I'm so pleased with how tidy the embedding was.
That worked well until the second screen, the part about my mother's maiden name and my favorite PINs.
I didn't appreciate the dishcloth being put over the camera, so.
The entire survey is not displaying on my browser (Firefox but also tried Chrome).
4: There's a mini scroll - is it not letting you do so?
Can you add something like "family member of a contact"?
If you've been to an Olive Garden with them, they are family.
If the probate docket is busy, it can be hard to get a table because too many of the staff are testifying.
Now I'm thinking of new questions. Oops. "Have you had to quarantine due to exposure?" would be a good one.
I could also do a followup post with some charts and graphs of the results.
The father of someone I know through work died as did the grandmother of a coworker. Not sure where that fits.
Am I missing how to see the results? I ask as I am becoming a tech-challenged oldster before my very own cataract-afflicted eyes (surgery sometime this summer).
I should have mentioned that while COVID hasn't directly made me sick I'm much less healthy because I sit at home all day and can't do any of my previous hobbies/exercise.
For the fifteenth time since Covid, I have a painful sore throat. I'm wondering if I didn't always have this many sore throat episodes before and forgot or if something else is wrong.
18: Have you considered buying a very expensive stationary bike?
I don't know if I'm healthier, but I am certainly running a whole lot since Covid. A combination of wanting an excuse to be outside and a neurotic belief that being fit will keep me from getting sick.
On the downside, I'm losing my big toenails.
Consider getting shoes a size larger.
I have nowhere to put it because my 1500 sq foot condo is now school for four and office for two and still our home where we eat and sleep.
My SIL did buy one.
Whoever used the "other" section to submit their SAT score...
23: That is crowded. We have about the same size, but only three of us.
Did I count John Conway as a "co-worker/acquaintance"? Yes I did.
I'm still sick with it, and am surrounded by others who are, but strangely do not know anyone at all who has died of it. I know people who know people, but no one I have ever directly met (or at least, met and remembered). I hope it remains that way.
Recovery is really frustrating as it is decidedly not linear, but at least I have a forgiving work situation and no one else to really take care of. I've just been informed that 28 days after my last major symptoms I can give plasma, which is great and I would like to do, and I've also been randomly selected for a study on the new variant so I get to do a third swab test, which, ouch.
My great aunt died of covid last year. She was the last of the WWII generation in my family. Her husband, who died a year earlier, fought in Italy.
The degrees of separation feels like how it was living in the northeast after 9/11. I didn't know anyone who died, but I knew people who worked in the affected area, and I knew people who knew people who had died. I imagine that was less common elsewhere in the country whereas COVID probably everyone in the US or Europe is two or three degrees from someone who died.
That's rough, Paren. How long have you been dealing with it - is this the long version?
I don't know anyone who's died of it, as far as I can remember. I know three people who have tested positive for it, though. In one Atossa was exposed but I guess precautions were adequate because we all tested negative.
I almost certainly knew someone who died of it but I don't know who, because my main hobby used to be social and folk dancing, and we had a lot of people in their eighties and nineties still turning up. (And dancing! A couple of WWII vets who could lead a delightful swing even though they couldn't walk without a walker.)
But this wasn't an online group -- partly because of the age range, mostly because it didn't need to be, we all saw each other dancing. *One* person realized how bad it was going to be and nagged teachers to close down their livelihoods, nearly a year ago, and because we were incredibly lucky and the wave that went through square-dancing didn't hop over to us, my friends were still OK last I heard of them.
But that was a while ago. We're expecting a sad reunion, if the dance floors survive the economic strain.
26 made me laugh, and 28 made me smile.
(I also remember remarks made here after Conway died that kept that passing in perspective.)
One of the mucky-mucks at Heebie U died, AIHMHB. And this is a member of a group that I chastised formally in a letter for their upsettingly flagrant mask-negligence.
Thanks, guys. I am still in the realm of normalish time - it's been three weeks since the onset of symptoms, and the NHS website says to expect 12 weeks before it becomes the long version. That still seems a very long time indeed, and I'm still hoping that we'll both be out of it before then.
