Spark is dark.
My thoughts are scattered all over the place. Some of that is what we call in football country "Broken field running". That's where plan A doesn't pan out and you go to plan B, plan C, etc.
The first instance of the broken field came yesterday, with an e-mail from the kayak rental place. The lake my friend and I reserved kayaks for on Saturday is being drained early for some maintenance work. It was supposed to happen a week later, but it started early and knee-capped our plans.
This morning, new e-mail from the paddle place: that particular back up lake was only available on Sunday! Fortunately, my friend and I had discussed that possibility and pre-agreed that Sunday would be OK as a plan C. So... onward with plan C, I'll pick her up Sunday morning.
Which of course was discussion number 2: transport. It's about a 40 minute drive, and while I know the farther lake fairly well (used to do triathlons out there, and open water swim practice, etc.), she does not. Meanwhile, the virus is surging among the unvaccinated, and our local risk dial bumped up again yesterday!
Keep in mind that I have never driven in a mask, beyond from the grocery pick up slot to the exit from the parking lot. Nor had my friend. We are both fully vaccinated, and our planned activity is outdoors and distanced, so we were OK with that, but what about that drive? Masked? Or take the risk of driving together without?
This is the kind of discussion that is starting to take place among those of us who are fully vaccinated but in a group that's being advised to once again mask up. In my case, my age alone is enough to put me in this group!
In case it can't be read in the screen snip, it says:
- Wear a mask whenever in indoor settings and crowded outdoor settings to increase your level of protection.
- Avoid close interactions with unvaccinated people.
- Consult with your health care provider about additional protective actions you should take.
- Tea towel up on MFP.
- Healthy breakfast and a.m. snack on board.
- Grocery pick up scheduled (mitigate one risk to allow for another)
YES! It definitely is going to take some time to get used to the absence of Sparks. It was so handy to use and so easy to keep in touch w/sparkers.
ReplyDeleteBut the new routine will eventually get to be normal.
Well, glad you have a plan C. And yes, should be good with the windows rolled down since you and your friend are vaccinated. But yes, you’re right, you’d be more @ risk since she worked the Garth Brooks concert.
Definitely, it’s about balancing the risks and ‘rewards’, if you will.
Good luck.
You know, some of those virologists were predicting rolling surges even a year ago, when discussing the vaccine rollout and other mitigations. Sigh. It's not going away. Therefore we have no choice but to manage our risks. Fortunately, my friend worked the concert masked herself, so that's one reduction level.
DeleteStay safe on your end!
I could really relate to this blog! From having a back up plan for your back up plan ... to risk assessment and staying safe. Sounds like your kayaking plans are well thought out and an open window drive should be fine. All you have to do now is enjoy! Am masked and realizing my risk has increased - hoping to be included in early round of boosters (my vaccinations are coming up on one year.)
ReplyDeleteSunday will be three weeks out from when I have signed on to be kayak support for a triathlon leg of a swim. I'll also be tapped to work the finish line. Pack a mask, check for symptoms ahead, maybe even get tested before THAT date arrives, just to be sure.
DeleteYou're right, you were part of a study, right? So you should be early on for a booster!
I left a comment and GOOGLE burped. Gone just like that.
ReplyDeleteBad Google bad! I wonder if it will hang its head and Tuck its tail like my son's dog does when I tell him he's a bad dog. Carl does not like to hear the words "bad dog."
DeleteI think this year is more complicated Covid-wise than last year.
ReplyDeleteNow we’re having to negotiate and navigate a lot more gray area, in terms of both risk assessment and risk mitigation. I feel like it makes socializing more difficult than it has ever been. And all of the original complications are still there, with the choices of one person in a household potentially affecting all of them.
The best we can do is make the most sensible choices possible according to our risk assessments and have open and honest conversations with the people those choices affect.
Whew. I’m exhausted, after just punching that into my phone! 😜
Deb: I ALWAYS copy every comment before hitting “publish.” I’ve been burned too many times. LOL
Amen. That negotiation of the social contract is a daily thing, and it takes energy, and has its own level of risk!
DeleteI drive with a mask on with my vaccinated kids.
ReplyDeleteJust.In.Case.
The older one has kids under 12, the younger one does a bit of socialization.
I socialize too and just met up with my vaccinated sister-in-law who is past her quarantine for having break-through COVID, scary!
Confusing too.
Safer than sorry!
I could have predicted your response. If that mask works, and my glasses don't fog, we should be good.
DeleteEnjoy your kayaking! Maybe wear a lifevest! Let us know how it goes! zoom zoom!
ReplyDeleteNo maybe about it. I always have a life vest on when I head out on the water, no matter WHAT craft or how good a swimmer I might be!
DeleteI kinda freaked out over the Page Not Found message 😔
ReplyDeleteI mask up when I’m in my car with anyone not from my household, or when I’m in my sisters’ car. She comes in contact with more people than I do and I’m trying to keep my bf safe, too. We’re all vaxxed, but still follow the not from my household rules from 2020.
