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It’s here
Omicron has now been confirmed to be in Western Australia. I should clarify and say it’s now in the community because I suspect many of the positive cases coming from elsewhere have been omicron already. But those people have been in quarantine or isolation. But now it’s in the community I am curious to see how things play out. We are back to wearing masks here, which I don’t have a problem with. It’s more just getting used to doing so right now. Our borders are still set to open on February 5th so I guess this will just get us ready. One thing I liked that our premier did on that announcement is his acknowledgment of concerns from those who are immuno-compromised. But even so, our hospital system is in terrible shape so I really hope the local spread is kept controlled. But I just don’t see it happening based on what I’ve seen in other states. Even those with better control measures are struggling with high numbers.
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Boosted
It’s been five months since I got my second COVID shot and the current guidelines say to get a booster at four now. So yesterday I walked into a public clinic to get mine. Except they changed it to only bookings and I couldn’t walk in after all. I returned home, set up an account, and booked for my booster. I ended up at a different location as the one near me didn’t have appointments available the same day. I was going shopping and it happened there is a clinic in the same shopping center. So I planned it for my shopping trip. Except when I got there I couldn’t find the clinic and walked up and down and finally called a phone number listed. Just as I was finally getting through menus, I walked outside and found the clinic. That was the only issue I had with getting my booster. Everything else went smoothly.
I got the Pfizer shot this time, a change from Astra Zeneca which I had previously. With dose one, I had arm soreness develop, and that lasted a week or so. The second dose I barely felt it go in and had no side effects at all. This time, I had nothing last night but my arm is sore today. So it’s mostly typical for a vaccination for me.
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The bubble
For some time, our state has been a rather relaxed and peaceful bubble within the world of COVID-19. We’ve only worn masks for short periods of time and life was mostly returned to normal, aside from the fact we couldn’t travel. The restrictions on travel did relax domestically but with the most recent variant, we are again way outside the rest of the world. We do have some local cases right now but they all seem to be from the delta variant. It’s been a weird situation all along but now that our borders are due to open to international travel, the idea of going out into the world feels rather terrifying. I’m curious to see how omicron goes once it gets here because it’s been crazy through the rest of the country.
On a related note, I am furious that Novak Djokovic has gotten an exemption from the vaccine so he can enter Australia and play in the Australian Open later this month. I’ve never been fond of him as a player before but I really dislike him a lot now. I rather imagine he will get an icy reception here. On my part, I really hope he gets knocked out in the first round.
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Opening borders
It’s been a long time coming but Western Australia’s borders are opening up on February 5th. The announcement came yesterday just as we reached 80% double vaccination in the state. This means I can go overseas and avoid hotel quarantine when I return. It’s a relief to have a date in sight and now I can look at possible travel for next year. It’s going to be a bit strange at first as COVID will actually be in circulation in the community once we open. Apparently, our state has only had one death from COVID-19, according to what I heard at the press conference yesterday. The premier claims our hospital system is prepared but I’m not totally convinced. However, we should be at or near 90% vaccination by then, and hopefully, that means fewer patients from COVID requiring beds. This is in a state where ramping (leaving patients on beds awaiting treatment) is widespread right now, often for hours.
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A few things
Just a little update from my last post. I’ve been going to the gym for over a week now. In fact, I went eight days straight with no break. Yesterday I didn’t go because I had a clinical pilates class with the physiotherapist and tai chi on. I’m glad I missed it yesterday because my muscles were pretty weary by the time I did the pilates and 1.5 hours of tai chi (which includes fan class). Today I took the day off from exercise and tomorrow I go back and do my weights routine. I’m trying to make that an every third day routine with cardio workouts the other days. I do the pilates every second week as it’s expensive but helpful and my insurance ran out on it months ago and the tai chi is only during school terms (two-week break coming up). I’m hoping to do a bit of swimming instead of the cardio soon.
My dad is doing well at the moment. He had his 80th birthday on Sunday and it was a low-key kind of day. He started occupational therapy on Monday and today he starts his speech (moved up a couple of times). The speech is what he needs most as he struggles to communicate. That said, he’s much improved since just after his stroke.
I finally contacted the clinic where I was referred to about osteoporosis and it turns out I just have to wait to hear from them. This is part of the public hospital system and they send out appointments. I’m hoping I don’t have a long wait and I hope I get an appointment time that can fit into my work schedule. I am a bit embarrassed to say I had a bit of an accident at the gym on the weekend when I stepped off a machine and tripped over the one next to it. I had forgotten how far off the ground it was and my balance was way off…and this is the sort of thing I need to be careful about with my bone health. I’ve got a bit of a bruise on my shin now but it’s nothing terrible.
