I'm surprised at how few aftereffects I'm feeling from COVID. You hear a lot about them on Twitter. I felt lethargic and low energy in the last couple days before I tested negative, but then when I started working and going out again I pepped up immediately. I haven't jogged yet, but I did walk 5 km.
On the last day I was getting horrid shooting muscle pains in my leg, enough to warrant going to a clinic to get DVT ruled out (which it was), but in retrospect that was almost certainly due to the enforced inactivity.
My covid was very mild, milder than a typical cold, but then after I was basically recovered I did have some lingering minor lung soreness for a week or so after. Certainly more aftereffects than I would have from a cold I'd already cleared.
Still no covid here yet. I have no idea how we did it.
I haven't commented here much because the summer has been busy. Right now we're halfway ro my parent's house in Vermont for the shortest trip yet, eight hours of driving one-way just for one overnight, to drop Atossa off and then Cassandane and I will drive home without her tomorrow. She's staying at "grandparent camp" for the last week of summer vacation.
I still haven't had covid that I've known of, but I've still got shooting pains in my legs.
I guess the Paxlovid may have improved my recovery in addition to reducing my chances of severe disease.
Campaign mode grinds on. I've been doing a bunch of houseparties and was on the radio this week. Got my media buys in place and first round of mailers out. Tomorrow there is a meet-and-greet in my home ward and I'm hoping for decent turnout.
That's such a great pseudonym for a candidate running a campaign.
The election opponent should be Barnyard Dawg.
Oh, and I didn't file for that race after all. Someone else filed who I decided was decent enough that I can support. And she'll need support vs. a pure-politician candidate who has some endorsements already. (It's FPTP.)
I'm getting creamed on endorsements. The two previous holders of the seat have come out for my opponent. Must be nice to be part of the establishment.
You get the establishment and the antidisestablishment in a package.
6: Did you get the awful taste in your mouth from Paxlovid? My sister did, and while she feels strongly that it was worth it, apparently it was truly horrible.
13: No, even though the course is three pills morning and night each.
BLEG. I'm in Chicago. Exhausted because we got picked up to go to the airport at 4:30 this morning. We walked around for a while, because we could not get into our room until 2pm. Then we took a nap. Tim went to some conference stuff and won't be back until 9 or 10. I need to find some kind of place not too far from the Loop/business district where I can get some kind of takeout. Room Service is Michael Jordan's Strak House which sells $35 burgers that don't look good.
Chicago is known for great food, but I think that right now I am in a part of town with a lot of options that are bad and I'd love to find something within walking distance. Any suggestions?
How close are you to the Shake Shack? That's where I'd go.
(I didn't know you can now get a cheeky Nando's in the US?)
There are 2food halls that look good - Revival and Urbanspacs - but neither is open on Sunday. We had brunch that was a little overpriced at some chain called Egg Harbor Cafe.
We are right on Michigan Avenue, so I think that's a 15 minute walk. Thank you for the suggestion. The hotel was an athletic club in the 30's, so it has a really cool pool that looks like it should be in a movie.
18 to 16.
17: what constitutes Chicago deep dish pizza seems to be a fraught question. There's some chain called Lou Molnatis that is 3 minutes away. I have no idea if that is anything other than a total tourist trap.
I don't know anything about Chicago-area dining, but I have some blegs of my own:
1) What's a good vegetarian bacon that will stay crispy/crunchy in a baked item? It's for savory scones. Should I just use those fake bacon bits that come in a shaky jar? Those always seem a little dodgy to me.
2) Best way to travel between Pittsburgh PA and Rochester NY-area? I should just rent a car, right?
3) Google is practically useless now. Is there a search engine that works better? I sometimes use Duck Duck Go because I guess I kind of care about privacy when I remember, but I don't think the search results are all that great.
17: This place was pretty good back in the '70s. And this place in the west loop was popular 10 years ago. All I got for now. Maybe you should DM ogged.
21.2: Rent a car or fly. There's no rail or bus service that is practical. I haven't tried to fly that way in years. It was easy back when U.S. Air ran the region, but that was 20 years ago. If you don't want to rent a car, you can find a tiktok on how to steal a Kia or Hyundai. Just wipe off the prints before you ditch it.
22: I have never been cool enough to know how to contact ogged.
Weirdly enough, I know three people whose kids are starting at RTI this year.
It occurs to me that I have also eat at Shake Shack in Chicago. It was several years ago, but it was good.
21.2: Yes, rent a car. Presumably Greyhound will sell you a ticket, but I can't imagine it'd be anything other than awful routing. Train isn't going to happen (you have to go through Philly and NYC!)
26: they opened near us and it was bad. But I'm on my way now.
You can supposedly take a train from Cleveland to Rochester. And you can take one from Pittsburgh to Cleveland. But the Pittsburgh to Cleveland train leaves at midnight and then you have to hang around in Cleveland from like 3:00am to 6:00am.
I mean I love all the Shake Shack's, including the Cambridge one, they're all the same.
I've never been to Cleveland. I know they have a famous zoo, but it's probably not open from 3 to 6. I have a friend from Columbus, and she's always bragging about how national brands test their experimental varieties in Columbus grocery stores, and so she has eaten all these special flavors of Oreos and Doritos that I'll never get to try. But it looks like Columbus is not very close to Cleveland. I guess I'll just rent a car.