Sis and I masked for our walk this afternoon. Abundance of caution. And I'm thinking I will mask for the drive on Sunday, too, and roll down windows, and offer an N-95 mask to my friend. We can take 'em off when we get out at the lake. I have the map and I know where I'm going, but I want everyone to be safe while living as "normally" as we can!
DeleteI really miss the ease of using SparkPeople. I've had a Fitbit for years that synced nicely with SP, so I only had to record to SP and everything transferred over to Fitbit. The new Spark360 is not syncing with Fitbit for nutrition tracking. It is syncing my exercise, but I have not figured out how to sync nutrition. Might have to un-install and re-install, since the tracker on Spark360 is new. But if not, I'm playing with recording nutrition on Fitbit and it seems pretty easy so far.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand your concern about when to take a risk. I think it's interesting that I went the entire tire we were masking and social distancing without so much as a sniffle. But I'm mask-free for a month and I came down with a bad respiratory infection. So bad that I went for a Covid test, because I wasn't getting better. It wasn't Covid, but it sure was nasty. So, I'm back to masking when indoors even though I'm fully vaxxed. I'm in the 65+ age group too.
Have a fabulous time kayaking! I hope it's a beautiful day for you.
Thanks. I quickly determined, several months back, that Spark360 would not meet my needs. I went over there in the past week to try out their nutrition tracker, but to be honest, I had already been using Cronometer for over 60 days by then, and I just wasn't up to re-enter favorites, etc.
DeleteCronometer, interestingly, does transfer food over to Fitbit for me, as well as pulling both sleep and activity over from Fitbit. I've been very impressed with it.
Oh, and I still had some sniffles during the earlier phases, enough to get tested twice (not Covid), but that was early on. I did have one nasty illness around Thanksgiving which I put down to food poisoning, and did not get tested.
Good luck finding your feet with tracking, wherever you end up. The important thing for all of us is not to give up!
Scatter is a good word for the unsettled feeling. So many changing situations requiring revised thought on what’s the right thing to do moment by moment. Take the risk or play it safe. Easy to overthink things and easy to become burned out by the number of decisions. The real choice is Take the risk and live with the feelings that creates or live risk adverse and deal with the feelings that creates. Any wonder we feel scattered?
ReplyDeleteNo wonder at all. Ace and I opted to mask yesterday on our walk. And I felt "right" about that decision. Onward, one decision at a time!
DeleteEnjoy your outing with your friend :)
ReplyDeleteThanks. Our community and Garth's fans have been part of a huge experiment. Time will tell if it was a "super spreader" or not. But at least my friend masked when she worked it. And she is generally among the cautious... so there's that.
DeleteThis evening's newscaster reported that the infection rate and hospitalizations are comparable to March of 2020. We traveled to an AFB about 60 miles to our west for a commissary run today. Masks are required in all facilities. Half the tables in the food court have been removed for social distancing. There were only 2 chairs, one on each side of the shop, that had an operator. Once we were fully vaccinated at the end of March, we relaxed. Very short lived.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your trip on Sunday. Better safe than sorry.
Yes, but wasn't that a wonderful respite, that short-lived almost "normal" phase. We're back into having to think about it, but we do have that one more layer of protection, with the vaccines. You're right, better safe.
Deletebarber shop
ReplyDelete😄 Nice clarification!
DeleteSunday's plans sound great!
ReplyDeleteSpouse tested negative after an exposure at his workplace. We're both ready for the booster shot to build up our antibodies plus I carry a slip of paper in my wallet that reads "Regeneron Monoclonal Antibody" to have this at my fingertips should we catch Covid. On tonight's news I was pleased to learn that the 2-hour infusion appointment previously required for the Monoclonal treatment now has an alternative single injection possibility.
Obviously better not to catch it to begin with, but nice to know there is a treatment available, should an exposure become known. Getting tested is more important than ever for that one, since it has to be taken early in the infection.
DeleteOnward!
Well, all I can say is my younger sister and I were fully vaccinated and we flew from Montana to Madison. We ate in an airport restaurant in MN, wait staff was masked we were as well until our food came. There was little social distancing unfortunately. We think we may have contracted it there. We both had light cases thank goodness. We were released from our isolation yesterday.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your kayak trip Sunday! (((HUGS)))
Bless you both! Your vaccination status likely help minimize the severity. The increased infectiousness of Delta variant probably led to your catching it in the first place. Hope you continue in full health!
DeleteRisks here have certainly increased as well! We are masking more. Today grandson head a bit of a temp and headache. She was here all day and even took a nap, which is a bit unusual for him these days. If it lasts more than today, I’m hoping mom will test him.
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit tricky. A bit of a temp and a headache can mean so many different things. Hope your grandson bounces right back, and that his mom is wise about getting him tested, if it lingers more than that one day.🙏
DeleteWe mask up ... mask, mask, mask. Yep ... we have been pointed at and laughed at. But we haven't got sick either.
ReplyDelete😜
Do what works and hold your head high! Same is true here, except living in this city, more people actually listen and mask up... in my age range, that is. I see a lot more masks in the grocery store these days.
DeleteKnock wood that "we haven't got sick" remains true as you keep on keepin' on!