Yesterday morning we had a nice long chat with this boy:
Oh, talking to Little Z is good for our souls! He is maturing and changing and so smart. He always teaches us something. He’s into Teslas and electric cars and we got to introduce the word ‘hybrid’ to him. Meredith added an office chair to her workspace that spins and Z has advised us that we should invest in a spinning chair – we’d really enjoy it. (I have one, but somehow it doesn’t seem as fun as the one he’s using. )
He’s so beautiful, my nephew.
Then I got to chat with my beloved sister. I haven’t seen her in person in three years or almost three years (time seems somewhat foggy to me these days.) She came to see Escape to Margaritaville in NYC right before it closed. We miss hugging each other.
Anyway, that conversation, along with a wonderful conversation about spirituality that I had with my husband earlier in the morning, made for a great day. Today? Wet snow. Yuck. “But only 1-3 inches!” she said, looking out the window at the over 30 inches already on the ground.
I also worked on the puzzle.
I’m working from the bottom up, for some reason. Usually, I fill in the letters for The New Yorker first.
We’re still trying to get an appointment for the vaccine. Get this: if we want to get it through our county, we’ll have to wait until JULY. Are you kidding me? I know there’s a shortage of vaccines but really, New York, you haven’t done a good job on this roll out. We’re very frustrated.
It’s another week in lockdown with snow. Then rain. I long for Spring. But puzzles and chores and books await and thank goodness for them!
Stay safe.
Happy Monday.
It’s not New York ‘s fault. The blame goes right on Trump. The vaccine rollout should have been coordinated months in advance as well as the production of the vaccine. Here western MA there is one mass vaccine site. The rest are in/around Boston. Imagine that. Governor Baker is shutting all smaller sites down next week. Biden and his team are making progress, but the supplies just are not available.
Oh, I agree, the vast majority of the blame is on Trump. But I have friends of my age and my health that are getting vaccinated in California and Connecticut, for example. There are simply more ways to get the vaccine. Our friend in CT got his through his town. Friends in CA got them through the hospital system and pop-up vaccination sites, as well as at Dodger Stadium. We have either our county or pharmacies. That’s it. That is where NY has screwed up. Like Boston, if you live in NYC, there are far more places in which to get vaccinated. Here? Not so much.
Stay safe, Barbara.
It’s the same here. Live in or near Boston ? You have many choices of vaccine sites. Western Mass- one. CT is doing much better than us but the population is about half of our state’s.
Stay safe !
You too!
xo
In Illinois there seems to be a trick to getting an appointment for the vaccine. My SIL explained that you have to be aggressive and call your local area pharmacies each day around 1:30 pm to see if they have leftover doses that day (like some people cancel but the doses are ready for use and have to be used or discarded). That is how my brother and SIL got their vaccine last week.
Otherwise, we are stuck waiting to hear from our medical group or our county group and that will take quite a while.
The Chicago Tribune’s front page story today was about people taking to social media to find vaccines. I guess many states have “vaccine hunter” pages on Facebook where people share info on how to find local doses available. I haven’t tried it, though.
I wish it was simpler!
Hmmm. I wonder if NY has a vaccine hunter site?
Stay safe, Ellen.
My local pharmacy that handles my prescriptions called me!
I was supposed to have it done at school, but had to cancel because I had to have a medical test done that day.
I felt so lucky when the called. And very relieved!
Thanks Trudy.
Stay safe.
Get on every vaccine list you can. The pharmacies here are doing a better job than the health dept. There are 2 hospital systems here and they are both contacting their patients so that might be another option for you.
I read Mere’s blog too. That little guy…what a character! I’m glad you had a nice visit.
We got more snow last night too but at least it’s supposed to get above freezing for a few days. We hire someone by the season to plow our driveway. The only plus to the snow is that we are getting our money’s worth of plowing.
Enjoy your day and stay safe.
We are. But there aren’t that many places to get on the list. Limited pharmacies, NOT through the hospitals, and I’ve been on the county list for 2 months, which is why I got an email saying: July.
Stay safe, Marilyn.
i’m glad that you could talk with your sister and nephew and see their faces (though from much too far away) … technology used for good!
sorry about the slow distribution of vaccines (it’s that way here, too). while the required freezing of supplies might not have been even thought of and i sure wouldn’t want to figure all the logistics, i can’t help but feel angry that the distribution plan wasn’t figured out and practiced months ago, even without a vaccine on the horizon. and that when my siblings and i become eligible for a vaccine, we will be trying to get our shots in a system that doesn’t have enough supplies and appointments and we’ll be in a very large age group (16 to 48 y-o … a 48 year span). as is, i am waiting to get a covid-19 test to be able to do anything like grocery shopping for my family and go back to work after this quarantine. ugh.
hope we all get vaccines soon, before july!
and some wonderful day we’ll all be able to hug our loved ones! :)
glad you have things to enjoy and distract yourself from snow, bad news …. this new puzzle looks fun.
it snowed for hours here yesterday, but only added three inches to the total. supposed to have several days of temperatures in the upper 30s … and i already have a case of ‘spring fever’!
best i get to some task around here … paper sorting (whoo hoo!).
hope you enjoy today. stay safe!
kathy in iowa
The snow is coming down quite heavily at the moment, but you can tell it’s a wet snow just by looking at it. Don ran out to get us some chocolates (sugar-free for me) and made it back home just as the snow was starting.
