Every year about this time our school district offers employees a free flu shot. I always take it, and usually have no aftereffects other than a sore arm. Monday was the day. This year was a bit different than usual, because the pharmacist giving the shot had brought along Covid boosters to offer as well. I was super happy to get both at once and have it all done. I also read somewhere that getting a flu shot and Covid shot at the same time is thought to boost the effectiveness of both. It was something about a more vigorous antibody response. I think that's probably accurate, because for the first time ever I felt like crap after a vaccination. I developed a low-grade headache, muscle aches, and a feverish sort of feeling that lasted from late Monday afternoon until this morning. That never happened to me with either of those vaccines alone before!
I'm feeling a bit better this afternoon. That's a good thing, because I had to go all over town trying to find toilet paper! Yes, toilet paper. Since yesterday afternoon everyone around here has been suddenly buying up and hoarding toilet paper along with other supplies. I had to ask around to find out what the hell was going on.... apparently, the port strike has people in a panic about supply drying up and they're rushing out to grab everything they can get their hands on, with toilet paper being the number 1 (ha!) thing they're desperate for. It's crazy! I don't know if that's mostly around here or all along the east coast. Gregg and I were literally on our last roll of toilet paper (!!), and I had to go to three places to find any after work today. People are being the same jerks they were in the pandemic...buying up far more than they need and stockpiling it. The girl ringing me up at the dollar store (where I eventually found some) said that one woman had just been in and spent $140 on toilet paper!! People are ridiculous! Not to mention selfish and thoughtless. I bought enough to get my house through a week or so and left the rest for others. Hopefully someone didn't swoop in after me and empty the last of the shelves, but I wouldn't be surprised to find out they did. People just tend to suck sometimes, don't they?
Since this week has been a bit...bleh...I decided to order myself something cheap and cheerful on Amazon so I'd have something small to look forward to. It got here today: a string of bright purple and orange Halloween lights!
The original plan was to string them up around our little front porch area to welcome the trick or treaters, but I like them so much on the mantle (along with some of the other Halloween junk I had Gregg drag down from the attic) that I might end up keeping them there and ordering some more for the porch. They were only $10, and they're making me smile.
My Covid/flu shot did me in this year. A week and a half!
ReplyDeleteJesus! A week and a half! I'd be upset if I felt bad for that long. It's still better than full blown flu or Covid, though. I'm sorry you had such a hard time!
DeleteHey, what else for a mere $10 brings that kind of happiness and joy? Besides $10 worth of chocolate, of course.
ReplyDeleteAmen! I bought a pumpkin the other day at the grocery store ($5.99) to put on the front steps. Then today I went back to the same store, and they were marked down to $3.99. Now I have two pumpkins out there!
DeleteI wish I'd gotten them together but I was too afraid of the aftereffects. People can be so self-centered, not to mention stupid. TP is a domestic product and doesn't come in through the ports. Hope you are getting along OK!
ReplyDeleteI'm feeling MUCH better, thank you. I jumped on the chance to not have to find a separate place to go for the Covid jab.
DeleteWe're due for our double shots. I haven't had a bad reaction yet so I hope the trend continue!
ReplyDeleteI am loving the purple lights!
I've always gotten the two separately and never had a reaction from either...but two together seemed to do the trick! It wasn't that bad, though. A couple of Motrin here and there and I was mostly ok.
DeleteI've had the occasional reaction to the flu shot, but never the Covid. Toilet Paper? I thought you were going to say you were low because kids had bought it all to TP houses for Halloween. People are so really uninformed it will take months before the strike creates a TP shortage. Nice lights!
ReplyDeleteWe don't see too much TP'ing of houses at Halloween around here, but oddly enough, there's a day close to the end of the school year that seniors from the three high schools play pranks and TP each other's houses. It's pretty weird!
DeleteOh Oh. I'd not heard about the run on TP. I'd better check to see if hoarding has reached this area.
ReplyDeleteMake sure you're stocked up some in case the idiocy reaches that far north!!
DeleteI turned down my Flu jab this year, I just feel as if I'm having too much stuff pumped into me. I'll take my chance!
ReplyDeleteI understand that. It makes more sense for some more than others. I work around hundreds of students and their families, and Gregg still services aquariums at the hospital and three different nursing homes (and he only has one lung!). Considering all that, and the fact that I have asthma, it seems prudent to get the flu vaccine every year. If neither of us had to be anywhere surrounded by people during the worst of flu season, I might not bother either.
DeleteMy employer also offers free flu shots, and I am scheduled some time later this month. Nobody has mentioned a Covid booster.
ReplyDeleteYes, people suck sometimes. Toilet paper was the #1 hoarded item here during the first months of the pandemic, along with flour and pasta. Most supermarkets soon introduced a limit, such as max 2 kg of flour per household. I hate to think of how much was wasted.
PS: The lights really look good on your mantle! And I am glad you are feeling better.
DeleteGiven my health issues and travel to New York in January, I was getting desperate for my covid and flu jabs. I just learned that my group is scheduled for after October 16. Not too long to wait. Great lights. I wouldn’t want to put them outside and miss admiring them either. I wonder what I’d order if I was in need of cheap and cheerful.
ReplyDeleteYou're coming to New York in January? That's great! I always like knowing you're "here" visiting :) and I know KB will be so glad to see you.
DeleteIt's strange that even here the first thing people buy when they panic is toilet paper. It's probably a global human thing, the fear of being left without paper... (When I was a child in times of scarcity, newspapers were cut into small squares, I guess that nowadays few people read newspapers ,people have also become more spoild,newspapers are not soft enough...).
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed that it's the same way in Israel! I guess people are basically all the same all over the world! I'd definitely use newspaper if that's all that was available. I'm sure that in the not-too-distant past even ample supplies of newspaper for wiping was a bit of a luxury.
DeleteI was wondering if all the toilet paper in this area would be bought up too before the storm last week. Surprisingly, it was not although there were a few bare places on the shelves.
ReplyDeleteI love your spooky lights.
I'll bet the bread and milk aisles were empty, though. Every time there's even the tiniest possibility of a hurricane hitting, or (God forbid!) snow flurries in the forecast....people lose their minds and buy up all the bread and milk.
DeletePeople are awful sometimes! Hoarding TP is selfish and I am glad you were able to get some. Sorry the shots bothered you this time and hope you are feeling much better by now, Jennifer. Love those lights!
ReplyDeleteMy nephew's wife up in North Carolina said it's hard to find baby formula in their area right now! I'm hoping it's being bought in large quantities to send over to the disaster areas in the western part of the state....but I wouldn't be surprised if people were hoarding that, too.
DeleteI hadn't heard that about toilet paper! There's something weirdly humorous about the fact that this is apparently many people's worst nightmare -- being left with no toilet paper. It's like the go-to crisis-mode purchase.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy, Steve. I don't know if it's just in this area or more widespread, but people are acting like idiots. As for the toilet paper...I'm seriously considering a bidet! Enough with scrambling to find tp everytime there's even a hint of a crisis.
DeleteHa! Exactly! When I was in the Peace Corps I learned I could do without in a pinch!
DeleteI had the double shots too, and it knocked me out for the day after. I felt pretty poorly, but after that first initial day, I was back to feeling well. I have read about the toilet paper issue. I haven't been out shopping this week so I have no idea if it is a problem here.
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