Well. Merry Christmas to me. I got COVID-19 and I have no idea how that happened. I've been religious - I mean RELIGIOUS - about the masks, hand washing, socially distancing, all of it.
And I really just felt like it was a "normal cold" thing. Sinus issues are rampant in our family, so that wasn't unusual.
Luckily for me, I stood firm and told my mom that I was not visiting her over Xmas. I wasn't feeling like it was safe; I was around people who'd been exposed, I'd been around people who I've had to hand masks to...I just felt like it was a safe bet to stay home.
Thank goodness.
Because my brother was diagnosed the Saturday after Xmas. And he'd spent time with the family over the holiday.
Hubby, luckily, is negative and we're sort of isolating (as much as one can isolate in a 1500 sq. foot house).
Symptoms? EXTREME exhaustion. That's what cued me in to having to go to the doctor. I thought I had a sinus infection because my face hurt. Like a bad ear infection and sinus infection combined. And I was napping. A lot. I'm not a napper. I went to a CVS "Minute Clinic" because of the supposed ear infection. The NP told me that my ears were fine, but "you probably should get a COVID test."
I've been tested 3 times....prior exposures. I knew that at some point, my number would be up. So on New Year's Day, I went to another clinic, got a flu test (nose swab) and a COVID swab...
And yep. My number was up...
But it gets better. One morning,near the end of my quarantine, I got up and sat down to take my temperature. And flapped my hand at Hubby. And that's all I remember for a good bit. Apparently, I either fainted or had a seizure. Either way, I stopped breathing and it took "several minutes" for him to get me back around to this planet... Luckily, I had only stopped breathing for about 20 seconds. Landed myself in the ER.
And all I was told was, "Covid does some strange stuff to people." I have an appointment with my neurologist and we'll see what's going on.
With this very mild case, I've lost my sense of taste and smell. I mean it's absolutely gone. Not like when you have a cold. I literally can't smell anything. If we had a gas leak? I'd be the last to know. So I haven't been eating, because everything tastes like wet cement. I've lost a good bit of weight, but this isn't how you do it...
I've finally had a day where I haven't napped. I actually got some mindless knitting done and I've been binge-watching "Foyle's War" on Acorn TV. A gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do...
I've been able to go back to work, and then the next thing happened... I have a history of Atrial Fibrillation. And for a while, it was under control. Till this past week. I woke up, "off," and I thought, "oh, no, I'm not gonna keel over again" and had Hubby drive me to work. Got to work, decided to check my heart. (I have the Kardia EKG device on my one phone.) Turns out, I was in really bad A-fib. Heart rate was around 156 (which is quite uncomfortable) and it took me about an hour to pop back into normal rhythm. And then it happened again...my cardiologist is not happy. Nor am I.
And I suspect this will also be "COVID does weird crap to people."
The Insurrection...
I can't say it any better than Rude Pundit. Here you go. And for once, no, I don't ask that the profanity be excused. No, I don't talk like that, but sometimes a mule needs a 2 x 4 to get the point across.
For those folks who say that these are "protestors" -- I have one word for you: Terrorists. I walked in several protests for Black Lives Matter, and I can tell you that the only reason I wasn't threatened any more than I was (I was called some names that were not nice and flipped off more times in August and September than I have been in my entire 60+ years) is because I'm a white, grey-haired woman.
These buggers are terrorists. Period. The retired military who participated, and the cops who participated? Traitors. Terrorists.
My dad has been gone almost 30 years. As a Marine, on the cusp of getting on a boat to Korea, he'd have been in his 90s by now. And he would have crawled. CRAWLED....to Washington to beat the snot out of those domestic terrorists.
The Impeachment...
So, twice is nice. The Mango Mendicant was impeached again, by the greatest bipartisan count ever. One count: fomenting insurrection. And let's look at this: he wasn't whisked out of DC on a secret plane. He was IN THE WHITE HOUSE watching the whole thing unfold, and according to some news sources, bemoaning how "low class" the terrorists were.
He didn't have to be swooped out of the White House because he was in no danger. These were HIS minions. "Go home, we love you." What a joke...
While I know a lot of people are all, "Let's just unify," and "Let's just sing Kumbaya and make s'mores and all get along," my viewpoint is simpler:
This administration was a boil on the back of the nation. It exposed what was ugly, and that may have been the only good thing it's done. And we all know: boils need to be lanced, drained, packed with antibiotics -- if they're left to just be a boil, they will become more and more infected, and the infection will spread. It's already spread too far.
We have conspiracy theorists in our government. Sitting in Congress. Think about that. People who will, till their dying day, say that this election was stolen - flying in the face of logic and math. People who think there's some secret sub rosa government that's out to deprive them of their basic rights.
Rights which they'll deny to black, brown, LGBTQIA+ folks. In other words, anyone who isn't a "white christian" (and yes, I'm not capitalizing it).
We are witnessing the dying gasps of the white dinosaurs. And it's not going to be pretty. Our nation is in for a rough go over the next few years. But we have a decision to make.
Who, and what, do we want to be? If we want to be the nation of laws and norms which we purport to be, there must be consequences.
Heck, even a kid in their Sunday School classes knows: you can't be forgiven unless you're sorry. "Oh my God, I am heartily sorry..." which is the old form of the Catholic Act of Contrition. The more modern language is this: My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against you whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend, with your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us. In his name, my God, have mercy.
Thing is, they're NOT sorry. They've planned this, and they've planned MORE. And they refuse to acknowledge that we did indeed have a fair election. They've refused to honor the peaceful transition of power that has been the hallmark of our democracy since this experiment was launched in the 1770s.
The Congress-critters who swore oaths, along with the military and complicit cops? They're actually the worst. The deluded deplorables aren't without guilt, but they're just stupid and dangerous. The Congress-critters, military and complicit cops? They put their hands on a Bible and swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States "against all enemies, foreign and domestic." And it turns out, in the immortal words of Pogo: "We have met the enemy and he is us."
I weep for this country. And the only way we'll heal is for the terrorists to be punished to the full extent of the law.
The Knitting...
Even before the COVID, I really messed something up. I mean, FUBAR-messed up. It was a baby blanket and I had to do a quick switch because the little one is due anytime now. So I did a quick switcheroo and did a fleece blanket, a hat and some booties. Same difference.
I'll pick out the blanket and figure it out.
