Mostly Apolitical Thread for Discussing/Venting our Rational/Irrational COVID-19 Fears and Experiences in 2020

Really lovely tribute from our high school's teachers and staff to its students.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3JBnwXm04U

Ethical dilemma: I have been really fatigued for the past week, to the point where I really think I must be sick. I stayed home today and yesterday, for the first time all year. I just tested negative for Covid on an at-home test. I have no other symptoms, just weird full-body tiredness. Should I go back in tomorrow?

(yes I know I should go to the doctor. I keep hoping it will pass, but apparently not so far. But in the meantime, would I be risking my students' health and not complying with the general directive to stay home if you have Covid symptoms? is being really really tired enough of a Covid symptom to count?)

Have you access to a PCR test? That's my standard answer. It will rule COVID out, leaving you free to consider other things.

That makes sense. As you can probably tell, my brain isn't quite working. So you think I should book another sub, book a PCR test tomorrow if I can, and resign myself to missing a whole week of school? That just seems so drastic for tiredness with no other symptoms. It's hard as a teacher to justify missing that kind of time without a test result to point to. I guess I should have gotten tested Monday, as soon as I decided to take the day off, but at that point it hadn't quite dawned on me that I was sick.

I also think it's very possible that I had a mild case of Covid a couple of weeks ago - I had something wrong with my stomach for a week - and that this is post-covid fatigue, in which case a test won't tell me anything and I'll never know.

I've had more than one friend catch a stomach virus in the last two weeks!

There are definitely suddenly some real bad colds and stomach viruses around that are not COVID. My whole family was sick and COVID negative.

Yeah, it could be any kind of viral or post-viral fatigue. It's the uncertainty that's confusing - trying to weigh the moral imperative to go in if not actually dying against the moral imperative to stay home if you might have covid, when my brain doesn't seem to be working right.

Book a sub, get a PCR test and sleep tomorrow, then figure out what is next.

Lily, city-run PCR testing centres return results in less than 12 hours: if you book one for first thing, you'll know in time to plan for Thursday. (or Curative have "rapid PCR" walk-up locations in the convention center on Pike and at Seattle U, which open at 10 am.)

No matter what or if you're sick with, you sound tired enough ITT to not be giving your best tomorrow - both you and the students will be better off with you rested.

Thanks, all. After all that, I actually started feeling quite a bit better shortly after I posted, and I'm starting to hope this might finally be lifting. My brain feels clearer right now than it has in a week. I even managed to walk the dog without collapsing afterward. So I think I'll get up tomorrow, see how I feel, and plan accordingly. But you're all absolutely right about the PCR test, and it's shocking to me that I didn't think of it myself, days ago - I guess it's one sign that this was really putting a damper on my brain's ability to function.

Out and about yesterday. I'm still wearing masks into stores. At the end of the day it occurred to me to ask myself how prevalent masking still was and... I have no idea? I truly think I am not registering whether people are masked or not.

Since masking became optional at my son's school, he's come home with a non-stop series of colds and (non-corona)viruses, despite being one of the kids who still masks.

Big conference in town brought lots of friends in. Definitely spent some time in places that were not, uh, "safe" so to speak. Freaking a little but I feel fine, my body is just old and recovering from drinking like a fratboy and doing too many poppers and smoking half a pack on Friday night.

You went -- cool! I've sat at a few bars in the last month, not one particularly crowded but a few more than I sat at, say, last year. If not now, when, I tell myself.

Most of our time was outside, and except for one bar, everywhere required vax check. Fingers crossed

man I used to huff poppers all night but I think I'd feel destroyed for a week if I so much as looked at a bottle of Rush now

I just listen to Rush.

I can do poppers once in a while, mostly as a fun party thing— never really understood the whole "huffing while fucking" thing.

In any case, I'm going to see Divide & Dissolve open for Low tonight, and will have my mask on the whole time despite masks not being required and vax checks. Too paranoid, but really want to see this show!

never really understood the whole "huffing while fucking" thing

we can get into this here if you want

*clears schedule*

table - enjoy the show, that's a great pairing!

Other than taking my mask off more often while sitting at my desk at work, I really haven't changed anything up at all. Still masking when I go into stores, masking when I go in crowded buildings on campus, etc. Really not too different in my day to day. Have had a few sneering, "you know you don't need to wear those anymore" comments thrown my way, but easy enough to ignore. Hitting up Second City this weekend (originally had tickets for my wife's birthday in late March of 2020, just now finally making it back up to her) and plan to wear a mask.

Tracer, I understand it physiologically. Just never struck me as necessary.

ime it's kind of difficult coordinating everything

Yeah like I'm sweaty, there's fluids everywhere, and I'm supposed to carefully unscrew this little bottle of VCR headcleaner and huff it while all that's going on? It's called lube and fingers, look em up.

this is why in Jackie Collins books it's always in crushable ampoules

Crotchless stillsuit IMO

I see that our Rational/Irrational COVID-19 Fears and Experiences have altered somewhat since 2020. For the better.

