Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

So close yet so far

Hey, remember the COVID pandemic is over? We don’t think about it anymore, right? No news of frightening new variants, no daily death counts. There’s people working in hospitals that no longer wear masks! That last one is kind of stunning when I went in a few months ago for my annual checkup. Things are truly back to what it was at the end of 2019. If we don’t counting the millions dead…

Just when I thought we would end the year at work with no one getting truly sick from COVID, a coworker caught the disease last week. (So close.) Unfortunately for him, COVID absolutely knocked him out. Every single flu-like and cold-like symptom you can come up with, he got it. The coworker was out for the entire week. Compounding the misery is that he can’t pinpoint where and how he contracted COVID! He would’ve felt slightly better if he were able to offload the blame somewhere.

I am fine, by the way. Very unlikely the coworker contracted COVID at work as the rest of us were business as usual. I still have not knowingly contracted the thing, though I maintain it’s because I don’t show any symptoms (thank god if that is indeed the truth). No symptoms, no tests, less chance of positives. Didn’t the smart people say that it is statistically likely that all of us will get COVID at some point?

Nothing will make you appreciate good health like coming out of a serious bout of sickness. The recovered coworker is filled with gratitude today in his return to work. He definitely do not want to experience that again. I bet if his COVID vaccine schedule isn’t up to date, it will be shortly!

It's over over

At work, the first batch of Dell laptops we purchased in response to the pandemic, in support of fully remote teaching, is about to expire on its basic warranty. Can you believe that? It’s been a whole three years since the start of COVID. Sometimes it takes a laptop warranty expiring to remind me just how long ago that is. Obviously, plenty have changed, both in the external world and my own personal life. And yet sometimes it can still feel like we’re in a bit of stasis since March 2020. A long continuation of (hopefully) the worse global pandemic in our lifetimes.

Of course, we don’t hear or talk about COVID-19 anymore. No more daily hospitalization numbers, no more masking guidelines. Even the vaccination campaigns have gone radio silence. It’s down to personal decisions now, on how careful you want to be. And we should respect each other’s rights to do so.

The pandemic is over. Life is back to normal. This past weekend I attended a lovely baby shower, in a recreation center room with about 50 people. Think back to two years ago: you wouldn’t dream to do such a reckless thing. Not without masking, lots of open windows, and minimal hugging. COVID is something we no longer think about. And while it’s taken longer than we’d all like, three years is not so bad in the grand scheme of things. We can, and have, finally move on.

Even the ultra-restrictive China have opened back up to complete normalcy. Foreigners can finally get into the country, on previously issued visas (or you can get a new one). I am not doing any traveling this summer. (Have you seen the prices of everything travel related?) The only flying I’m planning on is at the end of the year: to China. To visit relatives I’ve not seen in person in three years. In sha'Allah that will come to fruition.

Booster round two

I read on the news an update to the Pfizer COVID vaccine that targets the latest omicron variant is now approved and available. I never did get my second booster shot: the first booster was way back in November of last year. Seems like a good time now to get what would be my fourth shot. And because it’s flu season, might as well get the flu vaccine at the same time.

Sadly, the local CVS pharmacy at Target is not offering the COVID vaccine any longer? It’s where I got my booster last time, but I wasn’t able to book any appointments. That’s a shame because I now have to get in a car. A friend informed me that Walgreens pharmacy is offering the updated booster - plus the flu vaccine. So I mimetically went to the Walgreens website to make an appointment. There were plenty to be had at locations around my zip code.

Next Friday evening will be the day. It should offer enough leeway over the weekend should I experience heavy symptoms. The two primary Pfizer shots only resulted in a sore arm, but the booster shot absolutely wrecked me hard. I’m definitely tempting fate here by getting the COVID and flu vaccine concurrently. Perhaps I can bro-science my way out of this: if I expect symptoms to be mild, then my body will react accordingly.

This is going to be the yearly dance, isn’t it? COVID vaccine boosters every fall. It’s truly become just like the flu. Hopefully as the years go by, as herd immunity grows ever stronger, further COVID boosters would only be something necessary for the immune compromised and the elderly.

Bang tan

One of the few regrets I have throughout this COVID-19 pandemic is missing the scheduled BTS concert at Levi’s Stadium back in April 2020. Not because of any fault on my part, obviously: the entire tour was rightfully cancelled. Live Nation held onto our money (interest free) for more than a year, hoping against hope that the tour would simply resume when circumstances allowed. Unfortunately, it was a not to be, and ultimately I got my money back.

There goes my opportunity of seeing the golden boys of South Korean music. With two additional years of popularity increase - assisted by a few English-language singles - the pent up demand for BTS is at a maximum. Which explains why getting tickets for their concert at SoFi Stadium down in Los Angeles, held earlier this month, was incredibly difficult. Wait many hours in the virtual queue only to not get a chance to purchase? That’s what happened to a friend.

I’ve heard similar experiences in getting tickets for TWICE’s upcoming North American tour. Lucky for me, I already saw them in concert back in 2019. I don’t have a great need to do it again.

