Solstice

Codename

We've been playing Codename:Duet.  A sort of word and strategy game. Eleanor thinks she plays it really well. We keep the rug on the table so she will mostly sit there. 

Here's to getting it better next year. 

 

T-cells

 Last two shifts of the year were challenging. Not bad as such, because the people were all good and everything worked, but it did take all the work.  

Started Monday with a two surgeon case, and ended with another one which was a Surprize!  Multiple procedure cases with different surgeons are not twice as difficult, the complications are squared. Don't even ask about 3 surgeon cases, not even as a joke. 

Tuesday I was on resource/lunches, and got in my 15Ksteps. Only 4 rooms, and I had a good set of fellow lunchies,  which was good, because rooms came down in waves, pretty much at the same time all day long.  Even at the end, like we were playing dominoes with cases.  

Two more of our staff got the call for their vaccines, and hurried off at 1700 - I was happy to clean up so they could go.  Hopefully it will work to prevent the newest strain. 

Second dose for me on 20 Jan. They scheduled the second dose while we were in line before we'd gotten the first jab, and it took me a second to realize the significance of the date. 

I have to wonder if the reason they are getting as many of us covered is in preparation for the third wave that is rolling in.  All hands*. It would make sense. My local area has always been handing this fairly well, but the state as a whole is as bad as it gets.  Stay well, make antibodies. 

*Even these old hands. Oh, and I got an ADA exemption for the (new requirement)† quarterly-chest-compression-on-a-dummy-pass-off, because of the once broken wrist and the other wrist with an ulnar impaction.  Yes, they hurt, but as long as I don't forcefully and repeatedly hyperextend them, I can manage. 

†I think it's kinda a scam on the hospitals, because if you are in a hospital and need that kind of CPR, you're pretty much going to die anyway. Seriously, it's a last ditchHailMary at best. Out in the wild, if it's just a heart attack, it's still not that much of a chance. 

 

Twas

 Tis the morning of Christmas, and all through our house

The cats are mad chasing, without even a mouse. 

The stockings are stuck on the dartboard with darts

They're empty, that's fine, so full are our hearts.

The cats were both nestled all night on the bed

We were both sleepless, from thoughts in our heads.

Now Dylan plays his guitar, and I drink my tea

The dawn will arrive soon, and nothing to see. 

Out in the world such a fearful old clatter,

Of wannabe kings, and lives they think don't matter.

Away with the racists that just want to bash,

Throw out corrupt deadwood,  the rich and their stash,

The moon sulks in the trees bare of leaves or of snow

Enough to enlighten and more light to throw. 

What to my hungering heart should appear, 

But a world full of souls who keep working to hear,

And so many hands so eager and quick,

I knew there'd be vaccines, though the trouble so thick. 

Though slower than turtles the changes they come

And many days late and too little for some.

On Harris, on Biden,  on Fauci and AG!

Now Voters, Now Teachers, Now Alexandria-Octavio-Cortez!

To the end of the year, to the Inauguration, 

Now Isolate, Isolate, Isolate all!

Vaccine

 First step taken.  My hospital has vaccines, and my turn came up.  My greatest fear in all this, personally, was that I would be a vector. This reduces the chance. Second shot next month. 

A place to park, even. 

Distanced line. 

The nurse who gave me my shot was very good, and turns out he did a year in my old ARNG unit. I was flashing back to my first polio vaccine, which was indeed on a sugar cube. Later vaccines were shots, and I had 'em all.  Then in the military, where we got shot in both arms as we walked through a line, leaving us sore and bewildered. 

Waiting 15 minutes to make sure we didn't have a bad, immediate reaction, while they played bad pop Christmas music at us. 

Live, all of you who read here. Wear masks, wash hands, keep a distance, get enough sleep.  Be of good cheer if you can, but living is the first bit. 

Cobby.

Put up the trees, one in the Music Room, since Dylan is in there so much of the day, and it's kept warmer, which the cats love. 

It snowed, and is supposed to snow tonight as well. 

We got a wingéd foot ornament. 

Zeppo hangs out more. 

He is, at least in part,  a cobby cat.  

 The cobby type is comprised of a compact body, a deep chest, short legs, and a broad head. This cat's eyes are large and round. Cobby breeds appear heavy-set due to their short and wide bodies, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're fat. Cat breeds considered in the Cobby category include Persians and Manx.

Trying not to despair of this place I live.  Watching the KKK rise again terrifies me.  I have to get up and go to work and take care of what I can, and it all feels too much. Missing Moby.  We've lost John LeCarre, his books so much of our early days together. 

So, I read Hogfather again, and hold on until tomorrow. 

 

Holding

 

Holding on, getting with friends virtually while cats crowd.  Staying safe and waiting for hope to arrive. Approaching the solstice, the hour of death and darkness.  So much death. So dark. Focusing on the job in front of me, and the love of cats and friends, since there is little else to do but wait. My country has gone mad.  We must survive to salvage what is left. 

 We got another puzzle. 

 

Sharing

Sharing the tree.