Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Second rate reporter says what?

One way or another, he’s a liar.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Bark louder, little dog.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / Finally Some Good News

Finally Some Good News

by | 98 Comments

This post is in: 

Still in about week three of my personal funk, but finally some good news:

In a sweeping victory for the Biden administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday endorsed booster shots of the Moderna and the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines for tens of millions of Americans.

The decision follows an agency endorsement last month of booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and opens the door for many Americans to seek out a booster shot as early as Friday.

The coronavirus vaccines “are all highly effective in reducing the risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death, even in the midst of the widely circulating Delta variant,” Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, director of the C.D.C., said in a statement.

Her approval brings the country closer to fulfilling President Biden’s promise in August to offer boosters to all adults. The pandemic is now retreating in most parts of the country, but there are still about 75,000 new cases every day, and about 1,500 Covid deaths.

I’m headed to Walgreens tomorrow to ask when I can get my Moderna booster. I’m coming up on seven months since my second shot, and I want another dose every six months if possible. I heard Moderna was working on a covid shot that included a flu shot, and if so, that will become a regular part of my life.

With a booster shot and cases dropping, I am excited to going back to avoiding people because I hate them instead of the last two years when I avoided them so they couldn’t infect me and others.

In other news, I have spent the last 36 hours cooking down the infamous 30lb turkey carcass and ended filtering it and ended up with about 3 gallons of golden turkey broth. I added in some carrots, peas, onions, celery, garlic, bay leaves and other herbs, a bunch of the turkey, cooked it and am now freezing most of it. For tomorrow I think I will add some lentils and either tuscan kale or spinach. I’m freezing it without a carb for versatility. When I thaw a batch, if I want wild rice, I will add wild rice. If I want some noodles, I will add noodles.

In other news, apparently we had a tornado or barely missed a tornado.

It’s so windy here frequently I didn’t even notice it, to be honest. Benefit of having a solid, quiet house and being grossly indifferent. As I was joking around on twitter, I’m not too worried about a tornado because the geography of my town would make it highly improbable, and because NOTHING that interesting or exciting ever happens in Bethany.

In politics, it appears we have reached a crescendo of bad faith with Manchin and Sinema so I am thinking we are nearing the end of the theatrical performance and a deal is either imminent or near. Either way, I am excited to going back to not thinking about those fucking idiots.

I guess I have nothing else to report. Tomorrow is bath day for the dogs. I have not bathed them in months and this will be the first bath without Rosie, who I always had to do first because if I didn’t do her first, I would not see her for a week, so I think I will start with Thurston who enjoys the attention and do Lily second because she’s too dumb to notice. God I love her.

Reader Interactions

98Comments

  2. 2.

    Matt McIrvin

    If you got the Pfizer or Moderna shot, the recommendation is for a booster only if you’re over 65 or have elevated risk for either medical or exposure reasons. So I wouldn’t be included, nor would my kid. But my wife got the J&J so she can get one.

  4. 4.

    Raoul Paste

    It’s heartwarming to hear about giving dogs a bath, a welcome break from so many other frustrating issues

  5. 5.

    Scout211

    Speaking of weather, we’re in for some excitement here on the left coast.  A “bomb cyclone” is forecast for the PNW and an “atmospheric river” is forecast for NorCal over the next few days. (Where do they get these names?).  I actually cleaned out the gutters in anticipation of the possibility actual rain. Fingers crossed.

  6. 6.

    Kelly

    Had my 3rd Pfizer shot plus annual flu shot yesterday. Woke up at 5:00 am very sore Pfizer arm, achy muscles and headache. Fine by noon.

  7. 7.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Ms. Deranged in AZ: I’ve already started dreading The Holidays, which for the first forty-odd years of my life, I loved (this is mostly due to the relatively recent but un-receding dysfunction of two close relatives)

  8. 8.

    Percysowner

    I got Moderna and I’m over 65, so I qualify. However, I just had a double mastectomy, and my surgeon says to talk to my oncologist to make sure that any medications won’t be a problem with vaccination. So I’m waiting for an appointment and once I get the Okay, I’ll get my third shot AND the flu vaccine. With any luck I can get it Veteran’s day and then take the weekend to recover.

    Fortunately, I’ve had everything else, pneumonia, shingles (both kinds), DPT. If there is a vaccine for my age group, I have it.

