What are the first things you plan to do once you are fully vaccinated and feel that it’s safe enough? Are some of you already at that point?
I have been thinking of doing a post on this for awhile, and was reminded of that when I saw a comment suggesting that very thing.
Seems like a good Sunday afternoon topic.
Open thread.
germy
I am officially fully vaccinated tomorrow.
I made a list that includes visiting my local bookstore. (I visited it pre-vax, but I was nervous. When I visit it this week I will not be nervous.)
I need stuff at the grocery store. I will visit our local Aldi, but instead of rushing in and out, I’ll take my time in each aisle, and stock up on extras.
SamInWa
After I got my first shot and had a confirmed appointment for #2, I booked a trip to Maui to replace the one I canceled in 2020. Will be flying out on May 29. My 14 day waiting period for maximum immunity is over on May 12.
I am so looking forward to this trip. I have many plans, but one of my main goals is to swim in the ocean each day I’m there.
trollhattan
I need a real haircut.
Wapiti
I’ll be fully vaccinated by end of May, as will my siblings, so we’re planning a mid-June birthday party for my dad, who will turn 90.
germy
Remember Prancer?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYMzlGttBh8
He finally found a home, thanks to the hilarious and brutal description the nice foster lady Tyfanee Fortuna wrote about him. I thought she was the coolest person I’d read in a long time. A funny writer.
And now I found out she’s had an onlyfans account for a long time, to help pay for all the dogs & cats she fosters. I think she’s great. And she’s funny on twitter, too:
germy
NPR:
WaterGirl
I’m fully vaccinated, but I’m still on the cautious end of the continuum. I went to the garden store early in the morning this week, when there weren’t many people there, everyone still masked, but at least I didn’t feel like I was taking my life in my hands.
For today, I’m content to sit on the porch, listening to the wind as it blows, enjoying the tulips and bluebells her flowers, with the wind chimes keeping me company.
Dorothy A. Winsor
First I did all the things I’d been putting off like get a haircut and get my teeth cleaned.
Then I went shopping for summer clothes. I’ve been buying on line but I need to try on things like tshirts and shorts. And we visited our son and DIL who are also vaccinated.
Spanky
Today is Day 22 since Moderna #2. Mrs. Spanky is about a eeek behind me, but I still think it’ll be a month or so before she’ll be ready for an outdoor restaurant. I could do it today, but would still feel a little hinky about it.
Pretty sure that will be our first foray, though.
Betty
I plan to at last hold a retirement luncheon for one of my best friends. Postponed since March, 2020.
Falling Diphthong
The first thing I’m doing is having surgery–my surgery date (pushed off from January by high covid numbers) is one day after my second-shot-plus-two-weeks. So then I plan to lie around doing very little. But hoping that in late summer or early fall, travel that feels like in Ye Olden Times is a thing–getting on a plane, going to a museum without a mask.
debbie
I’m not sure I’ll ever feel safe. They’re talking about a return to work in July (25% at a time, one week there, three weeks from home), but I would not be comfortable around unvaccinated or anti-vaxer people.
Mike in Oly
I cannot wait to go back to my favovrite restaurant and sit down and be waited on. It has been over a year now and I am ready!
MagdaInBlack
That is a beautiful porch. I’m envious ?
p.a.
GF has booked a quick midweek NYC for my bday early June, both fully vac’d. Museums, maybe Lucali for pizza. We’ve done some dine-in the last few weeks, midweek, low volume times.
germy
@MagdaInBlack:
I just noticed the dog sunning itself. And the other dog watching from the shadows.
WaterGirl
A friend stopped by on Friday. She is not vaccinated – she feels they came out too quickly without enough testing, but at least she came by that honestly because a member of her family has had to live with the results of thalidomide.
I was masked; she was not, but we sat on the porch, at a distance. I was not entirely comfortable. Going forward i think only vaccinated people can hang out not the porch. Will have to have front yard visits with unvaccinated people. I have another friend who lives with lyme disease and she does not plan to get the vaccine. It took her over 10 years to get her health back after lyme and she is unwilling to upset the applecart.
RaflW
I flew to Denver evening before last, and went very-spring snowboarding up in Summit County yesterday (will go Mon & Tues as well). And yesterday evening I had dinner outdoors with a buddy I’ve been boarding with for 15 years or so. It was only his second time having table service in 14 months (my partner and I have managed about five outdoor restaurant experiences in that time).
It still feels a little anxious, but being >14 days past dose II, and my partner being several days past his second (therefore not flying but willing to let me back in the house Wednesday) is a good space to be in.
dmsilev
I celebrated my ‘two week after second shot’ day by going out and eating dinner at a restaurant for the first time since this whole thing began. Patio dining, with well separated tables, so it felt safe enough. Indoor dining is not yet at my comfort level. Roughly a month after the second shot, I went to visit my family, which entailed a cross-country flight. That also felt ok; between the full vaccination and the mandatory masking, the risk was low enough that I wasn’t nervous.
Last week, I shifted back to being in the office full time. Mandatory masks in public space, most of campus is vaccinated, that feels fine.
This week, I’m meeting some coworkers in person, again for the first time in over a year. It’ll be outside, and we’re all fully jabbed, so demasking and having some coffee together seems reasonable.
Kayla Rudbek
Probably being able to visit inside with my sibling and the family (especially my godson). It may confuse my godson that Auntie Kayla and Uncle Rudbek aren’t in the same place at the same time (the boy associates us like salt-and-pepper, Auntie Kayla-and-Uncle Rudbek).
It’s going to be vaccination + surgical drains out before I start seriously considering what I want to do. I need a proper haircut and I would love to have a manicure and pedicure. However, I may want to wait until after my radiation treatment is done.
And the radiation treatment will be another saga as well. Insurance has denied my request for proton treatment instead of photon treatment, and I am mentally starting to draft the nastygram/appeal accusing them of providing inferior treatment (I.e. higher dosage penetrating too far into my body) based on my sex/gender, particularly as compared to prostrate cancer therapy. I don’t particularly like the concept of having to hold my breath while the radiation fires so that my heart/lungs/ribs aren’t part of the target area, most especially because I need treatment of both breasts.