Back to BTS: I have to say I really can’t get into their English-language songs. I don’t understand why they (and other Kpop groups) need to pander to our market and sing in English. The principle problem is that the rap line - J-Hope, Suga, and RM - can’t showcase their skills at all. The same trio that utterly electrified on a track like this is hopelessly wasted when BTS do songs in English. Difficult to rap in a language you only have elementary (at best) knowledge of, understandably.

BTS’s built their popularity singing and rapping in Korean. The rest of the world not able to understand the language was never a problem nor a barrier. Singing in English when only one member of the group can even speak it fluently just seems wrong to me. I feel the same way about Kpop artists releasing Japanese singles when no one (or very few) in the group can speak the language. Contrived. Forced. Money grab.

I’ll stick with BTS’ Korean discography, thank you.

It's my birthday

Today is my birthday. For moment I had to do some calculations to remember I am turning 34 years of age. It seems since turning 30, you don’t really keep precise track of how old you are. The entire decade of your 30s is just one giant blob. Only when it’s time for the big 40 will there be another existential crisis and reckoning. Much like how turning 30 was.

No need to lament getting older; it’s part of the natural process. It sure beats the opposite: death. A bit morbid, yes, but that’s how I like to keep things in perspective. I’m immensely grateful for another full turn of the calendar.

10 years ago when I turned 24 I wrote that I would play for the next decade. Once I turn 34, I will settle down and get serious about being an adult. Well, here I am 10 years later, and all I can say is: don’t make goals and predictions that far out into the future. What does “settling down” even mean anyways? Domesticity is definitely not something I want nor ready for. I’ve only barely moved out of my parents’ house last year! I’m enjoying the single and alone life quite well at the moment.

I bought a whole plate of poké from Costco yesterday and ate it all by myself. Tell me if that’s not the dream.

Besides, these last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic definitely put the timeline (so to speak) on pause. It’s partly why I forgot how old I was turning today. What chance is there to properly celebrate birthdays when it isn’t safe to gather together? No matter how much we’ve improved or what skill we learned during these times, the coronavirus era is definitely lost years.

What I’m saying is: that pseudo pledge I made 10 years ago? Doesn’t count! Not yet, anyways: I need at least two years tacked on top. Cheers to many more returns.

Third time is the charm

Well, that was a bit unexpected.

I got my COVID-19 booster vaccine shot this past Sunday, and yesterday - Monday - I felt rather terrible. It’s unexpected because the first two times I got the Pfizer shot, all I had to show for it in terms of symptoms were a sore arm. Physically otherwise I felt great, quite unlike some people I know who got absolutely clobbered with COVID-like symptoms. Those federally-mandated COVID sick days sure come in handy!

Well who is eating crow now, because I got symptoms on the third shot. It wasn’t too bad, all things considered: just slight chills at the extremities, and a woozy feeling to the head. As of this writing - Tuesday - I feel completely fine again, and consider myself lucky to be amongst the group currently eligible for a booster. Working in education is finally paying off, because the paycheck sure isn’t compared to the private sector!

Hopefully this is the last COVID vaccine shot I will ever have to take. It’s November already, and 2022 is almost done. With kids five and older now eligible for the (Pfizer) vaccine, I think soon we should reopen everything back up completely. No more mask requirements. COVID-19 will truly become like the seasonal flu, something to be managed, rather than aiming for some delusion of zero cases. It is time.

Keep wearing masks

It’s been about a week since the CDC said you no longer have to wear a mask outdoors if you are fully vaccinated. I did that to full effect this past weekend visiting Fresno. The only time I wore a mask on that trip was when I had to enter indoors into establishments. A few times I even I forgot I had to, so freeing it is to be finally without masks when walking around.

Back home in San Francisco, I find myself still wearing a mask when I am outdoors. It’s purely for convenience: since I need to wear a mask when I go to campus, it’s less hassle to just have it on already. The less chance my hands touch my face, the better. The same goes when I go grocery shopping, or visiting the local shops. When I know I’ll be indoors soon enough, I keep my mask on at all times - even when I am outside.

Obviously, if I’m just going out on a hike, that’s different.

I’ve been seeing on twitter people wondering why folks are still wearing masks outdoors, especially those who are vaccinated. Don’t these people trust the science of very low risk of outside transmission in the open air? Why the performative mask wearing still, even after the vaccine?

And I thought we are a country of live and let live! Who gives a crap if someone is still wearing a masks outdoors even after the CDC dropped the mandate? Is it bothering you? So long as they are not in turn hassling people for not wearing a mask, then who the heck cares? I’m sure that like me, these people have their own reasons. Perhaps they live with people who are vulnerable, or perhaps they themselves have respiratory issues that are totally unrelated to COVID-19.

Something tells me people are going to make fun of Asians for our habitual mask wearing that long predates the coronavirus. I hope I am wrong on this, of course. I still plan to wear masks - though not nearly as often - long after this pandemic is over: it’s something I’ve done for awhile (especially when I travel). Masks are quite handy in area of huge crowds, or at work when a coworker is sick during flu season.

One more benefit to mask wearing: no more chapped lips!