I should say that while I am still experiencing symptoms that I am finding painful/frustrating/etc, it is not interfering that much with my life as it currently is - ie, no commute (I used to walk/train to work), no travel, etc. I can't yet fully do a gentle yoga class (lying on the mat is just fine, naturally). Stamina for things like heavier chores or long cooking sessions isn't there, either. My brain fog has mostly cleared up although insomnia means I'm feeling a bit slower than usual, and productivity at work has taken a hit, but I'm ok with that. The weirdest thing for me is that I will go all day feeling fine, only to have issues at night. Or be energetic and my baseline normal for two hours, and then feel ill for an hour or two, and back and forth. It's an odd experience although I suspect familiar to chronic disease sufferers.
All the best to Paren. Some aging parents of friends have died this year with an assist from covid. Our son, in Jersey City, had a debilitating case in April and then tested positive in November just before Thanksgiving - the only repeater that I know. Our daughter, an ICU nurse in Baltimore, dodged it and got her second vaccine shot last week. My closest coworker, a Brooklynite, had a bad case in May and has only fully recovered in the past couple of months. My college roommate got a mild case from being in a golf tournament (!) and one of his partners "almost died." It's been a long haul, and I think it will be months before we'll be mixing in café society as before. Somewhat like LB, I have several bruised/missing toenails from walking long distances.
Not sure whether my cousin or my friend counts as closest-connected. I guess I should put down the one I like the most?
I lost my toenails too, but when I sobered up I remembered they were on my toes.
Well, hm, how do we rank closest - are friends or extended family closer? I should assume they're listed in order, maybe?
Yes, I think I was thinking of friends as closer than non-immediate family. YMMV. Also how you define immediate family is up to you.
41 This reminded me of the birthday rule segment on NPR yesterday.
For folks who didn't listen, and were as ignorant as me, the way health insurance companies resolve conflicting coverage issues -- the story was husband and wife have separate plans, and their newborn needs serious medical care right away -- they just pick the one covering the person whose birthday comes first in the year. The wife had great coverage, which paid all the bills. They they realized that the husband's birthday came first, so the wife's carrier got their money back, and the providers were after the couple for what was left after the shitty husband coverage had paid. There was privilege and capacity enough to get it all worked out for them, but obviously a lot of folks are going to end up on the wrong end of this.
Its nice having a health care system steeped in arbitrary bullshit.
44: I was teasing, mostly. My immediate non-household family (father, sister) remain luckily healthy. AJ's mother and sister, too. But his stepsister, a stepbrother, and stepsister-in-law (plus their kids) have had it. We used to see them regularly for friendly get-togethers, probably more often than I see my unrelated (but less conveniently located) friends.
My sister and her kids have all had it. Many of my co-workers have had it. At least one co-worker has had parents die from it. Lots of friends have had it. Some friends have had relatives in intensive care on ventilators for quite long periods. Tail end of last spring, I know about half a dozen people (all healthcare workers or families of healthcare workers) who had the antibody test, and all of them were positive for having had it in the past.
I don't know if I have had it. Last spring, in the first COVID wave, my wife and I both had really terrible colds and ended up isolating for a while, and I had ongoing chest discomfort and shortness of breath and used to run out of breath on conference calls. That lasted a few months. I've had a couple of further bad colds with some mild chest symptoms since then, and lost my sense of smell once. But, since I've not been tested, I don't know. I've had bad chest colds before with lingering respiratory symptoms before, so that's not a certain sign of COVID, and have a minor sinus condition that means I've also lost my sense of smell before (pre-COVID). If you asked me to bet whether I've had it or not, I'd say I'm about 60/40 on having had it, but haven't had an antibody test, so I could well be wrong.
I've also had to isolate as the UK COVID tracing app pinged me to tell me I'd been in contact with someone positive.
Also, my wife indirectly lost her job because of COVID.* So that also sucks.
* they closed her place of work permanently, for non-COVID reasons, but ordinarily would have relocated her and most of her staff to another workplace as she's a high-performer (in her company), but they'd also closed all of the other places of work, so decided to let all of her staff go.
As per LB above in 21:
On the plus side, since the tail end of the summer through walking or cycling, my cardio fitness has massively improved. Resting pulse is very good. I can go out for a 90 minute bike ride and average over 80% of my Max HR, without any issues.
45: I thought you could choose.
When I started at my current job, I was covering the maternity leave for somebody who got pregnant with twins kind of accidentally. She came from an upper middle class family (mom was a teacher and Dad was President of a regional bank with a million plus salary), and once she was pregnant, they made plans to get married, but she gave birth before the wedding. We had pretty good insurance through the hospital, but his was better through a pharma company, so she put the babies on his right away.
I'll have to listen, but I guess the rule for families needs to be that the whole family goes on the better plan.
According to the sticker on my stationary bike, my maximum heart rate is supposed to be 140. Usually I trust stickers, but I can get my pulse up to 155-160 without a problem.
I haven't had a cold in over a year now, which is itself kinda weird.
I clearly had a cold a couple of weeks ago. It worried me.
, I was covering the maternity leave for somebody who got pregnant with twins kind of accidentally.
One baby, fool me once. Two babies, won't get fooled again.
I'll have to listen, but I guess the rule for families needs to be that the whole family goes on the better plan.
We've actually got Jammies split off on a different plan. The cheapest plan at his job is actually free of monthly premiums, at least for the employee. My plan isn't free, but dependents on my plan are cheap if they're kids and super expensive if it's your spouse.
Also, it's January! Time to shell out hundreds of dollars for all the longterm prescriptions we're on, in the name of deductibles! wheeeee!
It seems strange that an institution like that would be effectively discouraging marriage.
So so stupid. How much do we owe you for this appointment? Who knows! We'll tell you in a month or two. And if you accidentally overpay because you hit some arbitrary spending we'll maybe send the money back to you later.
And don't get me started on FSAs. We know our next kid will need braces but if the orthodontist can make that prediction early enough at the right time of year we can pay for them tax free, but if we find out mid year and we can't get the savings. And if we try to guess we might lose all the money. Very logical system.
re: 51
I'm 48. Most of the max heart rate calculations come out in the high 170s, which matches quite well to where mine tends to max out when exercising. Although I have gone over 180 once or twice in the past year, that'd be very unusual, and feel unpleasant. I can average 150+ for an entire bike ride, and extended periods between 165 and 170. That'd have left me wrecked even 4 months ago.
Nerdy data gathering can go to far, but I find it really motivating to literally see the little line of my resting heart beat steadily going down over a period of months, and the little line of my max heart beat steadily going up. Also, to see that if I ride exactly the same route I did 2 months ago, I do it quicker, and my average heart beat for that faster speed is lower.
I was prepared for getting braces for our son. I'm not prepared to do math about it.
The sticker on my stationary bike gives maximum heart rate by age and the 160 I'm hitting is for people in their thirties. But the sticker doesn't have any citations to support the numbers.
When I could run, I would usually hit 175 (at the end of the run, I don't have as monitor). I don't know if the lower maximum I'm getting now it's because of age or because I'm not running.
My fitness has definitely gone down. Biking to work used to be my main source of exercise. In theory I could carve out time for biking around the neighborhood but it's harder. I'm probably eating a bit healthier because I'm getting lunch from food trucks less often, but still, I think it's a net negative for fitness.
I've had runny noses a bit more than usual the past year, which I think is because I'm around my cat more. I think I've developed a minor cat allergy. Cassandane has had one for years, and it hasn't really been a problem because he spends so much time outside, but we're still together more now than we used to be.
A "minor cat" is usually called a "kitten."
FSAs are bizarre and horrible, but HSAs are totally fine. They should just get rid of FSAs and expand HSAs beyond people with "high deductible plans" (which don't actually require a very high deductible).
67: My $200 deductible plan doesn't qualify for an HSA. HSAs are kind of evil though in their own way as opposed to first dollar coverage, because you can use the money for non-healthcare stuff once you turn 65. So, if you are a rich venture capitalist, it's just another tax deferred savings account and you pay your deductible out of current income. Meanwhile, your company's cleaner can't afford to put aside the money and is forgoing healthcare.
re: 64
Something I read recently said that because running is, in various ways, harder (involves more of the body) the max HR might top out a bit higher. It's not harder for me, because I can't run for more than about 5 minutes, but, as a general rule ...
re: 63
That seems like the sticker is targeting something like 80-90% of Max HR, because the (crude)* rule of thumb is 220 minus age for Max. Which is probably fair enough for most people, and if people are fit enough that they can go over that, they'll ignore it, anyway.