I suppose that 5-10 years from now, it would be a question of getting insurance to pay for exact tailoring of an mRNA vaccine to each tumor…
JanieM
The most important thing on my list is to get together with my extended family and have a long-delayed memorial gathering in memory of my mom, who died at 96 on April 29, 2020. People would be meeting up in Ohio, coming from (at least) SD, Maine, and Florida.
Some of us are fully vaccinated — I got my second Pfizer on March 5 — but others are not, most notably several small children for whom there won’t be a vaccine for a good while. The parents are being super cautious, and I totally support them in that stance, but it means we won’t be gathering in the plannable future. We can never reproduce what a service would have felt like immediately after Mom died anyhow, so as far as I’m concerned there’s no rush at this point.
Other than that, I’m mostly enjoying springtime, all separate from COVID.
WaterGirl
@Mike in Oly: Will you eat inside? I am to the point of thinking that maybe I will be ready soon for outdoor dining in an area that is not high traffic, but I don’t see eating inside until next year. Too cautious?
Rob
My wife and I will go to a restaurant and sit outdoors. One specific restaurant in fact, that we used to go to in the Before Times. Neither one of us particularly want to eat indoors at this point. We’ll also both get haircuts. My wife hasn’t had one since January last year. I keep my hair short, so she has cut my hair three times. It will be nice for both of us to get professional haircuts.
eta: She is 2 weeks past her second shot as of today, while my 2 weeks is this coming Friday.
HumboldtBlue
Got my second Pfizer shot yesterday, and I am feeling it today. Sore, stiff arm, a bit groggy. Drinking water nonstop. But, I don’t have Covid so there’s that.
joel hanes
I’m two shots Moderna + one week.
It’ll still be a long time before I do anything non-essential around crowds of other people — I’ll travel in June from California to Iowa to go help my elderly Mom for a couple months, and I’ll drive instead of flying to avoid airports and airplanes.
I hope that community transmission is stopped before next February and California has 100% test and trace going on, because I’d really like to go to the Portuguese community’s Feb. crab cioppino feed in Mountain View — but that’s 600 people in a big hall, eating. Not sure how I’ll feel about it even so.
Some of the behavioral effects of living through the Great Depression stuck with those people for the rest of their lives.
WaterGirl
@MagdaInBlack: Thank you! I had that built 5 years ago. I had wanted a screened-in porch for forever, but there was no place for one.
When the tree crashed on my house in 2013, it destroyed the deck, so I held on to the 5k insurance money for that until I could pull together the rest of the money to have the porch built.
WaterGirl
@germy: That’s Tucker in the sun, and Henry just walking out to the porch to see what we were up to.
zhena gogolia
We went to an indoor dinner party last night — seven vaccinated people. It was a lot of fun, but with an undercurrent of unease for me and my husband. Is it really safe? Two more dinner parties this week. I hope the CDC knows what they’re doing.
germy
@WaterGirl:
I used to love visiting movie theaters.
I have anxiety now about it. I don’t know if I’d ever be comfortable sitting in a movie theater again.
Unless the CDC announces COVID and all variants are gone. But will that ever happen?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@MagdaInBlack: me, too, clicked on to say I have porch envy
debbie
@WaterGirl:
I’m in the same boat as your friend with lyme disease (different disease). I’m dealing with the aftereffects now, but I know they’ll pass and I know they are far less worse than COVID. She’s very susceptible and should reconsider.
JanieM
@debbie:
I feel like this. I’m not sure what it would take for me to be as heedless of COVID as I was before I ever heard of it, but nothing in sight meets that standard. No big deal unless some asshole tries to make an issue of it (e.g. by yelling at me for wearing a mask).
ETA:
@joel hanes:
In late March 2020 my daughter asked whether I thought we’d have forgotten about COVID by mid-summer of that year. I said, “No one who lived through the Depression ever forgot it.” I just had a feeling about what was coming, even though consciously I hoped for a different progression.
Baud
Spend more time commenting in Balloon Juice.
germy
@WaterGirl:
Tucker and Henry. Fine looking.
Cameron
I’m not sure I can return to normal (whatever that is). The last year has really scrambled my mind. A visit to the dentist is in order, since I haven’t been in a couple years, but that’s about all I can foresee for the rest of 2021. Mask wearing, social distancing, hand washing, annual COVID booster shots….that’s what I see as the future. Indefinitely.
MattF
I’ve gotten a haircut, I’m seeing my doctor on Wednesday, I made an appointment to start the process of getting my eye problem fixed, I shopped at the Italian deli, I bought bagels. Will soon buy pastries at the Frenchie place a couple of blocks away. Will soon see dentist. Big remaining problem is my car, I still have a couple of months to deal with that, though.
debbie
@JanieM:
There are plenty of Tucker Carlson-inspired idiots around here, but I am very watchful when out and about.
WaterGirl
@germy:
Narrator: “No, that will never happen.”
15 or 20 years ago, maybe, but now our country is filed with selfish people who have been enabled beyond belief.
WaterGirl
@debbie: I wish she would reconsider, but that’s not going to happen. It’s not logical – if you feel fragile enough that the vaccine could tip you over, think what getting COVID would do. It boggles my mind.
WaterGirl
@germy: From Anne Laurie’s Covid thread:
Rob
@Watergirl, this morning we stopped at a deli/market on our way home from birding, and they were selling these Joe Biden caramels: https://chouquette.us/collections/2021-winter/products/joe-biden-chocolates. The Ridin’ With Biden one made me think of your Joe-in-the-car sticker in the vaccine threads. Of course we bought a box, the last one there.
Hoodie
Wife and I are going in May for makeup college graduation ceremony for oldest son, who missed it in 2020. Then we’re all visiting our youngest son in Colorado in June for his 21st birthday. We’ll all be well past 2nd shots for both events, driving to the first, flying to the second.
Josie
I have a question for anyone who has an opinion. One of my first things to tend to is to have my teeth cleaned, but my Medicare Advantage plan doesn’t cover dental visits. Is it better to have dental insurance or a dental plan? I found both when I googled it, but I’m not sure which is a better idea.
PsiFighter37
Going to be flying cross country, so will hit Day 14 post-second shot in SoCal just 10-15 minutes north of Santa Monica. Going to enjoy the fresh ocean air, no work (mandatory time off for me), will just be a lot of time with me and the kiddo playing hookie. That should be fun. My wife and I really need to get a post-bedtime babysitter in place so that we can go eat somewhere nice when we are back at the start of June. I will have no issues eating inside so long as the tables are spaced out appropriately after being vaccinated. That is the one thing I have absolutely been holding off on up until now. No issues with being inside buildings (or even going to work) given the appropriate amount of spacing.
