Vaccinations

 I got my second covid vaccine shot this morning.  It was originally scheduled for this afternoon but I didn't like several things about it:  1) the timing would have me coming home in rush hour traffic and 2) storms were predicted for today and I didn't want to be driving in rush hour traffic during a storm.  So late last week I started looking for a different location to get the second shot.

 

It's worth mentioning here that I initially had wanted to wait as long as possible to get vaccinated because there are so many unknowns regarding the virus and the vaccine.  How long does it last?  Is it a one and done or will be have to be subjected to these shots annually - or even more frequently (I recently heard that the Pfizer vaccine may only be good for six months!).  Plus, side effects - how bad and how long?  I know of medications that can cause major health issues years later, even though everything was fine for all those years.  My point being, I didn't want to jump on the bandwagon without more history and knowledge behind the vaccines.

 

Then the idiot governor decided to open the state 100% AND lift ALL mask mandates.  Up until that time I would periodically look for vaccine locations but could never find any with available appointments.  I didn't really want one but I couldn't find one if I had wanted one.  That continued after our governor made his stupid declarations and I decided that if I ever wanted to have things go back to any sort of normalcy, I was going to have to find - and get - a vaccine.  But I still wasn't having any luck.

 

A short time later I got an email from a hospital where I had been treated offering vaccines to their patients.  I signed right up. 

 

Then cancelled it after a panic attack.

 

I rescheduled it for a week later, this time getting the shot.  When I got home from getting that shot I had an email from the hospital informing me of today's afternoon appointment.  I went in to try to move it but that wasn't an option - only cancelling it was, which I didn't want to do.

 

Last week is when they started talking about the potential for bad weather today.  I did some searches to see if it was okay to get the second dose at a different location and everything indicated it would be okay.  Then I started looking for availability closer to home and found availability at the hospital five minutes from my house (versus one that is 30 MILES from my house!), so I booked it.

 

I kept my afternoon appointment until after I got the shot, just in case there were any issues and I couldn't get the shot closer to home - things like, I overslept or they ran out of stock or they refused to give me the shot, things like that.

 

Fortunately they were able to give it to me and it was done but here's the thing: I handed the lady my vaccine card and driver's license.  She handed me back my license saying she didn't need it.  Okay, fine, I put it back in my wallet.

 

She gave me a form to fill out and started entering things into the computer.  She says, "I need your ID."  Um, really?  I responded, "You need my ID? As in the ID I gave you when I sat down that you said you didn't need?  THAT ID?"  She said yes.  

 

Ooooooooooookay! 

When I got home and cancelled my appointment I got an email from that hospital informing me that I was required to get my second shot at the same place as the first one was given.  Um, kinda late for that now!  It was an automated email so I sent an email to a live person.  Long story short, it's fine that I got it somewhere else and - even without me asking - they even put it in writing!  So, shot done.

But interesting fact, they used the same baseball bat delivery system at both locations!  Weird how that works isn't it?  😜

Side note, the weather hit and I would've been driving in a storm during rush hour traffic if I hadn't scheduled it for the morning, closer to home!

Twenty for seven

 You may be reading the title and thinking "I think she meant twenty four seven, like 24/7" but it wasn't a typo.  It relates to the past seven days of the free watchathon my cable company just did.  Although, to be more accurate, it should be a fifteen for seven title but that's not as catchy, is it?

 

The cable company does this periodically.  I really have no idea how often because I don't generally join in but basically, for those that may not know, the cable company offers premium stations (and hulu) for free to their customers for seven days.  You can watch one thing or binge like crazy - your choice.

 

This time, I binged like crazy.  I think the only shows I watched that came on in the past week that weren't part of the watchathon were shows that I recorded but watched on demand in my bedroom because 1) I couldn't sleep but wanted to stay in bed and 2) I don't have any icloud capabilities on my cable box or tv in the bedroom.

 

My biggest binge was on a series that ended seven years or so ago.  I had watched it at the time it aired (on a regular cable station) but was interested in seeing it again.  I noticed a few years back that it was on - I believe - amazon prime.  I figured I had all the time in the world to watch it and then *poof* it was gone and no longer available.  The good news was it moved over to Starz, which I had.

Now, here's the thing about Starz, I've been with my cable company more than 22 years.  During that time I've always gotten Starz for free - it was included in my package.  So again I thought I had all the time in the world to watch the series, right?

Well, a few months ago (probably at the first of the year), I found that I no longer had Starz!  I called the cable company (although there were several issues with my cable company so I'm not sure that was the direct reason I called them at the time) and asked about it.  They said the "promotion" was no longer being offered by Starz but I could pay for a subscription if I still wanted it.

Previously if a service or "promotion" I was getting was discontinued, the cable company wouldn't cut me off, they'd just add the cost into my statement.  I would notice the increase and call them to see why my bill went up and that's when I'd learn something had changed in my service.

 

But that didn't happen here.  There was no rate change - at all - but I no longer had Starz (or hitz but that's a whole other issue!).  I tried to see if I could get it added back or work out a new plan that included it while keeping my monthly bill at least in the ballpark of what I currently pay (which is an obscene amount to begin with!) but they were either unwilling or unable to work something out, so I've been without Starz for several months now.  Which meant I couldn't watch this series that I had wanted to re-watch before it came to Starz but felt there was no rush, seeing as I had access to watch at my leisure.

 

So, the point is, since I had seven days to watch anything on Starz (and several other networks I don't have) I totally binged the entire series!  I thought I'd be fine watching a couple of the episodes but once I started, I wanted to finish it.  Which meant watching all day, every day for seven days.  Well, I guess technically watching the series didn't take that long (probably the better part of five of those days though) but I also got in a LOT of movies.  Since yesterday was the last day of the watchathon, I watched movies up until midnight last night!

 

Today I had to watch tv all day to catch up on what I recorded over the last seven days because my dvr was getting full!

 

Bottom line, I FINALLY watched this series and some movies I had lost when my dvr box got swapped out a couple of months ago (and I lost a LOT) that had been recorded from the networks I'd lost but not been warned about in advance. So, I watched a lot of tv - it's a tough job but someone's got to do it.  📺😜