I thought the Columbus Zoo was the famous one.
BG, Malnati's is good pizza. Locals eat there. They have deep dish that isn't too casserole, and they also make a perfectly good thin crust. If you feel like pizza, it's a good option. You're also close to the Purple Pig, which I haven't been to, but I have been to another of her restaurants, and it's excellent. But it might be difficult to get a seat at this hour. You'd have to call. Looks like MingHin is also open till 9, and that's very solid dim sum. I used to get lunch at another of their branches. And Revival Food Hall is very good. Also used to eat there all the time and their vendors tend to be very good, and there's something for everyone.
Cleveland has the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is just the most pointless thing ever except for the baseball one.
Thank you, ogged. I probably should have grabbed a personal pizza. Good to know about the Purple Pig.
21.1: We use Morningstar Farms veggie bacon for BLTs. My wife ignores the directions on the box and bakes it in the oven at 350 degrees for 7 minutes on each side. The results are crispy. I may not be the best judge since I don't remember what actual bacon tastes like.
There's a north loop popeye's and a south loop Harold's. Harold's is better. No salad either place though. Getting food in the loop on weekends is a challenge-- there's a seafood place that faces the river right by Dearborn that's a little corporate but basically pleasant, costs about the same as airport food but is a few notches better, used to be open Sundays.
Maybe I just think the Columbus Zoo is a bigger deal because of Jack Hanna?
oh wait, I was thinking of the Cincinnati zoo
Yeah, that's supposedly the best in Ohio. But even further away.
But I remember everyone talking about the role Columbus played as a test market. Which meant McDonald's bought Donatos Pizza and fucked it up, apparently sticking to the well-supported idea that America doesn't deserve nice things.
There's a great restaurant area in the West loop, long walk but short divvy, by Fulton market. No idea what's open Sunday, but something nice will be. Ride under the highway on Randolph.
Before going to the art museum, call and confirm American Gothic is there. I got robbed because it was "on loan" when I was there.
Columbus has baby-hippo flavor Doritos.
33: Her? Are you mixing up pigs and goats, maybe?
21.1: Try Benevolent Bacon. Cooked slightly longer than package instructions, it shatters almost like the real stuff. I would guess it would work in scones.
Baby hippos look kind of like pigs.
For Pittsburgh to Rochester, absolutely rent a car. I have memories of visiting my girlfriend in Ithaca; the Greyhound bus went through Cleveland, Erie, and Rochester, taking maybe 17 hours. Not recommended. The drive is very easy, straight interstates through flat ground.
Speaking of said now-wife: she gave birth! A real rough ordeal for her but everything's on the mend. God babies are a lot of work.
Congrats, Dalriata! Babies, oh boy. I vented in a few check-in threads some months ago, at the roughest parts of our own baby adventure. So an update: born in January 2 months early, at 2 lbs 12 oz and real sick to boot, our kid is basically kicking butt. He's still on oxygen at night and a little delayed in mobility, but he's otherwise a healthy little tub. My wife went from gravely ill to pretty much fine once he was out of her. It seems increasingly likely that we'll be able to forget about the whole ordeal.
That's good to hear. Thanks for the update.
Yes, KM. Glad to hear.
I can attest that Revival Food Hall had a solid breakfast and good coffee, a convenient stop on the way to the ACS conference.
I thought the milk in my iced latte had gone bad, because I'm not hip enough to know that people use non homogenized milk.
Babies, hooray! I just spent the weekend at a house party including a young couple with a two-month old who was wearing them out a bit, and a whole lot of people including me fighting to get some time holding the baby. It was great. They both got some good naps and some time being able to use both hands and we all got good baby snuggles.
Babies are the greatest. Congratulations!
55: That's so good to hear. That must have been so stressful.
The bedroom smoke alarm started going off early this morning, so we opened it up and wtf, there are like a thousand ants milling around inside. What are they doing in there? Are they mentally ill?
They're probably eating the small churro that emits the radioactive particles.
Congratulations, dalriata! And so glad to hear that things are going well, KM.
64: We can finally answer Billy Joel's perennial question about who started it!
Congratulations, Dal and Kymyz!
21.3: what's wrong with Google exactly? It's bad for searching TFA, but has been for a long time if I remember correctly. It's better than Bing. At least Google can sort of do exact quote searches if I insist.
1,2,3, etc: my Covid experience was similar to 3, more fever the first day than a typical cold but then much less cold-like than a cold, except for the sore lungs. It did take me a couple weeks before my lungs felt better. I've done some flat hikes, nothing strenuous yet.
I'm annoyed getting Covid delayed my apartment search but hopefully it means I'm less likely to get sick and interrupt the process of moving. After years of splitting time between northern and southern California, finally found a place near LA where visiting my parents is a relatively easy drive.
Today I am "you had my mother in your class when she was a student here!" years old.
I had high school teachers who'd taught each of my parents -- Mr Marienhoff taught Dad history, and Ms Jones taught Mom fencing.
My dad graduated forty years ahead of me. And in a different town.