I had the day off yesterday because of Chinese New Year. Oh: It appears as though I will be filling in on Sundays for the time being, so I usually will have Friday afternoons off. Beyond that, because of the pandemic, I am rolling over a bunch of paid time off, and even though I don't want to use them all now, I figure I should treat myself with a whole Friday off once a month. It just so happens that I used yesterday because it was Chinese/Lunar New Year.
What I wanted to do was go to Eat Street to get tested. But I couldn't. That clinic recently revamped their hours; they will not test in the afternoon. According to its website, the clinic will end testing at 11. OK, so I went there before 11, but the guy said they ended testing at 10. Sure they did. Did the guy expect me to accept him just tossing out a time to get me to leave? Well, I did leave, because it's not as if I can barge in and demand a test. But I don't appreciate the sudden change in hours -- as uncomfortable a swab up the nostril is, it's more accurate than the spit test -- and I think the guy was lying to me. And this clinic is sending me e-mails asking me for money? Fuck you guys.
I bought Jimmy John's -- chicken, because of the New Year -- and ate it at the parking lot of Glam Doll before getting out and ordering donuts and hot chocolate from Glam Doll. I had thought about exercising at the cemetery, but just that walk froze my feet. And I didn't really have anything to do the rest of the afternoon, so I went to the Mall Of America -- primarily to walk, even though I ate the donuts at the MOA parking lot and brought the hot chocolate into the mall with me.
I wouldn't call it busy. But I wouldn't call it not busy there. And I was surprised that I saw more kids there. Isn't it a school afternoon? Then again, with the pandemic, maybe they wouldn't be holding classes in person, and if they're not, can parents just decide to take their kids to the mall one afternoon? Most of the people were wearing masks, but many of them were wearing them incorrectly -- under the nose like men pulling their genitals above and past the top of their underwear, and chin diapers. And since I was there to walk, I spent 75 minutes doing laps there. Didn't stop besides taking off my mask to sip my hot cocoa; didn't want to catch corona.
But ... I later went to Wal-Mart because I want to see if I could buy a cable that will allow me to charge my laptop from my battery. (I went to Wal-Mart because my supervisors got me a $10 gift card for the store.) And I went up to the cable aisle, and I tried reading all the labels of the cables, and I still was not sure what to get. So I stood there, opened up the Internet, and tried looking up information as to which specific cable I should get. And it dawned one me that I had spent, oh, half an hour at that aisle ... in a somewhat-crowded store ... not moving and staying about in one place. And then I left, because I don't think the cable I needed was there.
Goddamn, I contracted the virus today. Whether it was at MOA or at Wal-Mart, I got it.
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I was woken up this morning by Father. He asked for my help in scheduling a vaccine for him. He called me out of my bedroom again about an hour later because he found another place in the area where he could sign up for a shot. I was visibly annoyed at him -- for waking me up, for coaxing me out of my cozy and warm bedroom, for doing something that I was hoping he and Mother could do themselves, for being helpless.
But I understand that this is all coming from an anxiety, and from Father feeling he is entitled to get a shot now. He's right; he is entitled. Plus, I want him to get a vaccination. And so that makes me feel even more guilty that I engaged in risky behavior yesterday just because it was too cold to walk outside and because I want to buy a cable for my laptop. I really, really hope they don't get COVID-19 just as they're able to schedule an appointment for a shot.
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And on top of all that, I feel a mass in my chest. I hope I'm being a hypochondriac, but shit, man, maybe I did get the virus yesterday. Goddammit. ...
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