last night i scheduled a vaccine appointment at my nearby walgreens on somerville avenue. i just wanted to get the shingles vaccine, but the online form asked if i wanted to schedule more, up to a maximum of 4. i thought, why not? sure, it'd be more painful, but better to get them out of the way then having to endure multiple weeks of unpleasant vaccine recovery. i was only given 3 choices. the covid-19 vaccine is currently unavailable in massachusetts through a pharmacy due to RFK jr. CDC shenanigans. the state will fix it eventually, but currently no-go. the other choices were for shingles, the flu, and pneumonia. i selected all three and and picked 11:30am as my appointment time.
before my vaccination, i went out for a run. the weather was nice - 70's, blue skies, white clouds - enjoy these nice days while they last, since winter is just around the corner. i didn't leave the house until 9:30am. that gave me 2 hours before my vaccination, plenty of time to go out and come back.
i went on my usual circuit loop. i got cramps today, which i almost never do in recent runs, but i used to get them all the time. it started around the heart area, which is always troubling. i stopped for a walk and waited for the pain to go away before continuing. then i cramped again, this time around my liver. i just pushed through it, since i was nearly finished with my run anyway.
instead of coming home, i went to harvard square to get some money from the bank. i needed cash to pay for the propane i planned on getting later in the afternoon. it was a good idea, but i didn't factor in the fact that i was cutting through harvard square right during a class changeover, so the streets were crowded with students. i ended up running in the streets a few times just to gain some distance.
i haven't used an ATM in a long time. it may be a decade or more. if i needed cash, i just dip into my slush fund from all the past roommates who've stayed at my place (always paid in cash). but that money has dwindled, or i only have large bills now, and i needed smaller denominations. i wasn't familiar with the TD ATM kiosk. are all ATM's like this nowadays? instead of inserting my card vertically, it asked to insert horizontally. there was also an option to select denominations (i went with 4 $5 and 4 $20, the default). finally, instead of the money feeding out, it dispersed inside of a sealed "oven" that only opened after it ejected my debit card. so fancy!
i cut across harvard yard to get home, running through the gauntlet of students. i made good time despite the havard square ATM detour, getting home a bit after 10:30am. that gave me almost an hour to use the bathroom, take a shower, and ready myself for doom.
i didn't bother waiting and left a bit early for my appointment. none of my usual pharmacists were there today, but the one working the front desk and doing the vaccines was a pretty young woman. she took my info and asked me to wait in the waiting area. i thought i was the only one today (it certainly looked like it online, all appointment times were opened as of last time), but there was a hispanic woman bringing her mother to get the flu vaccine. they also wanted to get the RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) vaccine (recommended for adults 75+) but the pharmacy database said she already got it months ago in lynn so wouldn't authorize another dose. the mother went into the little room and came back less than 30 seconds later. that was fast!
i thought i'd be up immediately afterwards but i still had to wait. i saw another old lady come by to get her flu vaccine. this was my neighbor from across the street. i don't know how old she is now, and not even sure she remembers me, but i certainly remember her: she was the one who scolded me for parking my motorcycle in a car spot many years ago (i pay cambridge insurance and the residential parking permit like everyone else, but apparently i don't deserve the same level of parking privileges).
finally the pharmacist called me in. she apologized immediately for how cold it was in the room. i thought it was because to keep the vaccines at a low temperature, but she said it's because the central air vent was right above us, blasting us with the full force of the air conditioning. she gave me the pneumonia shot first - 0.5ml prevnar (pneumococcal confugate vaccine) - administered into the muscle. she did it so fast i didn't even realize it was happening. the second vaccine was for flu - flucelvax 0.5ml (influenza virus vaccine) - administered into the muscle as well. i felt that one, like a a really big needle into my arm. finally i got the shingles vaccine - shingrix 0.5ml (recombinant zoster vaccine) - also into th muscle, and i felt that as well. with that i was done, less than a minute. the pharmacist gave me 2 red walgreens bandaids.
when i came out of the office my old lady neighbor remarked, "that was fast!" my right bicep already started to hurt. i went home for lunch.
i realize i must be a masochist because i seemed to be doing things all day that hurt me. first the exhausting morning run (featuring cramps), then the harvard square student gauntlet. that was followed by 3 vaccines guaranteed to cause me pain and suffering for the next few days. and then there was lunch. i had a piece of leftover turkey in the fridge. i decided to make a sandwich even though the turkey felt a little tacky. the sandwich looked good, but it tasted a bit sour. was that the turkey meat or the tomato slices? only my digestion can tell.
