Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

No Kings: Americans standing in the way of bad history saying “Oh, Fuck No!”

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

“But what about the lurkers?”

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

The only way through is to slog through the muck one step at at time.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

We will not go back.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

You are here: Home / Balloon Juice / A Message for Subaru Diane and Everyone Else

Reader Interactions

81Comments

  1. 1.

    Shana

    I hate needles, not panicy about them but really don’t like them, and I have to say I almost didn’t feel it when I got my two doses. I always look away and try to distract myself but with the first shot I was mentally bracing myself and the nurse said “done.” I was stunned.

  3. 3.

    Urza

    To be fair, I don’t particularly like needles, not afraid or anything.  This was the smallest easiest needle I can recall in my 41 years of life.

  4. 4.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Shana: The one used for my Moderna shot felt much tinier than most vaccination needles I’ve experienced. I could hardly feel it.

  5. 5.

    The Other Bob

    I got my second dose of Moderna today.  That needle must be microscopic.  Couldn’t feel it either time.  I knew it was over when they held the cotton against my arm.

    I feel like doing a Superman pose.

  6. 6.

    Amir Khalid

    That photo of Dr Fauci is probably from a couple of decades ago. He’s been in his job a looong tme.

  7. 7.

    mali muso

    Yeah, I used to have a huge phobia of shots…would get all shaky and panicky as a kid.  Doing a stint in the Peace Corps helped cure me of most of that, as we had to get a LOT of them throughout our training period.  That said, I still never look when the needle is going in.  These vaccines were definitely the least painful pokes I can recall.

    Just got the update that the mass vaccination clinic where I have volunteered from time to time has now processed upwards of 30,000 since opening in January.  woohoo!

  8. 8.

    zhena gogolia

    After getting 5-6 shots inside my mouth for a root canal a couple of weeks ago, the vaccine did not faze me. Although I never look at the needle, I must admit.

  9. 9.

    dmsilev

    @Matt McIrvin: Same with the Pfizer. Really small needle, barely felt a thing, and it probably took longer for the nurse to ask me which arm I preferred and for to answer than for her to actually administer the jab.

  10. 10.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Bless you for this. They’re running a tad behind, so I’m still waiting, but all the paperwork is done. Should be any minute now.

  14. 14.

    gratuitous

    Pfizer #2 + 43 hours. A little pain at the injection site, but not much else. I may be one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have any significant after effects.

  15. 15.

    The Moar You Know

    The vaccine is working exactly as I hoped on child molester Ted Nugent, who didn’t get it and said he wouldn’t publicly.

    I just got out of 12+ days in the hospital for surgeries (yeah, multiple, that was not in the plan and there will be more) and as bad as that was, it would have been far scarier had i not been vaccinated.  Which I have been since 3/28.  Thank you, Pfizer and thank you, California.

  18. 18.

    Almost Retired

    Needle technology – such as it is – has improved greatly since I received my childhood vaccinations from what felt like the rusty tines of a pitchfork in the rural Midwest in the 1960’s. I barely felt the Moderna shots, and didn’t feel my seasonal flu shot at all.

  19. 19.

    Princess Leia

    Got my Moderna #2 yesterday am – as of now, no side effects. So giddy and happy to have gotten it. What a relief!

  24. 24.

    Princess Leia

    We got ours at a large homeless shelter parking lot- I was so glad that the vaccine is being made available in such a convenient way for all those folks.

  26. 26.

    Jacel

    Rachel Maddow has a hard time with needles, so her comments a few weeks ago when she was on the air a day after her shot was quite emotional, with a message aimed especially at her fellow needle fearers.

  28. 28.

    JDM

    Hey, my gf got the Moderna vaccine, and she had never had a shot in eight decades.  She was nervous about it, but okay.  Really nice guys where we got vaxxed.  She did have some annoying side effects for a week after the second dose (sleeping probs, aches, tiredness) but fine now.  And it’s great being vaxxed, like having a minor superpower.

  29. 29.

    Catherine D.

    Needles are a lot thinner gauge than they used to be. I didn’t feel either Moderna, and my October flu shot was the same.

    Given that I need TDAP, pneumonia, and shingles, that’s good. I’ve been holding off on those until I had the COVID vaccination.

  31. 31.

    pacem appellant

    I have the second Pfizer in my arm as of 24 hours ago. I feel crummy today. BUT! I’m vaccinated, which is an incredible relief. This goddamned pandemic has been awful. One down day for protection from Covid is well worth it!

  32. 32.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Jacel:

    DONE!

