Coronavirus prep
Options
Replies
-
Things are pretty open where I am. Some vet clinics are still doing curbside. A good friend of mine is a vet and she said if someone on her staff gets COVID, they have to close down for 2 weeks those closures are part of what is causing so much backlog in veterinary care now. Otherwise, stuff is open but they are still requiring masks in most places because who knows who has been vaccinated and who not? I do find it interesting that, the people who were frustrated with others questioning the CDC are now NOT trusting the CDC's current statement that, if you are fully vaccinated, it is safe to go without a mask. They have become security blankets from some, I think. Theough I know there are exceptions, I believe the vaccinations are effective and I have faith it will protect me. I will continue to wear a mask in public places where I am asked to do so because I am not a jerk.9
-
@Ann262 Thanks for putting the vet's situation in perspective. The only thing I will add is that I assume the vets would have had that same 2 week closedown requirement in the fall. In November and December, when I had several appointments, it was my choice if I came in or did curbside. In the fall, I was not vaccinated and was a greater risk to them, but now that I am vaccinated I am not allowed in. I think that is what adds to my frustration. I had more options when I was a greater risk to them.4
-
GaleHawkins wrote: »https://www.wpsdlocal6.com/city-manager-explains-decision-to-lift-mask-mandate-social-distancing-requirements-in-paducah-city-hall/article_e85ce302-b78a-11eb-80bd-cf4a4f2fd964.html.
Sounds like top down leadership is impacting local mask mandates.
Interesting to see the change was with the town hall. Yesterday, I needed a notary and headed to the town hall, my usual source. Nope. Will not notarize "due to COVID".
Earlier in the week, cat needed vet for eye issue. Curb side pickup and cannot come in. They call you on the your phone while in the parking lot. Vet starts asking about the issue using anatomical terms that I don't know, and my response was that if I (a vaccinated person with mask) were allowed in, I could point to the problem! I was told that they are not all vaccinated (huh? why not?) and that until that town is "safe" they will not reopen. I looked up the town, and the important number to me is deaths. The last death in that town was May 2020 and even then the total was very very low.
Yesterday, another notary attempt, I went to the UPS store (another notary source). Nope won't do it. As I am figuring out my next option, I am listening to these three admittedly fully vaccinated millenials talking (they talked a lot!) about how they are so virtuous that they double mask. There was no one else in the store?
Needed to go to my safety deposit box. Bank has been closed for over a year. Cannot get in. You have to call for an appointment to get to your box and they send someone from an open location, who then either does not show or comes late and acts cranky once there. I call customer service to find out when are they going to open that location. "Staff is not vaccinated" so it's not safe. I said they should get their @$$es vaccinated then. She did not like that. How are the branches in the other towns open?
I am just so frustrated by this all. If vaccinations are good, great. If masks are good, great. Open up already. I am vaccinated and willing to wear a mask in appropriate indoor settings. Enough already.
I'm curious: how have these things worked after March 2020? If you live in a place that needs notarized paperwork in general, I'd imagine someone has needed a notary sometime in the last 14 months. Same with vets, don't they do video appointments where you could show your pet?
We still have less than half of adult population vaccinated. Notarizing paperwork here isn't really a thing (unless you need to take paperwork to a foreign country that require it) and I don't have a pet, but every service I've tried using in the last 14 months has worked well either over the phone, a text chat, a video chat or an on-site appointment if the matter can't be handled remotely.
If your town has seriously been in a complete shutdown without services for 14 months, I totally understand your frustration.6 -
SModa 61 - try to find a bank that is open to visitors. I needed some paperwork notarized and went to the nearest Credit Union that had indoor service. They had a couple of notaries available.4
-
The governor of the great state of Texas has made it illegal for local governments or SCHOOL DISTRICTS (you know, with children too young to be vaccinated) to issue or to enforce mask mandates. Grab some popcorn and let's see how this goes down.13
-
@hipari If you saw my reply to @ann262, my vet of the past 20+ years allowed pet parents in during my November and December appointments when I was not vaccinated. Now that I am vaccinated, they are in lock down. As for the % vaccinated. Here that is no longer due to scarcity, but due to unwillingness to get one. There are areas in the US paying people, or giving gift or prizes to people for getting vaccinated. So meanwhile, while I am waiting for those individuals to collect their prizes, businesses are staying locked down because enough are not vaccinated. I am angry that these people are making me into an angry person.
