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Mrs Whiggins

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So I stayed with my 83 yo dad this past weekend while my stepmom went to the Frio with the grandkids (but luckily not my daughter this year).  Grandson and his wife are not vaccinated and were feeling poorly all week but still went on the trip to the river because they thought it was just allergies.  You know where this is going.  He tested positive on Sunday when he got back.  My dad and stepmom are vaccinated so fingers crossed but I am pissed.  All because the stupid in San Angelo is real.  I will never forgive them if something happens to my dad.

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9 minutes ago, C-Man said:

I can tell you when and why. Sadly, there is a large portion of this country that still cannot accept the fact that we had a black POTUS. And then Trump. Add in a healthy mix of social media (everybody can be a content publisher today) and you get this shit sandwich.

I agree-- the internet and social media as created an irreparable state in America. We all live amongst each other but more or less dislike each other.

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6 minutes ago, DonkeyCigars said:

I appreciate your response. It's so well addressed that I am not sure I have a response that would add to the discussion except to say that while you are accurate about science being based on science, the world we live in today is not one where we trust the best and brightest minds are scientists and doctors and that they aren't compromised in interests (personal, corporate or otherwise).

At the end of the day "Science" is a discipline and the "Scientific Method" is just a process. The application of the Scientific Method and execution of Science is done by people. People who are at times a myriad of both great character, but also imperfect flaws (e.g. biases, agenda-driven, liars, incompetent, selfish, etc.). I'm sure most of the time people in government and science are operating at a higher moral ideal and level (well, maybe not the government. See: Every politician stereotype and joke ever).

But the fact that these things-- vaccines, studies, applications of science, government orders-- are delivered by imperfect people means that there will always be a seat at the table for skepticism and personal freedom to choose skepticism, whatever that means to you. And sometimes what that means to you is different than what it means to Phil from the office.

I guess I lied, I did have a response.

Broadly agree, and you can correct me here (with specifics and links, otherwise it is just noise) but this specific topic has been discussed more deeply and broadly than almost anything else in the history of mankind (insert some sort of parameter around time) and on one side you have the greater scientific and medical community, on the other side you have youtube dipshits and political cretins. You can use the easy heuristic on this one - if there was some non bullshit (and no in this context I don't fucking care about if it was made in a lab) on the side of "maybe, broadly speaking, people shouldn't vaccinate or wear masks" it would have surfaced.

Edited by Celery Man
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5 minutes ago, Ten Bears said:

So I stayed with my 83 yo dad this past weekend while my stepmom went to the Frio with the grandkids (but luckily not my daughter this year).  Grandson and his wife are not vaccinated and were feeling poorly all week but still went on the trip to the river because they thought it was just allergies.  You know where this is going.  He tested positive on Sunday when he got back.  My dad and stepmom are vaccinated so fingers crossed but I am pissed.  All because the stupid in San Angelo is real.  I will never forgive them if something happens to my dad.

Man that sucks: I hope everything works out for your dad.

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12 minutes ago, DonkeyCigars said:

If I were to synthesis your post here, I think you are appealing to the idea that Americans were more communal and less selfish and that was shown by trusting in the government more and doing as they were instructed by experts and the government, right?

Here in Texas, we've had Republicans running things completely for the last 20 years, and mostly for the last 28 years.

10 years ago, they told us they fixed the power grid after the last big storm.

Then February of this year happened, and not only was the grid not fixed, some of them bailed for out-of-state locations, and others tried to blame things like wind or solar power rather than the things actually going wrong.  Over 200 Texans died.  Old people without power had fucking icicles hanging from their ceiling fan.

The Republicans do everything they can to sow doubt in the government, and when they are in charge of the government, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and they deliberately create government you can't trust.  Anarchists could not do a better job of creating distrust of authority than Republicans are doing when they are in office.

And when we have a national emergency like this, elected Republicans are out there trying to spread uncertainty about how to handle this national emergency, whether they do it on Facebook, twitter, or Fox News, and when they are in a position of power such as Abbott, they try and tie the hands of those who are trying to help mitigate this national emergency.

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9 minutes ago, DonkeyCigars said:

I agree-- the internet and social media as created an irreparable state in America. We all live amongst each other but more or less dislike each other.

The internet and social media are only partly to blame.

We have elected Republican officials who are going out there and giving credibility to crackpots.  

We have elected Republican officials who are actively trying to hinder and even shut down our response to a global pandemic.  

We have elected Republican officials who are pretending there is no global pandemic.

