Today’s plans are shot; I’m sick. I suspect it started as a reaction to something I ate that then triggered swelling in my intestines leading to an obstruction. I won’t give you the gory details, just that I’ve spent most of today sleeping and haven’t eaten anything. As you might guess that meant no Donut Walk™. It also meant holding off on blogging until now. It helps to be awake when you write. I’ve usually finished recording Gord’s Gold by now but I haven’t even finish scripting it. The deadline is Sunday, so I’ll have it done. I will certainly finish scripting it tonight. If I can blog I can script. It might take me as little as five minutes. I might even be able to record even if I’m sick. I’ll play that by ear.
I’m back to yawning so I’ll get right to the thing I planned on writing yesterday. Jo Kroger asked in her streaming show yesterday if people felt comfortable going back to pre-pandemic activities. What hit me was that I have no emotional qualms at all. I don’t feel funny about walking outdoors maskless and I’ve already gladly hugged people. I have been quite careful all this time but it’s on an intellectual, not emotional level. I saw a large water bug the other day and my reaction to that was visceral. No matter what my brain told me I was being flooded with fight or flight hormones. I don’t get that reaction from seeing people not wearing masks or not wearing a mask myself. I was comfortable going out maskless after walking a few blocks.
How common is that? I have no idea. We usually hear from the people that have strong negative reactions. I’m going out of my way now to do otherwise. If I didn’t blog I wouldn’t. I went maskless at the Met Game and did so happily. So did the doctor I was with. I think what goes on might have to do with me feeling numbers viscerally. If the vaccine gives you 95% protection your risk is just one twentieth of what it was before. If it’s only 90%, then it’s one tenth. I’m not afraid of that amount of risk and any precautions I take are for the sake of other people. I spent over a year trying to nudge people towards normalizing mask wearing. No, with far less urgency, I’m trying to nudge people to not feel trepidation doing activities that are far safer than they were. I don’t want to push people to do anything they are uncomfortable with. Before it hurt others for people to not be cautious. You only hurt yourself when you are overly cautious. Some precautions should still be taken. I still mask on public transit and indoors with random strangers. But if my mask broke when I was in already in a store I wouldn’t freak. I wouldn’t run out of the store in fear.
My current question is should I try and eat something. I don’t feel right but I do feel hungry. Eating when I’m obstructed can have nasty consequences. I’ve had a few clues that the obstruction is only partial. I might be able to eat with it leading to pain and nausea. I might not. The only way to find out is to try. The other alternative is waiting for clearer signals from my body. To eat or not to eat, that is the question. I suspect I’ll try something light soon.
I need to sleep or eat now. That means I better quit writing. Let me know if you your reactions to reducing COVID-19 precautions are visceral or intellectual.
Wise Madness 