i left the house around 12:30pm. i took the motorcycle to my parents' place, so i could grab the two empty propane tanks, and get them refilled at the waltham american legion building. it's not advertised on google maps, but they have a large 300-gallon propane tank in the parking lot that you can refill your own tanks for $18 a pop, which is a very good deal. this is where we normally get our propane. i've never driven there before, but google maps told me it was less than 3 miles and would take 9 minutes, basically a straight shot to warrendale.
i was afraid they were closed, but there was a grizzled man sitting in a lawn chair. when he saw me pulling up, he got up right away. we chatted while he refilled the tank. he was trying to read my tennessee t-shirt. i told him about the free moonshine testing. i also mentioned the high (10%) sales tax. "not as high as MA cigarette taxes," he chimed in with a smile, revealing several missing teeth. when i went to pay for the refills, he immediately grabbed $4 in change, but i told him to keep it, "for the cigarettes."
going home was much easier. i ran this errand so fast, and it was still early, i decided to stick around belmont and do some front yard bush pruning. this was something we should've done back in the spring, not wait until fall. but better late than never. so by then the whole arm was sore, but i found doing manual labor seems to help out with the pain. i grabbed a ladder and some tools and cut a few bushes. they need more trimming, but since i couldn't outstretch with right arm without discomfort, i decided to do that some other time. but like i saying, here was something else i was doing that caused me pain.
i finally left, getting back to cambridge around 2:30pm.
i still around until 3pm before leaving again. i took the somerville community pathway by mcgrath's highway and headed to casa bikes to get a status update on my ebike. it's been 3-1/2 weeks and i still haven't heard anything. what's going on? getting to the pathway was tough, but once i was on it, it was smooth sailing. what a joy it'd be to ride the nicely paved pathway on an bike!
the only one working today that i recognized was charles. he was helping with a customer so i waited. afterwards i asked him about my ebike. he looked it up and laughed. good laugh or bad laugh? he told me the front fork was damaged so they had to send out for a new one, supposedly shipping today. he told me to call or text them next wednesday, where there's a good chance the ebike will be ready. i also told him i bought a litelok X1, and asked if i could get it now. he said they usually like to include the purchased accessories with the purchased bike. he did look for the lock but said he couldn't find it, didn't know where daisy put them.
with that i left. i caught a glimpse of eric before leaving. eric and daisy are the friendly ones, charles seems like a grouch. no ebike, but at least i kind of have an idea what's happening. it would've been nice if they somehow informed me, instead of me having to come and ask myself.
i felt it on the way to cambridge crossing and felt it again on the way back: my stomach was not happening. that turkey i had earlier? not the best. i could feel my insides grumbling. fortunately it wasn't too bad, and i still had some time to get some groceries from market basket on my way home. not too much, i decided to have one last greek salad for dinner, even though i'm sick of greek salad at this point. it's only because i still have a lot of ingredients left.
by this point my whole body was aching. it seems so weird, they only injected me on the right side, but somehow the aches migrated to other parts of the body. my joints in particular, they felt sore. the tendons in my butt were especially outspoken, maybe too much biking. i was thankfully to be finally home and could use the bathroom. masochist anyone?
i didn't leave the house the rest of the day. my order of scandinavian salted licorice fish gummies arrived by evening, but i didn't even bother trying some. besides the body aches, i felt tired. later in the evening i started getting cold chills. the problem is because i got three vaccines, i can't figure out which one is the worst and causing the symptoms. maybe all of them? i searched online. a tetanus vaccine is supposed to be of the worst for pain, since it includes adjuvants along with the injection, purposely causing inflammation to juice the immune system. the shingles vaccine is right up there. pneumonia and flu? not so much.
i finally applied for the rebate for the hybrid hot water heater in belmont. because it's a level 4 (the highest of efficiency), belmont will pay $500 in rebate. i had a 6 month grace period, but i figured better to do it than accidentally forgetting. that will bring down the final price to around $1100. we bought it back in may during a memorial day sale, with about $100 worth of taxes. my father was freaking out that everything would be more expensive because of the trump tariffs. the same hybrid hot water heater currently sells on home depot for $100 more. i also tried getting a rebate for the new nest 3 thermostat i got out. i filled out the online form, but there seems to be a glitch, and it won't submit, said i'm forgetting something. i'll try a different browser. thankfully i have until the end of the year to redeem that rebate ($100, though i bought the brand new smart thermostat for just $100, so basically a free upgrade if i can get this rebate worked out).
i made one last greek salad at 8pm. i finished most of it, but the remaining feta cheese and olives were just too salty for my taste so i threw them out. i checked the mail and saw an unexpected postcard from eliza from the basque country.
i'm going to finish up early tonight and go to bed. maybe a good night's sleep will alleviate some of these vaccine symptoms.