I managed to move up the boys’ Covid vaccinations by a couple of weeks by getting appointments at the gp office. Previously I couldn’t book them in as the allowance didn’t cover their age group yet. But yesterday I checked and was able to get them set up and then I cancelled the other ones. This will be a lot more convenient and easier for the boys too.
I’m trying to decide whether to upgrade my phone now that the new iPhones are coming out. I’m a bit annoyed they haven’t brought back the fingerprint scan as the face login doesn’t work in the dark and with a mask on (I can overcome the mask issue with my watch though). It’s not that I don’t like the face login but it’s not really enough on its own. That might be a deal-breaker as this was something that has been mentioned as a change. My phone is only two years old so it’s not an immediate need. I am, however, considering the new Apple Watch since it’s supposed to be a major update this year.
I didn’t mention this earlier but we got a Roborock vacuum a couple of months ago and the Scientist takes great delight in it. He had a great time programming it to vacuum in certain rooms. It’s not set up to clean the entire house but it is taking care of several rooms now. The only snag is the fact our carpet is really old and it keeps unravelling so that the vacuum gets caught in it regularly.
Well this ended up longer than I expected…
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Nearly normal
Our lockdown finished over a week ago, then we had some restrictions, including wearing a mask, until Sunday. Amazingly we had no new cases of community transmission here and so life returned to nearly normal on Sunday. Mask-wearing was annoying at times but we made it through that short period. I feel I can’t complain about it since we’ve only had a tiny taste of what most of the rest of the world has dealt with.
The Scientist and I went off to a local market/food fair for lunch on Sunday. It was pretty busy but our timing seemed to work out well since the event started in early morning and the stalls weren’t particularly crowded. It was a good thing as it was really hot and steamy during the day. We got our food and found a shady place to sit on the grass and eat our yummy foods. Afterwards, we walked around the stalls, bought a plant in a handmade pot, bought some brownies and fudge and then I got a really delicious smoothie that had raspberry, banana, mango and several other nice ingredients. It wasn’t sweet at all and was really refreshing on a stinky hot day.
Later we went home where I finally had to wake up Lego Lover to go out. He’d asked the night before and I said possibly okay. We went to a shopping center that is about half an hour away. I like the fact this place has five or six bubble tea places. I also hate making decisions on where to get a drink, lol. We walked up and down the place and stopped in the usual spots. We stopped at Nando’s to get him some lunch since he didn’t have time to eat before we left. It was super crowded at the shopping center so we were both relieved to get out soon afterwards. There was a stop at a toy store that has taken the space left from Toys R Us and then we headed home. On the way there and back we listened to the No Such Thing as a Fish podcast which we enjoy and learn a lot from.
We arrived home and there was still Game Fanatic to feed. There’s a shop where we used to go regularly for charcoal chicken and then it suddenly changed to a kebab shop. Then months later it added the chicken back in. So we went there and again they are only doing the kebabs. I think that one is a lost cause. Then we thought to go to the fish and chip shop but we wanted to watch the latest Wandavision episode first. So we did that and pondered on various parts of this week’s show before heading to the fish and chip place. Which was closed for the upteenth time. We nearly came home when the Scientist thought of a Thai restaurant we recently discovered and liked. It was a bit out of the way but surely was open.
And that’s how we found ourselves sitting in a park, next to the little strip where the Thai place exists. We had a half hour wait for our order and we’d wandered around the playground and tried out the swings. I tried to take a photo of the Scientist but the growing darkness and the movement meant it was all a blur and it wasn’t an aesthetically appealing one. We laughed at the notion that some would claim it was a ghost if they saw it. :D
We eventually sat on a park bench and took photos of each other and then of both of us together. He has a Samsung Note and I have an iPhone so we have mostly different apps for photography. After several false starts we both got a couple of decent shots. It just happened that a car’s headlights were on in one of mine, which lit his hair from behind and caused a bit of a glow. And overall we both looked decent. I found most of my other ones had me and/or him with closed eyes. Anyway, we had such a nice time for such a simple thing as waiting for take away order. And that was the highlight of my Valentine’s Day.
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Strange times
We’ve just finished one month of 2021 and it feels as though the world is less stable than ever. For the first time in a little less than ten months, we had a case of community transmission here. Within hours we were in a hard lockdown. We spent late Sunday afternoon rushing to get requirements before the shops closed. It was not a pleasant experience.
