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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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All in a year
Last year I was offered a position to support a man who’d had a stroke a few months before. I started the job at the beginning of 2021 and now that job has come to an end. I was off work the past couple of weeks so it’s come to a rather abrupt end and that is kind of sad but it’s not something that was unexpected. And so I am back to working part-time one day a week with the occasional relief work that I was doing before. I am not keen to take on any other long-term work at the moment due to my upcoming travel but I will consider another role for when I return in May.
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Finally
It took a long time but I finally finished reading Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth by Wole Soyinka. It’s an interesting book because it’s all over the place for the better part of the first half, and then there’s a proper plot in the latter part of the book. I can see a bit of what the aim was for the writer but it really was way too long. I found the second half far better than the first half and found myself wanting to read more towards the end. Before that, the flow just wasn’t quite there. Overall I did like it but I don’t consider it a major success. I am glad I kept on with it, though, and now I feel a bit freer to request more books for review. I’m currently listening to an audiobook of A Narrow Door by Joanne Harris. It’s actually the third in a series and I’m fairly sure I read the first book many years ago. So far it’s very intriguing and I look forward to the twists and turns to reach the conclusion.
As a side note, I’ve added a link to the blog I started for book reviews on the sidebar. It’s been in a bit of a lull recently but I’m trying to get back into it again.
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Plans
So I did a thing and now I have a plane ticket. I spent ages checking airfares and going back and forth and I finally chose one before my chances of getting a good seat at a good price went away. I travel on March 25th and will return on May 16th. It’s going to be such a long time away from home and I hate that. But I hope I can get do a lot during this visit and spend a lot of time with family. I will write more later.
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Endings
It’s now the final day of the year so I suppose it makes sense to make this my last post for the year. I got the news early yesterday that my aunt has died. My grandma was the oldest of nine kids and Aunt P was one of four sisters. She was the last sister remaining. Now it’s just the two youngest sons left in the family, and both are close in age to my mom. Growing up, Aunt P was one of a couple from that family that I saw most often. Her daughter is just a few months older than me and I had sleepovers at the house many times when we were in Pennsylvania. Aunt P was one of those larger-than-life people, loud and brash but a lot of fun. I remember her for an unending number of crochet projects over the years. It seemed she was often with a crochet hook in her hand when I was at her house. I also remember her presence at so many family get-togethers and she loved to play cards and she also smoked all the time. The last time I saw her properly was when I was home with Lego Lover in 2010. We stopped by her house with my mom and grandma and had a good visit. Lego Lover found her very overwhelming, though, and stayed in the car most of the time even though Aunt P tried to persuade him to come inside.
For the past several years, Aunt P has been living with Alzheimer’s, one of the cruelest of ailments. Since the pandemic began, she’s been mostly locked inside the care home where she lived and her kids weren’t able to visit for over a year. The best they could do is see her through a window. I assume things have improved in that area because my cousin and her brothers were with her the last few days of her life. I’m so glad they had that opportunity. I suspect for my cousins, it’s more of a relief than anything. After all, Aunt P has just not been the same in recent years. When I last saw her in 2017, the person I remembered seemed to have disappeared.
So this is an ending and a goodbye to Aunt P and this year.
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Happenings
As always, December has been a crowded month with birthdays and Christmas and all sorts of stuff happening. Notable mentions for this year:
Our air conditioner died earlier in the month and we replaced it. Fortunately, the weather cooled off most of the time we waited for installation. We got it just in time for a massive heatwave that started before Christmas and ended a couple of days ago. We’re enjoying a few days of milder temperatures before the next heatwave next week.
Lego Lover had his 23rd birthday and it went off quite well. He’s been affected by mental health issues on the day the past few years but this time he was in good spirits right up to the end.
Christmas went mostly well and it was a good day to spend with family. It was even hotter than last year, though, and although we had our meal outside, we ended up moving indoors quite early due to the heat. I think it reached 43C, which is about 109 in F. We have been in the habit of doing some sort of indoor games, often computer or game system related. This year we played a game on our phones and it was quite a lot of fun. Not everyone took part but there were enough of us that it allowed much amusement.
Despite the good get-together, both of the boys did have mental health issues that made their days difficult and that makes me quite sad. We continue to look at ways to improve issues for both so they can enjoy themselves in the future.
My exercise program has stumbled a bit lately. I’m still waiting for that energy boost from the iron infusion. Although I am not feeling tired so much overall, my stamina for exercise seems to be stuck and maybe I just need to push harder sometimes.
I’m still working on potential travel for next year. I think I will go ahead with plans but the airline I booked with before suddenly increased prices enough that it will likely be better to choose a different one. I mentioned plans to my parents before Christmas and I think that may have given them a boost after all the goings-on lately. Also, the travel insurance company I used previously is back to business now so I hope I can get good coverage from them while I’m overseas.
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Debating
Even though our borders are opening in February, I am now debating as to the wisdom of traveling when COVID is again running rampant throughout the world. I’m still looking at airfares and dates but it feels like it would be better to wait a bit longer and travel in the northern summer. That said, there’s no guarantee there won’t be another strain doing the same thing. I know we’re supposed to be living with COVID but isn’t this taking on extra risk?
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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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Iron infusion
On Friday I had an iron infusion to replenish my iron stores. I went through this before several years ago after a bad bout of menorrhagia which depleted my iron. The infusion fixed me right up as I didn’t have any more extreme blood loss after that.
My appointment was at 8:15 am at my doctor’s office. The Scientist said he’d drive me even though it wasn’t exactly needed. It was kind of a just-in-case sort of thing, along with moral support. He even missed some of the cricket match to be there. :) Anyway, we left in plenty of time and arrived a few minutes early. As we pulled in, I took note of the pharmacy and then realized I’d left the iron at home. I had to get the prescription filled and take it to the appointment. So we had to return home to get it and return. Fortunately, my doctor was okay with that and I was fit into the schedule.
It took a little while to get everything set up by the nurse. Then the doctor came in and placed the canula in my hand and then got it started. She left at that point and the nurse handled the rest. It was all pretty ordinary and not much of note happened. My blood pressure was a bit on the lower side of normal this time, which is kind of unusual these days.
It was a good thing my appointment wasn’t for a couple of days earlier because there were massive power outages in the area and they weren’t able to operate during that time.
After the infusion finished, I came home and took a nap. I hadn’t had enough sleep the night before and I was already feeling sluggish. The extra hour or so made a difference later on when I had to work. It takes two to four weeks for the infusion to fully kick in so I don’t expect any major changes just yet. Last time it happened really gradually so that might be the same this time.