Items
Date is exactly
2021-02-17
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2021-02-17
It took my world
This is a photograph of my best friend, my mother. In December of 2020, we went to Disneyworld and came back with Covid-19. I was barely pregnant at the time, but my Covid symptom was only a cough. This cough would only hurt my uterus, so when I started to miscarry, I wasn’t too surprised. My mom, on the other hand, thought that her muscles were sore from walking around the parks for a few days. She had a cough and a bit of a fever, but was still walking around the house as we quarantined together. She was cold, which only ever happened when she was sick. One day, she didn’t leave her room because she was struggling to catch her breath if she did too much. She had me turn the heater on for her because of how cold she was under her blankets and comforter. She had been keeping her C-PAP machine on to give her the extra air support, but when we checked her oximeter, it was only at 70. So I called the paramedics like she asked me to, they came, we met them at the door, her vitals were taken, and they said that I could take her to the hospital or they could. I told her that I would drive. I had to take her to the emergency room that was not in our normal network because that’s what was open. I took her there with the expectation of getting her transferred the next day. When we called, the other hospital couldn’t take her because all of their beds were filled. So, she stayed there, and I couldn’t be with her because they were trying to keep the spread down. She was texting and FaceTiming me for the first 4 days that she was in the emergency room. On the 5th day though, she stopped responding. I called the hospital and they told me that she had spoken to her doctor and they had decided to put her on the ventilator to give her body a break for a few days. It was not a few days. On day 39 of her being on the ventilator, they lowered her sedation medication and she had no eye movement. So, I told them to let my brother go in and say his second final goodbye and to call me when they had ended her fight the next day. They called and said that she took a few seconds off of the ventilator before they called the time of her passing. I was alone now. My dad passed away in 2006 and my brother was a technical part of my family, but it was just me and my mom in the house still. Now, it was just me. A year later, I lost my home because I couldn’t get a loan approval to buy out my brother’s half of the equity. At that time, I was pregnant again with the baby girl that my mom dreamt of me having. This child that she had planned to be overly involved with, to play with, to snuggle, to kiss, and to have memories and adventures with. But now, the nursery would be someone else’s room. A stranger. Covid-19 took my baby, my mom, my house, my stability, and my will to love. I have been able to love my baby girl, but I am always comparing myself to my mother and thinking about how she could’ve been the best grandma. How she would’ve helped me. How we would’ve traveled to so many places together. And now, I struggle to pay rent on a single room. I leave my child at daycare 5 days a week and try to keep her there for each meal in case I don’t have enough to feed her. And I hide away from a lot of socializing because my mom was my favorite person to hang out with. -
2021-02-17
National Lampoon: Vacination
A comic strip about Covid-19 -
2021-02-17
100 Activists Opposing the Pipeling
Last month, it was reported by Healing Minnesota and The Intercept, that the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office requested that Enbridge reimburse them for nearly $72,000 worth of riot gear and more than $10,000 in weapons and ammunition, including tear gas, batons, pepper spray, bean bag rounds, and flash-bang devices. These items were identified as necessary PPE to "maintain peace in and around Line 3's construction site." Since December 2020, more than 100 activists opposing the pipeline have been arrested for attempting to delay construction. -
2021-02-17
#JOTPYPhoto from Katy Kole de Peralta
Here's mine....online learning has been a struggle, and I've created a hybrid system of part home school, part her normal class meetings. But it's challenging! And I learned that it is a gift to explain subtraction to a 6 yo. #JOTPYPhoto -
2021-02-17
#JOTPYPhoto from Gina Heart exclamation
Staying home cuddling with my dog = work @mollyc @mollycho @Gee_La_Dou @edgartoo12 @Lightskill1 -
2021-02-17
#JOTPYPhoto from Amanda Lehew
Everyone should check out Journal of the Plague Year ( @covid19archive1 )and submit a photo for the chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card, plus be a part of history! #jotpyphoto A moment for me is capturing this beautiful picture of my daughter and our pandemic pup :) -
2021-02-17
Vaccination Blues
