5/19/1964 – 7/8/2021

My big brother!

Jen got her second shot yesterday. I got stuck on a work call and we were running a little late. We got there about 3:07. They told us that we just made it, that they are counting people and shots that they had left.

Jen didn’t want the nurse to know her fear of needles in hopes that it would be fast and easy. She sat down and grabbed my hand, as soon as the nurse alcohol swabbed her arm, she immediately tensed everything (including her grip). I don’t think she felt the needle because the nurse said she was done and Jen said, “no you’re not”…the needle was already in the red bin.

15 minutes in the lobby…nothing really to report. We did have a couple of good laughs…but it was the end of the day and there weren’t even alot of people left in the building.

Around 8pm, Jen climbed into bed and called it a day. We set up a trash can in the bedroom (just in case), she drank lots of water and a Tylenol to be pro-active.

She woke up feeling fine. Got up and went to work…but around 10:30-11, she suddenly felt bad. She was feverish but not nausea…she took a Tylenol and a 3 hour nap and that was it. No other side effects.

We are vaccinated! Now we just have to wait the 2 weeks to be completely inoculated.

My turn again…

Crozer was a little busier today since they opened up the next category, which I believe is anyone between 16-64. There was a line from the valet desk all the way to the front lobby. One of the nurses later told me that the goal was to get 1000 people their first shots a day. After standing in that line for about 20 minutes, a guard walked through the hall asking for anyone there that was getting their second shot. I lucked out on that one.

It was really crazy…and confusing. There were alot of people working very hard and everyone was mostly patient and relaxed…but still another stupid thing happened. Crozer was handing out rubber wristbands that said Crozer Covid – 19 Fighter…in a plastic bowl that moved from one person to another like a collection plate…wtf were they thinking? I let the bowl bypass me. We were all there to get shots to protect us from a very contagious virus, and the bowl went down the line of people that have NOT gotten their first shot yet…am I the only one that sees this??

I got the shot around 10:30 and did my obligatory sit in the lobby for 15 minutes..as I was leaving, I saw the 2 people in line with me…they were coming around the corner to the lobby…so I guess I saved about 20-25 minutes by being pulled from that line.

Driving home…I felt warmth from my elbow up to my shoulder. Warm to the touch…it was a weird sensation. Nothing else.

About 8:30 pm my arm started feeling sore where I got the shot and there is some pain lifting my arm, but it doesnt feel like joint pain…I may just take a Tylenol just to be safe.

I am more worried about everyone else’s reports of fever, chills and other yucky symptoms…I am even a little paranoid…

24 hours(ish) later…I had a restless night and ended up wide awake at 5am. Feeling just fine…I won’t count my chickens though…maybe tomorrow morning.

Jen’s turn…

Jen had already decided that she was going to do it…even with the fear. She has a super fear of needles so I went with her hoping to keep her calm. And since I was there a week before, I was hoping to walk her through the process as fast as possible and get out of there.

Jen got the paperwork filled out and 2nd shot scheduled, which meant, time to get in line to get the shot. We had to walk down this ominous hallway that reminded Jen of every horror flick she had ever seen. By time the nurse was ready to give her the shot, she was very nervous! She did it fast and it was over quick. Now, we have to wait 15 minutes before heading out…just to be sure there are no reactions.

We’re sitting there and just kinda watching everyone fill out their paperwork, moving from one line to another and Jen says quietly. I hope that was the right thing to do. At that exact moment, someone had knocked over the bucket of “sanitized pens” that was sitting on the table. It was about the size of the picture of the bucket below (without the cute confetti) with pens instead of pencils.

I watched this guy do the right thing, he lifted the bucket up grabbing all of the pens to stand it back up. I laughed out loud and said to Jen…there’s your sign that you are doing the right thing. He didnt even realize that he touched every pen…and went to his next line.

