no longer do on weekdays because it's a new fiscal year and I want to save up vacation days for actually Going Places), we chanced that it would work fine and drove out to NJ again to check in on Mom. She's still asymptomatic but we were masked the whole time, I didn't come within six feet of her except to comb her hair, we threw out our masks when we left, and when we got home I did the entire Lady MacBeth soliloquy whilst washing my hands, the way I did four years ago. We made it back before 4 PM, despite being socked by traffic going into the GW Bridge (it built up way earlier than I expected it to, which is why I dislike traveling to NJ on a Sunday), so I saw enough of the Mets game to realize they weren't going to win this one. Now back to the west coast game. It would have been nice to have seen some of these stickers during our drive:

 Via Laughing Squid.

Silly Site o' the Day

Alas, no baseball today, as all the divisional playoffs begin tomorrow. I have a busy weekend ahead, including a Sunday visit to Mom who has now contracted COVID in the rehab place where she's been staying (thankfully asymptomatic so far). Maybe now I won't be mocked as much when I wear a mask in the place. So angry at their sloppiness! Just in case people somehow believe the pandemic is completely behind us; not in NJ it isn't! I will continue to mask up on all public transit and avoid super-spreader indoor gatherings as long as I can. Yeah, I miss comic conventions. But what I really miss are comic book conventions in the Before Times when I was younger. So honestly, I miss being younger. On the other hand, there's a lot to be said for the 21st century, like caffeinated ramen available in a squeeze bottle. Why don't they show stuff like that in Netflix Korea's "Culinary Class Wars" (which we've been obsessively binging)?

Silly Site o' the Day

I'm through the busiest part of the day, biked and showered, and I'm ready to watch baseball, if I don't completely collapse first. I spent much of the morning in the reading room, something about NJ travel never quite sits right with me. But I'm sure I'll have my energy back just in time for the end of the month, especially since it looks like we can finally reopen some windows tomorrow. Once I regain my energy I'm sure I'll be champing at the bit to go out and about, despite the rising COVID numbers. Maybe I'll just walk around masked and look for radical graffiti (via BoingBoing).

Silly Site o' the Day

Well, that was an exceedingly fun Yankees game, for a change. Wish they'd done something like that when I went to see them in person earlier in the month. Aside from that, today was so quiet I fell asleep in the living room recliner at least twice. So grateful I'm working from home now so I can actually use up PTO hours (of which I always have too many) by the end of the fiscal year! I mean, with the COVID numbers rising again it's not like I'm going anywhere, certainly not with these confusing maps...

Silly Site o' the Day

After logging onto my laptop (which works fine now) to clear my inbox, I set off in our closed and air-conditioned car to pick up and deliver food to Mom in NJ. Everything went smoothly without incident. We needed masks outside, and for a time even in the car this morning as we went through the worst of the smoke and haze (and there are still wildfires in NJ as well!), but everything else was fine and we were home and exhausted around 3 PM. I logged on again to once again clear my inbox and give myself a sneak preview of what I need to do tomorrow, napped for an hour or so, then got up in time for a couple baseball games. Even with the reason being different, it was heartening to see people around our neighborhood masked up, as we've been researching as much as we can with so few people keeping track now and we've discovered the COVID transmission rates rising again. I think we'll be masked up again for Saturday's shopping trip, and I'll continue to wear them on the bus during my weekly commute. If nothing else, masks can hide monkey beards, and I think we can all agree that's a Good Thing.

Silly Site o' the Day

With my laptop shut down for the weekend, I tried not to think about the repeated crashes and, well, work in general, and concentrated on our continued out-and-about in the real world. First we saw to getting insurance of a sort at our local pharmacy, where Robin got the second of his two shingles vaccines and I scored another COVID bivalent booster (despite what these memes imply, being 65 and having "comorbidities" does sometimes have its perks). I was mostly unmasked in the pharmacy, as we kept our distance from other folks in the place, but I felt more comfortable masking in the grocery store. After that, however, we stayed unmasked for lunch at the restaurant of the woman who started Riverdale Restaurant Week. The food was tasty but I'm glad the week's over, as the coming week begins a new phase of opening up, this time commuting to the office for three days (plus two days the following week). I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, but excited at the same time.