Phylllis
@JanieM: I was just talking to a coworker the other day about being brought up by depression-era parents and grandparents. They really ingrained those attitudes into us. I just hit 59 and I swear there is such a thing as a generation gap.
Frankensteinbeck
Pfizer #2 tomorrow. In two weeks I’m going to start planning a visit to friends I haven’t seen in a very long time. Until then, chickens/hatched.
EDIT – Pfizer #2 tomorrow, book release the day after. It’s gonna be quite a week!
WaterGirl
@Rob: Nice! Looks like the proceeds go to a good cause, too.
Mike in NC
We’re heading to Key West for Memorial Day weekend. It will be damned expensive, but we’re saying, “Hey, it’s the stimulus money we’re spending”. That’s not inaccurate.
RandomMonster
@trollhattan: I got a haircut last week. It had been 14 months, and long hair didn’t look as good on me as when I was in my 20’s.
Yesterday was dinner with RandomMrs’s family. We hadn’t been to a restaurant since Christmas 2019.
WaterGirl
@Josie: It’s balloon juice! Everyone has an opinion!
Sadly, though, I do not know anything helpful on this one.
HinTN
@WaterGirl: MrsH had lyme undiagnosed for over three years. Finally figured it out and took a year of antibiotics to beat it back. She took the jab as soon as it was offered. Over a month since Moderna #2 and nothing but glad she did.
NotMax
As predicted, Mom is making “once you’re fully vaccinated you can come visit this year” noises. The idea of spending anywhere from 13 to 32 hours in transit (both extremes are how long a one-way trip has taken in the past), either in bustling airports or (mostly) crammed into a metal tube in the sky with many other people, is not yet something I’m willing to contemplate.
The additional anti-fillip is so much still being closed, entertainment-wise, in NYC. The two of relegated to just rattling around her apartment is a recipe for friction.
JMG
The two week period after my second Pfizer shot ended on April 2. Since then I have eaten indoors at a (nearly empty) restaurant sitting at its bar, where Alice and I were the only customers. I have had a haircut. I had my annual physical, utterly masked in late March. At the end of May, at the now-frantic urging of my primary care physician, I will get a long delayed colonscopy (colon cancer on my Mom’s side of family means I gotta do that more often than most). That may be too much sharing, but on the brighter side, the first Saturday in August will be my son’s thrice-postponed wedding at the boathouse in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Since SHE will be fully vaccinated by then, his sister in France will be able to come, too.
Barbara
Visit my daughter in NYC and my BFF in New Jersey.
HinTN
@WaterGirl:
No!
Ghost of Joe Liebling*s Dog
We went to the library (live large!), which we’d missed badly. It felt exciting, and sad at the same time. There were only two or three other people there, but we didn’t stay long.
It was really odd to be out in public for a luxury like borrowing books. The isolation of this past year has become something like a habit, I think.
We got dressed up a bit and called it a date.
WaterGirl
I got my hair cut and colored for the first time in a year, so I no longer look/feel like the Count of Monte Cristo when he came out of the jail/cave after all those years.
Went to the dermatologist last week and I had to take my mask off for the parts where she froze some stuff on my face. Then when I stood up, my mask fell on the floor. Then what do you do???
We were done at that point, so I just pulled my shirt up over my nose and left.
CaseyL
A friend and I celebrated full vaccinations by going to eat indoors at a restaurant. It felt adventurous and even transgressive enough for us to laugh about it.
I’ve also gone into shops and bought things, rather than stare longingly through the windows from the safety of the sidewalk :)
Salty Sam
We got Moderna2 on April 6 in Puerto Rico, loaded up the boat and sailed back to the States. We are in a marina in Ft Pierce FL at the moment, arranging for the sale of our beloved Gabrielle, and our return to family in Austin. We are giving up the cruising life to take on full time roles as Oma & Opa.
There’s still too much lack of caution here re: Covid (“Forget it Jake, it’s Florida”) for me to be completely comfortable, but most of our time is spent outdoors, so it’s tolerable. Being a foodie, and enduring extremely limited variety and availability in Culebra, I enjoyed my first trip to a big supermarket (Publix), but I’m still looking forward to spending an entire day wandering the aisles at Central Market in Austin.
Our kids have created an “intentional community” of a dozen or so people in a small neighborhood- the houses are next door and behind one another, so the back fences are knocked down, and the growing community (more babies coming) has garden and play space for all. Space has been made available to us and we have been invited to join, with the specific wish that we bring our “elder energy” into the mix. That feels awfully nice.
Zzyzx
I’ve been fully vaccinated for a while now. We went on a trip to rural Utah a few weeks ago but since we’ve gotten back home, I’ve pretty much reacted like I have before I left, only with less stress. I guess I go to the grocery store more casually but I haven’t eaten inside a restaurant or done anything outside my house. Maybe when music comes back but Washington is being cautious.
PST
My wife and I got our second shots in toward the end of February, so we’re as immune as we’re going to get. Last year we wanted to take a trip to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary, but it’ll be the sixth instead. We got married July 4 on the front porch or a B&B in Calistoga with just a couple of friends and family members, so we’re going back to the scene of the crime. One of our kids reported that he hit his 2 & 2 this last week: second shot plus two weeks. He plans to show up next month. We are having two vaccinated friends over for dinner tonight, and we’ve already had a couple of restaurant meals. Maybe we are being too quick about this, but we were good for more than a year. Basically all our friends are old vaccinated people anyway.
JoyceH
I’ve been fully vaccinated for over a month now. It’s frankly astonishing how many doctors’ appointments and tests and checks you have to do to make up for not doing them for a year! And last week I met up with a friend and we toured a local historic site and then went to a fancy restaurant and dined inside. The historic site required masks inside the buildings, and the restaurant had the tables spaced quite far apart and our reservation was for 4:30 so for most of our meal we were the only people in the room. It was a really nice excursion, but man, am I out of shape! I’ve been exercising quite regularly for a few months, but I still have a ways to go before I’m back to a useful level of fitness.