  9. 9.

    CaseyL

    That soup sounds delish, and I don’t care much for turkey soup (though I do love chicken soup).

    Thinking about Manchin and Sinema gives me agita, so I try not to.

    What I would like is to be motivated to get back into the studio and work on some glass.  I had been at a very low ebb for a while in terms of motivation.  Much to my consternation, it seems being back in the office a few days per week is good for my mental health, by imposing some structure on days that otherwise go by in a featureless stream.

    Good luck bathing the kids!  Amazing that Thurston enjoys a bath, when I’m sure he puts in diligent efforts to get dirty and stinky. (You do let them loose in the yard, don’t you?)

  10. 10.

    Kelly

    @Scout211: Weirdly warm temps in the upper 70’s today here in the in the western Cascade foothills. Just a pocket from about highway 20 to highway 22. Temps plummeted to the low 50’s between 3 and 5 pm when the rain picked up.

  12. 12.

    CaseyL

    @Kelly: Yes, it was strangely warm in Seattle, too!  I went out to run some errands, and had to go back inside to change because what I was wearing was much too heavy.

    The cats are happy, because I’ve got the sliding glass door to the big deck open again – I had told them that time of year was over and it was going to be too cold from now on.

  14. 14.

    Suzanne

    Soooo. Spawn the Youngest, aka Doodlebug, is starting to learn sight words. One of the words she was able to identify today was “cat”. She said “cat”, and then said, “like Scoutie”.

    I’m sad. I miss my Scoutie.

  16. 16.

    Ms. Deranged in AZ

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: You have my sympathy on the family front then.  I haven’t seen my family in years but since Trump came onto the scene that’s a good thing. When my elderly mother came down with Covid and my two idiots sisters who are also Trump worshipers gave her hydroxychloroquin and would have given her ivermectin had me and my liberal siblings not intervened, it occurred to me that not seeing them this year would be a blessing. My great fear at this point is having to go back to normal life. I am so cynical and so misanthropic now that I just want to retreat into the woods and live like a hermit.

  17. 17.

    dmsilev

    @Matt McIrvin: Bear in mind that the factors for ‘elevated medical risk’ include ‘BMI over 25’. That’s well north of half of American adults. And yes, BMI sucks as any sort of health metric, but basically if you feel you want a booster, odds are you technically qualify.

  19. 19.

    Chetan Murthy

    @dmsilev:

    ​if you feel you want a booster, odds are you technically qualify.

    And in my experience, they simply don’t check.  I’ve never seen a weight or height scale at a vaccination site.  I got my booster a week ago.  Had <24h of “the weeniest flu I ever had”, then nuthin’.  But more of a reaction than for the first two (Pfizer) shots.  So there’s that.

  27. 27.

    Jackie

    @Scout211: Here in the desert of eastern WA we’re so looking forward to the promise of rain! It’s been mild chilly, but today was 70. I’ve moved into sweatshirts, and had to change into a teeshirt.

  28. 28.

    frosty

    @Ms. Deranged in AZ: Hmm. The pandemic has taught me that I’m much LESS of an introvert than I thought. Not quite as far as being an extrovert, but I miss seeing friends and former co-workers.

    Ms. F has plenty of introversion to cover both of us.

  29. 29.

    sixthdoctor

    Saw Walgreens is already offering boosters so tomorrow I’m getting a Moderna boost to my J&J from April. I feel like it’ll be the immune system’s equivalent of chasing a sip of whiskey with an ice-cold swallow of beer…

  30. 30.

    H.E.Wolf

    My flu shot last week was a delight, because it was administered by a former New Yawk resident, whose accent quadrupled in strength during our conversation. I had to be careful not to start sounding as if I too were from Flatbush.

    Weather report: It sounds like Chapter One of “A Wrinkle in Time” over here. I hope no one gets caught in a downdraft and blown off course.

  31. 31.

    Nicole

    I spent some time this morning googling places to buy Thanksgiving dinner in NYC, but after paying the bill for our dog, who had to get 7 teeth extracted today (and still has 3 to go) I’m thinking ramen noodles may be our best bet for Nov. 25.

  32. 32.

    Matt McIrvin

    @dmsilev:

    Bear in mind that the factors for ‘elevated medical risk’ include ‘BMI over 25’.

    ha ha WTF? Well, now I’m having an ethical dilemma. ‘Cause I’m definitely that fat, but come on.