Silly Site o' the Day

An absolutely marvelous day. We headed out to the local YM-YWHA around noon to give blood. Robin's first time and he took to it like a pro, even beat me by five minutes when I'm pretty sure I was the one stuck first. Volunteering done, we drove to our first Riverdale Restaurant Week destination, a lovely place called The Barbecue Pit from which we've ordered a lot in the past. After finding a parking spot and stopping at the establishment run by the brains behind RRW, we settled in for a maskless meal and felt perfectly safe the entire time. Yes, it helped that we were the first in and only one other couple arrived during our meal, so I like to think we're being smart about this, but still, it's a big step forward. I feel like my social life (i.e., my life actually seeing folks besides Robin in person) has begun again, and look forward to going into the office towards the end of the month. Crossing my fingers that the spring holiday break doesn't increase the transmission levels again! There were crayons on the table and Robin drew a Hulk on the writable tablecloth, which folks liked when I posted about the meal on Facebook. Here's another immensely talented Brit:

Via Laughing Squid.

Silly Site o' the Day

We did it! Now that transmission rates are far more acceptable to us than they've been in awhile, and the humidity (and some heat) from yesterday still lingers, we decided to do our grocery shopping early with our masks in our pockets instead of on our faces. In both places we visited, about an hour before our usual shopping time, I wound up donning the mask in the produce aisle then pretty much going without for the rest of the shop. At no time did we feel unsafe. Tomorrow will be a real test, as we plan on eating indoors at a restaurant for the first time in awhile to support Riverdale Restaurant Week. I tried to do that earlier this evening but my ankle (probably related to that plantar fasciitis that still crops up now and again) pretty much put paid to that walk. Still, I do consider today something of a victory, like never having gone to a prom in my youth so photos like these would be around decades later.

Silly Site o' the Day

White Rabbits and Happy New Year! Let's hope 2023 finally sees the back end of this horrid pandemic, as more and more of my friends seem to be succumbing and I'm getting so tired of avoidance strategies, not that I see much choice at the moment. I spent the day binging on streaming shows I'd been meaning to see (finally through with the Boba Fett-ish, now onto Obiwan and Andor then I'll be all caught up Star Wars-wise), reading comics, and searching in vain for the envelope where I keep my debit card receipts. I can still catch up on finances without it, but I do like knowing where things are. Ah well, I'm sure it'll turn up when I no longer require it. Also, no resolutions other than to continue trying to lead with kindness. Oh, and not to re-create movie scenes with stuff found around the house.

Silly Site o' the Day

In retrospect maybe I picked the wrong week for my dental appointment, but I wanted to use up my allotment for 2022 and I'd rather just go into the city and back home than feel weird about deciding whether to work in the office, particularly with the rising COVID numbers. Still, I could have wished for the temps to at least have reached freezing this morning. I got in early, did a bit of banking, walked down Fifth Avenue and took some holiday photos, then was able to sit in the waiting room for a half hour before my cleaning and check-up (all thumbs up). It was afterwards that did me in. I had vague plans of meeting coworker in from out of town, but she and her husband were all the way over at Hudson Yards and one of their dogs wasn't feeling well, so that left me free to either go straight home or see the tree at Rockefeller Center then walk back up to the express bus stop. I chose the unwise path and braved the horrid and unmasked Rock Center crowds, but at least I got a few more lovely photos. I was home by noon, pretty much wiped, and I've been that way ever since. Whatever low-level illness Robin and I are going through has sapped so much energy, all I feel like doing this week is sleeping. Fortunately, give or take a shopping trip tomorrow after my physical therapy, and possible sick calls to relatives in Rockland, I have no other plans for the rest of this week. I barely have the energy to go through my fake Bible quote generator...

Silly Site o' the Day

Whew, that was a day and a half! I hadn't visited Mom in a couple months, ever since my tendinitis started acting up, but now that it's well on its way to healing thanks to a good physical therapist it was time again to try the 100-miles-each-way drive. Unfortunately, I discovered too late that, when we had restored my iPhone from the cloud a couple weeks back, the music didn't transfer over. So we listened to Robin's phone music instead, and mine is now downloaded again. We also did tons of grocery shopping because I do not feel like setting foot in a supermarket next weekend, and of course had the usual lovely visit with Mom. Robin was even pleased to see more people than we'd expected masking up in the NJ supermarket. It really is almost second nature to us now, to mask up whenever we're inside or around unfamiliar folks. Not quite sure why people keep griping about keeping themselves and others safe and healthy. The only real down side is that one cannot see fancy beards and mustaches under masks.

