I’ve been getting the daily covid update from the Washington Post for the last year +. One of the questions today was about swimming. Sounds like you are safer in the pool than elsewhere in the gym:
Q: Has swimming (lap swimming) been addressed?
Dr. Wen: A number of people specifically asked about swimming today! Covid-19 won’t spread in the water (in fact, chlorine will help kill the virus). The concern is still close contact. Lap swimming is probably low risk, as people are passing one another for seconds, though like everything else, outdoors is going to be even safer than indoors. I’m more concerned about the locker room and change rooms — I’d minimize time there.
Hugged my 85 yr old mom yesterday for the first time in over a yr. We are both fully vaccinated. I think we’ll get back to her coming over for Sunday dinner.
We need to do some overdue clothes shopping too. I’m ready. H will be as of tomorrow. Our son and DIL who live with us need another three weeks. We’ll wait. PA still ranks in the Top 5 for new cases almost daily. No sense quitting before the finish line IMO.
Then I have to hope they actually have decent clothes for my tastes. That’s never a given even without Covid.
I saw my parents for the first time since Xmas 2019. We are all 2-6 weeks past our second shot. The last time they saw anyone outside of essential grocery shopping, mandatory banking, etc. was March 2020. They are in remarkable shape for being in their 70s. My Mom can still run a 5K in ~30-32 min, but she is paranoid about getting sick. And I can’t blame her. They are in their 70s and you never know. They usually travel the world constantly, so in a way it’s weird for them to be homebound. But, they are pretty good at keeping themselves busy. They have been taking online classes from a university in Lithuania in order to learn the language. My mom also blogs, and my Dad reads constantly about topics that would interest nobody but him. LOL
Anyhow, it was a good visit. They looked great. My Mom’s hair is LONG! And they had their first take out food in over a year. I think they may start to venture out a bit more, but my Mom is still very angry at the lack of mask wearing and general attitudes of the general public in her area. We will see.
Noticed while getting take-out at restaurants that restaurants are now having indoor dining. Fortunately almost two weeks past vaccine… if not, that would be more cause for concern since it is not obvious how well ventilated the restaurants are, in the context of a diner with pre-symptomatic COVID-19 filling the restaurant air with virus.
My brother went to the eye doc today. He asked if since he was vaccinated and all the health care workers were vaccinated, could he take his mask off. No.
The state is about to loosen its regulations, but counties and cities can have them too. Many businesses now have corporate policies about masks and wiping down all surfaces that I think those practices are here to stay for a long while. When I went to get the second shot, they wiped down the table and the chair I sat in, even though I never touched it with my skin. When I buy fabric, they spray the cutting table before cutting my fabric even though I may not have even touch the fabric, and if I did I’m buying the piece I touched.
It doesn’t hurt to spray everything down and even if it didn’t stop the spread of covid it may have helped with colds and flu this year. It just takes so much longer to do everything!
They probably don’t want to have to deal with unvaccinated anti-mask people complaining about why they can’t take off their mask when they see someone else doing so.
He was in an exam room. But the rule is everyone on the hospital campus is masked at all times. I think it is a hospital rule, but also could be a county rule (it was for most of last year for anyone over 3 years old) and I’m not sure it has been suspended yet for public places.
My mother was recently in the hospital and she had to have a mask on any time she left her room. In her room, sometimes nurses or doctors would ask her to put it on while they were in the room. They all always had masks on.
The biggest change for me is not wearing a mask when walking the dog. I usually have one in my pocket in case I run into someone I want to talk to, but I no longer go back into the house to get one if I forget.
We get Moderna #2 next Monday. Even a mild case of Covid could do horrendous things in my condition, so I will still be masking for the foreseeable future. H will still do grocery shopping and other risky errands, but if I have to drop off a package at UPS, I’m going to double mask and feel ok.
We’re going to a nice restaurant (outdoors, mid-afternoon) for Mother’s Day. Will be our first time at a restaurant since this started. I rescheduled our Labor Day camping reservations to Memorial Day weekend, and I think we’ll be doing that now that we’re vaccinated.
We’ve been taking the dog to parks all over the area during the pandemic, and have found that mentally refreshing. People mask here, even on the trails.
S2 is an expat overseas and plans to come home in July to get vaccinated. He’ll have to isolate in the basement for a week first (per current CDC guidelines). That will be the greatest risk we’ve had in this entire saga. He also wants to see friends and go to Nats games while he’s here.
We haven’t seen our sons or our families at all through this (and some of them not since 2019). Not sure I’m ready to drive ten hours yet to/through areas where people aren’t getting vaccinated, though. We’re not in a big hurry to jump back into high-contact life.
Don’t be surprise if you don’t find much of merchandise. So many people have been shopping online that many of those stores are not very well stocked. I have heard it is hard to find any dresses appropriate for weddings and other formal events.
Any time I have been in an actual store, I have been so disappointed. Maybe I’m overwhelmed by merchandise, but there are so many choices on line. I buy on line, return in a store. Even the brands I shop for have changed by this past year.
I went to a Macy’s and found that I no longer shop most of the brands they carry.
TJ Maxx might be the exception, but that’s more of a shopping expedition.
I agree that stores are not well stocked (grocery is well stocked…other stores). Most notably missing is anything for a dress up occasion…dresses, shoes, etc. Last time I was in Marshalls near here it looked very picked over. I think it was just under stocked. Smaller specialty stores like the Paper Store are fine.
Fortunately I don’t need to dress up. I just need a few more basic short sleeved shirts and maybe another pair of jeans for around the farm. Farm jeans are incredibly difficult to find anymore even before Covid. Now the only ones they tend to sell are fashion jeans and they are useless plus don’t last long. People tell me I need to start trying on men’s jeans rather than women’s. Maybe.
I don’t know what it’s like up there, but around here all dressing rooms are closed. You can’t try anything on, so buying online isn’t much different.
Target had nice mens’ cords. They seemed better then the ladies. I wear lots of men’s clothes, but never fitted pants. I wanted to try them, but since I couldn’t try them on there, I passed.
They just opened a Rural King nearby during the pandemic. H and I have noted it and plan to scout around in a couple of weeks. We’ve never been in one, just Tractor Supply. Are they good?
I’m hoping this changes when the majority are fully vaxed. I guess time will tell. I’ve bought a few clothes online, but have never liked it nor do those fit well.