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2 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

Broadly agree, and you can correct me here (with specifics and links, otherwise it is just noise) but this specific topic has been discussed more deeply and broadly than almost anything else in the history of mankind (insert some sort of parameter around time) and on one side you have the greater scientific and medical community, on the other side you have youtube dipshits and political cretins. You can use the easy heuristic on this one - if there was some non bullshit (and no in this context I don't fucking care about if it was made in a lab) on the side of "maybe, broadly speaking, people shouldn't vaccinate or wear masks" it would have surfaced.

I know it doesn't seem like it because I have a few fans who follow me around trying to ban me by negging literally every post, but I do generally try and lead with links and information versus random punditry (and I'll never link a youtube video unless it's for humor)-- but I think to your point, there isn't a ton of (credible) immediate push back or divide in the scientific and medical communities because they are all aligned and in the same business (and business is intentionally or unintentionally booming, as Pfizer just updated forecasted earnings that went up ~30% with the addition of booster shot requirements, this week).

I think it is fair to suggest that the real and relevant pushback (if it even exists), will be future dated because a) we can't know what we don't know now and b) we are still largely operating in an all-hands, crisis-mode, react-don't-think which doesn't lend itself to a lot of introspection, investigation and reporting as those are luxuries of a calmer, quieter environment.

All that to say, to your credit and point, you can't prove a negative, and there is absolutely a chance that the greater scientific and medical communities are super smart geniuses who worked something short of a miracle on a compressed timeframe to save the world from covid-19 and skepticism insulted their sacrifice. Absolutely.

disclaimer for your edification: I'm fully vaxxed, pfizer, since April. So I'm not coming at this from too vested an interest as a skeptic.

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17 minutes ago, DonkeyCigars said:

I agree-- the internet and social media as created an irreparable state in America. We all live amongst each other but more or less dislike each other.

The internet and social media are only partly to blame.

We have elected Republican officials who are going out there and giving credibility to crackpots.  

We have elected Republican officials who are actively trying to hinder and even shut down our response to a global pandemic.  

We have elected Republican officials who are pretending there is no global pandemic.

 

 

Edit: Hey kids, when you have multiple tabs open, only push the submit button once!

Edited by atomheartbevo
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32 minutes ago, C-Man said:

And that's a completely disingenuous argument until cancer spreads via inter-personal contact. Also be sure and tell them how much money is spent annually in the quest for a cancer cure/treatment/etc.

100% agree, problem is they don't care until or unless it affects them personally. My argument is that the holdouts can't be "argued" with or convinced to get them to move forward. There has to be some personal inconvenience or penalty.

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I would just add that the "scientific community" is large and bigger than a handful of pharmaceutical companies (even if they are massive and influential), and of course the other half of this is the consideration that the "other" choice in the debate (which, thanks to our poisoned populace we are taking) is catastrophic.

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4 minutes ago, We’reTexas said:

Alright, we have facts that can be readily observed and proven or disproven. Trump did not win the election, there was no voter fraud (and never has been meaningfully), Obama was born in Hawaii, John Kerry actually did earn those medals, there were never any WMDs and Saddan Hussein didn’t have fuck to do with 9/11. And there are phenomena that can be only understand through the scientific method, but have been so thoroughly researched that they are tantamount to fact: climate change is really and caused by humans, and human evolved from apes. 
 

There have been hundreds of think-pieces over the past five years about the need for a common understanding of facts to have a social discourse, so I won’t go into that. But one can absolutely be comfortable in the conviction that another’s belief, perception or skepticism is incorrect. I’m not going to respect a person’s decision to deny the unanimity of modern medicine while they go to the fucking Tractor Supply and fight for the last of the apple-flavored horse dewormer. But more importantly, this ignorance (and that’s what it is) is the product of decades of misinformation by the conservative movement. You had, incredibly, never heard of Emmitt Till - do you know think the CRT thread would have gone differently if you had?

I'm not sure I understand your last question, but concede the rest of your post to be a strong rebuttal.

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37 minutes ago, DonkeyCigars said:

I agree-- the internet and social media as created an irreparable state in America. We all live amongst each other but more or less dislike each other.

I think we've always disliked most everybody else. Now we have a means of saying "fuck you in your fat, fucking face" to anybody at any time anywhere in the world. (And do it behind the safety of anonymity or your computer/phone screen. There are no old school repercussions like a fist in the face or a duel to the death.)