Silly Site o' the Day

Medical appointment number two, as I opted to take the Yonkers bus one stop each way in the cold (it was free and right at the bus stop in both cases) to get the official signoff on my toe situation (all is well at last) while Robin went in the other direction to mail out our holiday cards, do a UPS return, and get me some chicken tortellini soup from our favorite Italian place down the block. Two docs down, two to go this week! It's rather exhausting, but not as tiring as commuting would have been. Lots of activity in Manhattan today, including our firm's annual holiday party which I haven't attended since the Before Times and certainly have no interest in attending with All The Things Going On now. So I stayed home except for that doctor visit, got all my work done and then some, and am warm and cozy and didn't even have to decorate my eyebrows to look like Christmas trees!

Silly Site o' the Day

My head is clearing again! I could breathe well enough to do my 2 miles on the exercise bike again, and I've just finished composing our annual holiday card insert where we sum up our lives in the previous year. Hint, we're still living in a pandemic. Aside from that, the words pretty much flowed out of me like they're supposed to, so if I keep improving over the weekend I may tackle reviews of the two Christmas Carol-related films I've recently seen, as a way of updating And You Shall Be Upheld in More Than This. (I promised last year to also include 1964's A Carol for Another Christmas but I'll need to relocate that first (last year it was on HBO so I'll go searching through their streaming service with digits crossed). It's nice to actually feel like writing again. And today's physical therapy session on my left wrist area means it might not hurt as much, especially wearing a brace. If all goes well I might even try a bit of house organizing, even though Zed's not a hoarder like these cats so his areas don't need that much maintenance except, you know, cat litter and such...

Sillly Site o' the Day

White Rabbits, and I've made it to another December! One more day until my birthday. The last of the issues with my phone and my work applications has finally been resolved, so that's a nice early present. I still can't shake this cold though, and Robin appears to have it as well. Par for the course with the changing weather. I've spent the day without socks for the first time in forever (doctor's orders), and I do miss them but at least the heat is working and my open-toed slippers are cozy. The tendonitis is still bad around my left wrist, but I'm trying to incorporate the pain into my life the way I do with so many other little aches these days. Spent a fair amount of time being wistful for England as one of my partners is traveling there on Monday; hope he doesn't get shamed by any servers. And as much as I'd like to be out and about, (1) winter is coming and (2) this little old pandemic is still very much with us...

Silly Site o' the Day

Despite the cold, we'd designated today as our Three-Supermarket Shopping expedition prior to Thanksgiving. Three places and I didn't wind up with any turkey (I had been expecting a Boar's Head at the last place). But I had lots of fun, and can't wait to try my first new recipe tomorrow! We were heartened to see almost everyone at the first supermarket (the most local one) masked up. I even wound up sneezing in mine, which wasn't fun. Darn this sudden cold snap anyway. I hope the cold goes away by my birthday in a couple weeks! With all our pre-Thanksgiving shopping now done, I can enjoy these shopping tweets much more.

Silly Site o' the Day

Another work week over! Things being what they are (i.e., we still have a pandemic that continues to affect people I know and love), I've pretty much opted out of all work-related social events this season. My left arm tendon is recovering slowly, to the point where I'm not wearing the wrist brace for most of the day any more. And the weather turned warmer so that's been nice as well, although opening the windows introduces all kinds of outside noise which isn't necessarily conducive to working. Meanwhile, Zed seems very needy the day before his birthday; if he's not careful he'll wind up looking like a dinosaur.

Silly Site o' the Day

A sure sign of the days getting shorter is my tendency to "hit a wall" pretty much right after I log off my work computer. At least I'm getting in my two miles on the exercise bike before I completely collapse. I feel like I should be going out places, particularly with this bit of warm-up in the weather, but there's still This Pandemic Thing (one of the partners I support just caught it from her husband) plus The Flu Thing, and besides, I don't want to wander into a museum and accidentally bump into an art doppelganger. So yeah, maybe at my age getting tired when the sun goes down isn't that bad a thing.

Silly Site o' the Day

Today we ventured into NJ to take Mom to a medical appointment, and it was really the wrong day to do it. My right arm around the shoulder area got worse and worse as the day wore on, to the point where even though we got home safe I'm not sure how much sleep I'm going to get tonight. I'll have to resort to ibuprofen, or whatever it is these stock photo science folks are making.