Reasons 2B Cheerful

Spring is in the air

 I started this new blog and then neglected it. I almost decided to transfer the posts here back to Midlife Singlemum and just change the name. However, I do want a clean break and a completely new image, not to mention the challenge of living up to the name Panache. Spring has arrived so I'm giving Midlife Panache another go and I'm long overdue for a R2BC post. 

1 Fully Vaccinated

I got my second shot exactly three weeks after the first. The place was as empty as it was the first time so despite arriving half an hour early, I went straight into one of the vaccination booths. This time while waiting for 15 minutes before leaving, a staff member came round and asked all of the 20 or so waitees if we were feeling OK. I was impressed with that. The drive-through testing centre has been moved from the car park opposite the vaccination centre in the Jerusalem Arena, so I was able to get a taxi outside the door without worrying that it would take 20 minutes of meter time to leave the stadium-arena campus. Apart from flushed cheeks later in the evening (like a fever could break out but didn't), I had no side effcts at all. It's now two weeks later and I consider myself fully vaccintated and 95% safe - although I'm not exactly sure what that means. 

2 Spring

We really didn't have much of a winter this year. The temperature has hovvered between 15C and 20C since the beginning of December with only a few days falling below 15C and a few rain storms lasting a couple of days each. But now we're firmly back in the 20s and it really does feel like spring. 

3 Social Zooms

It took a while for this to take off as, being a teacher working from home, the last thing I want to do after a day at the computer, is to have more zoom meetings. There were a few family meet-ups with a friendly quiz which were fun. Last week I zoomed with four friends from my schooldays. We all live in different cities and on three different continents so I don't know why it took the pandemic for us to do this. This was our second zoom and we've cemented the custom of doing it on our birthdays. We may need another excuse in the summer as we were all born withn six months of each other. Or not. I've also fallen into a welcome monthly zoom date with a friend in London. Second month this Sunday as we  only started in January this year. Although I spend a lot of time on Face Book, it's not the same as actually chatting as opposed to typing. I'm starting to feel more connected to the world again. (This may also be because the balcony door is wide open and there are people outside in the sunshine.)

4 New Job

I am [remote] teaching a course at a new (to me) college this semester. It's the sister college to the one I already teach in and also very local. I'm hoping that if things go well, the work will continue next year. The pay doesn't quite cover the cuts that were made in September so it's lots more work for almost the same money I got last year for fewer hours, but under the current circumstances I'm just grateful to still be employed at all.

In a nutshell, lots to be cheerful about. 

The Call to Vacction (It's a Play on Words).

Jerusalem Payis Arena
The sign says: Maccabi Always With You. 
 

 3.20 pm: I'm giving a zoom English lesson to six 4th Graders. The phone rings. I don't give the lady time to tell me anything. I say I'm a teacher giving a zoom lesson and I'll be able to talk in another 30 minutes. Had I known what it was about, I would never have hung up.

 3.50 pm on the dot: She calls back. She's from Maccabi, my health fund. Would I like to make an appointment for the first round vaccination? Of course I would but as I told the person I spoke to a couple of weeks ago, after receiving invitations by sms, email and a phone call, I'm allergic to latex and they warned people with allergies to speak to their doctor first. Last time I was told that as I'm not yet 60, I don't really qualify. Which begged the question - why invite me to make an appointment then? 

Since then they are filling in free slots with people in their 50s so as not to waste opened batches of vaccination that have been out of the freezer too long to put back. 

This nice lady asks if I'm allergic to any medicines and specifically any inoculations. No and no. So you're fine, can you come at 4.20? Whoa, I'm not sure I can get there by 4.20. Ok, 4.40? Done. 

I am about to hang up when she says, "one more thing. Your second jab will be on the 25th January also at 4.40." I'm amazed. Are you an angel from heaven? The truth is that Israel does what it does best in a crisis. We're used to crises.  

 3.55 pm: I dance around my apartment feeling like I've won the lottery. 

 4.05 pm: I jump in a taxi. "Driver! The Jerusalem Payis Arena! And don't spare the horses!" (I'm paraphrasing.) 

 4.20 pm: I walk into the Arena. They give me a number at the door which corresponds exactly to the number showing on the screen. Cubicle 9. Straight in. 

 4.21 pm: I give my ID number. "Rachel Selby? I see you had your flu shot three weeks ago." Yes and yes. "Which arm?" Reader, I didn't feel a thing. 

 4.22 pm: I'm sitting in the lobby having been instructed to wait 10 minutes before leaving. 

 4.50 pm: I'm home and half vaccinated. The trouble is that no one knows which half. And anyway, my 50% immunity doesn't kick in for 8-10 days. But who's going anywhere in the next month anyway? We too are heading for a strict stay-at-home lockdown due to start within 48 hours.

Apparently we are stopping the first round of vaccinations at the end of this week and spending the rest of January giving the second round. I wasn't going to bother with this first round. I thought I'd contact my GP, maybe have to get an epipen and a doctor's note. Whatever, I planned to be ready for the February intake. I was quite happy to let the first 1.5 million people try it out before me. But, now I'm happy, relieved, honoured, and very grateful to have been given this opportunity.