Wayne Gray

Of course. I hope it helps you write something great. This was one of those things where I'd had the tune, the melody in my head for literally years. And I'd hum it over and over, until it had made me a little crazy. So I was having one of those days on the way to work, and I stopped in the parking lot, and pulled out my phone. I literally wrote it in maybe six minutes. But it had been long overdue, and it just wanted OUT. So, out it came. 🙂

Thanks, JACC! I like the written (and sung) word a lot. I'm happy my little song prompted you to re-react to the chapter. 🙂 I appreciate that you'd take the time to comment. Thanks for that.

"Real" is an interesting concept now-a-days. We experience the world through physical means, but more and more through electronic mediums. Does that make our relationships or friendships here less? We allow these electronic friends power over us by emotionally connecting with them. We let them in. We invest in one another's lives and spend emotional currency on them. You've hit upon a truth, I think. Friends we make here are people we have entrusted with a part of our hearts. Great poem, friend.

I think I speak for your trainer here. "No." LOL

Great job! Resistance training (bodyweight or otherwise) has been shown to be the biggest preventative measure to brittle bones as we age, so keep at it. You will feel the effects of your effort tomorrow and the day after. Your trainer will know this, and he'll modify things so you are either forced to work and burn through the lactic acid build up and flush it out, or he'll have mercy on you and allow a tiny bit of recovery. If I were him, I'd ... Well. I'll just let the immortal words of Robert Frost take it from here. ... From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire...

Doing good. Got a little cough hanging on, but it's almost gone now. I actually worked out today for the first time in over a week. I took it slow (well, slowER) and didn't go nuts like I'd normally have done. I lost six pounds in a week from a lack of appetite. That comes and goes, but I'm making myself eat at least twice a day. FYI - COVID is not a recommended diet plan!

Yassssss ... flannel, coffee, hats, raincoats. In July.

Ahhh! Humboldt, CA here. We're literally a 1/2 mile from the coast, so we get the wet, moderating effects of the ocean. I love it. Rain, green, cool, misty paradise.

Thanks, all for the well wishes. And my fever broke dramatically last night. I woke drenched in sweat. My temp is still 100.3F, but that's a degree lower than it was when I went to bed. I'll keep checking it throughout the day. But things are looking pretty good, and most important, I feel pretty good. 🙂

Looking at all of the numbers related to the Delta and Omicron variants, I suspected since I'm in healthcare and my husband is in one of those "Essential Services" positions with lots of customer service interaction, that it was only a matter of time before we got hit. The night before, I felt ... odd. Cold. I went to bed dressed in a sweater, sweat pants, a knit cap and two pairs of socks. I woke the next day to largely the same symptoms. But I was feeling mostly okay - to the point where I debated working out or not (really glad I didn't!). Then we got a text from our friend, Matthew. We'd hung out with him on Thursday, and he texted to say he was sick, and positive. So. I pulled out our home antigen kits, and tested Kevin and I. Mine was barely positive after about twelve minutes. But coupled with the fever, I knew it was right. Kevin's converted positive within thirty seconds (with a fifteen minute incubation, so he has a LOT of antigen, or virus). Honestly, I think Kevin already had it from his interactions through work. He had minor symptoms (thank you vaccine!) for a while, and we did test him a few days prior to these events. He was negative then, but it was likely because he didn't have enough virus built up. Last night I still felt mostly okay. I thought, well, I can just work from home. I have evals to do, and I can do those from here. Then I went to bed. Shortly after I got up, and pulled out a space heater. I set it up right by the bed and cranked it. Before going back to bed I took my temp again. 101.4F. So. Yeah, this thing is definitely nasty. And no, I won't be doing evals or work today. I have way too much brain fog for that. But ... I know we'd have been so screwed without the vaccine. We'd have probably survived, and ultimately been okay, but I don't have any desire to have this drag on for weeks, or develop "long COVID" symptoms. Anyhow, I'm going to go back to bed. You guys all stay well.

Of course. Thank you for taking the time to let me know you enjoyed it. That often keeps authors writing, so it's appreciated. Take care. And I hope you find another story to like.

Great picture, Fae. Yes, it has been a strange year. But even during the craziness, there's joy to be found. As you've proven. I wish all the best to you and SP.

Awwwww ... She was amazing. But you're right ... what a life!

A huge part of my job currently is making sure that isn't the case for our patients. I am in charge of our testing supplies, interfacing with the state for allotments, tracking tests performed so our supplies are replaced, researching alternatives when our current supply runs out (the state warned us we need to switch testing methods a few weeks back due to declining stock), researching their limits (negative and positive predictive value, or false positive false negative %) and training staff on new tests as soon as I teach myself how to do them. This is now at least 30% of my job. It's not easy. But doing it means we can get someone tested the same day. We're lucky that my organization has deemed this effort worth allotting my time to do. Every organization doesn't have the staffing or connections baked into what is at my disposal. I'm not special - anybody could make this work if given the resources to do so. But again, a lot of places just don't have the staff and/or training required to make it happen.

Finding asymptomatic carriers is important. But without timely testing, it's really almost useless.