    Rachel’s testimony helped me a lot in hearing my head up to do this. Ever since I made the appointment, I’ve been feeling simultaneously terrified, excited, and calm. Not unlike what I felt shortly before jumping out of that airplane that time :-)

    And all my street cred as a serious needlephobic is going to be shot to hell now, but you guys were right — I hardly felt it.

    THANK YOU again to WG and everyone for your great support!

  34. 34.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Almost Retired: This needle felt tiny to me even compared to other shots I’ve had recently, the flu and shingles vaccines. (Certainly compared to all the stuff they stuck in me at the hospital.)

  35. 35.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Catherine D.: ​
     

    The vaccines are supplied in small doses, maybe half a cc each. A really thin needle (25 gauge, IIRC) means very little of the vaccine dose is left to go to waste in the needle’s cannula after the ‘payload’ has been delivered. It does have to go quite deep into the arm muscle to work so the needle is (scarily) long. Vaccinators have a special very-long needle on hand for people with a lot of body fat to make sure the injection actually goes into muscle tissue.

  37. 37.

    Ken

    @Almost Retired: Needle technology – such as it is – has improved greatly since I received my childhood vaccinations

    Back in my day when the barber made the cut, then Dr. Jenner rubbed the cowpox scabs into the wound, it hurt even more.

  40. 40.

    Bodacious

    @WaterGirl:

    doing a shift now (kinda slow) at our county Covid hotline. Been working the phones for a few weeks now. I love it! So definitely no need for thanks

  42. 42.

    Spanish Moss

    Got my second shot of Moderna this morning. Hardly felt either shot, and so far so good in terms of side effects. I got both in a state-run drive-thru facility in an office park. Didn’t even get out of my car, they gave me the shot through the open car window and monitored me nearby for 15 minutes afterwards, then sent me off with an updated vaccination card. Pretty cool! They said they were doing about 1100 shots per day.

  43. 43.

    BRyan

    Had a conversation today with a recently-returned-from-Florida snowbirder who was very matter-of-fact about having taken no precautions, nor refrained from doing anything (dinners out, shopping, visiting family and friends, etc) for the entirety of the pandemic to date.  Doesn’t know anybody that died of covid, only a half dozen or so in their retirement community that got sick, is convinced the whole pandemic is media hype and the reported death figures are fabrications.  Not militant about their views, but pretty sure the people who don’t share those views, or who trust Dr Fauci, are naive and being hoodwinked.    It was disheartening, to say the least.

  45. 45.

    laura

    A week or so ago I saw a photograph of a young NBA player getting his vaccination. He is needle phobic, so his best friend went with him and held his hand. I cried when I saw it, and I’m teary recounting it – just so much loving kindness and empathy and the cure for toxic masculinity. Congratulations to every needle phobic person who steps up despite their fears – and then finds out that it really does not hurt even a bit.

  46. 46.

    stinger

    What a great post, WaterGirl! The five pictured individuals are among my very favorite non-related non-acquainted human beings, and I’ll be beaming all day. (Already fully vaccinated, and don’t hate or fear needles, so the post wasn’t aimed at me, but love it anyway.)

  47. 47.

    Brachiator

    @BRyan:

    Not militant about their views, but pretty sure the people who don’t share those views, or who trust Dr Fauci, are naive and being hoodwinked.

    Sigh. People like this are so aggravating. There is a world wide pandemic. Dr Fauci is not the only medical expert in the universe. Almost all other medical experts agree about the pandemic and how to combat it.

  52. 52.

    stinger

    @WaterGirl: Way to go, MazeDancer! The stickers are all so good I had a hard time choosing (and WaterGirl was good enough to give me two once!).

  53. 53.

    stinger

    Looking at the photos some more, it occurs to me that you probably could not find photos of 5 prominent Repubs/conservatives where they appear so genuinely happy. Every pic I see shows them barely able to smile, and then it’s a grimace reflective of their self-centered, power-mad, bigoted greed.

  56. 56.

    J R in WV

    I have no sympathy for people who refuse to take a vaccination for any reason, when we should all know that the vaccination will save the lives of others, some of whom cannot take a vaccination themselves.

    Darwin should take them away ASAP so that they can’t harm their fellow humans.

    I have quarterly checkups with my family practice Dr, and every time the nurses take a blood sample for analysis, usually 3 tubes full. They normally use a butterfly needle (very thin and easy to manipulate) to hit a vein, I watch with interest as it is my vein/blood and it almost never hurts, especially if they hit the vein quickly.

  59. 59.

    Ohio Mom

    The Moar you know:
    Yikes!
    Glad you’re well enough to comment. I was particularly alarmed when I read that you had been in the hospital TWELVE days — that is a long time, these days, for a hospital stay.

