Tag: covid

A Musical Tribute to RFK, Jr.

~ Jim Flanigan ~ Leave a comment

Yeah, the whole “a parasitic worm ate part of my brain” story was pretty weird coming from Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. So, let’s celebrate it with music. The internet told me that RFK, Jr. received an honorary doctorate degree from a college in Florida, which means we can call him …

Sadly, the internet was wrong!

Internet wrong? That usually never happens. But in 1999, Florida Southern College gave RFK, Jr. a citation, not an honorary degree.

A citation for what? Jaywalking? Still, that’s good enough for me to call him Dr. Worm. It’s kind of ironic though. He has railed against the COVID vaccine and most other vaccines. Anyone up for polio? So, what’s the alternative for the COVID vaccines? Here’s what RFK Jr. has suggested.

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Back to the Beach … sort of

~ Jim Flanigan

Are you ready for a meandering post with lots of links that will eventually take you all the way to Chicago for a nice surprise? Well, read on then.

When I got in my car yesterday, I was pleased to see sand on the passenger seat. That may not make sense to most folks, but I live for being in and around water. People look at me funny when I tell them that I feel more comfortable being in water than on land. Of course, they normally look at me funny even when I don’t say anything. Science teaches us that our evolutionary ancestors crawled from the oceans. Well, I would like to crawl back.

Anyway, that sand came from a Boxing Day (Dec 26th) kayak excursion. I carry my kayak in my vehicle, so the sand must have come off the bottom of the craft. It was a grey, chilly, wet day, and I loved every moment on the water. Seeing the sand made me smile as I recalled my first kayak of the winter season. Maybe another one later today?

After swimming outdoors in my illegal swimming hole all the way into early October, my plan was to start legally swimming indoors in November. Well, COVID had other plans for me, but I finally made it back to the pool in December. It felt odd after 2+ months off, and I looked a bit ungainly in the water. How do I know I looked ungainly? Well, the lifeguards that were training at the other side of the pool kept coming over to “rescue” me every time I swam a lap. Despite that, I surprised myself and made 0.40 miles. Not bad for my first indoor winter swim.

Now Chicago offers me a unique way to enjoy the water outdoors all winter long.

Continue reading “Back to the Beach … sort of” →

A Medical Edition of … Am I a Bad Guy?

~ Jim Flanigan

On Monday, I went to my appointment for a clinical trial regarding meningitis. No, I don’t have meningitis. No, they aren’t giving me meningitis. No, I am not taking a drug for meningitis. They are taking my clean, healthy (2 words not usually associated with me) blood plasma for use in studying how to combat meningitis. You’re welcome, world. Actually, I don’t need your gratitude, because they’re paying me for my pristine blood plasma.

After taking my temperature (normal), blood pressure (122/68), and checking my hemoglobin (super high … is that good?), they asked me about any recent antibiotic use. Well, yes, during my bout with COVID. That disqualified me. I was miffed. Why didn’t they ask me about antibiotic use over the phone when they scheduled me? I was being sent home with all my blood plasma intact.

Then my disposition turned sunny again when I was told that I would still get paid! And I can go back in December to donate and get paid again. At that point, I knew what I need to do. I must get my hands on some antibiotics and take them right before my December visit, so I don’t have to actually donate my plasma but still get paid. Am I a bad guy?

Senses Working Undertime

~ Jim Flanigan

It was only this past week that I finally tested negative for COVID. I didn’t feel even close to myself until a day or two ago. A lot changed for me during COVID. Besides feeling like a truck hit me each day, everything seemed to be just a bit off. I’m still full of phlegm and must clear my throat hundreds of times per day. That has gotten really awkward. People stop talking as they think I’m trying to interrupt and inject myself into the conversation. I have nothing to say. And my poops? Well, they were just weird during COVID. ‘Nuff said, possibly too much. Just about everything was off.

I will admit that I did not lose my senses of taste and smell during COVID. However, much to my chagrin, it appears that I may have lost my senses of decorum (note poop comment above) and humor (note this blog post). I am especially sad about losing my sense of humor, and have commenced taking steps to regain at least partial use of that sense.

My first step was to go back to my comedic roots. I thought that perhaps I can relearn how to be funny once again. So, I took a trip to my alma mater.

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COVID Mystery Solved!

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

Where would I have picked-up COVID? Sure, my wife and youngest daughter had been sick, but they tested negative for COVID. I hadn’t been anywhere special to the best of my memory, but I am experiencing the famed COVID fog, so I wasn’t 100% sure. As for other COVID symptoms, they are rough, especially for an older guy like me. I’m grateful for genetics, my general good health, and previous COVID vaccinations. Oh, and I don’t want to forget the wonder drugs available to treat COVID symptoms. Neigh, I’m not horsing around and talking about Ivermectin with bleach chasers. I’m referring to wonderful COVID antiviral treatments like Paxlovid which I am currently taking.

