surprises in the moonlit night

[the_siobhan]

Yesterday I watched a squirrel run across the sidewalk with a full slice of pizza dangling from it's mouth. Ah, autumn in Toronto.

***

Things have started leaving the house again this week. I was officially in taking-it-easy mode for the last month - although I might have pushed that 20lb limit slightly once or twice - but this morning I had the follow-up appointment that gave me the all-clear to start hauling boxes and other heavy things as of today. Stretching my arms to the very top of my range is still a slow and careful thing but the scars will get more flexible as I continue to heal.

That means I should probably also do some of the housework I've been putting off. It's been... piling up a bit. Prior to the my surgery I put together a long list of physically low-impact things I could accomplish around the house while I was off work. I did not do one single thing on that list.

***

Yesterday was Thanksgiving in Canada. I can't cook for shit, but the gf is an amazing cook and she made duck for dinner. Sooo good.

And my sister, who has been living in Europe for the last 13 years, decided that she's really excited about being able to celebrate Thanksgiving now that she's back in Canada. So she hosted a family dinner on the weekend. I have been trying to get my family to stop making plans that mean being unmasked in a restaurant without much success so after stressing about it a bunch I finally texted her back and said I would come and hang out, but that I would be remaining masked while I was there because none of them take precautions. We had a brief argument about it, and I was honestly kind of dreading having to argue about it again once I got there.

But it turned out to be fine? She set up a small side table in the bedroom, closed the door, and left the windows open all day. So by the time everybody sat down to eat I could take my plate in there and eat away from everybody else in a ventilated room. When I left she told me she thought I was being unnecessarily paranoid but, "It's your health, so you get to make the call." Which was... honestly better than I expected?

I saw an article last week that the FDA has approved a combined flu/covid RAT for home use and it apparently has a much lower false negative rate than the 4 year-old RATs we're still using here, so I'm hoping I can get my hands on a few boxes before Xmas. And I'll need to sort out a booster soon. Hopefully at a time when I have a couple of days off after to deal with the ass-kicking it gives me.

So you know, still chugging away.

Comments

[dissectionist]

The technique I’ve figured out for my (rare) work dinners is awkward, but I drop my mask, take a bite without breathing, put my mask back on, exhale to force out room air, then breathe and chew. Repeat for each bite. (Sigh.) At least it feels reasonably safer and I still get to be part of the dinner conversation. It may hurt my career but, I’d think, not as much as missing the dinners entirely.

My life is in some ways easier because I have little family here, so there’s no expectations for big family dinners.

When I go home to visit my parents, even those stay small, since it’s just the two of them and my niece and sometimes my niece’s girlfriend. I can handle four people way easier than a big group, especially since my niece and her girlfriend are willing to test for Covid, and my parents rarely go anywhere.

I’m glad in this case that your sister wasn’t shitty about the accommodations!

[the_siobhan]

Possibly because she knows how stubborn I am. :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

[greylock]

. Ah, autumn in Toronto

"Nature is healing".

But it turned out to be fine? She set up a small side table in the bedroom, closed the door, and left the windows open all day.

That does have a tinge of passive aggressive, but I guess it's better than the alternative.

We've had the combined RATs for a year or so? I've still got dozens of RATs in my fridge, all expired now. But I keep them just in case,

Re: Happy Thanksgiving!

[the_siobhan]

The ones we got in 2020 have a very high false negative rate, especially for people who have mild or absent symptoms. Most of the strains we've had here in the last year have been asymptomatic for people who are vaccinated.

[shadaras]

I'm glad you're healing so well! :D Congrats on being able to reach and lift again!

[the_siobhan]

She told me I could go back to normal activities and I said "YAY, that's what I was waiting for." :-)

[jo]

You can get that sort of test already. For example: https://rapidtestandtrace.ca/product/btnx-rapid-response-influenza-ab-covid-19-antigen-3-in-1-test-5-tests-kit/

Here's another one, slightly less expensive: https://www.ppe-supply.com/products/ecotest-covid-19-flu-test

[the_siobhan]

It's the increased accuracy I'm looking for more than the combo of antigens. The new Healgen one is claiming 99% accuracy against false negatives.

I'll have a look at the other two you pointed at.

[kest]

First of all, healing from a surgery is a thing, that is the thing you have been doing. So good job on that. Second of all I'm so glad they worked out the thanksgiving thing out for you. I have eaten outside on porches in sub-freezing weather I can't tell you how many times over the last four years. I'm now most likely to get it from the people I live with who all work with small children though, so now I'm like, if you want to expose yourself to MY potential germs, that's on you I guess. (I still mask in grocery stores and doctor's offices and all those things, but I am usually one of the only people doing so. I don't really understand how everyone has taken this attitude of, we will all just regularly get a horrible disease with potential long term effects and that's fine, we don't need to do anything about that. ) I'm hoping to go get my booster this week - I left it a little later this year in hopes that the 3 month peak immunity actually covers the post-holiday January spike, unlike last year when I got covid for my first and only time for New Year's and then immediately followed it up with the flu in February. I want to get the Novovax because I hear it has less side effects - I tried to get it last year but it wasn't widely available and when I went to a place that said they had it the person giving the shots was not prepared to talk to me about what thing they were putting in my arm before I was in the chair and they had the bottle out and was just like, this is what we've got do you want it or not. :/ So I'm hoping this time goes better.

[the_siobhan]

Canada didn't even order any Novovax this year - they said uptake last year wasn't high enough to justify it. But I know people who tried to get it who couldn't find it, so who friggin' knows.

[kest]

hahahaha, when did I write this? the 21st?? I have not yet managed to get vaxed...let's see, the first time I made a vax appointment was actually the end of September, but then I got sick - negative for covid, but my roommate got sick at the same time and tested positive, so I mostly treated myself as if I was positive, although I'm pretty sure I had something else and didn't actually get her covid. Anyway, didn't get vaxxed. Then I was going to go with a friend when she got back from a trip in mid-october, but then HER partner got covid, so we gave it a week in case she got it (she didn't), but then her partner's sister died, I am not even kidding, and now they are getting custody of three kids, so vaccines moved way down her priority list, so I made my own appointment for today, but the pharmacy called and said their novovax EXPIRED and they have to get more in, which will be Monday, so now I have an appointment for Tuesday. Which is also US voting day, so if there is some sort of voting day apocalypse, it will be because my getting vaxxed is somehow cursed.

[the_siobhan]

Ours is available for the general population starting today.

I have to pick a date when I have a couple of days to recover afterwards - most of the pharmacies seem to have Moderna, which kicks my ass but hard.