Chiff and Fipple Forums

Katharine wrote: ↑Mon Apr 26, 2021 3:50 pm And I still do not want to inadvertently infect anyone else. I will pass on going to restaurants, going to dance class, being unmasked in close proximity to other people, etc. for a while.

Those are pretty much my parameters. But I made one exception: got a haircut from a friend. We only get out when we need to grab the essentials and the quicker the better, we're both COVID-free and vaccinated, and no one was coughing, so we figured this one was probably going to be okay. I've cut my own hair for decades, but I'd been letting it grow into the Aging Hippie look as an act of solidarity with those who had to forego the barber in These Trying Times (actually, it was more that I'd come down with a case of Screwitosis). She did a pretty good job, too, even if it wasn't the way I'd have thought to do it. Striking a blow for normality, I suppose.

Nanohedron wrote: ↑Mon Apr 26, 2021 4:16 pm

Katharine wrote: ↑Mon Apr 26, 2021 3:50 pm And I still do not want to inadvertently infect anyone else. I will pass on going to restaurants, going to dance class, being unmasked in close proximity to other people, etc. for a while.

Those are pretty much my parameters. But I made one exception: got a haircut from a friend. We only get out when we need to grab the essentials and the quicker the better, we're both COVID-free and vaccinated, and no one was coughing, so we figured this one was probably going to be okay. I've cut my own hair for decades, but I'd been letting it grow into the Aging Hippie look as an act of solidarity with those who had to forego the barber in These Trying Times (actually, it was more that I'd come down with a case of Screwitosis). She did a pretty good job, too, even if it wasn't the way I'd have thought to do it. Striking a blow for normality, I suppose.

I'm now stuck in a dilemma. My uncle died and the family is having a memorial dinner soon. I want to go, but... no way do I want to be sitting around with all my older relatives, probably pretty near each other, without a mask. Hopefully most of them are vaccinated, but I'm not fully vaccinated yet, and it's possible to still get/carry the virus even with a vaccine. I'm thinking I will go, and just decline to eat (so I don't have to take my mask off; I don't want to seem rude by not eating, but I'd rather be safe) and will try to quarantine from now until then and hope I don't get called into the office. We'll see if I also take the risk of visiting my dad while I'm up there (vaccinated but with breathing issues so I especially don't want to infect him).

Have you discussed this with any of them?

I'm going to talk to my dad to see if he would be okay with a (masked) visit, but the rest, no. It doesn't really matter-- I'm not comfortable with the risk of infecting someone else, so I'll not be unmasking in close proximity to people. (Unless you mean, have I asked them if they're comfortable with me being there since I'm not fully vaccinated.)

Katharine wrote: ↑Thu Apr 29, 2021 6:23 pm(Unless you mean ...)

Any concerns are important.

Rapid tests? In the UK reporting of the statistics has got tangled up with politics and political journalism but it looks like the lateral flow tests that our government is handing out for free don't let many infectious people slip through the net. Not a reason to dispense with the other precautions but enough to reduce the level of worry (if one can be rational about it). It looks like some events will be using them before admission.

david_h wrote: ↑Fri Apr 30, 2021 3:10 pm In the UK reporting of the statistics has got tangled up with politics and political journalism ...

That's all over the globe, and the US is very much not exempt.

david_h wrote:... but it looks like the lateral flow tests that our government is handing out for free don't let many infectious people slip through the net. Not a reason to dispense with the other precautions but enough to reduce the level of worry (if one can be rational about it). It looks like some events will be using them before admission.

I can tell you that some Yanks would object to being tested. But then, they don't have to go to an event*, either.



*It's been a mighty slog, but with your help we've finally managed to crowbar the conversation precariously back on topic.

david_h wrote:... Not a reason to dispense with the other precautions ...

Or, for some, maybe not so. I guess a lot of festival organisers will be looking at the result of this experiment:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... ovid-pilot
Trad festivals generally being somewhat more staid events:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/newsbeat-56951642

We went out for a hike with friends last week and didn't wear masks, though we carried them. Everybody had been fully vaccinated. It felt strange--we could have been seen by others on the trail as either responsible people who had been vaccinated and were thus safe to be around, or we could have been read as a bunch of mask skeptics putting others at risk.


West Virginia, the neighboring state, is offering people 16 and under a $100 savings bond to get vaccinated. It might be smart, in the US, to offer financial incentives to get the lazy and reluctant into action. But at the same time neighboring countries need more vaccine, and India, what a disaster

CT Festivals are smaller in general compared to festivals in other states. Restrictions are slowly lifting, however, planning events takes more time than recent changes in requirements so a lot of festivals will properly plan for next year 2022 provided pandemic doesn't change.

https://patch.com/connecticut/westport/ ... dy2iJf9cZs

david_h wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 2:49 am Trad festivals generally being somewhat more staid events:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/newsbeat-56951642

I don't know what trad festivals you've been going to, but "[s]ticky floors, queues for the loos, that sweaty smell and, inevitably, losing your phone" describes some pretty well!

"[s]ticky floors, queues for the loos, that sweaty smell and, inevitably, losing your phone" describes some pretty well!

Ah yes, the smell of puke and piss in the street post Willie, you'd almost miss it. Almost.

We went out for a hike with friends last week and didn't wear masks, though we carried them. Everybody had been fully vaccinated. It felt strange--we could have been seen by others on the trail as either responsible people who had been vaccinated and were thus safe to be around, or we could have been read as a bunch of mask skeptics putting others at risk.

It's awkward isn't it? Vaccination is gathering momentum here, I just got my appointment to get my first shot on Tuesday, but mask wearing on walking trails is not really a thing here, ouitside and keeping enough distance appears safe enough Just had a quick 10km morning walk around the 12 O'Clock Hills in East Clare, lovely walk not terribly busy considering it's a Bankholiday weekend but people moving in their own family or close friend bubbles and taking good care to keep a distance, no bother. Winds from the East making it slightly hazy but good enough views, once outside the forrest areas, from the Connemara mountains on one side to Carrantouhill on the other and everything in between. Clears the head nicely, lovely walk.

bigsciota wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 5:31 pm

david_h wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 2:49 am Trad festivals generally being somewhat more staid events:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/newsbeat-56951642

I don't know what trad festivals you've been going to, but "[s]ticky floors, queues for the loos, that sweaty smell and, inevitably, losing your phone" describes some pretty well!

Yeah, "staid"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEi3hCAVmn8

ecadre wrote: ↑Sun May 02, 2021 8:29 am Yeah, "staid"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEi3hCAVmn8

Wow. Is that what they call a mosh pit?

Nanohedron wrote: ↑Sun May 02, 2021 1:37 pm

ecadre wrote: ↑Sun May 02, 2021 8:29 am Yeah, "staid"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEi3hCAVmn8

Wow. Is that what they call a mosh pit?

I'm not sure how serious you're being

English ceilidhs (yes, we nicked the word ceilidh many years ago as a "cooler" word for what are English Country Dances) at festivals can run from mayhem with a lot of inexperienced dancers present and and getting lost,

https://youtu.be/Le3T74kzyEg?t=121

Through to the rather delightful,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiB7Ks14XvI

It ain't cool, it ain't sophisticated, but it's fantastic fun to dance, and to play for. I can hardly wait to get going with it all again.