Power, Presence

When the Stars Align

January 14, 2023

I didn’t get Covid from the client I gave a massage to recently. I made it out of the “Covid Waiting Room” that I wrote about last week without any problems.

Didn’t have any trouble getting past the “Interstate Closed” blockade on I-80 last night. I watched other drivers try to sweet talk the Cal Trans workers to please let them pass. No luck. They had to wait (and wait. And wait.  Or give up and go home. As of this writing, the freeway has been closed for hours.)

Heavy snow. Heavy traffic. Holiday weekend. Big mess. This was a photo from a freeway camera Friday night of the MLK Jr holiday weekend. Which is why they closed the freeway the next day, when the weather got even worse. 

But me? I rolled down my window and said, “I live up the hill.” The Cal Trans fellow didn’t even check my ID (usually they do, because some people (believe it or not) lie about where they live in order to sneak past the closure).

He said, “I know you,” and yelled at the workers blocking the on ramp, “Let her through!”

I felt so special!

Also this week:

Didn’t have to wait at the Quick Lube oil change place. There were no other cars there when I pulled up! Just drove right in and was out of there quickly. Often, the “Quick Lube” is not so quick. This time it was.

Later that morning, I didn’t have to wait at AAA to pay my car registration fees, either. I was the only customer there, too. The only one! The receptionist said, “I won’t tell you to have a seat, because you wouldn’t be sitting for long.”

I remembered to return my returns at Costco (instead of driving around with them in the car for months).  There was no line at the customer service desk! If you have ever tried to return something to Costco in the weeks after Christmas, then you will appreciate what a treat that was.

All those little miracles took place on the same day. It was cool out, but the sun was shining for the first time in a while, and I had a chance to go to the park and walk a few laps around the half mile loop. Which helped me meet my daily steps goal for the first time this month.

(This year has not been very conducive so far to outdoor exercise.)

It was a break between storms day, a walk at the park day, a day when the stars aligned for me to get my errands done pleasantly and painlessly. It was a day I’ll try to remember, especially the next time I am at the end of a line that doesn’t seem to move.  It was a week when I didn’t get Covid, even after a risky exposure. It was a week when a kind Cal Trans worker helped me get home on a stormy night when the freeway was closed.

Presence, Security

In the Covid Waiting Room

January 7, 2023

Some days, hope looks like an orange tree to me (specifically, a mandarin orange tree), a variety which seems to be mostly found in the area where I grew up. They are seedless, easy to peel, and incredibly sweet. How lucky am I?

It has been an interesting beginning to the year.

I learned this week that I had a Covid exposure from one of my massage clients. Funny, because she asked at the start of her massage if I wanted her to wear a mask, and I said, “Oh no! It’s fine!” (because it really is not easy for people to mask up when they are face down on a massage table.)  I might have to start thinking differently about that, though. Until now, I have felt relatively unconcerned about Covid because of the vaccine and boosters, but evidently there is a new variety heading our way that the boosters might not prevent as much.

Good times!

I checked the CDC website, and I am supposed to take a Covid test on day five of my exposure, with day zero being the day I was exposed.  I alerted all my clients for the rest of the week that I had a Covid exposure; most of them were OK with coming in anyway, as long as I was symptom free and wearing a mask.

I took another test a few days ago, and thankfully it was negative. But I am still supposed to wear a mask while indoors for at least ten days after exposure, and to take another test if at any point in the next few days I start to have symptoms (and to keep letting my clients know of my current Covid conundrum.)

Does anybody else start to feel a little sick automatically when they learn they’ve had a Covid exposure?

I do. Like ten minutes later. I start smelling my shampoo when I am in the shower, just to see if I can. And my hands if I am chopping onions or garlic for supper. Maybe my head is feeling a little achy? Is my throat scratchy? Also, I am awfully tired. Continue Reading…