Category: everyday life

COVID Vaccines Update

For those who are in Illinois and want to follow my example, please hurry up- things might change! See the Sun Times article below.

As doctors anticipate word from the federal government, many expect Illinois will promote vaccination for those left out under new restrictions, Elvia Malagón and Kaitlin Washburn report for the Chicago Sun-Times.

That could mean authorizing pharmacists to administer vaccines off-label, as they do in other states. Doctors already are authorized to give vaccines off-label.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the latest version of the vaccine but only for those 65 and older or people with a high-risk medical condition. The agency did not specify which medical conditions were eligible, but pharmacies offering the vaccine are relying on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s definition of high-risk groups. That includes people who have asthma, are neurodivergent, live with disabilities or certain mental health conditions, smoke or are physically inactive.

It’s unclear, however, whether insurers will cover the costs over the long run for people who fall outside the FDA’s guidelines. For now, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, one of the state’s largest private insurance companies, hasn’t changed its coverage policy.

The Illinois Department of Public Health plans to issue its own guidance by the end of the month after reviewing recommendations from medical societies, experts and its own immunization advisory committee, according to Dr. Sameer Vohra, the agency’s director. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Weekend With Lena

Lena finally made it to Chicago – in September instead of July, and it turned sharply cold, and we could not go to the beach. Still, our interests are so much aligned that we made it an absolutely perfect weekend.

Lena arrived on Friday evening and met with her Chicago-based coworkers. We chatted for a bit before and drafted the plan of activities.

Saturday was chilly, and since Lena uses each of her Chicago visits as an occasion to dress nicely, and I am happy to join her, we ended up being dressed not precisely to the weather, and were moderately cold most of the time :).

We started the day in the Field Museum, and I was able to properly see all the exhibits (and the recent updates to the “Evolving Planet,” which Lena didn’t see yet).

Continue reading “Weekend With Lena” →

New Field Museum Exhibit, And How I Took My Mom There

Last week, a new exhibit,  “After the Age of Dinosaurs,” opened in the Field Museum. There was a members-only access event on Tuesday evening, and after a long break, I decided to give it a try and take my mom there. I was encouraged by the suggestion of her caregiver that she could travel with her to the museum, and I can come there after work and meet them right there. That way, her caregiver would also have a chance to see the exhibit.

We planned everything seemingly perfectly, but since my mom walks slowly, and they had to switch from the Red line train to the bus, this trip took them a very long time. And my mom felt it even longer.

Then she had to eat something (I planned on that, because I knew that would be the time for her to eat), and it also took a very long time, and she could not choose what to eat, and then she asked how much did it cost, and complained that everything is expensive (even though she didn’t have to pay anything).

When we entered the exhibit, she started to ask how “they” (who put up the exhibit) knew what things looked like 66 million years ago, and then said that they just made things up since there was no way to know. I tried to remind her that she learned about different geological periods of the history of the Earth at school, citing the archeological discoveries and radiocarbon dating, but it didn’t look like she remembered.

The same went for the fossilized plants. The exhibit showcased some prehistoric plants that were distant predecessors of the plants we use widely today, such as chocolate trees or apple trees. She asked skeptically, “How did the scientists know these were the prehistoric apples?” and ultimately concluded that “they made it all up.”

Possibly, this is something trending on the Russian internet these days; I know that the theories of “everything is made up” emerge from time to time.

After that exhibit, we briefly saw the Reptiles exhibit, and I just walked her directly to the actual live reptiles, bypassing all the displays with scientific information.

I got Uber home, and on the way back, she was saying that “she does not understand why there were so many people there, why they were interested, why there were so many children, and why parents explained something to them and they seemed to listen.”

I don’t know what to make of this experience, except that it should be Uber both ways. I am afraid that if I were to stop taking her anywhere, she will mentally decline even more rapidly than now. However, if she is unable to process any new information, I am unsure what good it would do. So still figuring this out.

ODS

Yesterday, I was going to make dinner at the ODS, but then it turned out that the current volunteer coordinator had put in their notice, and forgot or didn’t have time to purchase supplies for making dinner. I went to the shelter anyway, picked up some sweets from Vanille, and spent two hours in conversations with staff and residents. There were too many private moments in these conversations, so I am not sharing them except for one thing: I was thinking about taking a break from volunteering for the Night Ministry, but I am not going to do it.

Even though I am not there often enough, I still can do something good. And a little bit is better than nothing.