As for the notary, important legal paperwork that we received on short notice that had to be turned around with overnight shipping the same day. After a multitude of phone calls, our lawyer's clerk made arrangements with her son, who is a notary, for us to drive multiple towns to meet him. It was exceedingly nice of both him and her. That office's safety action was to have the notary come outside to us. He said that he has been doing this for people for many months. He even refused any payment from us. That part of my day was very uplifting and makes me want to pay kindness forward.
As for pet video appointment, in Han's case it was an eye problem which would be hard to catch on any camera, and also since animals are unable to contribute to the discussion, unlike an adult human, i do not see how a video appointment would work in most instances. I'd have to compare it to diagnosing a new born by video.
It is not my whole town, but it has been a very frustrating week.8 -
@spiriteagle99 I truly appreciate the suggestion. I did eventually get a solution through a law office multiple towns away. Yes, I would have tried my bank, but it is on lockdown despite requiring me to pay monthly for my safety deposit box at full rate (would be nice it there was a discount given I do not have unrestricted access and they are not paying for any staff). So they were not an option. The bank next to it, same thing. If you try and call a bank before driving over, the phone number is an 800 number and talking to a particular location is a challenge.
5 -
Last comment for me. I thought I would share a vocabulary word that I was introduced to at some point this past year. When I catch myself happily expecting the worst for someone/thing/place, I think about how a country gave it a word and a how maybe I should be altering my thinking and not be thinking/hoping the worst. That word is Schadenfreude.
Edit: Just re-reading what I wrote. Hopefully all can get the concept I was trying to convey and overlook the wording.1 -
@Ann262 Thanks for putting the vet's situation in perspective. The only thing I will add is that I assume the vets would have had that same 2 week closedown requirement in the fall. In November and December, when I had several appointments, it was my choice if I came in or did curbside. In the fall, I was not vaccinated and was a greater risk to them, but now that I am vaccinated I am not allowed in. I think that is what adds to my frustration. I had more options when I was a greater risk to them.
I wonder if they had someone get infected or a COVID exposure scare that shut them down or caused staffing issues due to quarantine that has led them to be much more risk adverse. You sound willing to take reasonable precautions. Unfortunately, there are too many others who are not and put others at risk including defying any health mandates or guidance like a petulant child and lying. My sister's work had to shut down at a point early in the pandemic because someone came in who had tested positive and was supposed to be in quarantine but "had errands to do".6 -
Our vet is doing curbside as well, you go to the parking lot and they call you to do a phone consult, then you bring your dog to the door. After they examine or vaccinate or whatever they are doing, they call again and do another phone consult, then you go to the door and get your dog. It's worked find for us for 3-4 visits over the last year. We also did one where the dog had a lesion and I just emailed them photos and they prescribed based on that.4
-
My vet is curbside but for a final visit I was allowed in. All were masked.6
-
GaleHawkins wrote: »https://www.wpsdlocal6.com/city-manager-explains-decision-to-lift-mask-mandate-social-distancing-requirements-in-paducah-city-hall/article_e85ce302-b78a-11eb-80bd-cf4a4f2fd964.html.
Sounds like top down leadership is impacting local mask mandates.
Interesting to see the change was with the town hall. Yesterday, I needed a notary and headed to the town hall, my usual source. Nope. Will not notarize "due to COVID".
Earlier in the week, cat needed vet for eye issue. Curb side pickup and cannot come in. They call you on the your phone while in the parking lot. Vet starts asking about the issue using anatomical terms that I don't know, and my response was that if I (a vaccinated person with mask) were allowed in, I could point to the problem! I was told that they are not all vaccinated (huh? why not?) and that until that town is "safe" they will not reopen. I looked up the town, and the important number to me is deaths. The last death in that town was May 2020 and even then the total was very very low.
