Results? What results?

As I write this, I am waiting for my COVID test results. I was informed Monday morning by our youngest that his minor business partner had tested positive so I and my wife need to get tested. Last week he had helped me tow our Airstream to service. Since we are using his truck for vacation it made sense for him to help. The hitch proved to be difficult requiring us to be in close proximity for several hours over two days. Shit. Oh well, there are testing centers all over the city right? It sounds simple enough; call them and tell them you were exposed to someone who tested positive. Check. I’m told I need a doctor referral. Really? I then explained we are in the more vulnerable age group and we are live-in caregivers for a 92 year. “Ok, you still need a referral” they said. I then tell them I have a runny nose and night sweats and am told to get a referral. At the same time my wife is talking to the office of our family physician and told it will be four days to get tested there. I call them back pleading and luck into a test for both of us that morning. Thank You! It is interesting to note that at this same time our oldest decides he should get tested too so he drives up to the testing center that had refused me and gets tested immediately. He told them he was exposed and that was good enough. No doctor referral or anything else required. Even more insulting is he learned his results the next day and we are on our third day with nothing. I would love to know why the prejudice. I am in conflict. I feel guilty for missing two days several weeks ago because of a kidney stone and the fact I am on vacation next week, so working from home now while I wait for results is frustrating.

I am actually surprised any work is getting accomplished. The Fortune 500 companies I work with are all still in lockdown, four months since this mess started and provide very little help in the outside world. I fear these corporations will review the data when this is over (if that ever happens) and decide their customer/suppliers got along just fine without their physical support so why not cut expenses and prune back people. As sorry as I have felt for myself at times I never imagined my opportunities would be at the expense of someone else losing their position through no fault of their own.

This year has gone by so fast which surprises me under the circumstances. The unsettled nature of things and the growing division between beliefs and philosophies is mind numbing and never seems to end. One bad story is followed by another that is even worse until you are almost completely desensitized to the world around you. Caffeine is no match for the energy expended to get through an average day, especially knowing each successive day is more of the same. I try to stay positive and look for motivation wherever available but that brick wall keeps looming ever closer.

I made this years reservations for Yellowstone in July 2019. We had just extracted our Airstream from 4 years of storage and wanted, no, needed a road trip. During that search it was becoming clearer that beggars couldn’t be choosers, and flexibility on a date was the only way possible to get a site. I quickly realized many people were booking their trips for 2020 and thought “Why not?” Two sites were chosen, each for four days at the date most convenient for all of us. I had no idea when booking how important this time away could be and how excited we are to get out of town. As I wait for our COVID results, I call the testing office to see if they have heard anything. They tell me they are sorry but the original 48 hour estimate has morphed into a week which would be Monday. So here’s the deal; everyone else tested that same day has their results and are all negative, so unless I get a call before 6 AM Saturday telling me I’m positive F@#% COVID! We are out of here! They can leave a message.