 

39 minutes ago, Ten Bears said:

So I stayed with my 83 yo dad this past weekend while my stepmom went to the Frio with the grandkids (but luckily not my daughter this year).  Grandson and his wife are not vaccinated and were feeling poorly all week but still went on the trip to the river because they thought it was just allergies.  You know where this is going.  He tested positive on Sunday when he got back.  My dad and stepmom are vaccinated so fingers crossed but I am pissed.  All because the stupid in San Angelo is real.  I will never forgive them if something happens to my dad.

My wife was just telling me on our nightly walk yesterday that the delta variant's most common first symptoms are allergy-like, not loss of taste/smell. That's not, uh, good.

 

29 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Here in Texas, we've had Republicans running things completely for the last 20 years, and mostly for the last 28 years.

10 years ago, they told us they fixed the power grid after the last big storm.

Then February of this year happened, and not only was the grid not fixed, some of them bailed for out-of-state locations, and others tried to blame things like wind or solar power rather than the things actually going wrong.  Over 200 Texans died.  Old people without power had fucking icicles hanging from their ceiling fan.

The Republicans do everything they can to sow doubt in the government, and when they are in charge of the government, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and they deliberately create government you can't trust.  Anarchists could not do a better job of creating distrust of authority than Republicans are doing when they are in office.

And when we have a national emergency like this, elected Republicans are out there trying to spread uncertainty about how to handle this national emergency, whether they do it on Facebook, twitter, or Fox News, and when they are in a position of power such as Abbott, they try and tie the hands of those who are trying to help mitigate this national emergency.

As the great P.J. O'Rourke once said: "The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."

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21 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

100% agree, problem is they don't care until or unless it affects them personally. My argument is that the holdouts can't be "argued" with or convinced to get them to move forward. There has to be some personal inconvenience or penalty.

This is, unfortunately, the case and even when it affects them personally, it's often not enough.

I have an acquaintance who is president of a regional construction company; mostly road/pavement stuff, I believe.  They probably do about $20-$30m/year in business.  He's had two key employees die of covid and one on a ventilator now.  His wife has also had it (still has mild after-effects).

He's still not vaccinated and says he won't get it.  He's not anti-vax per se, his reasoning is that "he's never been sick a day in his life"; so he feels immune.  I told him he's playing w/ fire but he's completely unconcerned.  (He's 50, about 6'2" and weighs about 390...think nose guard.)

I've asked him about urging his employees to get vaxxed and he's indifferent to their status.  They do have a remote office situation and, obviously, the majority of their employees work outside in the field but I don't think their company has seen the last of their covid cases. 

Edited by DigglerontheHoof
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2 hours ago, Captainant said:

why stop at vaccines? HAVEN'T YOU HEARD THEY'RE CHLORINATING AND FLOURIDATING THE WATER SUPPLIES???? They're ENRICHING our FLOUR??? They're IODIZING our SALT???

 

MY BODY MY CHOICE RARAAHGHGBAGAGGLY

 

It just seems wildly inconsistent to be perfectly fine with the rest of the societal "chemicals" that we all encounter for the sake of public safety, and to refuse to get a fucking vaccine - even the J&J vaccine, which isn't """gEnE tHeRaPy""". 

Stop making excuses for mental toddlers. Stop arguing a slippery slope in bad faith and intellectual dishonesty. If people like you had the mic back in the day, we never would have beaten polio. And BECAUSE of people like you, we still haven't been able to eradicate measles and it's even had a resurgence.

Seeing a lot of “I just don’t trust Big Pharma”. I’m trying to keep my snark down but I’ve been responding with “so if you need surgery are you going to ask for a bullet to bite? Will you refuse antibiotics going forward?” and “is there a list of Small Pharma companies whose drugs are trustworthy you can share with us?”

 

the typical response is I’m “shaming” them or tying to pry into their personal health history. 

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1 minute ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

This is, unfortunately, the case and even when it affects them personally, it's often not enough.

I have an acquaintance who is president of a regional construction company; mostly road/pavement stuff, I believe.  They probably do about $20-$30m/year in business.  He's had two key employees die of covid and one on a ventilator now.  His wife has also had it (still has mild after-effects).

He's still not vaccinated and says he won't get it.  He's not anti-vax per se, his reasoning is that "he's never been sick a day in his life"; so he feels immune.  I told him he's playing w/ fire but he's completely unconcerned. 

I've asked him about urging his employees to get vaxxed and he's indifferent to their status.  They do have a remote office situation and, obviously, the majority of their employees work outside in the field but I don't think their company has seen the last of their covid cases. 

So in other words that guys a complete asshole. 

