Day 31-BA5 takes the lead

Paxlovid Rebound…it exists…

Saw an Elvis Tribute this evening at the Valencia Marketplace Summer Concert series…

Today, Dr. Kimberly Shriner, Director of Infectious Disease at the Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, noted that a small study published a few weeks ago describes a “rebound phenomena”, where people can become symptomatic AND infectious as many as two weeks after completing their 5-day course of Paxlovid. Two weeks! Apparently, the rebound effect doesn’t happen very often. Really? If that’s the case, why does everybody know about the “Paxlovid Rebound?”

Dr. Shriner is quick to say that the “rebound phenomena” doesn’t mean that Covid is resistant to Paxlovid…rather, the “rebound effect” is YOUR fault, or at least your body’s fault, because it means your body failed to properly absorb the medication. Uh, how do we know that a breakthrough infection is caused by a re-absorbtion deficiency? And, as I said in my last post, what if Paxlovid is, somehow, actually causing a second infection? Spoiler Alert: on 7/31/22, President Biden will also experience the Paxlovid Rebound (“rarely occurs”) and test positive for Covid after his 5-day course of treatment.

More bad news: shockingly, Dr. Shriner goes on to say that home tests are only 50% accurate when testing for the BA5 subvariant. 50%?! That means it doesn’t pick up the variant half the time! Why on earth are we still using these home tests, then?! A 50% accuracy rating, when applied to ANYTHING, is an F, and yet this has not been reported. If you have a 1 in 2 chance of testing negative when you are, in fact, positive, do yourself a favor and throw away any home tests you have lying around the house.

This just in: Paxlovid also causes diarrhea.

7/22/22. Friday

6:30-9:00-the dog wakes me up and we go downstairs so she can go potty. Cheese for her and I return upstairs, take two Advil, and go back to bed. I weigh 94 pounds today, which means I can actually eat food.

9:00-9:45 - I’m awake again, so I grab my coffee and go to work. I post course content for my online summer classes at College No. 2 and also load two new quizzes while listening to The Daily. The dog and I split a piece of apple sauce cake.

9:45-10:40-Shower. Ice. Lotion. I wear one of the dresses I bought at T.J. Max yesterday. Garden Society Member attire today.

10:40-11:00-I drive to my therapy appointment; and

11:00-11:30- have my therapy session.

11:30-1:00-I drop off two bags of clothes at Goodwill, then go inside because I’m looking for more “Athletic Housewife” attire, specifically tank tops and leggings. I find several items but all of the dressing rooms are closed “for your safety” so I have to buy the items without trying them on. I ask the sales associate about their return policy and I’m told that I have 60 days for a straight exchange, no refunds, but I’m curious about the closed dressing rooms...does “for your safety” mean this is a safety measure concerning Covid? I mean I just used the dressing rooms at T.J. Max. I casually ask if the dressing rooms will open soon and the employee says no. I wonder what people were doing in the dressing rooms to cause Goodwill to close them, but it’s a fallacy to say that they’re still closed due to Covid.

Back in my car and I eat some apples and almond butter and listen to Martinis and Your Money.

1:00-1:45 - I go to Khols and find a pair of white wedge sandals that I like even though I was on the lookout for a black pair. I think these might go with a few outfits I have. It is so hot outside! I listen to Fresh Air.

1:45-2:30-I’ve had a craving for a scoop of Cold Stone German Chocolate for weeks now, so I order a child size cup and It tastes amazing! -I know I’ll pay for it weight-wise. I listen to What Next.

2:30-3:30 - Home and I finish eating HALF of my German Chocolate ice cream and freeze the rest. I read Things We Didn’t Talk About and wash my sheets.

3:30-4:30- I try on all the Goodwill items I purchased and, jackpot, they all fit! I won’t have to exchange anything. I start a load of laundry for my new items

4:30-5:00-I put on my bathing suit, pack my beach bag, and drive across the street to our community pool.

5:00-6:00-I lay out for an hour and listen to Slates Spoiler podcast featuring Jordan Peele’s, Nope. I also listen to the New Yorker Book Review.

6:00-6:45 - I last an hour, then pack up everything and return home - it’s so hot. I have a tapa from one of L.’s leftovers and it tastes amazing.

I freshen up, put on make-up and one of my new summer dresses, and drive to the free “Big Band” concert in the mini amphitheater at Valencia Marketplace in honor of their Summer Sunset concert series. “Joe Finkle and the 7-10 splits” are playing an Elvis Tribute and covering music they refer to as Rockabilly. I listen to Politics and More on the way there.

7:00-8:00-I always carry a portable canvas director’s chair in my trunk but I leave it because maybe there’ll be seating and there is! Nobody is sitting on a bench placed in front of the venue so I sit there and listen. The music is a little before my time but the band is good and they play two songs I recognize: Suzy Q and Heartbreak Hotel. While I’m sitting on the bench it suddenly rises up like a seesaw because a huge black women plopped down on the other end. It was startling and jarring! If you weigh over 200 pounds, you should gingerly take your seat.

-A few people are dancing and I see Candy, the leader of my Striders group, and her husband, swing dancing right in front of the stage. They look good! When the band finishes with their set, I hear her husband telling random members of the crowd that he’s 78! He looks great but unfortunately he’s wearing a Trump T-shirt. I watch, casually, from my bench as Candy and her husband approach their seats. She looks right at me and says nothing - perhaps, she didn’t see me? I stay till the end, then leave.

8:00-8:15- I get gas and the price point per gallon seems to have froze at $5.75. I listen to NPR Politics and drive home.

8:30-9:30-L. surfaces and we talk about her Membership day at The Club. She shows me her stats on “Hubspot” (The Club’s tracking system) and notes that since she and Maria were hired in Membership, sign ups have increased from 48% to 68%. These girls are getting it done! L. closed 9 out of the 10 tours she gave - her closing percentage is excellent and she’s a natural sales associate.

9:30-10:30-I listen to a PBS News Segment and write a Covid essay.

10:30-11:30-Blog post. I listen to several re-runs of Radio Rental.

11:30-12:00 - Kitchen duty and I ready my coffee for tomorrow. More Radio Rental.

12:00-1:30- bullet journal. I put my sheets back on the bed.

1:30-2:00-Nighttime routine. Bed