Yesterday, another notary attempt, I went to the UPS store (another notary source). Nope won't do it. As I am figuring out my next option, I am listening to these three admittedly fully vaccinated millenials talking (they talked a lot!) about how they are so virtuous that they double mask. There was no one else in the store?
Needed to go to my safety deposit box. Bank has been closed for over a year. Cannot get in. You have to call for an appointment to get to your box and they send someone from an open location, who then either does not show or comes late and acts cranky once there. I call customer service to find out when are they going to open that location. "Staff is not vaccinated" so it's not safe. I said they should get their @$$es vaccinated then. She did not like that. How are the branches in the other towns open?
I am just so frustrated by this all. If vaccinations are good, great. If masks are good, great. Open up already. I am vaccinated and willing to wear a mask in appropriate indoor settings. Enough already.
I'm curious: how have these things worked after March 2020? If you live in a place that needs notarized paperwork in general, I'd imagine someone has needed a notary sometime in the last 14 months. Same with vets, don't they do video appointments where you could show your pet?
We still have less than half of adult population vaccinated. Notarizing paperwork here isn't really a thing (unless you need to take paperwork to a foreign country that require it) and I don't have a pet, but every service I've tried using in the last 14 months has worked well either over the phone, a text chat, a video chat or an on-site appointment if the matter can't be handled remotely.
If your town has seriously been in a complete shutdown without services for 14 months, I totally understand your frustration.
I live in Rome, Italy. Our family (myself included) has expired ID cards with photos (Carta d'Identita). The offices that renew them all over the city have been closed for over a year. My son NEEDED that document for an important Bar Exam that he will have in a couple of months. He got online and there was one place that would do it for emergencies. He reserved at Christmas, and his appointment was last week. He had to verify the appointment 2 days before or it would be cancelled. He had to travel across the city to the office that would do it. He managed to get the document. The rest of us are just waiting.13 -
@Ann262 Thanks for putting the vet's situation in perspective. The only thing I will add is that I assume the vets would have had that same 2 week closedown requirement in the fall. In November and December, when I had several appointments, it was my choice if I came in or did curbside. In the fall, I was not vaccinated and was a greater risk to them, but now that I am vaccinated I am not allowed in. I think that is what adds to my frustration. I had more options when I was a greater risk to them.
That's interesting. I've had a few vet appointments throughout this, and since covid started they've always done the wait in your car, get the call, drop the cat with someone at the door (or at the emergency place, they come to the car to get the animal), wait for the call to discuss, etc. I don't know when they plan to start.
I was bothered by this initially since one of my two cats has major vet fear (he takes anti anxiety medicine before going by I still like to be with him), but it has worked okay.
It's no problem to find a notary here, depending on the purpose, but there's also some zoom option, I believe.
Most everything is and has been open here, but there are still various limitations on the numbers of people allowed in (not to the extent that I run into lines like at the beginning) and still masks required inside normally (I think that last is changing in the rest of the state, but not here yet).2 -
More re notaries, I refi'd my mortgage in spring of last year, and originally they thought they could do everything remotely but ended up sending someone to my house and we signed and notarized on the front porch. I work in a building with a big title company, and for months they had been doing closings right outside the building with someone coming out to meet people in their car. Now they are open, and it's mostly inside again.5
-
@lemurcat2 We initally asked for a zoom notary because we used that for some estate work earlier on. We were told a hard "no", and with shortish notice (the other side needs suddenly docs by friday) we needed to move quickly. Then yesterday, when we were having issues, we were now told that we should zoom. Huh? It was a "no" just the day before. Great, we start arranging that and turns out you have to set up an appointment, then they mail signature documents, which one must somehow then sign (did we need that notarized too? - I was not the one on the phone), then you overnight it back, then they set up an appointment for the zoom notary. Just not an option in the short time. If it were set up weeks ahead, it would have been feasible. When we did our previous zoom, it was with our own attorney who has plenty of docs to verify our signatures.6
-
That sounds like a huge hassle, ugh.2
-