We didn’t hear about the lockdown until well after the announcement when a family member sent a message about it. We’d been watching tennis on the tv but no news was broadcast about it. Lockdown began a t 6pm Sunday and it finishes at 6pm today.
For the first time we needed masks and they were nowhere to be found. Well that’s not really true because I found some at my favorite tea shop. The owner had sold them last year so we went there on the chance he might have them and he did. He wasn’t selling but was happy to share his supply with us and we got a handful of disposable masks, and that ensured we were covered until we could get cloth ones.
There was another run on toilet paper and I saw a couple people with several packs in their trolleys at the grocery store. The Scientist went in and managed to get a massive pack that was left. Not the brand we like but it is better than nothing since our supply had dwindled to the end. I’ve been doing better at keeping stock but admit I missed this time. Lucky we got in in time. There was also a run on meat and milk but we were fine in that area until we needed it.
I must admit that wearing a mask has been a novel experience. I knew there would likely be issues, especially with my glasses and now I have a better idea of it. I ordered cloth masks from Amazon on Sunday night, mostly as I knew there was a better chance of them arriving more quickly than just about any other place. I got two with filters included and they arrived earlier than expected on Wednesday. For the most part mine is quite okay but it is difficult wearing it for long periods of time. Yesterday another order arrived with three more masks. These aren’t as nice as there’s not filter but they should work for the boys should they go out. The last one will got to an outside family member.
Work has been a bit off kilter this week. My long time client is staying with family and I only supported him briefly this week. Another client has quite different needs and I did provide support but not for the usual time frames.
The state government implemented contact tracing through an app and qr codes back in December. This enabled them to narrow down all the places where the case had been, and people have been testing in large numbers through the week. So far, no new cases have been found so our hard lockdown will end tonight at 6pm. We will have to continue to wear masks and follow some restrictions until 12:01am on February 14th when it will be two weeks since the previous case turned up.
Meanwhile, a major bushfire started on Monday and has been ever present in our lives all week. So far 81 homes have been lost and the fire is still not contained. It’s been super windy here much of the week which is hampering efforts to bring it under control. Tuesday was one of the worst days when we woke to ash falling from the sky throughout the Perth area. We don’t live that close but also not that far from the fire and we ended up in the lowest alert zone for a couple of days. Today we have been moved out of that zone so can relax a bit more. The danger for us was more about embers travelling from afar. In all the years living here, we’ve never been in that blue emergency zone before. So while we weren’t in immediate danger, we were in an area where we needed to be on alert for sudden changes to our safety.
It was quite eerie on Tuesday afternoon when an ice cream truck was moving up and down streets nearby. I haven’t noticed it around much lately although maybe I tuned it out before. But still it was almost creepy to hear it moving along when everything was so still and quiet. Not to mention yellow and grey skies about. We couldn’t run our air conditioner due to the smoke and ash so we spent much of the day without air flow. I went out to the hardware stores and got an industrial sized fan to help and that worked well until temperatures dropped later in the day. Also there was a fire reported in our suburb that day and it was quite worrying until I later learned it was a garbage truck that had caught fire. That was handled quickly and the danger was passed easily.
I went out walking last night for the first time in ages. The winds have been gusting so I decided not to try my bicycle. I’d taken it out on Monday and there were a few places where I felt really unsteady. Not to mention I didn’t want to go too far from home and that’s easy to do on bike. My walk was okay aside from the wind slamming into my face. I didn’t walk all that fast but I think that was okay because most of my exercise has been on bike lately and I needed lower impact this time. I had to stop as parcel lockers to pick up the second order of masks along the way and just managed to get home a few minutes before my hour was up.
While all this has been going on, the northern part of the state has been dealing with a cyclone for a few days. There’s been rain and flooding in some areas, which I think is connected. Those rains should be moving into our area this weekend and hopefully the rains will help with containing the fires nearby. We also have cooler temperatures right now, so I hope that will improve the ability to get things under control.
And so our new year carries on, with all sorts of news to keep us on our toes.
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Phew!
Like much of the world, the election has caused a lot of anxiety and stress, particularly over the past week. First of all, my ballot never arrived so my vote won’t be counted. My thoughts about this are that the post office didn’t process the mail properly the second time due to there already being a postmark on it. I could be wrong about it and perhaps my ballot is still somewhere in the postal pathways. Or maybe it’s also gone into the ether. LOL
My heart sank when I saw that Biden didn’t get a landslide win. This causes me more despair than before because the president still isn’t seen for what he is: an ugly person who has used the office to sow discord and hate amongst the public and to line his pockets. Among many things. Most of my family still voted for him and still overwhelmingly support him. After all, the MSM is all fake news and all…sigh.
