Three things for Sunday
28 Mar 2021 10:31![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nwhikerA not part of the three things. I like doing three things for Sunday. Makes me accumulate minor thoughts.
1. Part of the solution, not part of the problem.
This one is pretty major for me. I often say I want to be part of the solution, not the problem, and I try. Sometimes it involves some sacrifice, but eh, usually minor and worth it. This week, two things came up, one major, one minor, that are going to require a change from me, one MAJOR, one minuscule.
I'll start with the smaller one, and what pushed me over the edge.
I know Ikea, with their current focus on cheap shit, covers itself with a 100% organic green veneer, but I also know they are majorly part of the problem. I don't tend to buy much from them any longer (did back when when their quality was better), but I still shop there once or twice a year, if only for the frozen meatballs and gummies. Yesterday, we had to return some stuff that we no longer have a receipt for. It was a total PITA. They refused to look up the purchase with the card (like, say, Target does), their process was unobvious and took forever, and dh felt that the lack of helpfulness was deliberate and unacceptable. So eh, we're done with Ikea. I'll just have to figure out how to meat Swedish meatballs myself and mass produce them for freezing!
The next one hurts. I'm giving up Diet Coke.
On any given day, I drink about two to three cans. On days when I go to Bellingham, I always stop at a McDs on the way home for a large Diet Coke. This is not going to be an easy one to replace for me.
But it has to be done, and I will be writing the Coca Cola company to tell them way: their unacceptable silence in lights of the horrible Jim Crow voting act that was passed in Georgia. Done with Coke. Delta was always our fallback airline if Alaska didn't come through, no longer. I have tended to use UPS over freaking FedEx when I can't ship USPS, but no more UPS either. These are rarer and very minor. More difficult will be Home Depot. Dh always tries the local hardware store over Home Depot, but since we have no Lowes anywhere nearby (nearest is minimum 30 minutes, compared to Home Depot, 10 minutes) we might still continue to shop there, while avoiding it at all costs.
But the Diet Coke is going to hurt. I despise Diet Pepsi, so that's out. I guess I'll have to start bringing a HydroFlask of iced tea to drink on my way home from lab. Sigh. But what happened in Georgia is completely disgusting and I'm going to use the little power I have. If enough of us do...
2. My periodic vaccine rant.
Everyone is opening up eligibility. We are not, and it seems the governor is determined not to open until Biden pretty much forces him to. So far the consensus seems to be that dh and I will be able to get in line on 19 April. The floodgates open 1 May. We need to get vaccinated quickly or I suspect we won't get in for the longest time.
The good news is there is some research/speculation that shows that in the end, the states that opened later will have a more solid base of population on which to build herd immunity.
What is frightening is that cases in King County are going up, and quickly. And we're pretty much totally open. The power of the dumbass mouthbreathers to kill us all.
3. Whee! New book in a series
There is apparently a fourth book out in Kristen Cashore's Graceling series. Time for a re-read of the first three and a read of the 4th! Excited.
1. Part of the solution, not part of the problem.
This one is pretty major for me. I often say I want to be part of the solution, not the problem, and I try. Sometimes it involves some sacrifice, but eh, usually minor and worth it. This week, two things came up, one major, one minor, that are going to require a change from me, one MAJOR, one minuscule.
I'll start with the smaller one, and what pushed me over the edge.
I know Ikea, with their current focus on cheap shit, covers itself with a 100% organic green veneer, but I also know they are majorly part of the problem. I don't tend to buy much from them any longer (did back when when their quality was better), but I still shop there once or twice a year, if only for the frozen meatballs and gummies. Yesterday, we had to return some stuff that we no longer have a receipt for. It was a total PITA. They refused to look up the purchase with the card (like, say, Target does), their process was unobvious and took forever, and dh felt that the lack of helpfulness was deliberate and unacceptable. So eh, we're done with Ikea. I'll just have to figure out how to meat Swedish meatballs myself and mass produce them for freezing!
The next one hurts. I'm giving up Diet Coke.
On any given day, I drink about two to three cans. On days when I go to Bellingham, I always stop at a McDs on the way home for a large Diet Coke. This is not going to be an easy one to replace for me.
