Daily check-in

[teaotter]

This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time on Sunday) to midnight (8pm Eastern Time on Monday).

Poll #25845 Daily poll

This poll is closed.
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 43

How are you doing?

I am ok
36 (85.7%)

I am not ok, but don't need help right now
6 (14.3%)

I could use some help
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans live with you?

I am living single
16 (38.1%)

One other person
18 (42.9%)

More than one other person
8 (19.0%)

Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for help or advice if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.

Comments

[teaotter]

It is so hot here right now that I can't leave my house, and I'm having such a hard time with that after the last year.

[dewline]

Upper Turtle Island/North America's apparently dealing with two heat domes at the moment, bumping up against each other. Worrying for a lot of people in those states, provinces, territories, etc. right now.

[harpers_child]

I hope it cools off for you soon.

[adafrog]

Dang. *fans you*

[gwyn]

yesterday I heard so many sirens. All I could think of was how many people were going to die in this heat, on top of COVID still out there... It's just abysmal. All I can do is keep checking on my friends, especially the ones with health issues.

[twistedchick]

Memorial service was today on Zoom for my friend Charlie, who was brilliant and musical and all-around fun and interesting and made so many things better in so many people's lives -- and who leaves a huge enormous hole in so many places, just by not being there.

[harpers_child]

May their memory be a blessing.

[adafrog]

{{{hugs}}}

[kathmandu]

Condolences on the loss.

[starwatcher]

 
It sounds like he was a true bright spot in the world. My sympathies.
 

[twistedchick]

Charlie started the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, DC; he started Ecumenicon, Sacred Space and Bridges interfaith pagan conferences, he wrote plays and a musical and was a pagan leader and just plain good person for all the last 30 years that I've known him.

And after his memorial service I learned (on FB) of the death of another old friend, an elderly Quaker who was a good friend to me when I was new and stayed a good friend for years, till he was too ill to visit with. This is another one who leaves holes in the air.

[starwatcher]

 
I have tadpoles in my pond! (Very tiny, I made it just for them.) I live in semi-desert, which has been more desert-desert the past few years; This is the first time in three or four years we've had enough rain at one time to promote breeding behavior. I'm pumped; I find those little wigglers fascinating. Whee!
 

[adafrog]

COOL!!!

[kathmandu]

Wow, you made a difference!

[starwatcher]

 
I know. I'm immodestly proud every time I keep supplying water until they develop. Over the years I've gone from a puddle scraped a little deeper, to digging it deeper and making walls to hold more water, to finally digging an actual pond with a spillover birdbath in the middle. That was summer 2018, in time for the big summer rain -- but we didn't get it. Haven't had enough rain for tadpoles until this year. It looks like there was only one egg mass... but we might get more rain the next couple of days, so more might come along.
 

[ratcreature]

I still haven't managed to get vaccinated. I had hoped that getting a vaccine slot might become easier at some point, but apparently we're not there yet. I mean, I haven't gone to extreme measures (like some people I know phoned around a ton of GPs that weren't their own to see whether any might have wait lists or used some sort of apps that combe through stuff online to get a jump on new appointments at vaccination centers or such stuff), but it's frustrating.

[fred_mouse]

I so feel you on this. Our state only opened vaccination to my age group/category in early June. I do have an appointment booked, but not nearly soon enough given that the Delta variant got picked up on the weekend.

[ratcreature]

Here GPs were allowed to vaccinate everyone since early June, but the extra vaccination centers were still only for priority groups and only opened up booking for everyone today. I haven't managed to book anywhere yet. And the Delta variant here has been doubling its share of infections over Alpha every week for a while, though it's not yet dominant. This all sucks. I mean not as badly for me as for vulnerable people in developing countries who have even worse chances, but it it still sucks.

[fred_mouse]

Agree that this sucks.

I have no idea what the situation is with GPs. I'm just under the old cut off for age for AstraZeneca, and was perfectly willing to accept the very low risk of blood clot if it would have got me a shot sooner. As one co-worker said 'I've taken my share of long haul flights', and while my understanding is that the type of clot is different the risk is about equal.

It sounds like things are much more concerning where you are than where I am. We've had a total of three community cases this week, the first brought back from inter state, and the other two are direct contacts. I'm just a bit argh at the moment, because we had a limited 'not a lockdown' called Sunday and then an actual lockdown called tonight, and the disease modeller in the back of my head is screaming about exponential growth and, etc.

[ratcreature]

Here in Germany Delta is now about 15% of the samples they test, though overall the infection numbers are still going down. But it's forecast to become dominant next month because it's been growing just like in the UK only a bit later. And only a bit over 50% have their first vaccine dose, so that's not good.

[fred_mouse]

Oh, that is concerning. Your vaccination rate is better than Australia though - our states range from 27.2 % - 42.9% of the population have had their first dose, and that highest one is quite a bit higher than the next one down. (I don't know the average across Australia; the information I have is from this map, which used to have the total but doesn't seem to any more)

[ratcreature]

I checked the sites for available vaccination appointments again this evening, and managed to snag one in a vaccination center in two weeks. At least I now have a timeline for my wait for getting vaccinated! :D

[kathmandu]

Oh, yay! Glad to hear you were able to make an appointment!

[fred_mouse]

Wonderful! You'll have your first dose before I get mine!

cw: graphic pet death

[hitokage]

So we lost one of our foster kittens to Fading Kitten Syndrome last night and ngl this is the part of fostering that I hate the worst because there's nothing you can do.
Well, theoretically, if I had unlimited money, I could have bugged the neighbors at midnight to take me to an emergency vet clinic in the city and paid to have her put to sleep instead of sitting up with her while she seized and cried, but I'm broke af and I'm not sure the emergency vet in Anderson is even open 24hrs and I don't drive and most kittens crash faster than we could have made it to the emergency vet in the first place, seeing as we live in the sticks, literally, so even without the expense factor, my thinking would've stuck to just holding her close, covering her in love, and telling her to go to Bast.

I was going to bury her today, but it's been roastingly hot, so it may have to wait. She didn't even have a name yet, so I called her Bambi and sang Baekhyun's solo to her for a little bit (well, as best as I could) and let her go.

Re: cw: graphic pet death

[kathmandu]

Sending condolences. It sounds like you did the best you could for her. This kind of thing is always hard and sad, but you gave her a safe, comfortable place to spend her time in this world.

Re: cw: graphic pet death

[mecurtin]

I'm so sorry to hear this. You were such a good foster mom.