  35. 35.

    patrick II

    From last night’s best/worst thing that happened to you thread. My bid from yesterday was accepted and I am the owner of a new (to me) home, so it turned out to be the best.

  39. 39.

    Adam L Silverman

    @SiubhanDuinne: I expect the investigation will most likely find a breakdown in the way the gun was prepped for the scene to be shot. At most, if it was supposed to be operational in that scene, it should’ve been loaded with blanks. The focus will be on the prop master and whomever was specifically assigned as the range master/firearm safety officer on set.

  43. 43.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @dmsilev:

    No indeed. The NYT article reminds of Brandon Lee’s death in a similar event, nearly 30 years ago. I had forgotten all about that.

    The shooting echoed an accident on a movie set in 1993 in which the actor Brandon Lee, Bruce Lee’s son, was shot and killed during a scene when a bullet that was lodged in the barrel of a gun was discharged along with a blank cartridge.

  44. 44.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Matt McIrvin: That was my question. We’re a Moderna family, and we’re about right for a 6 month booster now. So I would’ve happily gotten one if I could. But… eh.

    Waiting on the little kid approval for Pfizer now

  46. 46.

    eclare

    @MisterForkbeard:  I am House Moderna, and I will be at six months on October 23.  Sticking with Moderna.  I only had a side effect after dose number two, and that was the best, longest sleep I’ve had in a long time (I tend toward insomnia).

  48. 48.

    Kristine

    Had a clinical study follow-up appointment today. The 2nd J&J shot I had back in June counts as a booster, so I’m good for a while. Study staffer I spoke with figures Covid will require annual shots, like the flu.

  49. 49.

    gbear

    When your out and about, you can make a list of the people who still say they won’t get vaccinated, and get them the hell out of your life. Bonus points if you tell them why.

    Are you old enough to get the super senior flu shot?

  51. 51.

    JWR

    Has anyone mentioned this Floriduh Woman randomly spraying bullets all over her neighborhood during a dognapping?

    Florida woman wildly fires gun in the general direction of dognappers
    JASON WEISBERGER 9:44 AM THU OCT 21, 2021

    Dognappers are evil, however, I doubt that this woman was really serving any good purpose by wildly spraying bullets all over what appears to be a residential neighborhood.

    She’s lucky none of her neighbors were struck, but hey, it’s Floriduh!

  52. 52.

    CaseyL

    @patrick II: Best of luck with home ownership!  Have you been looking for a while? I remember a conversation months ago where someone was about to buy an apartment in NY and wound up not, but was still looking around.  Was that you?

    Will this be the first place you owned?  I remember the first few months of home ownership were like a new romance: I kept buying things for the house, thinking “the house would like this.”  (Still here, nearly 25 years later, so we’re like an old married couple now.  “Gifts” tend to be things like “new garbage disposal.”  Practical, not romantic ?)

  53. 53.

    Jackie

    Slightly OT, but vaccine related – I’m eligible for the “senior” flu shot this year. Any reactions/side effects I should expect? I never have reactions to the regular flu shots. I got my Pfizer booster two weeks ago and surprisingly, other than the typical sore injection site, didn’t have the side effects from the initial vaccinations.

  54. 54.

    Adam L Silverman

    @The Lodger: They shouldn’t, except for handling by the firearm/range safety officer when a bullet has to actual be shot. By the I mean the “hero” gun that the actors used should not be loaded with anything but blanks. If a scene requires an actual live round be shot, the set should be cleared and the firearm/range safety officer should be doing that shot. It is then composited, or whatever the term is, into the scene shot with the actual actor who is shooting either a gun loaded with blanks or a gun that has been rendered inoperable.

    At least that’s my understanding from talking with a former colleague who had done firearm/range safety officer duty on a set.

  57. 57.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jackie: My mom says she generally gets a stronger reaction. Arms a bit sore and she feels a bit run down.

    I got my regular dose one yesterday and absolutely no noticeable reaction at all.

  59. 59.

    patrick II

    @Adam L Silverman:

    @eclare:

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Thank you. It is sudden and surprising. An estate sale lasting one day came up on Zillow while we were looking at another house in the area. We called our agent, arranged a showing and made a bid in one day. It is a beautiful home on a lake that I thought I would never be able to afford. I am somewhat flabbergasted.

