Twenty-Twenty-Four
Jan. 24th, 2024 03:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glitch25The Pandemic continues (present tense) to do strange things for time. I remember not terribly long ago.. in the before-times, we got notification that the new rail stations in North Seattle would be completed around 2024ish. At least the ones closest to us. I think timeline got pushed out a little, but I remember thinking that 2024 seemed a bit far away.
Well, it's here.
Sometime around 2021-2022, I think there was a hope that something might change in the way things were going, and we might collectively find a way out from under this crap. But I know the hope quickly waned. It was replaced with longing and depression and an understanding that my misanthropy had new pools from which to build. I think the part that fundamentally broke me was that I am working for a hospital that along with the rest of society has decided to stuff fingers-in-ears and heads-in-sand and use personal accountability as a way to justify the unwillingness to do the right thing. Thankfully, I've been able to do the things I need to do to feel safe and keep my and mine safe. It does mean that I deliberately exclude myself from all the social gatherings and in-person meetings/dinners that have come back. And I've taken over a single-desk storage closet as my office for when I'm on-site. Most of the time, I won't go on-site unless it is absolutely necessary. And the nature of my job does require some hands-on time with equipment. But I work hard to keep it as minimal as possible. I'm sure I'm a frustration to my manager, but he's presented himself as being understanding so far. Hope it continues for both our sakes.
Starting around 2023, I think the realization was that the world we're living in was not, contrary to friends, neighbors, the media, and the fucking President of the United States, going to return to normal.
I find there is still a grieving process. And the molasses effect of having stayed away from the world for so long makes it hard to push forward, but me and mine have been working towards embracing the new normal and doing what we can to be absolutely safe, but also do what we can to move on with our lives and make plans and do things.
One of the steps we took was to finally take responsibility for our own molecular COVID testing. As funding dried up, most non-symptomatic free testing disappeared, so we made the decision to invest in a Cue Health tester. It is not inexpensive, but it is nearly as accurate as a PCR clinical test and uses similar molecular technology. It is the testing that Google deployed early in the pandemic to its must-work workforce and it has strong efficacy and adoption. S was continuing to do a lot of work-related travel, so it became necessary to have a way to test that was easier. We discovered that non-symptomatic PCR testing would be possible, but not free and for the cost and time-to-wait involved, it really made the investment in to the Cue system really attractive. I think what sealed the deal was the knowledge that local pharmacies would be using the multi-user version of the Cue system for paid-for molecular COVID testing and at a greater price than buying our own. So we did. Like PCR, it requires a waiting period of at least 5 days after exposure for best accuracy which for us means quarantine until then. And the tests take 20 minutes to complete in-home. No more scheduling. We are privileged and grateful for the fact that we can use it. And I highly recommend it for anyone that is in a place to encounter exposure. And in the last couple of years, more systems have come out. Some seem more wasteful than others in terms of the testing equipment and technology, but they all fall at about the same price. You can find them by searching for NAAT tests. We still use antigen tests for incidental testing when we're not feeling well and might be symptomatic (fuck you allergies!!) since those work really well for symptomatic testing, but the Cue tests have been really great to rule out exposures.
I think my greatest frustration and disappointment in all this is seeing how many people whom I was at least willing to consider a friend have fallen into the move-on-like-it's-over mentality. Not masking when around other people. Going to large venues with lots more people not masking.
It's gotten to the point where I don't know a lot of people that haven't gotten it at least once. And well over 50% caught it while hanging out with a bunch of other people pretending it doesn't exist. The blind-eye to the long-term damage that ANY infection causes is the height of stupidity. We can now say we've had years to study it, and the data coming out is just more and more depressing and revealing.
After four years, the willful ignorance and the unwillingness to take care of themselves and others is just infuriating. There are a group of us who understand that society has decided that it is ok to create a large infirm portion of the population. It is absolutely inevitable. And add to it the battle for Democracy in this country, and the next several years are going to be tragic in many ways.
