12/29/2021
My 7 year old nephew and my brother-in-law tested positive today. Today was to be my nephew's first vaccination. My brother-in-law is vaccinated but quarantining. My sister tested negative so she's holding down the fort.
I asked, "Were there visitors? Don't tell me if they're family or not. Were they trustworthy?"
Pregnant silence.
"Were they trustworthy?"
Woo beat around the bush for a little bit. "They were family."
Even my little sister has doubts about the trustworthiness of my biological parents. Current best guess is my nephew and brother-in-law caught it at martial arts class.
As for me, I have a slight and nagging cough but so far so good. While coming home I stopped at pharmacies to see if they had rapid tests, just-in-case, but like Baby Jesus searching for a place to sleep there were none to be had in Monmouth County. Bloomfield took a rapid test, came up negative which helped my anxiety. Tomorrow there'll be the results from the PCR and I'm certain to be clear.
On Christmas, I drove up north to drop off a gift I acquired through my dealer. And it wasn't drugs.
On the other hand, or foot, both feet are approaching 100% and there'll be confirmation on Thursday when I head into Toms River. This morning's shower at 5:45 took thirty minutes and maintaining balance was less challenging than before. Pain was minimal too. Balancing on my left foot is dicey, but my right foot is pretty steady if I play my cards right.
While I was leaving Monmouth, I took off my boot while sitting half-in, half-out of the driver's side. I overheard myself giving a running narrative out of nowhere about how I enjoy the cold weather and the county clerk's office was ridiculously warm. "Fucking normies. I'm most comfortable when it's 30° - 40°F / -1°F - 4°C (272 - 277 Kelvin) because I was crech'ed on Miranda. Ever hear about Miranda? Something shattered it ages ago, probably before the dinosaurs. Anyway there are caverns which one can traverse to get out the other side. Kinda-sorta. Populace keeps the temperature in that ballpark to save energy and not risk overloading the solar dust on the surface. When it's earthsummer, temps sometimes rise a little above 40°F but not much, and I'm accustomed to it. It also explains why I'm so big. There's something like telomeres for growth and Mirandans have those tweaked so we are constantly growing to avoid bone rot and muscle atrophy while being relatively comfortable. One side effect is Mirandans are gourmonds and there's no such thing as a moment on the lips and a lifetime on the hips, but forget to eat and you're kinda fucked. Plus the tanks to remedy the situation don't always work and they're really uncomfortable. Ever have your lungs filled with an oxygenated perfluorocarbon emulsion or a reasonable facsimile? Getting in and out is torture. Did I mention the tanks don't always work? It's a cough that lingers and lingers for days and each cough feels like it's ripping up the lungs. Hope you know MSL because speech will require therapy. Some people tried to be sedated during the process and it somehow makes the situation worse if one's lungs are successfully filled. Eat everything on your fucking plate, there are kids starving on Europa. Anyway I still don't know why I'm in this 21st century sim and not somewhere else like 1890 or 1432 C.E. but it's a vacation. Even if it means I'm trying to figure out my purpose. I don't even know if I've been here for a full 51 years or if that stuff's been coded into my brain. "Coded" isn't right but the actual term isn't even human and hurts as much to pronounce as coughing out one's lungs after a spin in the tank. When I find the fucker who put me here without a syllabus, I'm going to throw em on the surface with twenty minutes of N-02 mix and a flat battery. Even then I'd bring them back in because Mirandans, regardless of their anger, do not like endangering others which is why we've been burrowed above high Uranian orbit for the past two hundred and eighty three years."