My homeland, Orange County, has not been a place to be very proud of during COVID-19. Between anti-maskers, inept leadership, lack of transparency, and inequity in access to both COVID-19 testing and vaccines, this year has been a roller coaster in our little coastal chunk of CA. The vaccine roll out has been a massive headache. For the past month on Instagram, I see post after post of people younger than I who are getting their vaccinations because they live in another part of the state or country, while locally it's only health care workers I know that have been able to be vaccinated. Although other parts of CA (and the country) have begun to vaccinate teachers and food workers, Orange County is stubbornly (as I was told in a meeting today) waiting until 50% of the over 65 population is vaccinated before they open it up to the next tier. Though this causes me endless anxiety - will I be able to get a vaccine before my high school of 2500 opens for in person instruction - the one relief of the week was that my 65 year old mother was FINALLY able to get a vaccination appointment. The Othena system is a joke - she tried numerous times and couldn't get an appointment for the supposed super pods. Kaiser is still only vaccinating 75+! The Nextdoor app clued us in that a local hospital (where my mom has her insurance) was starting to vaccinate. Despite logging on in the very beginning of February, the earliest appointment she could get is for March 3. She took it, but I wanted to keep searching, because I worry that if the next Tier opens, she may have trouble getting a second shot if she waits until March 3. Nextdoor again clued me in to Rite-Aid, where a friend of my mom's outside OC got her vaccine. Best part - you go directly through Rite Aid, so no Othena! Success! My mom made her appointment on Saturday for tomorrow. We were jubilant! I told both my best friends about the Rite Aid trick, and within three days, they had their elderly family members signed up. Today, an hour after my best friend texted me that her dad got his Rite Aid vaccine, my mom sent me her cancellation message. Apparently the current winter storms have delayed the arrival of vaccines. My mom got lucky again, because it turns out that our school district is vaccinating employees 65+. Though retired, because she is a part time employee, my mom received an invitation today. Once she got the Rite Aid cancellation, she made her an appointment with the school district. Tomorrow is the first day the school district is vaccinating, so we have no idea what to expect, and are a little nervous because her insurance is not one of the carriers of the school district. Fingers crossed that she can still get it! Though I am genuinely happy for everyone getting vaccinated, it is frustrating that it is so much work here to try and get one. Using the Othena site hasn't worked for anyone I know - everyone I know has been vaccinated through their work or somewhere like Rite Aid. Honestly, if I see another post of someone with their vaccination card with a "do your part!" message I am going to throw my phone at the wall. I do want to do my part, if only Orange County would get their act together and manage this whole roll out better. Come on Orange County, you can do better. -
2021-02-17
Living Like An Immunocompromised Person
I have been living in fear of getting others sick rather than what will happen if I were to be the one to get sick. My FAMILY MEMBER is immunocompromised, so I have spent most of 2020 in my house. I have not been scared of coming back positive because I have had cousins who have been sick but have had no real issues. The reason I have lived a full year with fear and anxiety is the idea of giving the disease to my Diabetic FAMILY MEMBER. Part of the reason I came back to campus when the semester started was to get away from my FAMILY MEMBER and the fear that I could be the one to kill THEM. Coronavirus has made this past year one full of fear, but the main character of my fear, meaning my FAMILY MEMBER, has talked me into feeling comfortable enough to return to college. I knew people who had impaired immune systems had to watch what they did even before Covid-19 came into the picture. These days, immunocompromised individuals can barely leave their houses so I have followed the actions of my FAMILY MEMBER. If THEY has felt comfortable enough to return to teaching for middle schoolers and working at a camp with young children who were just learning to wear masks during the summer then I can go live on campus. I actually have a close friend in my dorm family unit who keeps me in check. My FAMILY MEMBER and my friend do a great job but sometimes, I think I stay home and away from people more than some individuals I know with compromised immune systems or pre-existing conditions that put them at risk of dying from the disease. That thought will not dissuade me from continuing with my partially-quarantined lifestyle. I am confused and hurt by those who have not even tried to protect others or change anything in their daily life. With the numbers that are currently being released in the United States and at my college, I will keep living in a way that will not increase my anxiety or the chance of my fears coming true. If my college continues to see rising positive cases, I hope we get put into a full campus lockdown or I have a little warning of being sent home so I can be tested and have a place to quarantine away from my FAMILY MEMBER. Everyone has Covid-fatigue but I will push through and stay as safe as I can. This year has taught me that when this pandemic is over, I need to live my life protecting immunocompromised people even if I do not know them. If I get a cold, I will wear a mask. I never want to be the one to blame for someone else falling sick or dying. -