  60. 60.

    mrmoshpotato

    I am excited to going back to avoiding people because I hate them instead of the last two years when I avoided them so they couldn’t infect me and others.

    ?

  62. 62.

    Redshift

    @Matt McIrvin:

    ha ha WTF? Well, now I’m having an ethical dilemma. ‘Cause I’m definitely that fat, but come on.

    I had the same thing with the original vaccination, and took advantage of it to get vaccinated a couple of weeks before it opened up to everyone.

    Andy Slavitt was saying earlier this evening that we will soon (in a few months) have enough vaccine doses for everyone in the world, and it’s just a matter of getting them everywhere (and getting some people to accept it.) So I think the ethical dilemma is going away.

    I’m planning to complement my Pfizer with a Moderna booster as soon as I hit six months. I’ve read that Moderna is a little more durable, and mixing may be better, so I’ll roll those dice.

  64. 64.

    RobertB

    @Adam L Silverman: Jon-Erik Hexum.  Played Russian Roulette with a blank in the gun, and didn’t know that the wadding was dangerous at close range.

    I remember a couple of friends and I were hanging out, back when I was young and stupid, and one of the guys shot the other one in the leg with a .22 blank out of a revolver, on purpose.  Powder burns, blood, etc.

  65. 65.

    RobertB

    @JWR: A few years ago, some lady at a Home Depot pulled out her pistol and started shooting at some shoplifters’ car, thinking she would hit the tires.  Local law enforcement was not appreciative of the assistance.

  66. 66.

    patrick II

    @CaseyL: ​
     
    No. I am an old guy. This will be our last house. My wife has always wanted a house on the water, and I have never been able to accomplish that until now. I am very happy.

  70. 70.

    JWR

    Jeebus. Via local TV news:

    A Riverside high school teacher has been placed on leave after a viral video recorded by a student showed her hollering and dancing around a classroom in a faux feathered headdress, sparking outrage from the Native American community, school officials and local politicians.

    The video, which was posted online on Wednesday, shows the teacher in a fake feather headdress, chanting a mnemonic device — “Sohcahtoa,” often used in math courses to remember trigonometric functions — while stomping around the classroom and making chopping motions. …

  75. 75.

    opiejeanne

    @Jackie: We found Tylenol helped a lot when we got our second dose of Pfizer in April. We’re getting our booster shots this coming Tuesday, and I’m guessing it will also be Pfizer.

    I’m wondering about this “senior” flu shot they’re talking about. I got my flu shot at Costco back in September but no one mentioned there was a “senior” version.

  76. 76.

    opiejeanne

    @JWR: That’s where my son went to High School, graduated in 1988.  I’m more than a little surprised, considering the school’s ethnicity.

  77. 77.

    prostratedragon

    @JWR:  Saw a portion of that this morning. It seemed to go on forever. Amazing that a teacher and adult thought that this was something she should do.

    The movie set thing, just horrible. With all the film and sound editing tricks, camera angles,  and misdirections that filmmakers can use, not to mention mounting cameras on drones or robots, what ever was wanted so that the thing actually had to be fired on set toward people like that? The person killed was the director of photography and the wounded is the director.

  78. 78.

    JWR

    @opiejeanne: Small world, ain’t it? I graduated HS in 1976, and I thought, and still think, that I was lucky to go to a school as diverse and interesting as it was. But yeah, how she got away with this is stunning.

  80. 80.

    JWR

    More confirmation that Florida’s new Surgeon General is truly a real Floriduh Man™. From NBC:

    WASHINGTON — Florida’s new surgeon general Dr. Joseph Ladapo during a press conference Thursday questioned the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines, denounced all mandates in workplaces and argued people would face more health repercussions by losing their jobs because they refused to comply with requirements.

    […]

    Ladapo invoked anecdotal examples and unsubstantiated conspiracy theories to argue against the vaccines, according to footage from WFLA, the NBC News station in Tampa.

    “I mean you hear these stories of people telling you what’s been happening in their lives, of nurses and pregnant women who are being forced to, you know, to sort of put something in their bodies that we don’t know all there is to know about yet, no matter what people on TV tell you,” he said during an event with Gov. Ron DeSantis.