But hey. 2024. Yay. ;-)
Well, it's here.
Sometime around 2021-2022, I think there was a hope that something might change in the way things were going, and we might collectively find a way out from under this crap. But I know the hope quickly waned. It was replaced with longing and depression and an understanding that my misanthropy had new pools from which to build. I think the part that fundamentally broke me was that I am working for a hospital that along with the rest of society has decided to stuff fingers-in-ears and heads-in-sand and use personal accountability as a way to justify the unwillingness to do the right thing. Thankfully, I've been able to do the things I need to do to feel safe and keep my and mine safe. It does mean that I deliberately exclude myself from all the social gatherings and in-person meetings/dinners that have come back. And I've taken over a single-desk storage closet as my office for when I'm on-site. Most of the time, I won't go on-site unless it is absolutely necessary. And the nature of my job does require some hands-on time with equipment. But I work hard to keep it as minimal as possible. I'm sure I'm a frustration to my manager, but he's presented himself as being understanding so far. Hope it continues for both our sakes.
Starting around 2023, I think the realization was that the world we're living in was not, contrary to friends, neighbors, the media, and the fucking President of the United States, going to return to normal.
I find there is still a grieving process. And the molasses effect of having stayed away from the world for so long makes it hard to push forward, but me and mine have been working towards embracing the new normal and doing what we can to be absolutely safe, but also do what we can to move on with our lives and make plans and do things.
One of the steps we took was to finally take responsibility for our own molecular COVID testing. As funding dried up, most non-symptomatic free testing disappeared, so we made the decision to invest in a Cue Health tester. It is not inexpensive, but it is nearly as accurate as a PCR clinical test and uses similar molecular technology. It is the testing that Google deployed early in the pandemic to its must-work workforce and it has strong efficacy and adoption. S was continuing to do a lot of work-related travel, so it became necessary to have a way to test that was easier. We discovered that non-symptomatic PCR testing would be possible, but not free and for the cost and time-to-wait involved, it really made the investment in to the Cue system really attractive. I think what sealed the deal was the knowledge that local pharmacies would be using the multi-user version of the Cue system for paid-for molecular COVID testing and at a greater price than buying our own. So we did. Like PCR, it requires a waiting period of at least 5 days after exposure for best accuracy which for us means quarantine until then. And the tests take 20 minutes to complete in-home. No more scheduling. We are privileged and grateful for the fact that we can use it. And I highly recommend it for anyone that is in a place to encounter exposure. And in the last couple of years, more systems have come out. Some seem more wasteful than others in terms of the testing equipment and technology, but they all fall at about the same price. You can find them by searching for NAAT tests. We still use antigen tests for incidental testing when we're not feeling well and might be symptomatic (fuck you allergies!!) since those work really well for symptomatic testing, but the Cue tests have been really great to rule out exposures.
I think my greatest frustration and disappointment in all this is seeing how many people whom I was at least willing to consider a friend have fallen into the move-on-like-it's-over mentality. Not masking when around other people. Going to large venues with lots more people not masking.
It's gotten to the point where I don't know a lot of people that haven't gotten it at least once. And well over 50% caught it while hanging out with a bunch of other people pretending it doesn't exist. The blind-eye to the long-term damage that ANY infection causes is the height of stupidity. We can now say we've had years to study it, and the data coming out is just more and more depressing and revealing.
After four years, the willful ignorance and the unwillingness to take care of themselves and others is just infuriating. There are a group of us who understand that society has decided that it is ok to create a large infirm portion of the population. It is absolutely inevitable. And add to it the battle for Democracy in this country, and the next several years are going to be tragic in many ways.
But hey. 2024. Yay. ;-)
(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-25 11:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-25 11:40 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-26 06:20 pm (UTC)I had to tell somebody on Facebook that no, she will not actually be seeing me at a forthcoming concert event, because I'm still not showing up at public events where there will be a bunch of unmasked people.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-26 07:10 pm (UTC)