Slipping Into Fall in Everyday Ramblings

Yes, it is another Dahlia. I admit it. We are coming to the end of their blooming cycle here. After a gorgeous clear fall day yesterday the clouds are in and we are all hoping the predicted rain materializes this evening.

I am walking with Mrs. Sherlock and Frieda this morning. Our Covid case rate is dropping but we still are averaging over 2,000 new cases a day. Not good. And our death rate is up, I find it hard to stay with the amount of suffering lodged in that statistic after all these months.

It would be so great to have, what they do in Europe, easy affordable rapid tests. That way you could tell before you go anywhere if you have a breakthrough case and are infectious. That would make such a difference in the lives and mental health of everyone I know. Instead of wondering…am I infectious, are my kids infectious, you could check without having to go to Urgent Care or the Expo Center here to get a test and pay a not insignificant $25 or more for it.

Speaking of paying ridiculous amounts of money for diagnostics, many of you know I had an intense case of shingles about 9 years ago. My doctor has been encouraging me to get the vaccine since then but every time I checked with the lab associated with my doctor they were out and getting more in sometime.

I knew though the pharmacy at the grocery I go to has it, so when I scheduled my flu shot for next week, I scheduled the first Shingles shot. Then I found out that neither Medicare nor my prescription plan, nor my Medigap Insurance covers it.

It is $172 a shot!!! That is just crazy. Customer service at the RX plan said if I call back and ask the day before the shot and say I need an exception, they might knock $50 off that charge. I guess they figure, the medical policy makers, that Shingles just makes you miserable, but most people don’t end up in the hospital.

You live and learn. If I had it to do over again, I would have made it happen when I was still under my work insurance, no matter how inconvenient.

I am grateful that younger folks have access to the chicken pox vaccine and so never have to worry about getting Shingles. What a gift that is. My brother and I both had chicken pox at the same time, and we were quite a handful for our mother. I got the measles too, but luckily no one else in the family did. My oldest sister had polio, and we were right up there first in line for that vaccine.

I’ll get the Covid booster around Thanksgiving.

Pull-Up Club started on Wednesday. It was way fun but since I have discovered all sorts of small, neglected muscles saying hello. Particularly at night getting settled for sleep. Feeling strong is such a good feeling though. The rings are great because you can adjust them for more and more load as one gets stronger.

Friday, I participated in this fascinating League of Women Voters Zoom on information and records transparency at the local city level. I got to “meet” our city ombudsman (She is great, who knew?) and a well know local investigative journalist. Also great.

Tuesday, before I get my shots, we have a discussion group meeting on pesticide use in the state. That is a tough topic. The people in our study group are so smart.

Because I have been choosing a poem to read 5 days a week at the end of the morning Open Practice, I know what I am looking for in a poem and am having a little trouble finding one for each day. That inspired me on Friday to start writing one myself. It is a sneaky way to get myself back in that mindset.

I inherited all of Mr. Finch’s books we didn’t sell back before he died and between the two of us, we had a lot of poetry. Plus, Kes gave me some of hers. Poets I wasn’t particularly interested in, so not only do I have the Poetry Foundation as a resource but my own bookcases.

Anybody watching Foundation? We grew up with the books. The first two episodes have every trope you can bring in from contemporary visual SciFi. I can see Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Gallactica, vibes already. It is a bit of a mashup. But at least for me worth watching. I do recommend the close captioning though. In the English version there is mumbling and one doesn’t have a clue what they are talking about.

Okay, off to frolic with Frieda in the gloom.

Last updated September 26, 2021