Of course, with Paxlovid, you have to take the good with the bad, like side effects such as loss of taste and smell. My wife asked me today if I’ve lost my smell, but no, I haven’t. I smell as bad as usual. Another side effect is a metallic taste, and that I definitely have. I feel like a James Bond villian.

But the mystery gnawed at me like a diseased rat gnawing at a young waif’s leg.

Where could I have picked-up COVID?

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New Music for Old Rockers – A Superhero’s Decision

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

The pantheon of greatest male rock voices which includes such names as Presley, Orbison, Plant, Perry, Daltrey, and Mercury may someday need to make room for Chicago’s own Wes Leavins. Leavins is the lead vocalist for local band Brigitte Calls Me Baby. Take a listen to “Impressively Average” and I think you will hear vocals that are impressively well above average and trending toward outstanding.

I had a great opportunity to see Brigitte Calls Me Baby this week at the Bottom Lounge in Chicago opening for the UK’s The Last Dinner Party. I seem to recall a free ticket giveaway from radio station @93XRT. I declined to enter. I know I could have talked my oldest son into attending the concert with me. Tickets were priced at under $20 each. But I never asked my son or purchased even one ticket. It turns out that those were quite fortuitous decisions.

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Is This the End?

~ Jim Flanigan

Thank you for reading and following. I wanted to express my appreciation before this happens today in just a few hours and I become a zombie.

No action is needed? Pffft! Plenty of action is needed. The reason?

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Who Wants a Piece of Me?

~ Jim Flanigan

COVID is rearing its ugly head again, but I read that Moderna’s new vaccine should be very effective against the new variants. Sign me up. I’ve had two Pfizer shots to start followed by two Moderna boosters. So far, so good for me healthwise. Except, I just heard that makes me a non-human Borg Genesis. Don’t go back and read that again. You read it right the first time. Take a listen.

Kudos to @TheGoodLiars for more excellent investigative work. Anyway, I can handle the non-human part. Humanity is continually proving it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I’m fine being a Borg Genesis for a while.

But I am concerned about something else that came up in the video.

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I Survived the Heat Dome & Improved the World

~ Jim Flanigan

Make no mistake – the heat was bad. We tickled 100F/38C for the past two days coupled with humidity approaching triple digits. Did you know that the corn we grow in Illinois contributes to the high humidity?

Can’t we genetically engineer corn so it doesn’t evapotranspirate? That would make the world, or at least Illinois, a better place. Meanwhile, I did my best over the past few days of the heat dome to change the world and make it a better place.

I may have eradicated the deadly disease of meningitis, but first, and possibly just as important, I may have been responsible for the introduction of a new snack food.

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A Political Edition of … Am I a Bad Guy?

~ Jim Flanigan

When Trump got COVID, I really didn’t care what happened. I knew he would get the best of care, and he did. If he hadn’t recovered, well, that would have been quite ironic. But now, I find myself wanting the best of health for Trump. I want him to live a long life, at least another 20 years. The reason is that I want to see him like this …

For as long as humanly possible. Am I a bad guy?

My Clean Freezer Challenge Diet

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

I’m sure you all fondly remember such harmeless social media challenges as planking, eating Tide pods, dumping buckets of ice over your head, and bleach enemas. Oh, wait. That last one wasn’t a social media challenge but Trump’s suggestion to kill COVID. Disregard that one.

But I have stumbled upon what I think will be the next viral challenge. I’m determined to clean out our freezer, and what better way to do that than to eat my way through all the frozen food? I’m certainly not going to throw out perfectly good, ice-encrusted expired food. While that may be prudent, it is also wasteful.

I found 3 bags of these in the freezer.

Wow, no antibiotics, EVER! That’s great. So, I guess they didn’t slaughter chickens that were under doctor’s care trying to recover from sinus infections. Good to know. I normally don’t eat poultry or red meat, but to save a buck, I find I can set aside my morals with uncomfortable ease when there’s food about to be wasted.

There were 2 patties in each of the 3 bags in the freezer, enough for 1 meal per bag. I dove right in. I used my mountain climbing pickaxe to free the patties from their icy shrouds. After 3 days, the bags were empty and patties devoured. I was soon to be a bit empty myself. Take a look at the expiration dates on each bag.

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Covid Booster Boosts What?

~ Jim Flanigan

Yesterday, I went to get my second Covid booster. The pharmacist offered me the Bivalent booster. I asked him what the difference was. He replied, “Covid blah blah blah, and booster yadda yadda yadda.” That’s all I needed to hear. I willingly took the Bivalent booster. I haven’t had any severe side effects to the Bivalent booster, except now I appear to be equally attracted to men and women.

I Got Vaccinated, or Did I?

~ Jim Flanigan

I really don’t know for sure. Not for COVID, silly readers. I’m twice vaxxed and boosted against COVID. I just got vaccinated against RSV (click HERE for more info on RSV), which stands for Respiratory SomethingIcannotspell Virus. Or, did I get vaccinated? I really don’t know. I’ll explain.

