Notices by katharine (thatkatharine@ohai.social), page 2

Is this the picture of success? Is this a good way to handle a pandemic?

https://wwater.ca/

“It’s endemic now”

Using the stash of grey Old Navy cotton masks and fabric painting medium with my acrylic paints, I will be attempting to salvage my dreams of having a silver and a colour-shift facepieces again. The paint kept cracking when applied directly to the squishy avocado because the harness would scrape against the paint.

I was quite enamoured with my iridescent squishy avocado respie.

A dream lives!

Crafty goblin is back at it and has ramped up the challenge with intent to make bias trim from scratch. Excellence? Serious Injury?

Also, this facepiece is taking quite a beating with the paint and Mod Podge. It seems to be holding up, but fret not—I have two others that have not been altered.

They’ll bring reusable bags for shopping and reusable cups for coffee.
They’ll switch to paper straws.
They’ll sort their recyclables and compost.
They’ll cycle instead of drive.
But wear a reusable respirator indoors? Well—that is just asking too much.

They’ll change their diet under the guise of eating healthy.
They’ll go to the gym.
They’ll give up smoking and drinking.
They’ll consume vitamins and supplements.
They’ll slather their skin with lotions and serums to fight aging and blemishes.
They’ll claim their body is a temple.
But they will not wear an N95 to guard against damaging viruses because it harshes the vibe.

They’ll wear a knitted hat for a cause, but they won’t wear an N95.
They’ll wear a safety pin. A statement ribbon. A silicone/rubber wristband.
They’ll wear a shirt in a designated colour on a designated day.
They’ll wear a disposable poppy pin.
But they will not wear an N95.

They’ll bang pots and pans on their balconies, but they won’t wear an N95.
They’ll enter a marathon for a fundraising organization.
They’ll carry a tote bag, souvenir of a donation they once made.
They’ll post a black square on their social media account.
But they will not wear an N95.

RE: https://ohai.social/@thatkatharine/114322865959005614

How about now?

It's just really neat that I can say "Pshaw! I can wear a respirator in my sleep *easily*" and it's a factual statement.

Normalize wearing a respirator for your allergies! Don’t let the conformists who are scared of masks bully you into suffering through sore throats and runny noses and sinus inflammation and excessive mucus production.

Normalize using air purifiers to scrub allergens from the air! Don’t let the conformists who are persnickety about a subtle breeze emanating from a machine bully you into suffering with itchy eyes and spicy sneezes and more mucus production.

I spent years trying all sorts of OTC allergy treatments and immunotherapy and still couldn’t shake the perpetual stuffiness and mucusy wheezing. I am livid that the solution is as simple as cleaning the air/wearing a respirator. Like, I still get sinus pressure headaches and allergy symptoms with direct exposure to my allergens, but I literally struggled to breathe for years without filtering the air.

If you whinge about masks and air purifiers to me, I will fight you with chains and knives.

Just pointing out that the general public absolutely refused to normalize the wearing of one more protective accessory in favour of cheerfully normalizing the uncontrolled spread of not only Covid, but communicable viruses in general—many of which are seeing a major resurgence after years of management—and undoing decades of public health measures.

Not wearing mask -> vector for airborne viruses -> Covid spread -> immune system damage -> increased susceptibility for other viruses -> wider spread of viruses -> more illnesses and disabilities -> greater strain on healthcare system -> more medical bills -> cancelled plans

There were two r/Toronto posts re:Covid surge today, so I’m going to remain snuggled up in my abundance of caution.

https://www.reddit.com/r/toronto/comments/1ra409g/psa_wastewater_for_toronto_covid_surge/

https://www.reddit.com/r/toronto/comments/1ra80tk/removed_by_moderator/

One of the commenters just casually says “of all the Covid’s I’ve had” in the year 2026 A.D. as if it is reasonable to have had multiple Covid infections within a six year span.

Weird. Wonder what’s happened over the last five to seven years.

https://toronto.citynews.ca/2026/02/17/toronto-optometrists-seeing-a-surge-in-dry-eye-patients/

Treating Covid mitigation as a temporary measure that would be lifted in just a few weeks, while having to renew those measures every few weeks until the Rise of Omicron led directly to surrendering to Forever Covid, is how governments prevented people from forming and establishing habits and routines around Covid/virus prevention.

You can, though, work to establish the routine of putting on a respirator whenever you put on all the rest of your leaving the house gear.

https://lifehacker.com/how-long-it-really-takes-to-form-habits

The person who could do something to stop it, simply did not. The rest of us could only do our best to tune out, look on in quiet horror and judgment, and try to stay out of the way of the uncontrolled flailing tantrum-thrower.

I’ve thought of this moment a lot over the last ten years.

“I’m sorry you’re not happy.”