WereBear
@trollhattan: Indeed. I was outside with a friend who is fully vaccinated, but we were politely staying 6 feet away, and I told her I’d been cutting my own hair.
She said, “I can’t tell how it looks, the wind is blowing.”
I said, “That’s why I told you now. It’s a mess.”
WaterGirl
@Salty Sam:
That sounds lovely.
Jerry
Now that I’m fully vaccinated, it was time to call in a favor with a friend who is also fully vaccinated and we replaced one of the CV axles in the front of my Outback. Good times had by all
pajaro
Ms. Pajaro and I are over 70, and we’ve been good to go for more than a month. We started with postponed Drs. appointments. Last weekend, we had old friends (in every sense) who were also vaccinated over for dinner. I think that was the first time when the two of us felt like life had returned to normal, even if it was only for an evening.
terry chay
Fully vaccinated beginning of June. Visit my father so he can see his first and only grandchild.
Still have to work out him giving an ultimatum to his girlfriend who hasn’t vaccinated herself. But that’s my dad’s responsibility. He knows what’s up.
WaterGirl
@terry chay:
Wow. That will be great. Your dad will have to step up if he wants to see your child.
debbie
@WereBear:
I’ve gotten haircuts, but to minimize exposure, I wash it and have it cut dry. I’m in and out in less than 15 minutes total.
Mike in NC
I’m at the point in reading “American Carnage” where it covers the Orange Clown’s inauguration, including his ghastly speech co-written by the neo-Nazis Bannon and Miller, plus the humiliation of Sean Spicer over the size of the crowd (Biggest in History, according to the new shithead-in-chief). What a loser we tossed in November.
sacrablue
I’m a full two months after Moderna #2, but spouse doesn’t get his 2nd shot til Tuesday. We planned to renovate our kitchen last year, but Covid. So I’ve revised my ideas and intend to shop for cabinest and flooring on Tuesday.
neabinorb
Yesterday I played music at the farmers market with my fully vaccinated band. It was great and the first time we’d performed in nearly two years.
raven
I have an appointment with a neurosurgeon on the 10th to investigate options for a “tethered spinal cord”. We’re going to the beach the next day and have to see if we can manage the steps there with Bohdi. I don’t want to have any surgery while he’s still with us because I want to be able to lift him. I haven’t been fishing since October and I’m really hoping to both surf and maybe go out on a boat.
Fair Economist
Boardgame meetups. And I’m already there, for the fully vaccinated.
Oh, and the dentist. Although I’m dreading that, better now than later.
raven
@Jerry: I was thinking about one of those until my friend told me if you trash a tire you have to replace all four!
MisterForkbeard
I’m mostly vaccinated, and my parents have been fully vaccinated for a month. I took my daughters over to their house to play today (inside!) for the first time in a year, and we brought enough doughnuts to make the event a sugar-high filled whirlwind of grandkids enjoying grandparents.
Good times. Would do it again.
planetjanet
The thing I miss the most is watching a rugby match with my friends in the pub. We only get together for the big international events, so the Autumn Nations Cup is the first likely time to do that. So I can say it will be the first thing. I am already going to live matches with our new professional team, Old Glory DC. We sit in pods of people, six feet apart and masked and outdoors. Two of my friends form a pod with me and it feels safe. It has been a relief to actually see people and feel a bit human again.
But I would like to treat myself to a spa day at the salon. That will wait until the community is safe, not just statewide guidance.
Tenar Arha
May the 4th is my two weeks—
I’ve already got a timed reservation to one of my favorite museums this week, an appointment for a manicure & pedicure, and a haircut & color. I’m going to try to hang out with a fellow fully vaccinated friend this weekend, but we haven’t decided what to do yet. Maybe beach or maybe museum depending on weather forecasts.
ETA May 4th
schrodingers_cat
To Do List post 2nd vaccine
Nina
We rented a condo by the water and stayed there with my parents for four nights. It was wonderful. We hugged for so long when we arrived.
Four nights was the perfect amount of time for me to start remembering why I moved out 30 years ago, but not in a resentful or ‘get me away from here’ way.
Jaysails
I was fully vaxxed as of yesterday. Tomorrow, I’m going to Berkeley Bowl (I’m not insane enough to brave it on the weekend). I haven’t been since last summer. Weird mushrooms here I come!
Auntie Anne
One week away from total protection! To celebrate, I will open up my patio a week from today and then have friends (totally vaccinated) over for iced tea on the patio, unmasked. It’s been too long since I’ve seen friends unmasked.
Also, planned a week at Chincoteague with my 86 year old father in August, at his request. He longs to go to the beach, and has had a tough year being isolated. So a little taste of “normal” there.
raven
@Jaysails: and potatoes! I haven’t been there in a long time but the last time I was I never saw such spuds!
JoyceH
@debbie:
I used to have my hair streaked at the salon, but the whole process took over an hour. Now I race in for a fifteen minute haircut and coloring my own hair turned into a pandemic hobby. No streaks, that’s advanced stuff, just overall color. I’m currently experimenting with the various shades of purple. Currently sporting ‘orchid’, and my next endeavor will be ‘amethyst’, which appears to be less pink and more blue than the orchid.
Skippy-san
Get on a plane to Thailand and spend at least a week in Pattaya. Problem is Thailand will probably not open any time soon.
Patricia Kayden
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@trollhattan: Haircut is definitely among the first things. I already sent my hair cutter a pic of the ponytail thing that’s been growing on my head all year. I plan to make a big ceremony of the chopping of that thing.
My wife is actually kind of fond of it, but I like zero-maintenance hair and this long stuff is a PITA.
Other top items: Seeing a doc for a chronic sinus condition I’ve had all year, and VACATION!!!!! (3 days in a B & B)
Di
Fully vaccinated and protected as of this past Wednesday. Got my first haircut on Thursday and the weekend after next I’m going to visit my oldest and dearest friend about 2 hours away. Full circle, as she’s the last guest I had the weekend before lock down went into effect. But you know, just going to the grocery store, still masked but without apprehension, feels life changing.
JPL
@Josie: Dental Insurance has become quite expensive, and unless you know that you have something major coming up, it’s not worth it. btw I still have it because I know that I’ll need a crown, if I drop it.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@Josie: I’m on Medicare, and finally decided dental insurance was not worth it. I’m 70 yo, and see the dentist 2x a year for cleaning, at $100+/visit, which I just pay when I get the bill. I really don’t foresee any major dental stuff, so I just pay for the visits directly. Maybe if this area had a good Medicare Advantage plan available I’d rethink it, but it doesn’t.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Jaysails: Berkeley Bowl!!!
We were introduced to that place when elder daughter and son-in-law lived in Berkeley. Love that place and that whole area. We actually made it our home base last time we were in SF, despite the need for a commute.
TriassicSands
I’m not even thinking about all the things I’ll do. I am thinking about the disastrous condition of this country and its millions of ignorant and stupid citizens who continue to act as though the pandemic will just go away (once it gets warmer or colder or maybe just right).
Note to John Cole: John, please contact your senior senator and have him explain to you which constitutional amendments allowed Alaska and Hawaii to become states. It seems he believes that such an amendment is necessary before Washington, D.C. can be admitted to the union. Why, I wonder, do the largely African residents of the District of Columbia need to follow a vastly more difficult road to statehood and congressional representation than have the people of other states?
Manchin knows that there is no chance a constitutional amendment will pass, which means he is willing to have his “No” vote veto D.C.’s admission. (Sure, the other Democratic obstructionist — from Arizona — may also come up with some idiosyncratic reason why she opposes statehood. Anything for attention?)
drdavechemist
I had a post-vaccination purely social event yesterday for the first time. A bunch of us 60+ folks did a drive-by baby shower for a younger member of our singing group. She and her husband are just coming up on dose #2, so we all masked up when we were close to her (as we ate cake and bestowed presents at the end of the driveway), but when the vaccinated folks met up beforehand in a nearby church parking lot, we were all mask-free as we greeted each other in person for the first time in about 14 months.
I’ve been teaching indoors fully masked to half-sized cohorts of high school students all year (with the other half “attending” on Zoom on a weekly rotating basis). Based on that experience and the complete lack of transmission on campus, I’m totally cool with being inside with masks and a small number/density of people for a limited time. Same applies to retail, medical visits, and even the hair salon, all of which I’ve been doing for months.
Sitting inside with a large group of strangers and taking off my mask to eat still feels risky to me, but I’ve been doing outside dining consistently whenever the weather permitted since it opened up last fall and I’m happy to keep doing that until it appears that community spread is really under control here. We also have plans to start meeting up with trusted (and vaccinated) friends and family for small group socializing on a more regular basis in the weeks and months ahead. Fortunately, there are no vaccine resisters in my life that I’m aware of, so I’m optimistic about the prospects for getting a social life back before the end of 2021.
Denali
@Kayla Rudbek: I had readiation treations while lying on my stomach to avoid the exposure of the lungs/heart area. Do you have this option?
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@Ghost of Joe Liebling*s Dog: I stopped by my local library yesterday to return a couple of books in the book chute (borrowed via a special online reserve and distanced pickup system) and they were OPEN! They had a limit on how many patrons inside at a time (and only 45 minutes of computer time per person), but it felt wonderful to browse the displays and pick up a couple of books. The limits were no problem since the word about their opening was clearly not general knowledge yet (library almost empty).
Besides the joy of browsing for me, I was thrilled to see the computers available again. People in the community without access to computers have had a terrible time for the last year, and for some, the library is where they get access.
Denali
@schrodingers_cat: Thinking of you and your extended family in India. Hope they are well.
Ksmiami
@germy: slow burn. The Republican reservoir dunces are going to keep infections and variants popping off.
Brachiator
I have had my second shot for three weeks, but am still slow about getting back into the world. I would like to see more people in my community get vaccinated. But I think my county is officially opening up more.
I have always loved going to the movies. When I was a kid I would walk to a neighborhood cinema most Saturdays. Before the lockdown, I would continue the tradition and often do a Saturday or Sunday matinee.
I wasn’t sure when I would go back to the movies again, even with smaller attendance guidelines and new safety procedures. But not too long ago, the ArcLight and Pacific Cinemas, which included the theaters closest to me, decided to shut down. This also includes the wonderful and historic Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, which would often have fun special events to go along with regular screenings.
So an easy trip to the movies may be gone forever, even if I want to go back.
On the other hand, on Friday I went out to run some errands. Made sure to wear a mask. On the way home, I stopped at a small restaurant where I often get takeout. They had tables set up inside again they allowed indoor dining again. There were very few customers sitting inside, so I decided to stay there and eat. Felt good.
debbie
@JoyceH:
I used to get aubergine highlights. Subtle, dark, and looked great in sunlight.
lifeinthebonusround
Got my second Pfizer on St. Patrick’s Day in South Boston. Three weeks later we went to Maine and I got to hug my 92-year-old mother and (for the first time) hold my 10-week-old great nephew. Very happy.
Nancy
Vaccinated and the waiting period is over. I am taking a small, masked art class and going to have lunch with vaccinated friends and family, maybe visit some out of state relatives in June.
Small adventures that would seem like not much in the before time feel so exciting now.
JMG
@TriassicSands: Considering how West Vriginia became a state, Manchin’s got some nerve with that line.
bk
I just came back from metaphorically dipping my toes in the water in this regard – went down to the Strip and had a mojito and a good cigar at my favorite patio bar (Rhumbar at the Mirage).
SiubhanDuinne
I’m at the halfway mark between Pfizer 1 and Pfizer 2, so it’s still going to be nearly the end of May before the post-vaxx waiting period is over. But first thing tomorrow I’m calling my hairdresser to make an appointment for a haircut on May 27 — first one since early February 2020! I’m also yearning for a full-service pedicure, so I’ll probably do that the next day, and then go shopping for a nice pair of sandals.
Already have plans to meet friends for drinks or a meal toward the end of the month or early June. And with one couple, whom I haven’t seen since pre-pandemic times, we are finally going to do a long-planned but long-deferred drive to Gibbs Gardens up north of here. I’m also very eager to visit one of the several nearby alpaca farms, for no reason at all except that I think they’re cute.
FlyingToaster
Alas, although I’ll be fully vaxxed+14 on Wednesday, WarriorTeen is not yet eligible. So restaurants are still pretty much not going to happen.
Optometrist. Jeebus I need new glasses.
Get a repairman in for the clotheswasher.
Start spec’ing out the plumbing work and figuring out which plumber isn’t a doofus.
randy khan
I will skip the thing I must do after I am fully vaccinated, since it’s not in the spirit of the thread. But I will say what I am going to do that I would not have been willing to do before.