* there seem to be a million ways of calculating max HR from some combination of age, base level fitness, resting heart rate, etc.
I guess I'm asking a great deal of a sticker. I'm thinking of trying to get PT to see if I can't run again. If I do, I need to remember that I should stop at two miles or less.
63: 160 sounds very conservative / litigation avoidant. 220 minus age is a common formula but it varies by person: I posted a 180 recently and am 49. I don't think you can really hurt yourself with a high heart rate during exercise (unless you maintain for hours at a stretch, in response to which there is some sort of - reversible with rest - muscle breakdown) although it is taxing and reckon it's the sort of thing that in general sets you up for overtraining. And if you're going to have the coronary, you're going to have it.
Generally, am aiming at the moment for solid chunks of 120-140 with the odd 'interval' and am calling it base training.
Here we go:
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/can-too-much-extreme-exercise-damage-your-heart/
Also running is harder than cycling - too hard, really - so you should do cycling.
You'd be surprised how slowly I can run.
It must be nearly time to reup the prancercise lady again, no?
The only problem I have with running in my Achilles tendon. It's a strange thing to have as a weakness.
69: there's 211 - 0.64 x Age. Seems to work for me!
68: I believe your HSA rolls into an IRA when you hit 65 so all withdrawals become taxable. That is my understanding and I am 64 so M and I are trying to find things we want done that aren't covered by insurance but we can pay for out of the HSA before I turn 65.
Achilles tendonitis is one of the most annoying to get (and I've gotten it cycling, as well), because there's limited blood flow to the tendon so it takes forever to heal.
I also have limited room for exercise equipment, so I bought a one-year online yoga subscription and have been doing power yoga 3-5 days a week. Would not be my first choice of exercise if I had access to weights or a nice park, but it's tolerable and preferable, space-wise, to having a large immovable piece of exercise equipment.
78: As far as I know medical expenses are still tax-free withdrawals after 65. It's just that at 65 you're also permitted to treat it like a de facto IRA.
My resting heart rate according to my watch is now ten beats higher per minute it than it used to be. This is frustrating to me but the doctor doesn't think it's anything because a) measured by my watch b) well within healthy range. But is it a new medication? A lingering viral infection? Stress? Inconsistent recovery from exercise? Underhydration? Bah.
Anyhow my max heart rate pretty consistently is 179 (redline, must stop pedaling kind of max) but I can hold 155 for hours. 'Aerobic range' is supposed to be 120-140 but I can never seem to train in it.
79: I don't think it heals for me. It took years before I could run without pain and two months at running more than four miles a week to break again.
The one that really annoys me is that I pay for vision insurance through my employer. Copay for a vision exam is $10. But the eye hospital billed blue cross, because they pay more. We did not think it was covered. But now, they want the $30 copay for a specialist visit.
HSAs suck because they give people a financial incentive to stay sick.
78: I looked it up and you are correct and I was wrong about having to roll it into an IRA. I wonder if the rules changed at some point in the last five years. I haven't had an HSA insurance policy for about five years so have been spending down my HSA account from previous years contributions but have been unable to contribute any new money to the account. (I got married and my spouse has really good insurance from her employer.)
I submitted a survey response. I was in the 'over 10' category for knowing people who've had it; my actual number would have been well over 20. At my job the HR functions of a 100+ person office roll up to me, so I've known when anyone there has had it. Only one death of a person I actually knew, a grad school professor of mine. A very sweet man who didn't deserve to go down in a mass nursing home death situation.
I feel like my social circle is too skewed (let's be honest - minimal) to be a useful survey contributor, but my experience such as it is certainly confirms that there's a big class/race skew to it, here in Canada. I have just one high school friend whose kids got it. And a couple of pretty remote FB friends in other countries. That's it for social circle. But THREE of the jolly, highly competent Sikh guys who drive for the airport limo company I used to use died of it early on. I don't know if they were relatives or if it just became a dangerous profession fast -- tragic, anyway.