Stay safe, Kathy!
What a joy to be able to talk to him and your sister!
We are brightening up here, too, now that we have power and water again. It was 72 here yesterday afternoon, surreal when we still have sore muscles because of the effort of shoveling snow for every toilet flush and pulling up flooded carpet after moving the furniture out of that room. The bright spot is the way neighbors banded together in our little neighborhood, sharing food, cooking supplies, water and younger muscles. Two men from the neighborhood, father and son who each has a home here, had both tools and expertise to help. They climbed in the attic Saturday morning and verified that we could turn water back on. While doing so, they remaining distanced and masked although they normally do not mask at all. Running water after five days without it is a miracle. Cooking without having to space prep out in 9-20 minute intervals of power is a luxury.
I’m so glad to hear things are better there Linda! You’ve been through so much.
Thank goodness for kind and helpful neighbors!
Stay safe and enjoy water and power.
Hi Claudia, we had sold our house in SC last summer and moved to our 1907 house in Alabama.
So we looked online a couple of weeks ago and received our vaccines at two Walmarts 20 miles from each other on the same day. The irony of it all.
Little Z is a sweetheart! I can see him in the swivel chair!
Stay safe!
We keep checking Walmart…nothing. Ah, well.
Stay safe, Lottie!
Yes, one does have to be diligent, to say the least, with trying to find the vaccine. It is ridiculous. I agree with others who said to get on as many lists as you possibly can find. Pharmacies, even our little “mom & pop” pharmacies do get allotments, so to everyone out there, don’t just sign up on the CVS, Walgreens lists, call the little drug store pharmacies, also. And a lot of places now do have the “if we contact you when appointments cancel, can you be here within an hour” lists, too. It is like a scavenger hunt. Thank goodness if you are retired so you can take some time to do all of this. Just crazy. If you are technology challenged, I am not sure what those folks are doing, though I have heard of some groups forming to assist those who need that help. The idiot left exactly what he hoped for ~ a mess and people dying. He got his way and yet he still has his cult making missionary visits to his gold gilded cage to kiss his ring.
Today we are to get to 35*. It will be the first time in 30 days that we have gone to or above 32*. We had a couple of inches more last night, but it was shovel-able and not snowblower worthy. It is the little things…..
Puzzles, reading, and doll houses are good things to have in your arsenal to get through the next couple of months. We are all counting the days. Less than 3 weeks until we move our clocks ahead and the daylight is extended once again. Another indicator that assures us that the seasons will be changing. Yay!! Take care.
The state has a list of the pharmacies that supply the vaccine and they are the big chains. I keep checking it to see if they update the list. Plus grocery store pharmacies, which are just getting started. Our neighborhood supermarket, where we got our flu shots, does not have any vaccines as of yet. I’m tired of the whole thing. The problem here is you either get it through the county, at their site, or a pharmacy. Those are our options.
Stay safe, Chris.
After reading through all of the comments just now, it is evident that the whole “my state- your state” thing doesn’t work well in a Pandemic. I think we really need to be one in this endeavor. Why it IS working relatively well in some states and not in others, indeed, should be looked at closely. But I know that so many don’t feel that way at all. I can’t imagine why each state wouldn’t want to learn from the others when a program is successful. But, then, most of us visiting here wear a mask, stay home, and socially distance and don’t think our rights are being trampled upon ~ so there is that.
There should have been a consistent method of rollout in all 50 states. The problem, of course, is that Trump basically did nothing. I know that the Biden administration is trying to fix all of that, but in the meantime, people like us, who are 68 and 69, are left hanging.
xo
We live in west Texas and got our second shots last week. I had signed up with our local health dept. and heard back in about 3 weeks, filled out registration on line and they had given me And given a date and time to be there. Along with our hospital and health dept it took about 5 minutes to get shot. They were so well organized walked you thru each step as you got there. It was done indoors at one of the county exhibit buildings and you had to wait in your car after you got back to your car for 15 minutes and they said to honk if any problems. They had paramedics outside to assist. We are a town of about 130,000. Another town about 20 miles from here with same population is doing their vaccines in a parking lot of stadium, you just register before and show up. No time or date, so you might have a long wait and then have to call back to get a day to get second shot. We are extremely luckily to have such a well run process.