I will be fully vaccinated on May 23, and the Nationals start a homestead on May 28, so that weekend I will be going to my first baseball game since Game 3 of the 2019 World Series. (My wife probably will be going, too, but more for the companionship with the fully-vaccinated friends who will be joining us.) It probably was safe before – they’re selling no more than 25% of capacity and seating people in pods with separation between groups – but I wanted to be cautious and anyway April games often are kind of cold.
Also, I am planning to see a museum show at the Renwick Gallery that I’ve been wanting to see since it “opened” in October – all the art was there, but no people – in the fall. Luckily the museum anticipated that it could get closed down for an extended period and extended the dates even before the show opened. Since the Renwick is at 15th and Pennsylvania Avenue, I might stroll down the street a little bit and marvel at how the White House looks the same whether it’s occupied by a good person or a terrible person, but still being thankful for who’s there now.
Sarah
@Rob: thanks! Nice traffic to my website from your comments! Where did you get the last ones- I’ll call them to reorder. Sarah Chouquette Chocolates.
2liberal
I’m double vaxxed and properly marinated. We still have expectations to wear masks in public here in the PHX-burbs in a lot of places but not my local Planet Fitness. So I’m back in doing some light weight lifting and feel much better. I go at the off hours when it’s less crowded usually.
Matt McIrvin
I want to go to Canobie Lake Park and ride the roller coasters. And up to Funspot to play the arcade machines.
Both of these, however, are things I usually do with my daughter (well, I go to Canobie with her, I can’t get her on most of the coasters). And who knows when they’ll vaccinate her.
JPL
Friday I sat outside enjoying oysters on the half shell and a beer at a local seafood restaurant. It was lovely.
schrodingers_cat
@Denali: One of husband kitteh’s aunts passed away last week. Another second cousin passed away, he was in his 40s and many in that family are currently sick. I think the number of those affected is going to grow. This is not over by far.
SiubhanDuinne
Question: When do you all think we’ll start having BJ Jackal Meet-ups again? I’ve adored the ones I’ve been part of, and invariably enjoy reading the reports and studying the pictures of all the others.
rose weiss
I gave hugs to my two best friends for the first time in a year. It was a blissful experience.
rivers
A few weeks ago – after I was two weeks beyond the second shot – I began to ride the subway again. I know how lucky I am that I haven’t had to ride it in order to go to work, but in the Before Times it was my #1 form of transportation. And returning to it (double-masked, of course) is incredibly liberating.
SiubhanDuinne
@schrodingers_cat:
I am so sorry. That’s a lot of loss. And, like everyone, I am horrified by what’s happening in India.
JPL
@schrodingers_cat: I’m so sorry, and even though help is on the way, it’s so late. Modi needs to shut the country down, but probably won’t. As long as his family members are protected, he won’t care.
mali muso
I got a massage. It was glorious. (Massage therapist also vaccinated, I’m not a monster).
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
I’m been fully vaccinated for a month now. I started having haircuts every 6-8 weeks about 6 months ago, (ever since it became legal in my CA county). That has been my one dubious activity, although the shop has major distancing between chairs, everyone is masked, and there are few people in the shop at the same time. It has felt pretty safe, and I really like having short hair and a haircut every couple of months. I also got a mammogram in January (before my shots), and have had 2 dental cleanings from my dentist. I’ve found all the medical professionals I have dealt with have been very careful about COVID. But, I haven’t seen my chiropractor in over a year, and I am dying to. Plus, I need to see my optometrist. Those have been waiting since they didn’t seem as crucial during the pandemic.
My first celebration will be to drive (in the same car!) with a fully vaccinated friend to the Mendocino Coast in a couple of weeks to visit the Mendocino Botanical Garden when their heritage roses are in bloom. Being able to drive together with someone is a big deal.
Now I want airplane flights to become safer, so I can go visit a friend in Portland, making up for a visit which was canceled in March of last year. My cousin’s daughter is getting married in October in San Clemente at their house, and I have already bought a dress for that. And I just put down a deposit for a tour of English Cathedrals for April 2022. If the London theatre scene will open up this year, I should be able to talk my husband into joining me. I have really missed travel and seeing distant friends.
patrick II
I am driving from Virginia to Chicago to see my 98 year-old mother for the first time in nearly two years, along with brother and sister and all of us are old enough to have been vaccinated.
I love the movies in an actual theater — so when a movie I am interested enough to see is there I will wait until it’s been out a week or two and go during a weekday afternoon when theaters were pretty empty even before the pandemic.
I will go browse for most of the day at the local bookstore — and sit in one of their nice chairs (if they are still there after over a year) with a stack of books and go through them.
schrodingers_cat
@JPL: He doesn’t care about his family. He dumped his wife when he was a young man for a life of “service” to the RSS and he visits his mother for a photo-op just before the elections.
NeenerNeener
Last Tuesday was my 2-weeks-after-2nd-jab day. I actually went in to Lowes early yesterday morning, and into the grocery store early this morning instead of getting curbside service for either one. I’m still kind of nervous about being around a lot of people because we’ve still got a 3% positivity rate around here and the vaccination rate slowed to a crawl just as we hit 50% vaxxed. But…I’ve got doctor appointments this week, my friends want to do brunch 2 weeks from today at the restaurant we went to right before lock down a year ago, I need a haircut and color and I need to get ideas for replacing the past-it’s-prime vinyl flooring in my house. So I’m going to have to take a risk for brunch. Everything else will be well masked.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@Brachiator: My husband and I went to the movies (Sunday matinee) almost every week before the plague. I would really love to start again, but our local theatre is still closed.
I would also drive to nearby towns by myself to see movies that wouldn’t make it to Ukiah. There was a great small theatre in Healdsburg where I could usually see 2 features in one trip if I timed it right. I used to say it was the most retired thing I did (seeing movies on a weekday afternoon). This is the way I saw most Oscar-nominated movies before the Academy Awards. This year, I didn’t even watch the AAs, since I had seen none of the movies. The theatre in Healdsburg has permanently closed (sigh), a victim of the plague.
schrodingers_cat
@SiubhanDuinne: Some states like Maharashtra and Kerala are handling it better. They are not ruled by the BJP but just like the Orange clown, the Beard of Doom is playing favorites with which states get federal aid.