Yesterday was a very emotional and a very long day, and the whole week seems to be long and emotional. The fear of the National Guard’s appearance dominates the environment and touches my life in many different ways. Between escorting, which I did twice this week, ODS volunteering, and conference attendees coming from abroad, and all the conversations I have with people, it’s almost too much.

However, I have a hope (maybe too soon) that Chicago’s readiness to fight back stopped the worst that could happen. We’ll have to see, but I really hope…

Holding A Conference In These Challenging Times

All this week, I worried about my friend from Kenya, who was going to travel to Chicago to participate in next week’s conference. I worried that she would land in Chicago in the midst of raids and social unrest.

A couple of hours ago, I received a mass e-mail from the conference organizers, which I am just going to copy/paste here.

We’re excited to see you in Chicago! We know that travel in the United States may not feel as safe and easy as it has in past years.

To help provide some peace of mind, we’ve built a Travel Safety Check system. You can enter your contact and arrival info as well as an emergency contact. DEFNA board members will reach out to you via Whatsapp or Signal soon after your scheduled arrival to make sure you made it safely. If we’re unable to reach you, we’ll notify your emergency contact.

We know travel can be stressful whether you are traveling within the country or flying in from abroad. If you’re traveling alone, it can feel especially overwhelming, and we want you to know you don’t have to navigate it entirely on your own.

If that sounds like something that would give you some peace of mind, please register today. Only DEFNA board members have access to the system, and we’ll delete the data 30 days after the conference.

What’s going on in Chicago?

There has been a lot of posturing and public comment over the past week or so about the US federal government sending National Guard troops or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to Chicago. At this point it looks like movements are being made to follow through on this, but we do not know exactly what to expect on the ground–or when.

Here’s what we know: – Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has increased its activity in the Chicago area. These agents tend to wear masks over their faces, baseball caps, and minimal uniforms that say “police.” If you see people fitting this description, avoid them. They are likely looking for someone particular rather than wanting to investigate the general population in the area. We do not expect them to be active in the downtown area where the conference is located.
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The National Guard is making logistical movements that make it look like they are planning to send troops to Chicago in the near future. These are military troops wearing a proper uniform. From what we’ve seen in other cities where they have been deployed, their job is going to be to stand around and not bother anyone. They may well do this in the downtown area near the conference.
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The Chicago Police Department is completely separate from both these groups and has an official policy of not cooperating with ICE or the National Guard. Chicago Police officers will have patches on their uniforms that say “Chicago Police” and tend to wear a blue shirt with dark pants. They want all our attendees to have a great time in their city and are people you can approach for help should you need it.

In the United States, you are allowed to record the police and military in public. If you or someone you’re with has an encounter with agents, take a video recording and please report the incident to the Code of Conduct team.

We do not expect any of these developments to directly impact you while you’re in Chicago for DjangoCon US, but we do want to be prepared. Please attend opening remarks each day during the conference as we will provide any updates to these situations at that time. We may also send emails to attendees if there are important developments to be aware of.

Sign up for the DjangoCon US Travel Safety Registration System

Please reach out if you have any questions, – DEFNA

Vaccination

First, I was waiting for the updated COVID vaccine to arrive. My only COVID happened at that time of the year, when the previous vaccine was already worn off, and the new one hadn’t arrived yet. Since I also travel extensively at that time of the year, I always try to get a new shot as soon as it becomes available.

So, I was waiting for the updated vaccine. The same day it became available, the new CDC guidelines barred me from getting it. I tried to schedule on both CVS and Walgreens sites, and both times got: Sorry, you are not eligible. Meanwhile, my GP returned from vacation and replied to the message I sent to her earlier: Yes, you should get a shot. I told her that “I am not eligible.” She replied: Maybe we do not have this vaccine yet. Could you try a local pharmacy? And please schedule a virtual visit with me if there are any issues. I replied that it was actually the local pharmacy that didn’t allow me to get an updated shot, and then decided to give it another try.

I started at the CVS site again and selected “I have a condition.” Nobody asked me what condition I have, and I could select an appointment pretty much immediately. I didn’t even have an insurance card with me, but I knew that this pharmacy had me in their system. I downloaded the card from the BCBS website and hurried up to my appointment.

Indeed, they didn’t ask for my insurance card, just verified the date of birth and said that both COVID and Flu were free, and five minutes later, I walked out with two band-aids on my arms.

That happened yesterday, and with all the craziness going on today with the Senate hearing, I am glad I didn’t spare any time!