You are.
Stay safe, Rixie.
Love looking at the world through the eyes of a child. They see fun in everything.❤️ Puzzle question……We love doing puzzles but what a pain in the back. It’s hard to work on a puzzle without getting a bird’s eye view of it. Any tips? Or do you just take a break?
I just take a break. Like I did just now. My back is hurting again, so that’s it with the puzzle for the day!
Stay safe, Janet.
New Covid term…..Puzzle Back😊
xo
July? Oh, no — there must be something before that somewhere. I’m sure you’ve checked and got on every list. Did you look at MSNBC’s vaccine finder that Rachel was talking about sometime last week? It’s worth a look.
I’m so glad you got a burst of cheer with Little Z and Mere this weekend. There is nothing like a call with people you love to bring you that joy. Well, a visit is nice but under the circumstances…
We appear to be warming up — icicles are dripping like crazy. I just moved everything that was on the floor in the basement that wasn’t in a bin up high just in case it melts faster than the ground can handle and comes inside again. I tend to get basement water once or twice a year. On Saturday I got stuck in a snowbank on the way to pick up take out. I am so lucky to have fabulous neighbors!
Take care and stay well. Can’t wait to see how the puzzle shapes up!
We start our warm-up tomorrow. But right now, it’s snowing. A lot!
Stay safe, Jeanie.
Little Z is such a charmer and a ray of sunshine for your family! Sounds like you had a fun chat with him and great catch-up with your sister. Happy to hear that!
Enjoyed Don’s song and your background contribution. You two have to do a duet!
Thanks so much, Melanie.
Stay safe!
Indiana did.a great job so far.
First responders etc then seniors…Wav my home state did NOT do it fairly…
They vaccinated teachers as young as 40 while my elderly ill friends are waiting…plus students were learning from home…the Governor stopped that when they started wanting students vaccinated next…the unions…enough said.. I taught there I know…I have friends in several states not vaccinated
Most of us lived online until we found a place.
. Mine was fifteen miles…one friend drove two hours…one waited in line four…one drove in bad weather…some are refusing it as when their time comes it comes…that infuriated me…what a sad way to go…okay enough soapboxing me…this is on the individual state health departments who are in charge…I simply went on health department website and chose a date and place. I did not get one close to me as there is hospital next door and up the street but I was fine…I did go for second in horrible weather but determined. Take care…prayers in this weather…I do maintain you. Ignition have to go separately from Don…none of my friends have been fortunate to go as couples.
It’s ridiculous that there isn’t a policy that is the same in all 50 states.
Stay safe, Brenda.
My county was like yours for the vaccine. Mom and I got our first vaccine today at a GEMA (Ga emergency site). There were 4 set up in the state and lucky for us one was only an hour away. It was well run with National Guard helping and we were in and out in a reasonable amount of time. I am still on the waiting list in my county with no word in months!! Hope you can find somewhere soon.
I want to thank you for recommending “Nomadland” it was amazing. Loved it so much.
We can’t even use a state site at the moment. I find it infuriating!
Stay safe, Linda.
We live in SC where you would think we would never get a vaccine. My husband is older than I am and he will get his second shot on Wednesday and I got my first shot Thursday. My husband does not use computers and does not have a smart phone, so I had to schedule him. It took several days to get his appointment. They give you the second appointment when you get your shot. I got my appointment much quicker when they opened up my age group. The only problem was that I had to set up a second email address for me to use because I had used my email address to get his appointment. This was not a major problem. Neither one of us had to wait in line at all. There were plenty of parking spaces and everything worked like clockwork. I wish that I knew who was responsible for everything working so well for us. I suspect it was the hospital and their employees. There is a major problem for people who do not have WiFi which is a major problem for many in our state or for people who do not use a computer or do not have someone to help them use one. in the beginning, there was much reporting here on the difficulty in calling for an appointment. It should be as easy for everyone in the country to get a vaccine as it was for us. I hope it gets easier for you soon.
I agree. It’s ridiculous that we can’t get an appointment – or the ANYONE has trouble getting an appointment.
Thanks, Beverly.
Stay safe!
That little boy is not so little any more. But, still the sweetheart. He always puts a smile on my face. And those lashes!!!Why is it that the boys get them!?!
jane-in-tx
The lashes are unbelievable. And the (very expressive) eyebrows!
Stay safe, Jane.
I’m in CA where it seems to be rolling out reasonably well… I hope that extra sites open up soon, especially as it looks like another vaccine will soon be approved that doesn’t require special storing conditions beyond a regular fridge. Maybe write to your state and fed reps and remind them that not everybody lives in the city? Hang in there….