The sad thing is India has the manufacturing capacity for both the vaccines and the medical oxygen and scientists but what is lacking is the political will of the government at the Centre to head a competent and humane response. This could have been us if the Orange was reelected. Elections have consequences and sometimes they can be deadly.
FelonyGovt
I’m over a month after 2X Moderna plus 2 weeks, but I’m still feeling probably excessively cautious. My big thing was getting a haircut, which was wonderful.
I also need to go to the dentist for a cleaning since I have not been since February 2020. But I learned something shocking about my dental office yesterday- the dentist I have been going to for at least 20 years DIED in October but his practice (which now includes two young dentists I’ve never met) hasn’t let patients know! I found out through a friend whose sister in law insisted on seeing the (deceased) dentist prior to a procedure. I think this is sketchy in the extreme. So now I have to find a new dental office.
lol chikinburd
Give away more money and tax the rich.
Also may go to our city’s team’s home opener, if I can somehow get a ticket (they’re looking into fully-vaccinated fan sections; I’d wear a mask regardless).
Catherine D.
I’m fully vaxxed and desperate for a haircut – drove past the salon today and they’re still in business ?
Mike E
My daughter and I are a month past our vaccinations and she’s been ticking off her list: dining at a restaurant’s outside porch; getting a proper salon cut; and, traveling to see her bff (and me). We’ll be hitting the road in June to attend a wedding postponed from last October, and see as many family and friends we can squeeze in, properly distanced and masked of course!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@TriassicSands: As I noted yesterday, Joe has a bit of a point here. DC is not a territory, it’s a federal district laid out in the Constitution. Also the Amendment giving DC electoral votes also complicates matters.
mrmoshpotato
@randy khan: Ah, vs Milwaukee. Go Nats!
Ohio Mom
Josie,
If I were you, I’d ask the dentist for advice.
He/she deals with dental insurance companies all the time and knows which (if any) are better to deal with. And some dentists give a discount for self-pays, that would be worth finding out about,
Your dentist may also have an inkling, based on their knowledge of your mouth, what the future might bring. It may be that whatever you need wouldn’t be covered anyhow.
Barry
I have not seen my girlfriend in person since March, 2020.
We’ll go walking around town, and eat at a restaurant.
Ken
Haircut first, then bookstore.
J R in WV
We became as fully vaccinated as we’re going to get after the first week of April. Mid-April we went to a friend’s farm for an all-vaccinated birthday party, W turned 74. Neighbor who also went caught a bad cold, spent a week off work, but was tested that Monday, just a cold — she works at the Health Dept, was vaccinated back when vaccines first hit the street as a public health inspector. No one else I know was affected.
Wife would like to go somewhere, we love to travel, she has mentioned Niagara Falls which she has never visited. That’s at least an 8 hour drive, and I would want to break that drive up, maybe in Cleveland. Maybe this fall…
We never stopped Dr and dentist visits, she actually had cataract surgery twice a couple of months ago, but needs custom up-close readers, one eye is far sighted, the other is near sighted, so off-the-shelf readers aren’t really the best. But I want her to get some Ray-Ban shades like President Uncle Joe. She wants and needs a hair cut, it’s below her shoulder blades now. Looks good, but high maintenance.
We do want to do a sit down with linens dinner soon, but not until vaccination rates are high and Covid rates are low. I intend to wear a mask forever when I’m out… I don’t want the flu nor a cold, and if wearing a mask around crowds of strangers will help with that, I’m all over it. Anyone has a problem with that, I’m happy to tell them all about it. My freedom to wear a mask, none of anyone else’s business when I do.
JaneE
I am already fully vaccinated. I was never gregarious, so not that much will change, just the anxiety level will be down to normal.
I have stopped wearing my mask when I do water aerobics. It is outdoors and we are already socially distanced, if not you may get kicked. I hope to go back to one of my favorite restaurants this fall. It was always very crowded and the ventilation may have been upgraded since the 50’s but not by much. So I will wait until things settle down a bit more.
Next Tuesday I will have lunch with a friend for the first time in over a year. Outdoors is the plan, but if we have to sit inside I won’t be nervous about it.
Not really planning to do much except see a few more people and not be anxious when I do.
SiubhanDuinne
@schrodingers_cat:
Very true, as we have seen here and elsewhere. A hefty chunk of the 400,000 million Americans who died of Covid while TFG was in office probably would have survived under any other administration. And India? Brazil? It’s really unspeakably … well, irresponsible is the kindest word I can muster.
Skepticat
I’m so happy for and envious of everyone who’s been immunized. I won’t be able to get the vaccine until I return to the States, probably around the end of this month, and I don’t yet know where and how I’ll be able to get it. My doctor’s office in Maine keeps emailing me to tell me to come in, but I hope I won’t have to wait until I get all the way north. For people who’ve been immunized for at least two weeks, the Bahamas no longer requires a negative test within five days to enter the country, which will make things more convenient on return, though they still require a health visa.
We’ve been extremely spoiled on this little island with so few people, as there have been no cases here or even close by, so life has been close to “normal” if we don’t leave the rock. As I’m an introvert who works online and will be going to another sparsely populated island, things probably won’t change much for me. However, I do have some medical issues to deal with, and getting vaccinated and having most others around me immunized will make that easier too.
Victor Matheson
This may seem weird, but I am really looking forward to going into the office and doing some research with my summer students. Every single one of the economists in my office working in the summer research program is vaccinated, and all of our students have mandatory vaccinations.
Josie
@JPL: @A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan): @Ohio Mom:
Thanks for the replies. I think for now I will go with a small insurance policy and hope that the TRS Medicare decides to pick up dental coverage in the coming year. It has been discussed but no decision yet. I’m starting with a new dentist since I just moved to Houston in December, so I’ll figure out someone close to me that takes the insurance. None of it is cheap, no matter which way you go.
Spanish Moss
Saturday was my first post-vaccine outing. Went to a casual riverside restaurant, sat by the water with a good breeze blowing off the water and the sunshine on my shoulders, and enjoyed a pitcher of beer and good pub food with my hubby. Heaven!
ET
Sometimes it is the little thi gs.
I got a haircut and a pedicure.
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I think you (or someone else) made that same point a few days ago, but I don’t understand why that would complicate matters.