  81. 81.

    eclare

    @JWR:  I am not a dr, but couldn’t his medical license be revoked for lying?  Of course I guess that depends on the state board, and who knows who is on that.

  82. 82.

    Dan B

    @opiejeanne: The senior version is probably a good idea.  I don’t know if I got one when I had my shot a couple weeks ago but I did have a reaction- mostly fatigue and a sore shoulderfor several days.  I’ve had some years when I had almost no reaction.  Immune systems can slow down or weaken a lot with age.  I wonder if Costco keeps easily accessed records.  They’re usually very professional.

  84. 84.

    opiejeanne

    @Dan B: I had a little bit of a reaction, Dave had none. Mine was just fatigue and a sore arm. He didn’t even have the sore arm.

    I’m pretty sure they keep records, since they send me notices when it’s time to refill a prescription, but that system is automatic and a little messed up. I filled a prescription good for 3 months, and two weeks later I got a notice that it was time to refill the prescription. This happens almost every time.

  86. 86.

    JWR

    Just watched an Amanpour&Co interview with the woman who wrote a book called “maid”, (on Netflix soon?), about her time as an abused, single mom who worked cleaning up after other people and now I just wanna slap around Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema like there’s no fuggin’ tomorrow for the entitled pricks they are. Grr!

  87. 87.

    EntroPi

    @Ms. Deranged in AZ: I didn’t know how difficult “people” were until now.

    I’m taking a blacksmith class to make a Viking axe, and I need 5-10 minutes alone before I can get out of my car to walk in and deal with even just a few people.

    I’m guessing that spending all day with contractors ripping holes in my house isn’t helping.

    ETA: most of my conversations these days are with/when I take the dog my wife decided would be good for me out for a walk.

  88. 88.

    JWR

    @JWR: I’ve heard similar stories over the years, but it’s still infuriating. I’d like to force Machinema to watch the Netflix series, Clockwork Orange-style, until they get with the program.

    Amanpour and Company – A new Netflix show exposes the harsh realities of living below the poverty line in America. Based on Stephanie Land’s memoir, “Maid” follows a young mother’s fight to escape an abusive relationship. The series has attracted a huge audience. Land speaks with Michel Martin about her journey.

  90. 90.

    germy

    Jesus!  I was so happy when I read Cole’s good news, but then I saw these heartbreaking words:

    I’m headed to Walgreens tomorrow to ask when I can get my Moderna booster.

    John, they’re not going to tell you anything.  They’ll tap the glass next to a QR code and advise you to scan it with your smartphone to visit their website.

  92. 92.

    Matt McIrvin

    @germy: Anyway, if he’s eligible (and based on this thread it sounds like just about anyone who isn’t a healthy kid can make that case), I think the answer is 6 months after he got his second shot. For me that’d be sometime in November.

  93. 93.

    Original Lee

    @patrick II: We, too, never anticipated having a house on the water at any point in our lives. We also got lucky and have been enjoying it very much. I recently got the Merlin app and a spotting scope and have been astonishedly discovering who has been making all the bird noises around us. I’m also planning sailing lessons in the spring, if we’re closer to normal one more time.

  96. 96.

    sab

    Yikes. Stepson sent us a picture of a tornado he took from his window at work yesterday. East of Cleveland OH.

  97. 97.

    worn

    The paragraph that begins with “With a booster…” is the reason I keep coming back to this joint, day after day, year after year. It’s almost like you were transcribing my own thoughts, John.

    I literally* busted a gut when I read that, causing an askew glance from more than one other passenger on this train I am currently on from Rye back to London.

    *”litrally” in common parlance here

    I mean it was about an hour ago I was actively complaining to my girlfriend about how much better the experience of that little Medieval town would be “without all these fucking people”. And honestly, there weren’t even that many…

    ?

    Late to the party as always, but this time I have a traveling excuse. Carry on & mind the gap!

  98. 98.

    Rockfarmer

    John,

     

    I grew up in Boone Co. and always understood the rolling hills protected us from tornados.  I think you need to rethink this assumption.  The town I now live in Massachusetts is surrounded by hills (not WV size, but still…) and was raked by a tornado that killed several people, destroyed my wife’s family orchard and turkey houses and in all killed 94 people.  It started in the hills outside Worcester, MA and ended in a swamp near us.  I will never think mere topography can protect us.

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