Well I got my 'return to work date' - I go back full-time at the end of the month. I have enjoyed working from home this year - not dressing up, seeing my kids more, just eating what's in my fridge, and no commute - and am not really excited to go back, but it's time I guess.

So we got our second shot yesterday morning. Everything went well, and we haven't felt any averse effects so far, besides a bit of soreness in the arm and shoulder. Let's hope it continues this way!

It's super weird not to wear a mask at work now. But most people are vaccinated where I am, there are no children, and we were some of the first ones to get vaccinated. And my recent sinus surgery has made wearing a mask for more than 30 minutes painful.

I feel like we should be wearing mass. But then I think what else are we waiting to happen? Our percent positivity has been under 2% lately and people are good at work staying home if they feel ill (plus the threat of the temperature checks at the door have kept some of the people trying to 'tough it out' from coming in).

I am really just waiting on my kids to be eligible to be vaccinated to feel better.

Here is the latest in the Care home let-me-out saga! The excitement!
A doctor (looked about 12,) and a nurse arrived to assess us for 'suitability for vaccination!'
A long wait, but I finally made it into the sanctuary..
Question one : (to our nurse) Does she speak English? (obviously made me a VERY suitable recipient, yes?)
Question two: asked me: do you cook for yourself?( all meals being provided here, I haven't cooked for 4 years)But hey, am I not getting vaccinated if I don't cook now? (scary)
Question three: Can you walk alone? (Erm... I had just entered the room with no one in attendance or do I have an imaginary ghost carer?).
So there it is... hanging in the balance... what do you think the result will be? Results pending...(cant wait)

Presumably you told the doctor, in your normal school principal voice, and in your very best West Country accented English that the opportunity to cook was taken from you but that you could knock him up a good fry up if you had the ingredients and facilities, and that you can not only walk unaided but do a couple of stints each day on the stationery bike.

Actually no I just looked at him in pity.

Probably the same one I gave the doctor who told me I was to have an MRI scan.
Me: Oh good , that means you will find out if I have a brain?
He : Madame, everyone has a brain.....
The sense of humour here is vastly different to the English one.

One thing which has been announced is that everyone who has had the two jabs will be receiving a vaccination certificate through the mail, we don't have to apply for them. Thank goodness they have finally woken up to the fact that not all people have smart phones, me being one of them.

A few things:

Read a good article (Washington Post or New York Times, I think?) about the problem with Taiwan and how they don't allow vaccinations from China, yet the Chinese are making it impossible for them to get vaccinations from elsewhere.

Son had a cold (from where? He only goes to school and wears a mask.. but apparently other classmates and a teacher have had a cold). So of course, daughter caught it and we need a negative result or a doctor note for her to return to school. We were able to get one you do yourself at home at the local pharmacy - it was really easy to do, only needed to go in 1/2 an inch, and we had her negative result in 15 minutes. The pediatrician says it's the same test they use at their office. So now she can go back when she's feeling better.

They ease up on travel restrictions and voila, we now have 8 active cases, that is 7 from inbound travel and one direct contact. Known direct contacts of active cases
138.

They (being the government) have now decided that children under 18 travelling from an amber area can be counted as having come from a green area. My 11 year old granddaughter has been tested positive twice, once last year, once this year. So how can they be so lax with children as possible carriers? The answer is simple I guess, a high number for the size of population go away to boarding schools, those children will be, naturally, the children of wealthier and influential parents.

Perhaps I ought to think of getting my haircut again before the next lockdown.

I'm going out tonight for a meal - the first time since early October, a couple of weeks before the friend I'm taking with me had his birthday. Talk about belated celebrations. I'm feeling surprisingly apprehensive, despite both of us being fully vaccinated and knowing the venue is following all guidelines (they say).

Local restaurants here have been open since June of last year, though at 50% capacity. My husband and I resumed going out for Saturday lunch some time during the fall, but haven't had any social contact with other people since the start of the pandemic. Some people we know in our area have been trying to arrange a get-together - without any success so far.

Rossian - who pays when everyone is celebrating their birthday in the group?

In a group, we all pay a share apart from the birthday boy or girl. Last night, it was my treat so I paid for everything. I'm not that generous, though - now he has to take me out to celebrate my birthday which was back in March.

Restaurants etc. re-opened for indoor eating on 17th May. Prior to that, you could be served outside but May in the UK has been cold and wet so that didn't appeal.

Although I felt apprehensive in advance, everything felt fine. All staff wore masks and we had to wait to be escorted to our table, so I felt safe.

Oh I was apprehensive when work stopped requiring masks! We've spent 15 months wearing them EVERYWHERE and it felt like we shouldn't stop. But what else can we do? Everyone I work with is vaccinated and we aren't exposed to public, so it's as safe as it's going to get. Came at a good time because my nose still hurts a lot from surgery...

But I still am apprehensive. It just feels *weird* being with everyone at work without masks. But feels normal. I'm so conflicted.

I know what you mean Beth. I attend a craft club once a month and for the past two months, since it re-opened after being forced to be closed we haven't worn masks. We are all vaccinated and the room has tall ceilings plus we are well spaced. It did seem strange though.

We now have cases of the Indian variant. Our government needs shooting.

Stand by. We have about 8,000 incoming passengers this holiday weekend, all will be tested (not sure if they test children though) and have to wait for the first clear test results before venturing out, although I would be amazed if many do not ignore this. I await the published results in a few days.

Yikes!

The BBC WorldNews Channel had a report about a mass vaccination site being set up in Bolton, England. The reporter noted there was a "women only" line so women "don't have to worry" because they would receive their vaccine from women doctors.

Why? Why is there a need for women's only line? Why were women worrying about a male doctor sticking a needle into a female's upper arm? I can think of two religions that might go into a tizzy over a male seeing a woman's bar upper arm if that woman isn't his wife. But the reporter didn't mention anything about this being done because of religious practices.

I can answer that very easily. There are a lot of ethnic people such as muslims and lots of various Asian people living in Bolton, their cultures mean the women must not be touched by men other than their husbands etc.

To my mind, if something like this means that otherwise reluctant people get their shot, or get it sooner, I'm all for it.

That was one of the religions I was thinking of. I guess I'm used to American newscasters mentioning "For Followers of ZnfrngnHkw, ordained ZnfrngnHkw Ytfnxcrs have been trained to give vaccine shots."

It's really common where I live (lots of fairly recent immigrants from Africa and Asia) to have "women only" events if there is a possibility that clothing will have to be removed. One of the pools has a women only swimming lessons and lane swim period, for example, with women life guards and reception staff. Nobody asks what your reason might be for wanting this, though I would guess for the vast majority it's religious reasons. Could also be rape survivors or who knows. I sometimes go to the all woman aquafit classes, because they've got a nice energy.

Like agony, I'm all in favour of anything that makes it more likely that people will be vaccinated as soon as possible, since vaccination makes things safer for everybody and not just the individuals who get the vaccination.

However, I can't help being glad that I have no preference about who serves me in any capacity (not just medical). I had my first jab from a woman and my second from a man. The woman happened to be white and the man was black. So far as I'm aware, both jabs have worked equally well and I'm simply happy to have had them.