Today the BBC had a piece about the Swedish celebration of Little Saturday, which is a weekday, usually Wednesday, that is celebrated just because. Especially in the winter to break up the long dark weeks. And of course this applies to pandemic days.
Today is Day 325 of Shelter In Place and I realized that I am doing something very similar to the Swedes. In my case this is Super Burrito Wednesday, but really it’s the same thing. This is the meal I most look forward to each week and I keep it right in the middle to help bridge the time. I also celebrate the weekend with a drink of wine or two on Friday evening -- with a loosening of my usual food restrictions. And then Saturday is my exercise rest day. It’s not really like me to have a strict weekly schedule, but I do find it helps in this time of days that blend into each other.
I now have my kitchen morning sun back, which is very nice. For one thing this makes it easier to get out of bed in the morning.
Day 350 - Still not blogging or reading Proust. For the past week I’ve been trying to sign up to get the covid vaccine but without any luck. This morning I had to call in about renewing a prescription and thought to try again to schedule a shot... and it worked! I have an appointment in two days at a Wallgreen’s near me -- though not the one I expected.
I’m already planning the sudden (maybe a month away) new life before me. Mostly this involves clothes shopping and some optional medical appointments -- I’ve been avoiding my dentist, for example. The payoff should come in April when I will feel comfortable riding the bus (with an N95 mask) and sitting in or around cafes again. That’s the big one. Then I hope to get moving on the blog again... maybe.
Day 360 - The Walgreen’s plan didn’t pan out. It turns out they won’t give you the first shot until you have scheduled the second and I couldn’t schedule the second. But yesterday I did get the first shot at Moscone Center. And that was even better.
I’ve written before about my connection with Moscone Center going back to MacWorld and in more recent years my greening work at the conventions held there. Moscone South is the oldest part of the complex where I spent the most time during my MacWorld phase. I was last there in 2019 to fill in for someone at either the Oracle or Salesforce convention. But yesterday was different.
Kaiser was running the operation for the city and they had it well organized. I went in about ten minutes before my scheduled appointment and went through a series of lines and holding areas -- all socially distanced -- before I was called in for my injection. After that you had to sit out in the center area of the hall for fifteen minutes to make sure you didn’t have a bad reaction. So I sat and contemplated all the time I had spent in this space over the decades.
The last expansion changed the entrance of Moscone South beyond recognition. Previously it had been quite an interesting transition area between the street and the subterranean hall. There were seating areas about half way down where you could pause, looking through windows at the displays waiting for you on the main floor, until they threw open the doors to start MacWorld, or at least that day’s MacWorld. Now there are just some escalators and stairs and everything is as architecturally bland as you can imagine. Either they needed space for other things or/and they ran out of money or imagination.
Anyway, I now have to wait three weeks for my second shot and then another two weeks before I reach maximum protection. I’ve already scheduled a dentist appointment for five weeks from now and will schedule some other appointments closer to the time. Case numbers are reaching very low levels and, between the people who have been exposed and the ever increasing number who have been vaccinated, the chances of catching it will be going down steadily -- which means it is going to be increasingly hard to follow all the rules.
There’s still time for covidiots to do stupid things and start another surge, and that would actually help me, but that’s getting harder every week. Fortunately I have my isolated routine down so well now, with enough little treats for myself, that I should be able to stick with it for another five weeks.
And it is so nice not having to think about Trump.
Day 363 - It was my intention to be extra careful these first two weeks before my vaccination starts protecting me but I also want to take advantage of this gap between surges. The news is full of reports about more people flying and near normal numbers of Spring Breakers in Florida. While our numbers in San Francisco are reassuringly low at the moment, I suspect that won’t last so I went to my neighborhood cafe -- which even allows limited inside seating now -- and ordered a hot tea and worked at a table outside in the freezing wind. Pretty safe really, and the first time I’ve done that since 11/22/20. I don’t plan to make a habit of it and we aren’t expecting temptingly warm weather, so that will probably be a one time adventure.
Since today is 3/13 and 4/13 is when I should be “safe.” I only have to be super cautious for a month. This is an experience of time (short time) that Hans Castorp didn’t have on the Magic Mountain.
Day 380. Got second covid-19 vaccine shot this morning. Arm is sore. Feel a bit under the weather. This is good as it means that my body is reacting to the second exposure to the bad stuff. We will see how happy I am about this tomorrow and how long I feel bad. I stocked up on food so I don’t have to leave the house tomorrow if I don’t feel like it.
I should now be two weeks from maximum protection. I almost ate lunch out today -- even INSIDE the restaurant -- but then they didn’t have my iced tea so I just brought the food home instead. I’m still being VERY cautious, I would have been the only one eating there and I was going to open the windows for better ventilation. Maybe in two weeks.