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7 minutes ago, MC Fresh Breath said:

Ummm...why did you all not just stick to this?  He's on my ignore, so please quit quoting the disingenuous pos.   When he started insulting the income of educators was actually where I knew I didn't need him in any feed.

Did that happen tho?

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31 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

Maybe

The old smallpox vaccine

is what

Made them stupid?

Y'ever think about that?

Hmm?

Hmmm...So smallpox has killed hundreds of millions in the last century, but the smallpox vaccine has saved a bunch of people, but then it made these people stupid...which leads them to engage in behavior that could kill them.

So smallpox ultimately wins?

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19 minutes ago, C-Man said:

My wife was just telling me on our nightly walk yesterday that the delta variant's most common first symptoms are allergy-like, not loss of taste/smell. That's not, uh, good.

Holy shit, my qanon ant-mask anti-vaccine in-law has been bitching about allergies the past few days, when I've been doing fine (I normally have shitty allergies).

On the one hand, if she's got it, if she ends up in the hospital, her parents will foot the bill for her uninsured ass, which eats into my kids' inheritance.

On the other hand.

Karma Karmas A Bitch GIF by MOODMAN

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Funniest shit in the world to me on social media right now is my MIL who constantly posts MLM stuff and food pics. Throughout this entire thing she's continued posting food pictures talking about how great whatever meal was, but I also know that they got drinks from sonic the other day and couldn't figure out whose was whose because none of them can taste or smell for shit.

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29 minutes ago, C-Man said:

I think we've always disliked most everybody else. Now we have a means of saying "fuck you in your fat, fucking face" to anybody at any time anywhere in the world. (And do it behind the safety of anonymity or your computer/phone screen. There are no old school repercussions like a fist in the face or a duel to the death.)

 

My wife was just telling me on our nightly walk yesterday that the delta variant's most common first symptoms are allergy-like, not loss of taste/smell. That's not, uh, good.

 

As the great P.J. O'Rourke once said: "The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it."

Yeah, I am glad I got tested.  Peace of mind that it is just allergy/sinus issues that feels like it is finally finishing up.  I have moved onto everything moving out of my sinuses now.  Fun times.

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1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

 

Well, this is because....and try to follow me here, because this is super-complicated......they are evil fucking sociopaths for whom cruelty is the point.

They live in a world where these two rules co-exist and make sense in their twisted minds:

1 -- if you want to access your elected sentate, controlled by and made up of majority GQP senators, you MUST have a negative COVID test to even get in.

2 -- school districts, unlike GQP senators, cannot require ANY COVID protection measures like negative tests, vaccines, or masks.

Both those rules exist.  At the same time.  By decree of THE SAME POLITICAL PARTY.

"Protect me, but fuck your family and your kids."

 

And here's the awesome punchline.  Wanna hear it?  You SURE?  Okay, here goes....

These clowns will all sail to easy re-election and continued control of our state, because we are the stupidest motherfucking state (yeah, we're working on out-Mississippi-ing Mississippi, etc.).

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Fun fact for those who are unvaccinated and thus the most likely to require mechanical ventilation:

The anatomical feature that allows you to pour water through your nose like that—the vomer bone—is the same feature we use when securing your feeding tube.

Edited by trauma babe
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2 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Well, this is because....and try to follow me here, because this is super-complicated......they are evil fucking sociopaths for whom cruelty is the point.

They live in a world where these two rules co-exist and make sense in their twisted minds:

1 -- if you want to access your elected sentate, controlled by and made up of majority GQP senators, you MUST have a negative COVID test to even get in.

2 -- school districts, unlike GQP senators, cannot require ANY COVID protection measures like negative tests, vaccines, or masks.

Both those rules exist.  At the same time.  By decree of THE SAME POLITICAL PARTY.

"Protect me, but fuck your family and your kids."

 

And here's the awesome punchline.  Wanna hear it?  You SURE?  Okay, here goes....

These clowns will all sail to easy re-election and continued control of our state, because we are the stupidest motherfucking state (yeah, we're working on out-Mississippi-ing Mississippi, etc.).

I saw a lot of "do as I say, not as I do" virtue signaling with regard to Obama's 60th birthday over the weekend but this is the ultimate example. This and railing against masks and vaccine mandates despite the fact that they were first in line (after frontline medical personnel) to get the goddamn shot. I mean MTG is fucking vaxxed for chrissakes!