    On another note, I finally figured out it’s not needles I hate and fear, it’s blood draws and IVs. They are completely different animals than a quick jab.

  60. 60.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    While I was waiting, I got into a lovely conversation with a young woman wearing hijab. I greeted her in Arabic and wished her Ramadan Mubarak and then in English said I hoped she was having an easy fast. She seemed both astonished and pleased that an old white broad would strike up such a conversation, and we ended up having a very nice chat. We exchanged contact information and plan to meet up once we’re both fully vaccinated. Totally nice and unexpected.

  61. 61.

    Falling Diphthong

    I have a full-blown needle phobia, think very rude things at medical personnel who claim “you won’t even feel it,” and the first prick was barely noticeable. Second hurt a bit, but I had to have it in the same side. (Mastectomy patient.) Both jabs were markedly better than getting blood drawn.

  62. 62.

    Ohio Mom

    J R in WV:
    You must have large veins — as
    a variety of medical personnel have noted, I don’t. I’ve had it take up to three tries before they can get the needle to slide into the vein. I go home with big ugly bruises.

  64. 64.

    Betsy

    @gratuitous: You know what?  The vaccine studies (both Pfizer and Moderna) documented the incidence of side effects that were severe enough to prevent people from doing their normal activities, and it was about 20% for Moderna and for Pfizer too.

    Guess what else.  Of the people in the placebo groups, about *5%* reported side effects severe enough to prevent them from doing their normal activities.

    Which just goes to show that people feel crappy about 1 day out of 20, anyway.

  65. 65.

    Mousebumples

    My needle phobic hubby got his 2nd Moderna today. I showed him the images and earned a grin. Thanks!

  68. 68.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @pacem appellant: I’m a little over 26 hours since my second Pfizer. No nausea/dizziness this time, but my arm is still sore, and I have muscle pain in places with old injuries, and also had the chills for most of the day.

  70. 70.

    Denali

     

     

     

    2nd shot of Moderna this morning. Arm is starting to feel a little sore. The smiling faces helped.

  71. 71.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @JPL: it’s greatly better than the alternative. Although since I am having surgery on Monday morning, I had to get a COVID test from the preoperative center, as well as fasting blood sugar and hemoglobin A1C. And they insisted that CVS drive-through wasn’t accurate enough. So 3 birds with one stone, and now I am just waiting on the COVID test results.

  77. 77.

    MazeDancer

    Yes, took some temporal liberties with the “younger brother” shot of Dr. Fauci.

    But, surprisingly, there are almost no pics of him smiling. And this one was so nice.

    Also, figured it was okay, because had a world-famous hospital once as a client, and there appears to be a medical tradition of never replacing your official photo. Would sit in meetings with these gray-haired folk who could not be recognized from their bio shots.

  78. 78.

    Ruckus

    @zhena gogolia:

    Had a bad accident involving my thumb, if it hadn’t been for the bone, it would have been completely cut off.

    Going to describe it so if you are queazy, don’t continue.

     

    Cut into the bone, cut the nerve bundle in two, cut the artery in two, cut the tendon about 80% through. I may have taught the ladies running the production machinery at my customers plant a few new words of a swearing nature.

    The worst pain was the 4 or 40 times, I can’t remember which, the doc shot the local into my hand but I know what it felt like, before he stitched it all back together. And yes it all works fine and has for the last 33 yrs.

  79. 79.

    Ruckus

    @Almost Retired:

    How things are manufactured has changed in some big ways and in other ways not really all that much. But the ability to make things we couldn’t 50 yrs ago or make them so much better is one of those big ways. A lot of that improvement has been through computers. Design and manufacturing of the tooling and the products we use to make things has improved dramatically because of computers and software, which allows a level of accuracy and finish that was extremely expensive or not possible. Those tiny needles that most of us didn’t feel at all is one of those advances. Very small, very sharp, often very pain free.

  80. 80.

    Cassandra (fka mostly a lurker)

    I don’t usually watch news or youtube clips (prefer to read the news and digest it), but watched the whole 11 minute Rachel Maddow clip recommended above, and it totally speaks to me. I’m terrified of needles AND don’t feel I’m at much risk for getting COVID AND I have concerns about putting a new medication into my body that hasn’t been on the market for years, BUT I got my 1st shot anyway about 1 1/2 weeks ago and have the 2nd shot scheduled in 1 1/2 weeks, because we live in society and (this will sound dorky) I think it’s my civic duty to do so (plus I don’t want to feel like a shit head, worrying that I might unwittingly spread COVID to others). She’s the best.

Comments are closed.