Greeting Cards

I bought several greeting cards at Glenwood Art Fest, and most of them were from http://www.printedcanvas.com. I want to show the one I gave to Boris. What is said on this card is so true that we couldn’t stop laughing. Here it is.

Now we mention it all the time :).

End Of Summer

It was a very good end of summer. Oftentimes, when Boris is here, I end up being even more tired than “normal,” and after he goes back, I feel like I need to catch up with life for at least two weeks. It didn’t happen this time.

I took last Friday off, making it an “extra-long” weekend, and for these four days, I managed to remove myself from work almost entirely. We were doing all sorts of “normal” things; I don’t know how else to say it, but I truly felt like I had four days off, not four days to catch up on things.

I was sad that it became sharply colder the next day after Boris’ arrival, but that’s the weather he likes, and if it were warmer, we might not be able to bike as much as we did. Biking was amazing; I believe it was the first time since I moved to Rogers Park that we biked together, and I didn’t worry about him not seeing the cars. Both of our new bikes are great, and after a whole week of biking together, I’ve completely come to terms with how much they cost.

On Labor Day, the warmth had partially returned, and I went to the beach immediately after I saw Boris off. To my surprise, the water was still warm! As my neighbor commented, the wind was from the East, so all the warm water stayed in. Thank you, Lake!

Books

Some (not all the books) I listened to and read recently.

The Tree of Knowledge – I liked it when I just started reading it; it looked like an interesting

The Dream Machine I LOVED this book! So many things we now take for granted, and you do not think that at some point, somebody came up with this idea! Things like “there shall be memory” :). Starting from the very first ideas, how a computer should be built, the concepts of processor and memory, the concept of a program as a set of commands, binary representation… I knew some bits and pieces of that history, but only some. Absolutely fascinating reading.

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes. I liked it less than all the other books by the same author. I felt like she tried to talk about too many characters in one book, and it ended up being more shallow than some of her other books.

After the Spike – great book! The first book on the subject of (de)population and declining birth rates that I have ever come across, which discusses the real causes of the problem, rather than merely suggesting that “women should be paid more and daycare should be affordable.” Love how the authors talk about the “opportunity cost” and what we all can do about it.

The Rope Walker. I learned who Jaan Kross is when I visited Tallinn last January, and saw his sculpture on one of the Old Town streets. I wanted to find out who this person is, and I learned that he lived in Estonia all his life, including the years of Soviet and German occupation. And during all this time, he has been writing historical novels. He was very popular, and for some reason, he was never prosecuted, and his books were regularly published. At the same time, he continued to be deeply respected by everyone in the country.

Naturally, I wanted to read his books, and I discovered that his most popular trilogy had been translated into English. It took me a while to finish it, because I rarely have time to sit and read, and there is no audio version, but I loved it!

Honestly, I do not know how in the world Jaan Kross got away with writing this kind of book under Soviet occupation, but I guess they took it literally like he was talking about Germans 🙂

Regardless of political context, it’s a great book! I may be biased, because I love Tallinn, and I know not every street, but almost every building mentioned. When you read this book, you are completely immersed in the life of Medieval Tallinn; I felt like I could hear every sound, and smell every smell… I am on book three now!

Going (almost) All The Way South

Today, Boris and I did what I wanted to do for a very long time: biked from our house all the way south, almost to the end of the Lake Front Trail. “Almost” was because of imperfect planning and our local problem of the absence of public bathrooms everywhere, especially in city parks, and specifically on the Lake Front Trail. Moreover, there were several portables sitting around during summer, but someone decided that summer was already over 🤷🏻‍♀️.

We planned for the worst-case bathroom scenario, so it was not a complete showstopper, but another thing I didn’t know was how many interesting things we would discover along the way. We should have planned a day trip to have time to stop by each overpass and look down, or cross the Lake Shore Drive and look at the small pond with swans, or stop at the wildlife sanctuary.

Also, for some reason, I thought that the Lake Front Trail ends by the Museum of Science and Industry, but it turns out that it doesn’t. I was determined to reach the very end, but there was a big traffic crossing very close to the abovementioned end, and I knew it was just a mile and a half left, so I made an executive decision to turn back.

In total, we covered 39.6 miles, and I was planning for 41 miles, but I decided not to focus on these small details 🙂

I took way fewer pictures than I planned, but it is definitely not the last time. Next time, we will plan for at least six hours on the road.

Continue reading “Going (almost) All The Way South” →