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My Sick Week in Review

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

Who’s ready for a rambling, stream-of-consciousness post? If you’re not, you have come to the wrong blog. It was a week ago that I started feeling ill. I went to the doctor immediately on Saturday, because I wanted to be well enough to go to a wedding on Friday. COVID and flu tests were negative. The test for me being a baby was positive. I slept much of last weekend, but there was nothing out of the ordinary about that.

The rest of my week went like this.

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~ Jim Flanigan

I didn’t expect to accomplish anything being as sick as I was this past weekend. Thankfully, my COVID test was negative. Despite the illness, I was able to make some real progress in my life. I figured out how to change my car’s clock to the correct time. Life changing.

Vacation Planning Time

~ Jim Flanigan

If COVID is indeed on the wane, then now is the time to plan a summer vacation. I’m doing so by eliminating parts of the country where I definitely won’t vacation. It’s pretty automatic to eliminate the whole West Coast due to annual summer wildfires, sometimes referred to as liberal barbeques by Republicans. But this year, I’m also eliminating the whole East Coast. Why?

That’s enough to keep me away from Rhode Island, but the actual details are much worse than I ever expected.

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Another Edition of … Am I a Bad Guy?

~ Jim Flanigan ~ 1 Comment

COVID is over, at least if you shop by us. Now that the indoor mask mandate has been rescinded in Illinois, us masked folks are in the minority now walking around inside stores. I’m conflicted. I know wearing masks is uncomfortable for people, but since we’ve been masking these past 2 years, I have been extremely healthy. Even though I am a well-conditioned (Editor’s Note: False) athlete (Editor’s Note: False) who competes (Editor’s Note: Rarely) at a highly competitive level (Editor’s Note: Very False), I have historically suffered from respiratory illnesses almost like clockwork every winter. Well, not the last two masked winters. I guess I can keep on masking, but there’s also one other issue.

There is a large store by us where I can get a little shopping done while also doing my business banking. And it is so large that I can get a nice long walk in if I walk the inside perimeter of the store a couple times which I do in the cold weather for a change of pace. With everyone masked in the store, I never worried about letting loose with a bit of gas from time to time as the need arose while walking. The ambient noise level in those stores is generally high enough that any toot less than a real cheek flapper is normally not noticeable. And with everyone masked, nobody could smell any of my rippers. It was perfect, but now that masks are gone, people’s olfactory systems are on high alert again.

So, I want the mask mandate reinstated, basically so I don’t get sick and can walk around stores healthy and farting. Am I a bad guy?

Feeling Fabulously Fat For February

~ Jim Flanigan

I’m overweight in February and am thrilled. Why? Certainly not because I gained 5 pounds in December which was the maximum I was allowing myself for the whole winter.

They may have gotten the pronoun wrong in that gif, but that’s me they are talking about. As I reported in my last weighty post, my goal for January was to simply hold the line and not gain any more weight in January. Unlikely? Yes. Who wants to exercise and watch what you eat in the dead of winter? Not me. I want to sit, eat, and watch television while my wife, kids, and neighbors shovel my snow. But it somehow happened. I gave it a week into February to make 100% sure, but I continue to hang in at 5 pounds max gained and may even be heading back down just a bit. I’m thrilled!

Against all odds, my steps actually trended up a bit in January. Take a look.

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Another Edition of … Am I a Bad Guy?

~ Jim Flanigan

I have started a new “career” doing market research studies for cash. So far, I have finished a Medicare study that was not only profitable, but provided me useful information. Next week, I am scheduled for some product taste testing. Yum!

As I review and apply for opportunities, I spotted these two.

Now that’s a lot of money. After seeing those, I can’t help but feel jealous of those with lung cancer and hospitalized with COVID. Am I a bad guy?

Relatively Speaking

~ Jim Flanigan

I took some time yesterday to meet with relatives and mourn my aunt’s passing. I can’t say she was my favorite aunt, but she certainly was a firecracker as her son described her in the eulogy he gave. When I think of her, I don’t think of her in her older years, her mind addled by Alzheimer’s and her body relegated to a wheelchair. I think of her in her small house that was always getting flooded in suburban Chicago close to O’Hare Airport with planes overhead constantly. I can see her now, plain as day, a mixed drink (probably a Manhattan) in one hand and a cigarette in the other, talking loudly and irreverently as she was prone to do after a drink or two or more. No, she wasn’t my favorite aunt, but she was my most spirited aunt. Even in her last few years in nursing care, she was still full of piss and vinegar. I heard that she regularly plotted escapes from the home, and once called 9-1-1 to report that she was being held there against her will. She raised two families – her four boys and then three grandchildren from one of her boys. She buried a husband, an infant daughter, and two of her sons. It was a full life but a hard life. However, I think she was happy that she lived it in her sometimes soggy house in the Chicago suburbs after escaping from Chicago’s harsh east side where she grew up.

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