But early Sunday morning, before I went to bed, I heard that it was official that Biden won. I was elated and days later I am still feeling elated. I still have that anxiety about the rest but at the least the current president is going to be out. I just hope any investigations/lawsuits don’t go all that far.
I will never say Biden would have been my first choice for President. But overall he’s a decent man and I trust him to consider all the people not just those that bow down to him.
I am now thinking about what I will use for my profile image on Facebook on inauguration day. It’s been nearly four years using a black background and I want to come back with a bit of a splash. These next couple of months are going to be slow for me.
Already I have heard Biden speak and it is so refreshing to have someone who isn’t all about himself. He spoke of handling the covid-19 crisis and implored people to take safe measures because it’s the right thing to do as an American, no matter who a person has voted for. I only caught the end of his speech so I’m not sure what came before. But he’s taking action in a way that hasn’t happened at the executive level as yet.
I haven’t heard Harris’ speech(es) yet but from all I’ve heard, she’s going to prove an active and useful VP. It’s so cool to have someone with such a diverse background in such a high level position.
And how about Stacy Abrahms in Georgia? I can see she is going to go places and her work right now is so important.
I am still worried about the state of the country but now I am encouraged and a bit hopeful.
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Testing
I am way behind on posts and now can’t recall things I wanted to post about. So I will start with recent stuff and work backwards, if I can remember.
On Sunday I started getting a croaky voice and a bit of a cough. This just continued over the next couple of days. I suspected it might be allergy related but wasn’t sure. I was at an event on Friday and two others there were also sick on Tuesday so I worried there might be a connection. Anyway, the public health notices say to get a covid-19 test if you have fever or cough or flu like symptoms. Yesterday I was still coughing a lot so I went down to the hospital clinic and got tested. The process was pretty quick overall. My only complaint was there was nobody at the table next to the entry when I got there. I had walked well into the area before I was noticed. I assume this is not the norm for the clinic. The guy who greeted me gave me a mask to wear (the first I’ve worn!) and then another person came up and asked questions before leading me into the waiting area. There were only a couple people there when I arrived. I waited for ten or fifteen minutes after filling out a questionnaire and then was seen by one of the staff. Soon afterwards I had the dreaded swabs of which the nostrils were really uncomfortable. The throat swab didn’t bother me at all. I was given instructions to go straight home and self isolate.
And that’s what I did. I ended up missing work and a luncheon I was supposed to attend but I didn’t want to take risks. I was pretty sure this is allergy and/or reflux-related so I had major doubts about being contagious. Self isolating from the rest of the family went okay, I guess. I still did a few things in the house but mostly stayed in the bedroom the rest of the day and night. This morning I got a text from the health department saying I tested negative. Phew! I was almost totally sure this wasn’t covid-19 but now I have proof. It was a relief getting my results less than a day later. But it’s a shame I had to change my mammogram appointment that was today. There’s no way I could have been sure to have my results so soon though. My mammogram is now on November 17th.
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Absentee
It’s that time of year to request an absentee ballot for the upcoming election. I know I should have requested this earlier but I seem to have mostly thought about it when I wasn’t in the right place to handle it. I tried doing it on my phone but had a couple of issues. Anyway, I got it done today and it still tells me I need to send the paper copy. We ended up getting window envelopes last time we bought any and we rarely send mail so we have heaps left and they don’t seal properly. Plus we didn’t mean to have window ones. So I spent an hour trying to tape a printed address over it due my general incompetence with tape, I guess. LOL I did get it sorted out and then it cost me $3.20 AUD to post it. And it was such a pretty stamp I thought it was such a waste to send it where it wouldn’t be appreciated. Tonight I saw I got an email back from the copy I sent online and was told I actually didn’t have to send a paper copy. Sigh.
Looking forward to getting my ballot. I’m seriously considering making an appointment to drop it off at the consulate to speed things along. As much of a hassle as going to the consulate is.
Another American I know here already has a ballot but is delaying the opening of the mail due to covid-19. She’s in an area where cases have been spiking so I guess that’s understandable. Not sure whether I will be too worried for mine when it gets here unless community transmission returns. (We had two people who flew to Western Australia without an exemption and then they broke quarantine in the hotel to visit someone in the area. I can only hope they weren’t contagious. All it takes is one person after all. I think they came from South Australia so it’s probably okay but it’s really bad when people do this sort of thing. )
In related news, my blocking of a family members posts on Facebook has left me blissfully unaware of what is being posted. Less stress for me. Yay!