soloact

Wishing all a healthy, happy 2024. To our wids in the acute grief time makes it better. I wish you a gentle year.

I still mask up in indoor public spaces. N95 is my daily driver. I picked up a bakery order yesterday. The person who helped me told me to pull down my mask. I did not. Got my order so it's all good. Approximately 400 people die each day from Covid. It's long Covid that spooks me. Be well all.

This is a zombie thread, sorry. I did get vaxxed as all did who wanted to. I still remember the day I received an email from an area hospital where I was registered inviting me to schedule. The link opened. A schedule dropped down. I was so excited it appeared as if it was my first time using a computer. All went well. I had a mild systemic reaction after the boost dose. No reaction after the prime dose. The vax site staffers were so kind. They thanked us for visiting. I was overwhelmed. My now pcp is on the staff there. I changed. The place that did all my care never notified although I was registered for a vax. Subsequent boosters were at the pharmacy of an area supermarket. Whenever CDC says go, I do. Now I wonder when there will be another booster? mRNA boosters wane in a few months. My bivalent booster was more than six months go. N95 is my daily driver in indoor public spaces. Still a Covid virgin. Hope to continue as such. Fingers crossed. Be well everyone!

Lewis, thank you so much! What a pleasant surprise. I was using DH iPad last evening and tapped the bookmark. We're back! I'm late to the party. I was getting an error message on my devices. DH still looking out for me. I've missed this site. I've been widowed for many years but it is so good to talk with others who get it. Thank you again.

This thread recently reminded me of a sitcom in syndication that I can't stand. The Golden Girls. If the tv is on and I hear the first note of the theme song I hit any button on the remote to make it go away. Women share a house. One widow is a dingbat. Very kind but not too bright. The other is a ho. The brains of the outfit is a cynical divorcee who cannot keep her hands off her married ex husband or other people's husbands on occasion. Her widowed mother lives there too. The elderly widowed mom has good sense. The stereotype is not helpful for new wids. There are actually people IRL who subscribe to this and treat us accordingly. In the early grief I often thought there may be a website somewhere that lists fresh widows. So many creepy men approached. Other people acted as if I was drooling into a cup. The race to recouple me on an ambush basis was aggravating.

Ditto on the sappy Hallmark movies, widowed subject or not. They can give you a toothache. When I was newly widowed Hallmark did screen some worthwhile movies on the topic. This predates Crown Media's homebrew movies shown today. I can't watch anything on that channel with the exception of When Calls the Heart. That's getting boring too. Some westerns have interesting episodes on widow(ers). Usually it's a one shot deal. The town helps the widowed person and they are never seen again. At least it's not the creepy recouping topic. I agree with OP's assessment that we are not great subjects for commercial sales.

@trying2breathe, the online sign up here is not going well either. I will never understand how they expect all super seniors to use the online option. Hopefully all who want the vaccine will get it eventually. Infection rates are lower here too, now. We are finally recovering from holiday gathering numbers. Now it will be Super Bowl parties possibly running them up again. I hope not. We shall see.

Great that your mom had her first dose!. In this area only 50% of people age 80 and over have been vaccinated. Lack of vaccine is the reason given. February first people age 70 and older were up to be vaccinated. Nothing much happening as they have not started age 75+ due to vaccine shortage. Care facility residents are being vaccinated by one of the retail pharmacies at the LTC. A few day ago they reported a cold chain breach affecting four LTCs. The residents will be revaccinated. Thursday I got word from a friend that she was notified a vaccine would be available to her next week. I followed up on the particulars. She is in religious life. Her order has a relationship with the hospital that will do the vaccinations. Her order gets their health care there. I smiled. I thought it was the sisters who got things going. The sisters can get more done quickly with very little. They amaze me. They are amused when I tell them they are rockstars. I mean it from the bottom of my heart. It made me feel so good that she will be vaccinated.

@tybec, it's wonderful that you have that boost dose. Your reaction to the second dose sounds like what Dr. Fauci described after his. You are in good company. Good call to avoid peak hours in stores, restaurants etc. The variants are here so that's another concern. I was not the only kook in mask and face shield yesterday. A few people in the parking lot were loading groceries in their trunks at the same time I was. We had a quick convo calling to each other. The mask and shield does muffle speech. Store clerks were patient and kind as I spoke up and repeated when necessary. Hoping we all stay well.

I'm a little discouraged today. Our governor just hijacked vaccine doses originally scheduled for a new cohort on February 1. He is diverting doses to school staffers demanding schools open March 1. He didn't steal enough doses for all. There is not enough time to do a prime and boost dose between now and March1. He also continues to relax restrictions on bars and restaurants. He's up for re-election in 2022. The dots connect themselves. Time to mask up, grab a face shield and take my chances at the grocery store.

It's never too late to thank people for kindness. Some funeral homes include thank you notes with the materials provided after the funeral. That's how I learned that my dad forgot to send them after my mom died. I sent them at that time. Several people contacted me once they receiver the notes. People were pleased to be remembered and it was nice to hear from old friends of my parents.

tybec, happy to hear of your progress. Please post back after you get the boost dose. I'm relatively certain we will all be vaccinated eventually. Multiple registrations are required here at various providers. Walgreens, CVS, three area hospital systems and the county to my knowledge. I have registered nowhere. I'm hoping registration will eventually streamlined or more centralized.

I hope the rollout is going well in your area. It's all goofed up here. The governor has one set of priorities. The county us using the CDC guidelines but not the revised guidelines. I doubt anyone has a clue. The largest employer in this state is a hospital system. They are now accepting vaccine registrations from people age 80 and older. The only way to register is via the hospital's proprietary app. Does anyone else see possible issues with requiring people 80 and older to use an app exclusively? On two occasions I received email from the governor asking me to return to work. No way. Yesterday another email asking me to be a volunteer vaccinator. I have the skills and the time. I would be more than happy to help *if* I was vaccinated prior to beginning. It's vitally important to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible. I am not willing to put myself at risk for the opportunity to be a free nurse. Too bad bureaucrats don't live in the real world. What's happening where you live?

I'm sorry for the loss of your dad. It's always a sad thing to lose a parent. I have no wisdom to offer regarding seeing his will. Being curious about the will is not a bad thing. We just want to know some things at times of sorrow. Try not to be too hard on yourself for wanting that info. It's ok that you do. You have posed that you have no plans to make waves and you appreciate the care his wife provided for him. Once the will is filed it becomes public record in some states. Maybe someone at the probate court can advise you. Sorry for your loss.

I just hunker down as I understand that's the only way to stay healthy. Even essential errands are a risk. If this system works I will have lots of time to do other things once we are beyond the public health emergency.