Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

N95 mask sale

Wed, 03 Jan 2024 00:43:20 GMT

These are the ones I like.
( Read more... )

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hospital masking policies

Thu, 28 Dec 2023 14:24:09 GMT

( discussion of masking, cut for @cmcmck )

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company

Sun, 26 Nov 2023 00:08:06 GMT

Our friends Alan and Jeanne are in town over the Thanksgiving weekend, visiting Elly (who lives in Salem). They spent the afternoon here. Alan is one of my oldest friends. We met in roadnotes' living room in 1983, when he lived in Toronto, and he and Jeanne now live in the Bay Area. [cattitude points out that I've known Elly about as long.]

I took a covid test for unrelated reasons yesterday (it was negative) and then I asked cattitude and adrian_turtle how they'd feel about visiting unmasked iff everyone tested negative. They said yes, so I suggested that to Alan, and also noted that I had already tested negative but had tested because I seemed to have a cold. Everyone tested negative, but Elly spent most of the afternoon wearing an N95 because she doesn't want to catch a cold. We also replaced the pre-filter on our living room air filter.

Much conversation, and we finished the apple crisp from yesterday's belated Thanksgiving dinner (Elly took her mask off for this). They left around 6:30, after spending 3.5 hours here. I suggested to Elly that we get together again when we don't have visitors from the other coast, and we hope to do this, either her visiting us, or the three of us taking transit and her picking us up at the commuter rail station. So far this is a hope, not even the glimmering of a plan.

The postponed Thanksgiving dinner, which we had yesteray, was good, especially the duck. I didn't like the rice salad, and Adrian and Cattitude thought it was only OK, but there were plenty of roast roots, so that was all right.

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MRI scan

Wed, 13 Sep 2023 23:52:31 GMT

I went to the hospital today for an MRI (head and cervical spine). I got home about 20 minutes ago, and am glad that's done with (even though I am going back on the 29th for another scan).

It seemed louder than in the past, which suggests that I didn't have my earplugs in properly this time, given that the last MRI was in the same place. ( brief mention of masking )

And also, I wound up standing on a very crowded bus on my way home, and by the time I'd gotten off the bus and was waiting for a trolley my hip was bothering me.

Further thoughts on masking for the MRI, based on kareina's comment: ( Read more... )

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dental masking complaint

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 18:39:43 GMT

My dentist's office has two contact methods on their website: a phone number, and a text box labeled "ask us a question."

I used the "question" box to send them a complaint about lack of masking by staff, and that this is a danger to me and other patients. I didn't say that this dangerous carelessness might stop me from returning, but depending on the answer, it might. I also didn't point out that their sign isn't even as good as the posters on the MBTA.

What I did say: ( complaint, cut for length )

Given that this is Friday December 23rd, I would be very surprised to hear from them before Tuesday.

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masking at the dental office

Thu, 22 Dec 2022 02:14:35 GMT

went to the dentist and had my teeth cleaned this afternoon. The cleaning went well, and the hygienist was wearing what looked like an N95 mask--but ( discussion of inadequate masking )

This isn't just slacking--three months ago the same office had a sign telling everyone they had to mask, and while they weren't enforcing that for patients, the staff were all masked, and one of them quietly thanked me for having asked another patient to pull his mask up. This time, the sign was "masks are optional, please respect people who choose to wear them." In case they've forgotten, they're a medical office, and could require masking whether or not the state is telling them to. I have to take my mask off to have my teeth cleaned; the office staff don't have that excuse.

On my way into the Harvard subway station and busway, I passed a billboard saying that, following CDC guidance, masks are encouraged. I would have expected my dentist to do at least as well as the MBTA.

I made my next appointment before I noticed just how bad the dental office's masking was, and I'm wondering whether it's time to find a new dentist, possibly closer to my new apartment.

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Adrian is in the new place

Sat, 11 Jun 2022 02:52:09 GMT

Adrian got up early because the movers were arriving at her old apartment before 8 a.m., and cattitude got up a bit early so he could get to the new place before the movers (and before Adrian). I had lunch at home and then went to the new apartment, via the Copley Square farmers market: this meant I wasn't in either apartment at the same time as the movers.

The farmers market had strawberries. I bought a quart, which the three of us have eaten (after bread and pickled herring). There were three different vendors with strawberries. The berries at the place closest to the entrance were pale and I think had been picked to early. The second vendor's strawberries looked a lot better, and smelled nice. The bought a quart because that basket looked better than any of the pints.

We decided in the middle of the afternoon that we wanted to get an air purifier right away rather than waiting. Cattitude found one on Amazon for a reasonable price that was available for delivery between five and ten p.m. today, and ordered it. He and I stayed at the new place after dinner, until the package arrived. Cattitude brought it inside and carried it to Adrian's bedroom, and then we took a Lyft home.

Unfortunately, there were significantly more unmasked passengers on the subway (red and green lines) than on the bus, but I kept my N95 mask on except when I was at the farmers market, which is outdoors.

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masking on transit: better than I'd expected

Wed, 20 Apr 2022 18:57:57 GMT

I just made a carefully timed trip to Harvard Square, mostly to buy ice cream, and also to get dry-mouth spray at the CVS in Harvard Square. [I prefer the CVS/Bartell's generic to the Biotene it's a generic of, because the generic is less minty.]

Carefully timed: there were very few other passengers on the 73 bus, in either direction. I walked to the back and opened some of the bus windows, in addition to the ones that were already open.

( discussion of masking by other people )

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