Notices by ikuo (ikuo1000@mas.to)

I used to be really into music when I was young, but haven't kept up at all.

This album cover challenge interests me mainly as a fun thing to do, one thing I can think about each day that isn't something negative related to politics, climate, covid, etc.

For added challenge and nostalgia, I'm going to try to do this with only CDs I actually own. Let's see if I can!

#30DaysChallenge

Day 1 - with the artist on it

Kate Bush, "The Kick Inside"

#30DaysChallenge

Day 2 - that is black and white

The Psychedelic Furs, "All of This and Nothing"

#30DaysChallenge

Day 4 - with a vehicle on it

Beth Orton, "Trailer Park"

#30DaysChallenge

Day 3 - with a futuristic design

Depeche Mode, "The Singles 81-->85" (1998 reissue cover)

#30DaysChallenge

Day 5 - that is red

Blondie, "Blonde and Beyond"

#30DaysChallenge

Day 6 - that is illustrated or drawn

O Positive, "Home Sweet Head"

#30DaysChallenge

It's that time of year for my annual check-in with my oncologist, who is AMAZING in every way EXCEPT their lack of masking now. 😪

This also means it's time for my annual gripe about how NONE of the staff is masked and LITERALLY ONE other patient besides me is masked - them in a loose-fitting surgical - in a f-ing CANCER CENTER where actual immunocompromised people gather and over half the visible patients are old. 😠

#CovidIsNotOver

My son's school superintendent sending out an email about "post-pandemic absenteeism" and making NO mention of covid whatsoever while my daughter texts me that her college has covid outbreaks in at least 1 dorm and the band. 😠😡🤬

I just want to SCREAM!!!!! GAAAHHH!!!!!

#CovidIsNotOver

The ups 👍 and downs 👎 of covid:

👍 My college freshman kid says her seminar instructor wears a mask!!! 😷 👏 🎉

👎 My dad has a new diagnosis that is (another) high-risk condition for him. I gave (via text) him and my sister articles about covid and his diagnosis specifically, being sure to use reputable sources like CDC and NIH. They generally ignore anything I say about covid, but I make myself say them so I can sleep with a clear conscience that I tried. 😪

#CovidIsNotOver

@Ulrich_the_elder I said just the other day that yes, I am prepared to mask "forever" -- unless there's a sterilizing vaccine that prevents infection, which I will continue to hope for!

REALLY tired of people saying, "Why are you still worried about covid? It's endemic."

"Endemic" does NOT mean "harmless & without risk".

It DOES mean "here to stay" which means the RISKS of covid are here to stay, which means we're all living with a HIGHER baseline of risk which means governments & institutions & people should be making PERMANENT changes that address that risk.

I curse the journalists & "let it rip" "experts" that made people think "endemic" = "harmless".

#CovidIsNotOver

@maggiejk I absolutely CAN NOT STAND the argument - which my own school district has used - that we don't want masks because they are "too disruptive"!!!! 😠

As if having to close schools, or send them home early with no lunch, isn't disruptive?!? 😡

Or in the case of my kids' high school: As if having only 2 classes a day (out of 7 periods) because so many teachers are absent isn't disruptive??! 🤬

"Never underestimate a public school teacher." --Tim Walz #DNC

Just once I want to hear a formerly covid-cautious person admit, "I stopped masking because conforming to societal norms is more important to me than protecting the health of myself & others."

In all honesty, it's a legit position. People do all sorts of things like smoke & eat junk food despite knowing it's bad for your health. Just admit it.

I mean, if they suddenly have proof that discredits all the studies on covid's potential long-term damage, they could share that too. 🤷🏻♀️

#CovidIsNotOver

At the oncologist's today & not a single mask in sight.

Yesterday's appt was at an eye clinic & there were more masks there than here at a CANCER CENTER. 

Feeling... what's the word? Disappointed isn't strong enough... Not disillusioned because I wasn't EXPECTING better. I just hoped.

It's a feeling of seeing rock-bottom expectations being met, when I had reserved the tiniest bit of hope that maybe, just maybe, other humans might have exceeded expectations in some small way.

#CovidIsNotOver

@luckytran Pointedly, from the article: "Work on revising isolation guidance has been underway since last August but was paused in the fall as covid cases rose."

Soooo... the CDC's own work on addressing covid prevalence was delayed due to high covid prevalence, and their answer is to implement a policy that will only help to increase covid prevalence?!

🙄😠

@freemo @Gbudd @BlueWaver22 Again, I don't think comparing PEAK flu numbers to short-term BASELINE covid numbers is a helpful comparison.

Additionally, focusing solely on the deadliness of covid vs. flu ignores the potential damage of long covid. If I lose sleep over covid, it's not because I think I or my loved ones will die - I'm pretty sure we won't - it's because I don't want any part of long covid.

We really must agree to disagree. This is the last response I'll post. 🙂

@freemo @Gbudd @BlueWaver22 Thanks for pointing me to the weekly flu deaths graph! I was looking for it but just didn't scroll down far enough.

I think this is where we agree to disagree. I don't think it's helpful to compare peak flu deaths of 1000/week to covid's 2nd-lowest baseline of 1200 deaths/week.

Covid having a sustained 1200 deaths/week for 3-4 months during flu season makes it MUCH more deadly than flu. If anything, in week 50 of 2022, flu temporarily peaked into "covid territory".

@freemo @Gbudd @BlueWaver22 It's certainly a challenge to find data for apples-to-apples comparisons!!!

Looking only at published CDC data (which may or may not be obfuscating "real" data), they are reporting ~1200-1400 covid deaths/week since September: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeaths_select_00

Sticking with the CDC, they are reporting 3200 flu deaths "so far this season". Assuming the season started in September, that's ~200/week; if the season started in October, that's ~267/week. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm