Dodgers Vaccination almost forgets Dan and Valentine Dinner
“Waxed eloquent?” Nazy interrupts. “You complained.”
Actually, I merely commented on the challenges associated with getting a covid vaccination in Santa Barbara County. I bemoaned the time-consuming difficulty of securing, on-line, a vaccination appointment even though we met the state requirement of being 65+ years old.
“In point of fact, Dan,” Nazy continued, “you complained about those difficulties before you tried to secure an appointment.”
Nazy is, of course, correct. I was so certain that the task was impossible that I hadn’t actually attempted access. And then, a friend told us that they had gotten an appointment at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. And they had done it ‘on-line’. So, mainly to convince Nazy that I had been right, I logged onto the site at 4:30 in the afternoon on Sunday. I was offered appointment times for Monday (the very next day) at 10:15AM. I quickly registered both of us and rearranged our Monday plans.
The drive was smooth and traffic free. The vaccination site was enormous. We snaked our way into one of about 25 parallel queues. Prepared, we had our IDs (to prove eligibility) and our QR code notes (to prove that we had an appointment). We also had reading material to pass the time. Eventually, our queue moved into actual injection site. Someone came by and gave Nazy a vaccination (Moderna). At the same time, someone came by to ask me a lot of questions. Then they handed me two cards showing that we had each received the first dose. They did scan the QR codes, but never asked to see ID. Then they vanished.
“They forgot me!” I said as we waited.
“Of course they didn’t forget you, Dan.” Nazy replied. “They just went to get more vaccine.”
“Right.” I replied. “They forgot me,” I thought. Accurately.
As I quietly waited…
“Quietly waited?” Nazy interjects.
… about 20 minutes later, they said we could leave. I explained that I hadn’t been vaccinated.
“I’m so sorry that we forgot you,” they replied. We were directed to a ‘forgotten’ queue.
“See?” I mumbled in Nazy’s direction. “Forgotten Queue sounds ominous,” I thought. After I finally got my injection, the nurse reminded me to move my arm around to avoid making it stiff.
“Thank you,” I said. “How can I exercise my arm when I’m just about to leave on a 90 minute drive home,” I thought.
So, to conclude, we got our first dose and we got appointments for our second shot. It was generally well-done with the clear objective to get as many people as possible vaccinated as quickly as possible.
The drive home was smooth and problem-free. Back home, we continued our walks along the beach even though it is a windy and brisk 65℉. In fact, it was so brisk that I decided to wear my leather jacket where…
“Look what I found, Nazy!” I exclaimed. “My gold Maui Jim sunglasses.”
“Where were they?”
“In my jacket pocket.” I replied. “Aren’t these sunglasses the ones that you claimed I had lost many months ago?” I thought, forgetting to note that I had lost them for several months.
On one of our walks, which occurred after an abnormally high high tide, we spotted an eroded bit of cliff that ..
“Looks like a dinosaur footprint.” I claimed.
Nearer to home, Tiger volunteered to help vacuum the car.
Veracity alert: Actually, Tiger did not want to help. He wanted to handle the entire job himself. And he did.
While we, eh, he was vacuuming the car, we got into a discussion about his plasma car.
“It has slowed down, Dan,” he said. “Maybe we need a new one.”
“Or you could just squirt it with some WD-40.” I replied.
“What..”
“Whenever you have a mechanical problem, Tiger, you only need to remember two things. WD-40 makes it go and Duct Tape makes it stay.”
“Dan are you…”
“I learned that at Georgia Tech,” I concluded.
As vaccines get rolled out, we’re looking forward to a return to more in-person socializing. In particular, we’re looking forward to seeing Darius, Christiane and the little girls. Somehow, the portal, as great as it is, is not the same as ‘being there’. On the other hand, it is still snowing in Washington State…
On Friday of Valentine Day Weekend, Nazy and I were able to get a dinner reservation at the outdoor Stone House Restaurant in San Ysidro Ranch.
The dinner was great and my date was delightful. Nazy and I are so very lucky that we’re healthy, together and in love.
For last week's letter, please click here
Nazy and Dan … Valentine Day Dinner
