Topic: Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?

Jan 10, 2021 07:55PM ChiSandy wrote:

Surprisingly, my thyme, rosemary, about 1/3 of my mint and even a stalk of parsley are hanging on outdoors. Live & learn. Meanwhile, the basil (from a supermarket package) I put in water and covered with a plastic bag as a "greenhouse" in front of a sunny window has put down roots and even needs pinching back. And the seedlings from a hydroponic kit need feeding again. Not big enough to need transplanting, of course. And finally, I have a vase of "pandemic scallions:" the low-carber's alternative to sourdough bread-baking.

Jan 10, 2021 09:08PM jhl wrote:

I hope all who have fallen are slowly healing. I have a bit of the remainder of my raccoon black eyes after my fall. The big bruise on my right forearm is a bit behind the eyes. I admit, I see how long it takes for the superficial aspects of a fall to heal then I think of how our diagnosis causes scars which take time to heal. I am trying to have more patience.

Today has been sunny & mild. We have a high pressure system building over the Northern California coast so that means the storms from the Pacific Ocean will head to Washington. I hope that does not mean we are starting a drought again.

Jan 11, 2021 06:35AM petite1 wrote:

Good morning, ladies. It is warmer today and should go to 70. I am feeling pretty good. Other than a bruise on my elbow, I have no residuals from the fall. Thank you all for the kind words.

Jan 11, 2021 05:02PM IllinoisLady wrote:

The value of all service lies in the spirit in which you serve and not in the importance or magnitude of the service. Even the lowliest task or deed is made holy, joyous, and prosperous when it is filled with love. -Charles Fillmore

Jan 11, 2021 05:18PM - edited Jan 11, 2021 05:28PM by ChiSandy

I'm comfortable with the stay-home-unless-absolutely-necessary order too.This Fri. IL will be going back to Tier 2 mitigations (non-essential shops allowed to open for limited indoor shopping, more people allowed in gyms, facials & beard trims allowed again; but still no indoor dining or drinking). But since the city's numbers are still a bit higher, we're sticking with Tier 3 till the 22d. Bob is okay now with tent dining, but only for himself--he advises I wait till the earlier of a week after my second shot (still haven't been offered a first one, even though the state says those 65+ are now eligible) or it's warm enough for patio dining--tents with at least an entire wall open.

As to being mostly locked-down: any T.S. Eliot fans here? Remember "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?" Specifically the part about the narrator's days being counted out in coffee spoons? My days are measured out by cat food cans. I am Heidi's cat-waitress and Happy's cat-mattress. He has an unerring instinct for when I am about to do something that would otherwise occupy my lap.

Still in shock over yesterday's shooting spree that went from the far South Side to just over the city line in Evanston. The shooter, after killing 3 others and critically wounding twice as many, took and killed a hostage at the IHOP on Howard & Western--which, BTW, has largely been ignoring COVID precautions, allowing customers to congregate in the vestibule awaiting their pickup orders--before being shot & killed by the Evanston P.D. in front of a dollar store in an adjacent strip mall. Had Bob decided to work at the Union Health facility up there instead of the main one down in the Medical District....I don't wanna think about it.

The only upside to the violent unrest (for me) is that I haven't had to take a stool softener since Wed. afternoon. TMI....

Jan 11, 2021 09:02PM keywestfan wrote:

Prufrock. is my favorite poem, first read at 16 at the U of C in Humanities 2. We were in the Hutchins era and all entered at 15 or 16. I understand about coffee spoons and Michelangelo and “ I grow old. I grow old” and about eating a peach, far better now than then. Howard street is where I worked for the Council of Jewish Elderly and, even in the 80’s, it was sketchy. Was eating dinner in that shopping center the night Princess Diana was killed. The waitress did not charge us.

Here, finally, after so much misinformation, like that we had been downgraded to 1c on the idea thar those of us in Congregate Independent Living would be classified in the 65 and older group, Walgreens came through with dates for us, January 27 for the first Pfizer shot , February 17 for second. Three Crowns, another Congregate Living Place in Evanston is getting theirs tomorrow. I think, with the shots, it will be less scary walking around here, maybe the dining rooms will open, but we will go very slowly with stepping out into the big world once again.

Jan 12, 2021 12:17AM - edited Jan 13, 2021 07:56PM by ChiSandy

Happy early birthday, Mary--you're a year ahead of me (I turn 70 on the 23d). You look great--the orange top and those new wrap pants. Orange is definitely your color. (Remember the old "Color Me Beautiful" fad? I'd peg you as a "spring" or "autumn").

Congrats on the vax appointments, Judy! I, too, entered college at 16: got yanked out of kindergarten and put into 1st grade when they caught me reading to the other kids at recess, and then took NYC's "2-yr. S.P." program in jr. high--7th & 8th grade the first year, 9th grade the next. Back then, everyone except parochial school grads entered HS as sophomores.

If you were at the CJE in the '80s, did you know Alan Goldberg (who later moved to the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs)? He was the keyboard player in our cover band Lake Effect (and later, Lake Effect Lite, the acoustic no-drummer version). We played together for 6 years. He also played in the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless Blues Band. I'd have joined that, but they already had a bassist who could play rings around me.