Am I still wearing a mask indoors? Yes.

Am I huffing poppers in an outdoor bar from a bottle that a friend brought from Chicago with a bunch of people, some of whom I just met? Also yes.

We must find our joy somewhere.

So it happened.

In the middle of Sunday afternoon I developed a mild throat soreness and runny nose. I let it simmer for twenty-four hours. Yesterday morning I took a home test: negative. Also a PCR whose results returned an hour ago: negative. The NAAT test this morning also negative.

So I got my first cold in three and a half years. Quite mild as colds go but I forget how irritating they can be.

Super-irritating not mild cold making the rounds in my household right now.

Yeah like I'm sweaty, there's fluids everywhere, and I'm supposed to carefully unscrew this little bottle of VCR headcleaner and huff it while all that's going on? It's called lube and fingers, look em up.

― we need outrage! we need dicks!! (the table is the table), Tuesday, March 29, 2022 5:54 PM (thirty-eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

the bottles have grippy lids. just don't screw them on too tight.

always screw the lid back on after huffing. popper spillage is a minor disaster on a mattress. it's good to have somewhere convenient and flat where you can put them or they'll roll under someone's back or leg or whatever.

also, don't get the ones with any water in the ingredients, they are not the real deal and will give you more headache, less rush (ignore the "genuine product" seal, check the ingredients).

glad to be able to offer all my popper tips in the covid thread.

Probably TMI but I don't have a butthole anymore b/c of the cancer so it also truly doesn't matter to me at this point.

7) Of course, Chinese govt doesn’t condone balcony singing or & protesting. And of course, a govt drone appears: “Please comply with COVID rules. **Control your soul’s desire for freedom**. Do not open window to sing.” ➡️yes the drone actually said that.pic.twitter.com/LSGOY9vQbz

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) April 10, 2022

Sry meant to link beginning of thread. Normally would not link Ding, but this seems legit

Residents in #Shanghai screaming from high rise apartments after 7 straight days of the city lockdown. The narrator worries that there will be major problems. (in Shanghainese dialect—he predicts people can’t hold out much longer—he implies tragedy).pic.twitter.com/jsQt6IdQNh

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) April 10, 2022

he's in favor of this though, right?

In the past I thought he had advocated lockdowns (not sure to what degree specifically), but it's hard for me to see any approval in his tone here

Twitter feed seems to be filled with show cancellations due to positive results (Low/Divide & Dissolve and Superchunk being two of the higher profile ones) and Illinois' week over week 7-day rolling average shows cases up 38%, but I'm seeing fewer and fewer masks out there.

Mask requirements in indoor spaces in Philly again, but beginning APRIL 19 to "allow businesses to adjust."

Ever more convinced that we live in hell.

At least Philly is willing to bring them back. With Illinois gubernatorial elections and Chicago mayoral elections both coming up, I have a feeling they are never coming back here.

The idea of bringing back face coverings seems relatively innocuous to me - but it feels like it would be perceived as "a lockdown" here (UK).

the local Sainsbury's has removed its 'please wear mask' notices. but nothing has really changed apart from the people who ignored the signs no longer have signs to ignore.

the perspex barriers are still there. they did take them away once before, came back within a week

uk weekly deaths up 45%, 1600 a week. 170k total.

It should be relatively innocuous, but I still see people losing their goddamn minds when being asked to wear a mask.

If the venues don't require masks, there's no way people are going to wear them because the bands tweet about it. I wonder if venues are going to start re-instituting mask requirements from a money perspective since shows keep getting canceled (also wonder how many bands are catching COVID from literally playing shows, working with the local crew, or is it more from generally being on tour aside from the venues themselves).

Who knows, seems like they are still going the other direction, even in cities that are seeing a rise in cases, such as D.C.:

A handful of D.C. music venues, including all the venues under the I.M.P. umbrella — 9:30 Club, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Lincoln Theatre, and The Anthem — have dropped their vaccine requirements to attend shows.

Masks wearing is still a legal requirement in this part of the UK (for another 6 days). Compliance varies wildly from day to day, place to place and class to class but overall, is probably hovering around 50% generally. 30% in Asda, 40% on buses, 95% in Waitrose, 90% at Dead Can Dance last week, though once audience seated it was probably 10%. Around 10% of people in my city currently have Covid.

I think it will take me a considerable amount of time to stop looking at anyone not wearing a mask in certain situations and not be thinking they are a total ****.

if you want to avoid getting infected, don't go to tightly packed rock concerts. Masks are not going to give you the kind of prevention you want in that environment.

i have been to a load of tightly packed concerts recently and am fairly surprised i haven't been infected again.

Twitter feed seems to be filled with show cancellations due to positive results (Low/Divide & Dissolve and Superchunk being two of the higher profile ones)

Mercury Rev fell off the tour with BJM for similar reasons.

We've gone to three shows so far (maybe 300-400 in attendance and 50% masked?) and N-95'ed it the whole time. So far, so good.