Oregon Living 2021 – Blog #14 – Still Trying to Get a Shot & Then Hey, I Got One!

 

Tuesday, February 23^rd., 2021…… Slept well last night. Yaay! I was up early and had monkeybutt out and walked. No rain this morning but it’s due in later today. I checked my email but nothing about vaccine. I decided to head over to Albany to look for a fireplace tv stand. I have a certain one in mind and have seen them in Wayfair, Overstock and even Bed Bath and Beyond websites but wanted to check some of the local stores before I get serious and order online. Didn’t find anything and I got back in time to rest a bit before the guys showed up. I checked my email when I got back and found that I had an appointment. This email came from my medical group (Samaritan Health Services) which I don’t think was triggered from the conversation yesterday, but hey, I’ll take it!  I was able to get an appointment tomorrow afternoon at the County Fairgrounds in Albany.  Later, and Justin got here. Kirk saw the pile of gravel and immediately knew his task for today. I would say I managed about 10% of the job. I mainly supervised. We got everything spread out and I drove the truck in and out a few times and started the pack down process. Justin has given up his contractor’s license but still has a ton of his tools, one of which is a plate compactor, which he will bring next week so we can tamp down the rocks and get them to ‘set’ in. Later, I fixed myself some lobster ravioli and made a salad for dinner and settled in to watch taped shows until bedtime.        

Wednesday, February 24^th., 2021…… My appointment today is at 2:20pm so I had time for my regular day routine. Ha, I have no routine! Today I was just interested in getting the motorhome batteries investigated. I had to again remove the roof access ladder in the back in order to access the engine compartment, where the starter batteries are located. Today was supposed to be clear and sunny so I was glad for that even though all of my work was inside. I hooked up the charger to boost the batteries and set about trying to figure out what was drawing them down. No real answers. The next step is to pull all of the extra wires off of the + terminal to see if those are part of the draw. Randy told me about testing them with a multimeter but I can’t seem to locate either of the ones I own!

Later, I headed off to the Linn County Fairgrounds in Albany for my 1^st. vaccine shot. I timed it so I could be there 20 minutes before as requested. When I got through the access point, they gave me a form and told me to fill it out in the car and then go get in line. This is the line that I got in.

These folks were after me, at the tail end of the horseshoe line so it was pretty long, I’m guessing probably about 500 feet long and maybe 150 people or so. But it moved pretty quickly. I was glad the weather was nice. I don’t know what the plan would be if it were raining!  Standing there, I remembered that I was out there with the other 70+ year olds and I thought, ‘boy, all of these folks look really old’!   Like I said, the line moved quickly and I found myself inside. Because I had tested positive for covid, I had to go through another step before they ok’d me.  I got to the tables and actually had an older gentleman who would be giving me the shot.  He introduced himself as a doctor. Cool!  The flavor of vaccine today was Pfizer. I wanted to take pics inside the building, and of me getting the vaccine, but that was not allowed.  Anyway, all went well and I was out of there after sitting for my 15-minute waiting period. I was also glad to find out that I have another date scheduled for the second shot already, so no more struggling to find an appointment. I got back home and texted folks to let them know how it went. Sis will be calling on Monday so I gave her a heads up on what to expect.

I was advised to take it easy for at least the next day so I did nothing after I got home. I didn’t have any soreness at all. We’ll see how it goes after I sleep on it tonight!  I fed Rylee and then threw in a stuffed salmon to bake and had a salad while I waited. I watched tv until bedtime.       

Thursday, February 25^th., 2021……  9 months today….  Time does fly even though I am not having any fun! Pretty lonely these days!  On the positive side, at least I slept great last night!  I had no pain on the arm until I got dressed and going. But it was about the same as a flu shot and I barely notice it at all. One of the girls at Starbucks said that her mom was unable to even raise her arm!  I showed them I could.  Since I was told to avoid any activity, and since I had nothing on my agenda for today, then that was exactly what I did. Nothing! After going out for breakfast, I came home and settled in in front of the tv and got caught up on my Friends episodes for today and also watched a few episodes of Monk that I have previously taped. I haven’t found Coach or Night Court or Cheers on DirecTV so I will have to search the apps I have on my tvs to see if I can find them. I spent some time paying bills and also worked on updating my bill spreadsheet. Yeah, I know – tons of fun, huh! I also spent more time searching online for my fireplace tv stand. All of the stores around here have pretty much put that stuff away and are bringing out spring stuff, so online is my best bet.  Wayfair, Joss & Main, Overstock, etc. all have pretty good selections.  I want to get a bigger one that will accommodate at least a 75” tv, so that eliminates a lot of them. I don’t need a new tv now, but I’m thinking for the future….

I made another round of lobster ravioli so I could use the rest of the Ragu sauce and settled in and watched tv before calling it a night.

Friday, February 26^th., 2021…… The weather here has turned again. You know what they say – ‘If you don’t like the weather here, wait 5 minutes’. Anyway, we have 77% chance of rain in the forecast for today, 24% for tomorrow, and then 7% on Sunday. Next week looks good too. Wow, if that is true, maybe things will start to dry out a bit.  I was up and out with Rylee this morning. No rain at that time. Once I got back and got her fed, I went into town and got breakfast and coffee and then headed south to Eugene. On the way down, I spotted this tree with a convocation of eagles so I had to stop to get this pic.

It’s from far away but you can still see several eagles in the tree. There were a few others off to the left as well. They use the trees to spot prey out in the fields. They say sometimes you can spot as many as 25-50 at one time but I haven’t been that lucky yet. Fascinating creatures!

JCPenney's had texted that my order was in and I had it set up for store pickup. I wanted to go to Eugene anyway to check in at Jerry’s hardware to see what they had in the way of laundry room cabinets. Nothing I wanted. I made the stop at Penney’s and when I got back home, I made myself a sandwich and relaxed for a while.  Later, I decided I didn’t want to cook so I took off to go get something. I checked to see if Chau’s Little Vietnam food truck was in place but he wasn’t there. I ended up at Jack in the Box and got my meal and went home. I watched more of my taped shows and got everything watched that I had taped in the living room so I just moved to my office and watched some I had taped there.  I especially enjoyed The Hustler. I like trying to figure out who the hustler is. I’m probably about 50/50 now. Some of those folks are hard to guess!