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20 minutes ago, C-Man said:

I saw a lot of "do as I say, not as I do" virtue signaling with regard to Obama's 60th birthday over the weekend but this is the ultimate example. This and railing against masks and vaccine mandates despite the fact that they were first in line (after frontline medical personnel) to get the goddamn shot. I mean MTG is fucking vaxxed for chrissakes!

Last I checked, as of noon on January 20, 2017, Obama was no longer the President of the United States.  So who gives a shit what he does at his birthday party? He is a private fucking citizen.

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26 minutes ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

Last I checked, as of noon on January 20, 2017, Obama was no longer the President of the United States.  So who gives a shit what he does at his birthday party? He is a private fucking citizen.

wHeRe iZ HiS mAsK!!#$#%

Working Lena Dunham GIF

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2 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

Yeah it's a parent's decision unless it's hair length, color, dress code, or speech.

rock and roll psychedelic art GIF by Grande Dame

The GQP has managed to elevate hypocrisy to a fanatical religion.  It would be fascinating to watch....if it were happening in Slovenia or some shit.

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1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

Well, this is because....and try to follow me here, because this is super-complicated......they are evil fucking sociopaths for whom cruelty is the point.

They live in a world where these two rules co-exist and make sense in their twisted minds:

1 -- if you want to access your elected sentate, controlled by and made up of majority GQP senators, you MUST have a negative COVID test to even get in.

2 -- school districts, unlike GQP senators, cannot require ANY COVID protection measures like negative tests, vaccines, or masks.

Both those rules exist.  At the same time.  By decree of THE SAME POLITICAL PARTY.

"Protect me, but fuck your family and your kids."

 

And here's the awesome punchline.  Wanna hear it?  You SURE?  Okay, here goes....

These clowns will all sail to easy re-election and continued control of our state, because we are the stupidest motherfucking state (yeah, we're working on out-Mississippi-ing Mississippi, etc.).

You’d think that actively interfering with safety measures during a public health crisis that surely has already caused thousands of constituents to die unnecessarily would be disqualifying, but… nope. The statewide electorate in TX is beyond hope. 

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1 minute ago, Pig Bellmont said:

You’d think that actively interfering with safety measures during a public health crisis that surely has already caused thousands of constituents to die unnecessarily would be disqualifying, but… nope. The statewide electorate in TX is beyond hope. 

Yep.

I'll finish my career in Texas, because that's where my business is.  But I can't imagine me spending my retirement years in this state.

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1 hour ago, YChang said:

Big hearty, "Fuck unvaccinated people." Just got my test back—Covid positive. 

For those curious I'm: J/J back in April. Since last Th night I've felt like I had a bad cold. Warm but not feverish. Congested nose but no shortness of breath. No loss taste. Cough was minimal, just clearing out phlegm after taking DayQuil/mucinex. General lethargy. 

On the upside, actually feeling better today. Slowly feeling normal again so thank vaccine for working like it's supposed to!  But still, fuck those unvaccinated idiots.  

I had a buddy who had the J/J back when you did get tested positive for covid-19 on Sunday the 1st. He tested negative on Saturday the 7th. Said he never lost taste or smell and was pretty mild-- felt like an allergy cold for a day or two and that was it. I hope yours is as mild, my friend.

That said, of the breakthroughs I've heard about anecdotally from friends and colleagues and family-- 90% are from J/J vax.... y'all mileage may vary. 

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12 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

Yeah it's a parent's decision unless it's hair length, color, dress code, or speech.

rock and roll psychedelic art GIF by Grande Dame

I think when Abbott says it's time for "personal responsibility" he really means "personal irresponsibility" because that's what is happening. Blah, blah, blah this is why we can't have nice things. You can't trust people to do the right thing so tell them it's get vaxxed or wear a mask. End of story.

 

6 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Yep.

I'll finish my career in Texas, because that's where my business is.  But I can't imagine me spending my retirement years in this state.

Same. Sadly. But that's what it is.

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1 hour ago, YChang said:

Big hearty, "Fuck unvaccinated people." Just got my test back—Covid positive. 

For those curious I'm: J/J back in April. Since last Th night I've felt like I had a bad cold. Warm but not feverish. Congested nose but no shortness of breath. No loss taste. Cough was minimal, just clearing out phlegm after taking DayQuil/mucinex. General lethargy. 

On the upside, actually feeling better today. Slowly feeling normal again so thank vaccine for working like it's supposed to!  But still, fuck those unvaccinated idiots.  

I remember your handle from way back in the Austin 360 days.  Hope your recovery continues to improve, and quickly.  Joining you in the rest of your sentiments as well.  

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