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| My recent positive COVID test |
During 2020-2022 I was posting a lot of my Pandemic Journal here on the blog. I got up to Part 25 in 2022. I didn't stop writing in that journal, and I even occasionally posted an entry on a specific topic, like this one on the Fourth Pandemiversary.
I guess just as most of the world lost interest in COVID, I lost interest in posting all of my entries here on the blog. I've also been journaling a lot less in the last year or two, often only once every couple of months.
I had a good reason, however, to start the Pandemic Journal again in earnest when I tested positive for COVID in late June! So, as both an exercise in self-indulgence and a public service announcement to get a COVID test if you have symptoms, here is a ... "sequel" doesn't sound right, so let's call it a "reboot" of my Pandemic Journal. And there are still memes, of course!
The rumors of COVID’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. I had a little bit of coughing the other day and started to feel bad. I took a COVID test that was negative. Then I felt worse the next day with that woozy feeling I remember from COVID. I also had read about an uptick in COVID this summer. So I took another test, which was positive.
So far it’s even milder than when I had it about two years ago. But it’s still not great. Beth has been negative so far, so I’m trying to isolate in the house.
A big part of my convalescence has been the online part of the Chattanooga Film Festival, which is maybe fitting because it’s possible I got COVID at the in-person events I attended last weekend. But it’s hard to say. I also went to some restaurants and coffeeshops in the week before testing positive.
I really only went to a few festival events on Saturday (a Twilight Zone event with Rod Serling’s daughter) and Sunday (a block of shorts, including one made by a former student, and a fun time-travel feature called Things Will Be Different). On Sunday between events I did have lunch at a bar downtown, which was a bit crowded. On Tuesday I went to bar trivia with some friends, and I hope I didn’t infect any of them (I told them and they’re all okay). My negative test was Wednesday, and the positive one on Thursday.
My second round of COVID is still unpleasant, but not as bad. I didn’t have the flu-like chills I had the first day or two last time. Mostly I’m just tired and achey with occasional coughing and congestion. I can tell I’m starting to feel better already (day three or four, depending on how you count it). I’ve only taken cold medicine once so far today, and mostly feel okay, just a bit tired with a mild headache.
I wouldn’t say I forgot about COVID. It’s still always in the back of my mind. But still, it’s a bit odd to be making an entry in my “COVID journal” that’s actually about a personal experience of COVID. It’s only the second time I can say that, as far as I know.
Anyway, it was nice to have the online part of the Chattanooga Film Festival the last few days, and of course I’m not the type to get bored with so much to watch and read. It would be nice to be able to take a walk, though. Maybe I’ll be up for it tomorrow.
1 July 2024
Happy Canada Day!
Posted on social media this morning:
Day 5 or 6 of COVID (depending on how you count it): I’m pretty much fine. Just a bit of congestion remaining. I’ve been isolating in the house, and Beth has thankfully been negative the whole time. Today I read an article about this summer’s COVID uptick that said less than half of Americans surveyed said they would do a COVID test if they had symptoms. My social media bubble being what it is, probably most of you are in the less than half already, but still: if you have symptoms, take a COVID test, people!
I did successfully go for a walk yesterday. I may go through the pharmacy drive through to pick up some prescriptions today.
It’s a good thing I wasn’t planning on going to Minnesota for CONvergence this year, I guess. But I’m still planning to go for a visit toward the end of the month.
And then in August I have a really exciting trip! I’m going to Worldcon in Glasgow, Scotland and Eurocon in Rotterdam, Netherlands. I went to Hawaii for the East-West Philosophers’ Conference in May (which was postponed from 2020 for COVID reasons). Beth and I went to Maui for several days after, which was great.
The Maui trip was sort of for our anniversary. It’s our 20th on July 10! We’ll take a little trip to Helen, Georgia the weekend after (a cute little German-style village in the mountains) before going to Minnesota to see family.
It has been mostly relaxing since recovering from the Hawaii trip, but there’s a lot more travel to come.
I just need to get this COVID out of my system first. Maybe it’s good that this will probably give me some immunity for all my upcoming travels.
Wed. 3 July 2024
I’m on COVID day 8, I think. And I’m feeling pretty much fine. I’m probably not contagious at this point, but I’m still isolating in the house for a couple more days just to be safe. Beth has remained COVID-negative this whole time.
I’ve been doing a little bit of work yesterday and today. There’s lots of little things, but the big thing is a revise and resubmit for my book proposal, which is going okay, I think. There’s also a lot of political news with the US Presidential election and the US Supreme Court … but I don’t have it in me to write about that right now.
Since I should be fine to go out with a mask now, I did some masked errands: picked up some library books for my Hugo reading and some prescriptions, hand sanitizer, and snacks at the drug store. I’m still not sure if/where I should report my COVID. I asked my doctor’s office via their chat system, and we’ll see what they say. I can’t find any info on the county board of health website for reporting a case. If even I’m not bothering to report my case, how accurate are any of these numbers at this point?
I did find a website from the National Institutes of Health, so I guess I’ll do that.
Nonetheless, I did find some county numbers on the state website, which reminds me to post the numbers like I used to in this journal (acknowledging, of course, the inaccuracy of such numbers).
Worldwide total cases: 704,753,890
Worldwide total deaths: 7,010,681
US cases: 111,820,082
US deaths: 1,219,487
Hamilton county, TN total cases: 131,987
Hamilton county, TN total deaths: 1,331
Thurs. 4 July 2024
It’s exactly as hot as the 4th of July.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I took a walk this afternoon. I thought some rain this morning would have cooled it down, but instead it was the kind of rain that just added more humidity to the 95-degree weather when the sun came back out. So, yeah, it’s exactly as hot as the 4th of July out there.