But it has to be done, and I will be writing the Coca Cola company to tell them way: their unacceptable silence in lights of the horrible Jim Crow voting act that was passed in Georgia. Done with Coke. Delta was always our fallback airline if Alaska didn't come through, no longer. I have tended to use UPS over freaking FedEx when I can't ship USPS, but no more UPS either. These are rarer and very minor. More difficult will be Home Depot. Dh always tries the local hardware store over Home Depot, but since we have no Lowes anywhere nearby (nearest is minimum 30 minutes, compared to Home Depot, 10 minutes) we might still continue to shop there, while avoiding it at all costs.
But the Diet Coke is going to hurt. I despise Diet Pepsi, so that's out. I guess I'll have to start bringing a HydroFlask of iced tea to drink on my way home from lab. Sigh. But what happened in Georgia is completely disgusting and I'm going to use the little power I have. If enough of us do...
2. My periodic vaccine rant.
Everyone is opening up eligibility. We are not, and it seems the governor is determined not to open until Biden pretty much forces him to. So far the consensus seems to be that dh and I will be able to get in line on 19 April. The floodgates open 1 May. We need to get vaccinated quickly or I suspect we won't get in for the longest time.
The good news is there is some research/speculation that shows that in the end, the states that opened later will have a more solid base of population on which to build herd immunity.
What is frightening is that cases in King County are going up, and quickly. And we're pretty much totally open. The power of the dumbass mouthbreathers to kill us all.
3. Whee! New book in a series
There is apparently a fourth book out in Kristen Cashore's Graceling series. Time for a re-read of the first three and a read of the 4th! Excited.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 28 Mar 2021 20:53 (UTC)My vaccine story: Friday afternoon i got a ping on my patient portal app and i ignored it bc i assumed it was about Toby's upcoming appt.
Friday evening Matthew started hunting for vaccine appts in Ohio again, and he ended up finding some that are in Leaf battery range, and it's the J&J (one dose) shot which means only one trip, so we got slots on Wednesday. Even got one for Toby (although Matthew was hesitant to take it bc Toby will be about 1 month shy of official eligibility age. I told him to fudge the birthday by 2 months; he would not). Then Toby started asking questions and I explained how our HCPs are selecting people randomly; we're also signed up for a mass vax site in Detroit but haven't heard about appts yet, it might be months before we get one anywhere in MI, blah blah blah.
Then I looked at the patient portal message: I had been selected to get a vaccine appointment!! Clicked through to look at open slots and got one on Wednesday at UM stadium. Walking distance! I tried to get one at 9 AM so I could go with them to Ohio (bc Matthew didn't want to go alone) but that slot filled before I could finish so now my appt is at the same time as they will need to leave. I feel bad that I've taken the "wait and see" attitude while he has done all this searching [i have done some looking, just not as much as him] yet I'm the one who wins the random lottery.
But then today Toby's appointment got cancelled. I think it's silly since he'll turn 18 thirty-two freaking days after the shot, but I guess those restrictions are tight. He's still willing to accompany Matthew to Ohio though (spring break this week, plus Wednesday is no school even on regular weeks), so at least M won't have to drive alone.
no subject
Date: 29 Mar 2021 21:37 (UTC)I'm glad you've got an appointment, and a close in one at that! And yeah, ridiculous about Toby. I'm more and more inclined to think they should be vaccinating via households at this point. One person eligible? Everyone is. I honestly think that way is safer, since you won't have one or two people in a household relaxing precautions, say, because they've been vaccinated, even if the rest of the family hasn't. (See: friends of a friend who were vaccinated early because both are CNAs infecting their teenaged kids.)
no subject
Date: 30 Mar 2021 04:04 (UTC)People are posting on nextdoor about teens getting appts at the mass vax site in Detroit. When I asked how, since they're not yet eligible, nobody gave a reason (just the generic directions for how to register there). So I'm going to try to get an appt for Toby. Or at least get him on the list. Did I mention that Zane drove 90 minutes to Defiance OH with a friend to get his first jab? [side note: this also where I had to drive Zane to take his 2nd time ACT back in the day, bc it was summer and we signed up too late to get anywhere closer. Also, intriguing town name. I really wanted to live in Savage when we were in MD but we ended up in Columbia instead, bc we couldn't find an apt in Savage. But maybe i should research both Savage and Defiance to find out if it's for an odious reason.]
no subject
Date: 30 Mar 2021 04:11 (UTC)On the other hand, Savage MD was named after a Philadelphia merchant.
no subject
Date: 30 Mar 2021 21:51 (UTC)Were you able to get Toby an appointment? Fingers crossed.