WaterGirl
@Josie: Have you thought about AFLAC? It’s not a full-fledged dental plan, but I think the monthly premium is pretty low and it covers a certain amount for cleanings, a certain amount for crowns, etc.
It may be worth a phone call or a web search.
Kayla Rudbek
@Denali: I’m not sure. I have more appointments this month with the follow up from surgery and then radiation oncology, so I will see what options are available.
David Hunt
Yesterday, my now fully vaccinated tabletop rpg gaming group met for the first time in a year.
Diane Mason
The Old Friends Senior Dogs Sanctuary in Mt Joliet TN is moving into a purpose built facility on 14 June. As the new place is walking distance from the old (a converted garden centre), they are having a parade of their dogs from one facility to the next. As 14 June is 2 weeks and one day after the second shot for hubby and me, we are going to make a road trip from Washington DC to watch the parade – first trip anywhere since Jan 2020.
Pastafarian
My husband and I are in the over 60 crowd and got the J&J vaccine over a month ago. But since its only 66% effective we’re still careful. (My husband has numerous health issues and my autistic daughter can’t deal with wearing a mask.) I saw my youngest daughter for the first time in a year last week. (She and her husband were vaccinated 3 weeks ago.) We live in NM which had the highest rate per capita of vaccinations. We have a by County opening rate which is based on case rates versus number of test per capita. My county is turquoise, which has the least restrictions, while my daughter’s county is yellow which has more restrictions. (But no counties here are red, and quite a few are green.) We’re still on a state wide mask mandate. So other than a concern that I’d bring the virus home to Jose, which has lessened, nothing has changed other than I don’t wear a mask at the dog park and they let more of us in at the Farmers Market at one time.
Suzanne
Some of the first things I have done since being fully vaccinated are health and beauty stuff: got an eye exam and new glasses, went to dermatologist, got a haircut and a face wax. I’m getting a manicure on Wednesday, which I am pretty excited about. We have also done a couple of cultural things, like the National Aviary and the Zoo, because they are outdoor (aviary is partially inside but super-spaced out and ventilated for the birds).
I am looking forward to finding a pottery studio here. There is also a bar opening up a couple of blocks away that looks super-cool, and they have done a nice job with outdoor seating. I also need to get to the dentist for a cleaning, and I want to get back to working out in a place with classes (yoga and weightlifting).
We have planned a short, local beach getaway this summer to Ocean City, MD. We are doing somewhere drive-able, because I don’t want to fly with the unvaccinated Spawns. But it will be nice to get out of the city for a bit and see the ocean and in general release some of this anxiety.
Suzanne
@SiubhanDuinne:
Yes yes yes. I would love to have a PGH meetup. Maybe we can even talk Cole into coming. I’ll bribe him with Penn Mac.
ellie
I am going to go home to see my family. I haven’t been back since my mom’s funeral in 2018.
frosty
Meeting friends for dinner, lunch, and Happy Hours. Outside if possible, and yes, we’re dipping our toes in the water and have already started.
Rob
@Sarah: Hi Sarah! I’m just seeing your reply right now. I bought them at https://marketriverfalls.com/. There were two RBG packages left and we bought one of them.
Kim Walker
My 93 year old dad died of COVID last Thursday in Oregon. I’ m in Canada and have only have the first AstroZeneca shot. So I will be on a road trip home to bury my Dad, if I can get over the border. I can’t even think of what I can do once I’m fully vaccinated. I would surely like to.
NeenerNeener
@Kim Walker: I’m so sorry for your loss.
steppy
Two things. First is a trip to the steakhouse for a celebratory feast with Mrs. steppy. Indoor dining has not been on the menu up until now.
Second is celebrating the college graduation of the daughter of a good friend. This group has taken turns in hosting get-togethers for Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, and I haven’t seen any of their entire faces since Day Zero.
Mrs. steppy and I get 2nd Pfizer on Wednesday and everybody else is good to go.
Dan B
We went to look at cars with a friend. Her car of 20 years is dying. The Toyota dealership had an aggressive salesman. My partner had predicted they’d be like seagulls at Ivars, our waterfront fish and chips. The next three dealerships we had to beg for a salesman. It was weird – low wages? They have few cars coming in so it’s going to be strange in a month.
Then we had champagne on their deck followed by gin at another friend’s. Hugging was included. And parties are being discussed.
Kim Walker
@NeenerNeener: Thank you. I haven’t said anything to any one yet, except my boss. It’s just a shit situation.
dww44
@Kim Walker: So sorry for your loss and hope you’re able to get to Oregon to bury him. How long did he have COVID snd do you know where or how he got it?
Brachiator
@A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan):
Late response.
I can definitely relate to this. I am sorry that the movie theater closed down.
Brachiator
@Kim Walker:
I am so sorry for your loss.
Rob
@Kim Walker: I am sorry for your loss, Kim.
Kim Walker
Believe or not, Dad got COVID from bowling. He was a serious league bowler and was often had the highest score.
Mind you he was at least 40 to 50 years older than the other players. My sisters took him to the hospital of the Sunday before. He was gone in 10 days. i didn’t know that Catholic hospitals passively euthanize patients who don’t get better within 7 days and who are not good candidates for ventilators (stroke, diabetes, etc).
tinare
Get a haircut. My split ends have split ends. Maybe a pedicure.
tinare
@Kim Walker: So, so sorry.
StringOnAStick
I’m fully baked now so I got a haircut today and a dental cleaning on Thursday, both with new folks since we are new here. Scored on both, the hairdresser is a committed pet rescue person and has a client who is an excellent per sitter, plus was able to recommend a vet practice. The dental office was great too.
In two weeks we’ll get to join our neighbours in their backyard around their fire pit, and the excellent friend we made while backcountry skiing will be fully vaccinated in time for a BBQ at his place with his family on Memorial Day. We moved here last October and I would be lying if I didn’t admit to some loneliness and really wanting to meet more people and get back to having friends where we live again.
StringOnAStick
@Kim Walker: I’m sorry about your father.
gbbalto
@Kim Walker: My sympathies and I hope you can get across the border.
WaterGirl
@Kim Walker: I am so sorry about your dad. Covid and the uncertainty about whether you can cross the border makes it exponentially worse.
WaterGirl
@Kim Walker:
What? Is that what happened with your dad? I am so sorry.