Right now, I’ve become more wary about going out. I know I’ve been fairly cavalier about going out to bars and restaurants, but the feeling I get now is that it’ll be better to avoid public spaces this winter. At least, until things settle down a bit more.
I’m not convinced things will be fine, and have a growing worry that things will get worse. But I’m predisposed to that. The worry. So I guess we’ll just see.
There was a very big shift that happened in March of that year. And I guess this small Metra pass is a tangible representation of that particular time. The pass has long expired, of course. But I think I’ll likely hold onto it, regardless. It still has some small bit of value to me, even after all this time.
After work today, I was running a bunch of errands. And on the list: stop in at a Northwestern Immediate Care, to get the Bivalent Booster shot.
Weird day for me today. I’ve been fully remote since March of 2020, and since that time… I’ve not been back to the office.
We’ve had some messages from work, encouraging people to come back. But I’ve still been very… apprehensive. I’ve still opted to remain home, and to work remotely.
I no longer feel like I have the ability or the tools to adequately gauge my risk of contracting Covid.
“Put simply, if you test positive on a rapid test, you almost certainly have Covid-19. If you test negative, in some cases, you might still test positive on a PCR test, which is much more sensitive because it tests for genetic evidence of the virus.”
After a quick huddle, Liz and I figured it would be best if we headed back to Chicago. As much as we wanted to stay, there were a few risks involved. While our contact with Jasmine was limited, we were somewhat close (I did get to give her a hug at one point).
So whether we got it or not remains a question. We could remain in Indy a bit longer, but staying potentially increased our chances of contracting Covid.
Another risk: if we developed symptoms or started to get sick, Stacey potentially would need to them take care of us and/or we’d be unable to make it back to Chicago until we recovered. And in terms of self-isolating, we’d all end up having to restart the clock based on the last person to exhibit symptoms.
So more waiting. And then another hour goes by. The staff answering the phones were giving estimated wait times to people, saying things like “an hour and a half” and then eventually “two hours.” And overhearing this, several of us in the waiting area laughed out loud. And in response to hearing “two hours” held up three fingers to one another. And began calling out “more like three hours” loudly, to one another.
It’s been a while since Liz and I did this, any of this, and it was great. No real deadlines, no rush, just ambling around.
Liz and I spend too much of our time at home, sitting at a desk, working. And to carve out a full day where we did the exact opposite of that… felt really good. And in many ways, felt like a reminder of a normal day.
To be honest, I still have a sense of trepidation about Covid. I’m having a hard time adjusting my thinking to the idea that everything is ok or normal again, or at least a kind of vaccinated normal.
It’s hard to know if I truly feel it’s safe to travel. Or if I want to travel so badly, that I feel it’s safe.
It was a lazy Saturday for us today, and I ended up with an itch to get some new board games for us to play. Liz and I have a very small collection of games, and I’ve gotten a little tired of the ones we have.
So I venture out to our nearby toy store (Toys et Cetera), and spent a good while browsing their wares.
“The original Coronavirus variant has an R0 of ~2.71. Alpha – the ‘English variant’ that caused a spike around the world around Christmas – is about 60% more infectious. Now it appears that Delta is about 60% more transmissible yet again. Depending on which figure you use, it would put Delta’s R0 between 4 and 9, which could make it more contagious than smallpox.”
This was my first visit downtown again in… a year and a half. I snapped this photo right before walking across the street, and looked up to see this guy standing a few steps into the intersection, yelling “Hey!” loudly and repeatedly.
Liz and I decided to use a rainy Sunday as our excuse to trek up to Logan Square, and to have breakfast at one of our old favorite spots: Lula Cafe.
But for me, the act of cutting my hair is almost like an admission that things are back to normal. And deep down, I still feel like we are far from normal. And that I don’t yet know what the Fall brings.