Booster, prayers, and a wry laugh

 

Finally got my new Covid booster today. I mentioned the other day I’d gotten the run-around trying to book an appointment for the Moderna booster at the only local place I could find that has it. We were early for the appointment, as requested. Walgreen’s was late, though when the woman finally gave me the shot, she was most pleasant and also skilled—a painless shot, and tonight my arm is tender but not really sore. But back to the wait at the pharmacy—we were there at least forty-five minutes. When we got to the pharmacy—why are they always in the far back corner of a humongous store?—I was ready to sit down, so Jordan checked me in. I can’t tell you what all occurred, but she was at the counter a long time. When she finally came to sit by me, she said, “They make it so difficult—no wonder a lot of people just won’t bother.”

Jordan herself has had difficulty. You can only make an appointment online or by telephone—and when you try by telephone, you get the dreaded automatic voice on the other end of the phone. Jordan tried online the other day and was told she is not eligible. I thought that was wrong, because this booster has been highly touted for everyone twelve and up. A neighbor said no, you must be over sixty-five or immune compromised. That didn’t sound right to me, so Jordan asked today. She is eligible, but they couldn’t make an appointment with a living, breathing person in front of them. I suppose the earlier verdict of ineligibility was a computer glitch, and if she tries again, it will go through. But she’s not inclined to try again right away, says it’s a busy week, and I should not bug her, so I am keeping quiet (do you have any idea how hard that is for me?).

At any rate, I think it’s bureaucracy gone amuck, and she’s right. The process needs to be streamlined. I know that’s easy for those of us on the consumer end to say, but I’d like to get the word to someone with clout. President Biden counts controlling the pandemic as one of his victories, as well he should, but he needs to have someone look into the delivery process. It’s sad to think people won’t inconvenience themselves, because the number of daily deaths is still high. We had a local case this week of a forty-year-old dad who died. I have no idea of his vaccination status.

The weather around the world seems to have gone amuck—mudslides, floods, typhoons in all corners of the world. Tonight, comes word that power is out to the entire island of Cuba, and Ian is expected to make landfall in Florida as a Category Three or Four hurricane on Wednesday afternoon. Two and a half million people in Florida—think of the enormity of that number! —have been asked to evacuate. Ferocious storms like Ian—and some notable earlier ones like Katrina, Harvey, and Maria—cause damage that is beyond comprehension for those of us who sit inland in safety and pray that maybe we’ll get some rain out of the storm. I remember driving in the Houston area with my daughter-in-law Lisa showing me the high-water marks on buildings. Astounding.

Please join with me in praying for the safety of all those in the path of Ian.

Nice to end the day with a laugh, although I’m sorry to say my laugh makes me sound political and biased once again, but Republicans are having a hard time these days. Dr. Oz said John Fetterman’s habit of wearing shorts and hoodies made it seem that he was attacking authority in the balls—and thereby gave Fetterman a wonderful slogan in a state where people would line up for blocks to attack authority. In Texas, the pretty obviously corrupt Attorney General Ken Paxton, who keeps sticking his nose into other states’ business, ran from his home to avoid a subpoena—literally almost ran. He was in a truck driven by his wife who is a state senator. Paxton has been under indictment for seven long years with no court date, because he keeps gaming the system. And now to think his wife is a state senator. No wonder Texas is a political mess.

But the saddest funny story of all is that trump and DeSantis are now calling each other names. The former guy calls DeSantis “fat, phony, and whiny” (terms that could apply to himself as well) while DeSantis calls his former sponsor “a moron who has no right running for the presidency” (that too could be a two-way street).  And these two adolescent bullies want a chance to run our country? I don’t think so.

So there you have it: a day to inspire prayers and laughter. Do get our booster. It’s worth the trouble.

Yellow mums for cheer, a booster for good health, and a big disappointment

 

These yellow mums line the deck of the main house, which means they are what I see when I look out the window from my desk. And as I said in a recent post, yellow flowers cheer me. You can see why when John, the lawn guy, was ready to replace them with pansies, I said “No, not yet. I haven’t enjoyed the mums long enough.” The truth is that the mums were full and healthy and very green with only tiny dots of yellow for a long time. I worried, although a friend told me I didn’t want them to bloom early. So I waited. In the last couple of weeks, they have come into their own, and I’m going to keep them  until a frost kills them. Then it will be time to talk about pansies.

Kind of a mixed bag today. Jordan, Christian, and I got our booster shots, but it turned out to be a long, involved process. One night recently, they met a pharmacist who said she’d give us the shots—she is manager at a WalMart pharmacy on Sycamore School Road, which is, ahem, not close to us. As we wound through the South Side on McCart, which is endless, I kept to myself the thought that we could have gone to the local Albertson’s just as easily. Turned out I would be glad we made the trip. Besides, it was fun for me to be out in the car. I said if anyone asked me what I did today, I’d say I took a trip in the country.

We finally came to a WalMart on McCart, just beyond Sycamore School Road. Went in, waited in line for a while—only to find out that we were at the wrong WalMart. Back to the car, more driving, with Christian giving directions which at one point took us in the wrong direction. By now, we really were in stretches of open land. Finally, the right WalMart, one of the small Neighborhood Stores, clean and not crowded.

It may have been a smaller store, but it was a darn long walk to the pharmacy, and with am N95 mask on, I lose my breath more easily. In retrospect, even though I never fear needles, I think I also had a little pre-shot anxiety. Anyway, poor Christian had to push me part of the way. (I did much better walking out.) Then we filled out endless paperwork and finally got into the immunization room—it had never occurred to me the would have a private room for giving shots—and Erica, Jordan’s newfound friend, gave us our shots. From now on, I want Erica to give me any shot I have. I barely knew she had done it. And, knock on wood, no sore arm tonight, although Jordan says hers is a bit sore.

This second pharmacy was close to the Chisholm Trail Parkway, so we zipped right on home—after a two-hour adventure. Just to keep things interesting, Jordan thought she had lost her wallet, but it turned out to be at home.

Tonight, the place where I bought our new tree, to replace the hundred-year-old elm we lost, was to install our Chinese Pistache. I had long discussions with them, explained this was the only night Christian could be home to discuss where they could plant it etc. We had the utility check done. And they’re a no-show. We’re frustrated. And guess who gets a firm phone call from me tomorrow.

I guess the Gary Patterson fiasco is still on people’s minds, though not as much as I’d expected. A sportswriter for the Star-Telegram, Mac Engel, had a couple of opinion pieces in the paper this morning that did not put TCU in a favorable light and then a piece saying AD Jeremiah Donati has the make-or-break career decision of hiring a new coach. I thought he’d already dimmed his career by forcing Patterson to resign. One Facebook commenter pointed out that Patterson always recognized that his players were students first and foremost, which I think is important.

But something nobody has mentioned in discussing the three-year losing streak: for two of those years, we were in pandemic (still are though for now numbers are looking better). Has any considered that, since we lost so many people from the work force, pandemic might also have narrowed the field of eligible recruits? Some due to illness, some due to family worry, some reluctant to start college life on a campus that was almost all remote classes? All of us were affected one way or another, so why not college football players? Not making excuses for Patterson, who surely needs none from me, but that's my thought for the day.