24 hours later, Jen seemed to be fine, no reaction but 36 hours(ish) after the vaccine she got a pretty bad headache and either that caused some vomiting or the vaccine. We are pretty sure it was vaccine related because she immediately felt better…stay tuned for Jen’s part 2..April 22nd

It’s not silk…

I normally get Jen something fun or practical so this was a complete surprise.

Our little slice of heaven fits all of the criteria to be a WildLife Habitat…who knew??

I did it…I finally got my first shot…Pfizer. The shot itself was painless, but everything else about it was painful.

From the proper place to put yourself on a waiting list, up until I sat in the chair to get the shot!

I knew I was 1a, but I figured it wouldn’t take long to get through the list, so I was patient…and it’s not like I don’t work from home, or I am around a bunch of people. But my patience started to wear thin when weeks past and PA (especially Delco) couldn’t get more than 100 shots per pharmacy. The philly distribution clusterfuck kinda set the tone for the entire state, because even after FEMA stepped in, it really didn’t get much better.

At that point, I started signing us up for every place that had a ‘waiting list’…weeks were passing and nothing! I even had a friend try to get us in, in Delaware (I believe they are starting on 1b)…finally someone posted a link on a Facebook page to sign up at Crozer, that they had open appointments for 1a for April…I went to the page and there were appointments for this month…so I was able to get one for 4 days away…I really thought it was going to be the end of April…so setting up the appointment was fairly painless.

I scheduled the time off from work to get it done and gave myself a few extra minutes because who knows what the parking will be. AND it’s a good thing I did. The directions that came with the appointment said ‘vaccines area is located off the Main Lobby’ and that was pretty much it.

Once I got there, there were VACCINE signs pointing to the lobby, so I decided to park in the garage and walked to the front door…outside, because I really didn’t want to be in the building until I had to be…I get to the door and it’s locked someone said, you cant get in there…you have to go in through the parking garage…so now I am out of breath (wearing my mask) and a little pissed off. I go all the way back to the door I came out of and went through the building to the Main Lobby. I checked in and at that point I filled in a form and signed up for my second shot, they said go around the corner to the first door on the left. That was the easiest part of this sub-process!

I go around the corner and there are people sitting all over the hall, I was thinking this was the line, but everyone said they were done and waiting their 15 minutes to leave. So I walk in the door and there are X’s every 6’…but the problem is, there is no way to get to the next X without walking between everyone…at that point, the volunteer asks me (and the people behind me to go in the other room and get in that line…a nurse starts arguing with her…to the point where security gets involved. I am like…just tell me what line to get in so I can wait from there…because I was not feeling safe where I was standing.

All they needed to do was shut the door and have the check in people have them go in the door directly behind them…at least until they figured it out. Why was it, that they were doing this daily and it is NOW an issue?? The security guard was butt hurt and walked away, the nurse started belittling the volunteer and I was like…I’m just going to “THIS LINE” and stepped on the next X…everyone else behind me did the same thing.

At that point, I could see the light.. I was 3rd in line with 2 people administering shots…I moved up the next X…so close..finally, my turn. The nurse tells me that I can sit down, but she is waiting for more shots. I was grateful that it didn’t take long 🙂

I did not feel the shot…I thought she was trying to distract me from getting the actual shot. She told me to drink lots of water (which I do anyway) and go have a seat. I sat in the lobby for my 15 minutes with no side effects or issues.

I did have a headache last night, but I had actually woken up with it…so I honestly don’t know if it was the lingering headache or a Pfizer headache…

24 hours later, I still have a slight headache…I don’t think it’s related to the vaccine, but no other complaints….stay tuned for my part 2..April 15th

My grill lives under back roof on the deck, so it stays pretty clean and I can use all year round, except when it can’t stay hot enough to cook…that is normally when it’s below freezing. I clean the grill grates EVEY time I use it, but when spring rolls around and it’s beautiful outside, I like to give it a good cleanup. I also oil it down with food-grade mineral oil for protection against the elements…so it will last longer. It looks all spiffy now!