Gov. Pritzker announced that vaccine phase 1B, including those 65+ will start tomorrow...but only for areas already finished with 1A. Chicago has administered 42% of its allocation (including second doses) to workers living outside the city--so doctors living on the N.Shore and in the wealthy DuPage suburbs basically get to prevent community spread in some of the state's already-least-impacted areas. Meanwhile, city neighborhoods of color--especially where essential workers >65 live in multi-generational apts. & small houses--are still heavily-impacted, with their residents who aren't front-line medical workers not having been offered their first doses. How is that "social equity?"

Speaking of Pritzker, he also announced that some mitigations will begin to be relaxed (Tier 2 of Phase 3) starting this Fri. the 15th, but Lightfoot is keeping Chicago at Tier 3 of Phase 3 till the 22nd. Both the city & state are moving in the right direction, and have met target metrics for a couple of weeks or more, but out of an abundance of caution (and 4 days remaining before we know for sure there hasn't been a post-New Year's Eve surge) and because the positivity rate in the city is a little higher than the state average, we're nearly locked down for an extra week. The city's positivity rate is at 10%, but the state's is down to 7.9%. By contrast, IN is at 27.9% and WI 29.7%. Not coincidentally, those states have been "wide-open" with their state gov'ts. mocking mask mandates. (WI has a Dem. Gov., but a GOP legislature and Supreme Ct.--and as soon as he was elected, the legislature passed measures to drastically cut his powers and make him a mere figurehead).

Because of that, I've laid down the law to Bob: we don't need cheaper gas. And we no longer have to go to IN or WI to buy PowerBall tickets.

Jan 12, 2021 08:17AM MCBaker wrote:

My son got his first shot a week ago. He is looking forward to his second shot. He said something that indicated that he thought that the pandemic will be over. I reminded him that it is over for where he is, but not worldwide. Sigh. High functioning autism and its cognitive glitches.

Anyway, I am nearly dressed, but Tippy has not yet asked to go for a walk. So I guess I get to dress up.

Jan 12, 2021 10:20AM petite1 wrote:

MC, I love the wrap pants. I have a pair with bright tropical prints.

It is cold and overcast, again. My adventure for today is getting my haircut. I am not going to the place that cuts every older lady's hair the same. I will let you know how it goes.

Sandy, I agree, I am counting cat food spoons. LOL

Jan 12, 2021 03:19PM CindyNY wrote:

MCBaker - I too like the pants, they look great.

Here in NY it was announced 65+ can sign up. I got online, months are booked out at our state university site. But as it goes my partner w be 65 on 3/1, I got his appt for 3/18. Feeling relieved.

For me, I'm guessing June. Unless they do something for cancer survivors. There were questions when I filled out the form for him - one was have you had cancer, another was have you had radiation. But by virtue of my age, excluded so far.

Jan 13, 2021 09:01AM carolehalston wrote:

I'm not familiar with "wrap pants." That's how out of fashion I am.

My vaccination went well yesterday. The nearby medical center was highly organized and a steady stream of mostly older folks got their first shots. My arm was quite sore at the injection site last night and is still sore today, but not nearly the same degree of soreness as when I got the first shingles shot.

All three of my siblings who are "older" have also gotten their first shots in different towns in south Louisiana. Our Democrat governor has done a good job of being governor during this pandemic although he has been the object of intense criticism from the Republican legislature who tried to undermine his authority. Fortunately the courts have supported him.

Nothing is guaranteed but I feel relieved and look forward to getting the 2nd shot in early Feb.

The sun is shining today and it's not quite as cold as yesterday.

Jan 13, 2021 01:20PM kathindc wrote:

Petite, I’ve heard the same thing about getting the vaccine after having covid. If I recall correctly, and I could be wrong, I think there is a period of time you should wait between having had covid and getting the vaccine.

Jan 13, 2021 03:07PM IllinoisLady wrote:

Cloudy mainly today, but warmer. The morning was fairly chilly but the warming came fast. Should have another fairly warm day tomorrow, then cooler again. It will be interesting to see just what does come. So far, even the cold has been okay w/o the snow although overall I prefer warm weather. That would be warm, rather than hot and humid.

I'm out of fashion too so I will have to look up wrap pants. Then again -- fashion and style are sort of lost on me. I usually get most things out of Good Will or something akin to that. Not always to save money though I appreciate that -- just that I'm not good at creating a wardrobe for myself -- so better I stick with certain stores because my mistakes in the past have been expensive. I've always been like this so it no loners bothers me. I'm no better with make up and that is okay for me too.

Hope you all have had a really good day.

Jan 13, 2021 04:20PM MCBaker wrote:

wevez.com/products/australian-... The disadvantage is that you buy without seeing them, since they are all different. But you can buy a package of five or ten (like $7 per item) and sell those you don't like to friends, and the least liked can go to Goodwill. I just got a package of skirts, and it looks like none of them will go to Goodwill; I bought more skirt hangers.

Jan 13, 2021 07:18PM MinusTwo wrote:

Yup Cowgirl. I remember that.