2021-02-17
A College Athlete's Pandemic
The story I uploaded explains how the Covid-19 pandemic has changed my experience as a college athlete. This is important to me because playing a sport in college is a huge part of my overall college experience. -
2021-02-17
Pandemic Hobbies
With all of the free time suddenly on my hands due to the pandemic, I was forced to find new hobbies that would occupy the time. Some of the hobbies that I developed over the course of the pandemic and specifically during the quarantine are following along to Bob Ross videos, fiber arts including latch hook and cross-stitch, and I have rediscovered my love for reading mysteries. These hobbies have helped keep my mind off of and cope with COVID and everything else that is going on in the world these days. Despite the negative effects that COVID has had on the world and individuals, it has allowed me and many others to delve deeper into new and old passions due to the amount of time that we have on our hands that we never had before. -
2021-02-17
THIS IS YOUR NECK ON ZOOM
Many years ago, there was a public service ad that said ‘This is your brain on drugs.” It featured an egg cracking into a frying pan, sizzling crisply. I feel the same way about my neck on zoom. It is a horrifying sight. For many of us, ZOOM is the funhouse mirror we do not wish to look into. It has been suggested that staring at ourselves on ZOOM calls sucks the life out of our brains and that it might be better to simply not be able to see ourselves. Apparently, you can block yourself from being able to see your own face while allowing your fellow ZOOM-ers to gaze at you. Honestly, that seems worse to me. What if I look like a Salvador Dali painting? And what about my NECK? Chin high, neck elongated is my mantra. Channeling Audrey Hepburn helps. Otherwise, I look like a candidate for a Thanksgiving carving board. This is what COVID hath wrought. Not a fear of disease or death (although THAT is responsible for the extra furrows between my brows), but a conversation about inner beauty and wisdom vs. gravity and slackness of skin. For women of a certain age COVID has brought a dollop of fear, and a hefty helping of self-pity at the mere thought of newborn grandchildren we cannot hold. And it has also rendered us as insecure and self-conscious as a teenager with a pimple on the tip of the nose. The state of the skin beneath my chin should not matter, and yet it does. -
2021-02-17
The Life of a College Student during the Pandemic
I am submitting my experience during the pandemic because it is important to share with others who may be feeling the same way that I am. We all are learning first hand how to succeed during this pandemic and it is important we share with each other what our experiences are so we can grow together -
2021-02-17
My At-Home Gym
During this drawn-out pandemic, I have had the misfortune of living alone in my apartment, essentially stranded. This was not helped by the fact that I have recently been left without a car. I have no family that lives close by and I have relied a lot on my friends' willingness to carpool with me if I need to get anywhere. I generally must walk to and from the grocery store and have many things shipped to me. Additionally, my commute to work is always on foot. These minor inconveniences are not as unbearable, however, as my inability to travel to the gym. The gym had become a daily routine for me pre-pandemic. On occasion, I would drive to the gym twice in one day to stay occupied. My lack of transportation was, thus, a major hit to my daily routine. About a week had gone by without exercise before I hatched an idea. I purchased a simple, $20, 25 lb weight to be shipped to my apartment. This weight would become the nucleus of my workout routine for the next year. With This 25 lb weight, I can mimic virtually any exercise that exists at the gym. Instead of 20 lb shoulder raises, I do 25 lb shoulder raises for a shorter set. Instead of 35 lb dumbell curls, I do 25 lb curls for a longer set. If an exercise would usually be done on a bench or mat, I could simply set down a few pillows and achieve the same effect. The transition was a bit awkward but easier than I expected. My pandemic-grade, simple, at-home weight room may appear underwhelming. It is, indeed, cheaper and of lower quality than gym equipment. However, my make-shift gym has kept me busy throughout the entirety of this pandemic. I am now back to my daily "gym" routine, sweating just as much in my apartment as I would be at a gym.