Ugh, my deepest sympathies to all of you dealing with notaries and vets and ID’s. This makes me exceedingly happy to live in a place where notaries aren’t needed and ID’s can be renewed fully online and picked up from a post office that will ID you before releasing the package with the new ID. I’ve never owned pets so I don’t have experience with vets but from what I’ve heard, they’ve operated fairly normally throughout. The only vet-related limitation I’ve heard of is limiting how many humans can accompany a pet. That’s the same limitation with human doctors, though - my prenatal ultrasound appointments have a strict limit of one healthy adult support person (spouse or otherwise) per expectant mother, no children and no extra people.2
-
Our vet set-up was like yours, consulting on the phone out in the parking lot after the dog was taken indoors by the vet tech. Once they let me in when I requested it and on another occasion the vet actually came outside to talk with us since she didn't feel like the telephone consultation was enough. I understand why they do it, but it wasn't satisfying, especially since we had issues with our phone there. (It seems to be a dead zone, sometimes.)1
-
Ugh, my deepest sympathies to all of you dealing with notaries and vets and ID’s. This makes me exceedingly happy to live in a place where notaries aren’t needed and ID’s can be renewed fully online and picked up from a post office that will ID you before releasing the package with the new ID. I’ve never owned pets so I don’t have experience with vets but from what I’ve heard, they’ve operated fairly normally throughout. The only vet-related limitation I’ve heard of is limiting how many humans can accompany a pet. That’s the same limitation with human doctors, though - my prenatal ultrasound appointments have a strict limit of one healthy adult support person (spouse or otherwise) per expectant mother, no children and no extra people.
The only times I've needed a notary have to do with legal documents (I'm a lawyer, and it seems like that SModa61 is dealing with a legal thing) and of course real estate sales/purchases or related refi of a mortgage. It's not like we need notaries constantly in the US. Are there no such similar things you would ever need one for?
Our driver's licenses can be renewed online (most common ID) so long as they are not expired, and a passport online if it was issued when you were older than 16 and no more than 15 years ago. However, there is a change in the type of ID needed for flying such that many driver's licenses don't fit the requirements and so there is a need to go in to replace the ID if you are switching to that (Real ID). But the deadline has been extended until 2023 for that to be required.3 -
So I listened to TWIV episodes that dropped at about the same time as the CDC updated guidance on masks for vaccinated folks. They noted that the CDC releases "guidance" not "policy". The CDC did not say everyone who is vaccinated should go back to 100% normal behavior. They said the current data affirms that vaccinated people are largely protected from getting sick and spreading disease, so fully vaccinated people can if it makes sense considering their personal circumstances.
The virologists on the podcast said they would continue wearing masks in public indoor places, because not enough people are vaxxed and no vaccine is 100%. They kind of rushed through it as I don't think they were prepared for the announcement. But adding this to what I've been reading on social media from disease specialists, I'm getting the impression that their idea is to continue masking until vaccination rates are higher (70%range) and case numbers are way lower. Obviously everyone has to weigh the pros and cons themselves and make the best decision they can.
I am not bothered in the least by wearing a mask, so I'll continue wearing one in public indoor spaces for now. I'm not wearing one outside, and not at work, where I know unvaxxed coworkers are masking. And I'm back to visiting my family now that we are all vaccinated except for the little ones.
In the new guidelines, the CDC notes that there is not yet enough data to say how protective each vaccine is against current and future variants, how well the vaccines protect people with autoimmune conditions, and how long the vaccine protection will last. If we could get local community vaccine rates up toward 70% and at least preliminary positive answers to those questions, I'd change my mind. Having said that, I am not at all anxious right now about getting covid, and if I found myself in a public situation without a mask I would not be as concerned as I was a few months ago.
Even though I disagree with them, I can totally understand why other vaccinated people will choose to stop masking, especially those who were already low risk and those who don't have small children. We're all out here trying to get our heads around a novel, confusing thing!
If TWIV goes into more detail on this once they've had a chance to think in it, I'll report back17
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.4K Getting Started
- 259.6K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 387 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.2K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 913 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions