Copa

I’m not shocked that plenty of people are opting out. I saw yesterday that in the south, vaccine appointments are pretty wide open in many areas. Same seems to be true in areas of rural/southern IL. I’m hoping that speeds things up for those of us who DO want the vaccine.

In Chicago, they’ve opened up vaccinations to anyone 18+ if they reside in a handful of zip codes. They’re all low income/predominantly minority neighborhoods on the south and west sides.

I’m sorry to hear about your loss, @ktfran, and what’s going on with your niece.

I say get the shot. You may not even have to lie. I was on my Monday morning call earlier with my department, most of whom are in the Springfield area, and per my coworkers, the big sites set up around there have plenty of appointments open and people who want a vaccine but are not yet eligible can somewhat easily do so at the end of the day. My boss’s theory is that some eligible people make multiple appointments trying to get in as fast as they can then don’t show for whichever one happens to be later, so when they have no-shows, they have leftover vaccine at the end of the day that would otherwise go to waste. If it was a shorter drive, I’d drive out there to try my luck. I mean honestly I’m half-considering it even though it’s not a short drive, but Chicago is back on track to move into Phase 1c in a couple weeks so seems kinda silly.

ETA: I think it’s all on the honor system anyway, so I don’t think anyone will even ask why you’re there. My cousin here has asthma, which is not on the 1B+ eligibility list, but he’s trying to get an appointment anyway. I don’t think he’s out of line.

I think how people react is a crapshoot. My dad (69) and grandma (98) both got the Moderna vaccine and neither reacted to either shot. My mom (also 69) got the first dose of the Moderna and has been fine. My boyfriend’s coworkers are all vaccinated and reactions have varied regardless of which vaccine they received. Boyfriend got Pfizer and the second dose took him out for maybe 36-48 hours (chills, aches, fatigue, headache). His boss also got the Pfizer vaccine, she’s probably in her 50s and was fine. Two of his coworkers who got Moderna had no symptoms aside from a sore arm. My therapist got Moderna and said that she was tired after the first shot, though not exhausted after, and she has sensitive skin, so she had some kind of skin reaction (apparently this is how she reacts to just about all shots and many skincare products, so not a surprise). A friend’s parents both got Pfizer and her dad had zero symptoms, her mom had a low-grade fever and some other mild symptoms for almost a full week. My sister’s co-worker’s wife, a physician, had back pain so bad from Pfizer that she was admitted to the hospital. I have heard that younger people react more to the second dose, but who knows if that’s true. I think it’s wise for people to assume they’ll have some kind of reaction and try to plan accordingly.

I switched over to KN95 masks (was previously using homemade) maybe two or three months ago. I’ve noticed more people double masking here.

We just got another foot or so of snow on top of the foot or so of snow we already had. We haven’t seen temps over, IDK, 25 degrees in a couple weeks. I’m so bored of this shit. I’m so close to booking airfare somewhere warm.

Oh gosh. I, too, remember the long flared pants dragging on the ground and getting wet in the winter. Awful. I actually don’t know why most standard inseams are as long as they are when the average woman is 5’4″. I think most people struggle with jeans/pants, tbh. I have a butt naturally and over the past few years have intentionally been trying to grow it via strength training. Which worked, but it also came with strong quads and hamstrings. Finding dress pants in particular kills me. What fits around the waist often looks too tight around the butt/thighs. If I get a good fit in the butt/thighs, the waist is huge. There was one cut from Banana Republic that fit me pretty well and then they stopped making that style. I have one pair still hanging in there. I have read online that the black pants from Spanx look nice enough for work and offer a more forgiving fit, so I think I’ll order a pair when it’s time to go back to work and see what I think. I’ve been living in their bra-lellujah bralettes since COVID started.

@MissMJ I don’t know if my weight has crept up because I don’t weigh myself often, but I could tell my clothes were fitting differently even though they still fit. I cut back on alcohol at the beginning of the year and try to force myself to do some at-home dumbbell exercises a few times/week (I hate home workouts, but I have not succeeded in being a year-round jogger this year as planned because of the weather). I can tell the band of my bralettes and sports bras are fitting better now. Which is kinda funny cause I never would’ve considered that a problem area. But hey, I’ll take any signs of progress and small changes to diet/lifestyle really do add up!

@ktfran After several glasses of wine last night, we were looking up flights to Hawaii. Haha. I had no idea the 14-day quarantine period for visitors had been lifted. We’re really tempted. This weather blows and it just keeps coming. I told my boyfriend I’m planning us a trip to Zion National Park. I haven’t booked anything cause I’m not sure it’s a good idea, but I want to so bad.

We’re not big Valentine’s Day people, so it’ll be low key. But there will be wine! And flourless chocolate cake! I got him a card and a small gift. He asked if I’d be up for going out for a single drink on a patio under a heat lamp. I told him I’d consider it when he asked a few weeks ago, but OMG the high today is 6 degrees. I’m so sick of this winter. I’ve been planning a national park camping trip that seems like a longshot just to have something to focus on and even pretend to look forward to. Ha.

@ktfran, are those joggers true to size? I don’t own any joggers but want a pair. I did buy one pair last month from The Gap that I returned. I got my usual size there, but didn’t like the fit. The next size up did not look good on me.

I’ve also learned on TikTok that skinny jeans are going out of style.