I’ve always been ambivalent about the 4th of July. Jingoistic displays of patriotism have never been my thing, and I’m even more ambivalent this year. I don’t really want to go anywhere today as I’m on Day 9 of COVID and might still be contagious.
But really the political situation is what’s bothering me. There have been a lot of disastrous Supreme Court decisions lately, especially one the other day (along 6-3 partisan lines) that says the President is basically above the law for any “official actions” (which can be defined by future courts). As Justice Sotomayor said in her dissent, “With fear for our democracy, I dissent.”
The media and some Democrats are instead obsessed with President Biden’s health and a poor debate performance. Some are calling for him to drop out. I'm doubtful this is a realistic option with an election in November. I don't think a US Presidential race is about two individual humans.
I tend to think that, like it or not, we need to vote for Democrats across the board as the only remaining party with the organization, power, and will to preserve any semblance of democracy in this country against a rising tide of Christian nationalist fascism. I’m not prone to exaggeration or excitability, so I dislike that I’ve reached such a dramatic conclusion, but that’s where I am. And I admit I could be wrong. I hope I am.
I think many Americans are feeling anxiety about change and precarity. Much of this anxiety is misdirected. as in the absurd notion that immigrants or college students or trans people are the causes of anyone’s problems. I think a lot of people just don’t like change. But change is inevitable. And I still think, despite the shitshow in the news this week, that we still have a lot of potential in this country. We could be a great country.
We’ve created a country with a lot of economic precarity, mindbogglingly true as this may be in the wealthiest country on Earth. This precarity is exploited by our leaders. And another lesson for me, especially in the reaction to the Obama Presidency, has been that this country contains a lot of simmering prejudice that Republicans have been exploiting for 50 years, and that MAGA Trumpians have figured out how to bring to a boil.
Others of a more progressive inclination sometimes sit out because they don’t see many leaders working to really make this the country it could be. I agree about the premise, but not the resulting strategy. Not voting isn’t going to help.
I see voting as something I do as a citizen of a democracy. It’s not about me, as if voting is like choosing a consumer product--“the candidate just right for me.” Voting is just something you do as a responsible citizen. It’s not cool. It’s not sexy. You just vote for the candidates who you think might contribute even a tiny bit toward bringing us a little closer to the promise of this diverse, fascinating country—or failing that, the candidates who aren’t actively trying to move us as far away from this promise as possible.
The way I look at it, I can’t abdicate my civic responsibility to do what I can right now while I wait for an atheist quasi-Buddhist anarcho-socialist disciple of the philosophy of nonviolence to run for county commissioner. I mean, that would be nice, but it’s not all about me.
So, things are not great. I’m as ambivalent as ever about being an American (I haven’t even touched on international policy, which is a whole other can of bombs). But since I love humanity and 300-some million humans are part of this country of which I find myself to be a citizen, I simply have no choice but to continue to love my country. With fear for our democracy.
All my pretentions toward eloquence aside, so far today I found a helpful way to deal with my ambivalence has been to watch a horror movie called Uncle Sam (1996), in which a dead US soldier from Desert Storm becomes a zombie and kills anyone in his idyllic hometown he deems unworthy of his hyper-militaristic patriotism (I watched it as part of the Joe Bob Briggs show, which always makes it a bit more fun). I also watched the latest episode of The Boys, which imagines what would happen if superheroes were real in contemporary America. It’s the most fun you’ll have contemplating the fascist tendencies that have always existed in America.
Anyway, now it’s time to eat a hotdog, drink a couple beers, and live as best I can with the ambivalence of being an American in 2024.
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| Feast on the 4th! |
Fri. 5 July 2024
If I count taking the day when my symptoms started (last Tuesday) as Day 0, today is Day 10 of my COVID. Luckily Beth has been testing negative the whole time, so it seems like our cautious strategy has paid off: I’ve been isolating in the house and we’ve been wear masks when we have to be in the same room. The real victims: the cats, who hate having doors closed in the house! And the secondary victim is me, who has to put on a mask, get up, and open the door for kitties scratching at the door.
Technically the new guidelines say you only have to stay home until you’re fever-free for 24 hours, which I think I have been since sometime last weekend. But it’s also possible to be contagious several days after being symptom-free, so I think the recommendation is still to mask around others until Day 10, which I have been doing.
I’ll take a COVID test again this afternoon or tomorrow, but apparently you can still be positive and not contagious (or not very contagious?). After a bit of googling, I’m still not sure if being negative necessarily means you’re not contagious, but I would think so as that means your viral load is gone. At least if the test is accurate, which it may not be.
It’s surprising to me how unclear all of this is after four years!
I remember from last time I had COVID how unclear it all seemed once you had specific questions about how to isolate, how long, etc. You’d think we would have figured it out and made some push for clearer messaging by now.
I guess I’ll have another data point to throw into the mix when I take another test.
Later: the test was negative!
Posted on social media afterwards:
Negative test! You’d think the public health messaging on this would be clearer four years into this pandemic, but my interpretation as far as I can tell from a bit of googling is that if I’m testing negative ten days after my symptoms started, then this means I am most likely no longer contagious.
Sun. 7 July 2024
Now that my COVID is officially over and I’m doing stuff again, maybe this is a reason to post some of this on my blog again as a public service to remind people that COVID is still out there.
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