Well it finally got me. The vid. The rona. The plague. I finally tested positive.Since 2020 I've been very careful not to say I never had COVID, but that I never tested positive for it. And I tested around a dozen times. My doctor even tested my antibodies. She found them unusually high, which she said could either mean that I had it and was symptomatic or that my body just reacted to the vaccines really well. Either way, it explained why I hadn't seemed to get it. I had a robust immune response. I traveled to Hawaii. I traveled a few times to San Jose. I traveled to Austin. I traveled to Las Vegas. Didn't get it. I went to four BTS concerts, two Twice concerts (heh twice), a Seventeen Concert, an Aespa concert, a Stray Kids concert, a wedding and a Dodgers game. Didn't get it. I got my fourth vaccine shot on September 27th, the bivalent one. I was feeling really good. This virus can't catch me!And when I wasn't doing all the stuff I mentioned I really wasn't out and about much. Over the past week I hadn't really gone anywhere. I mean nowhere. There was no reason to think I might have got infected. So Wednesday night, when my throat felt scratchy and I was little more tired than I should be, I took some nyquil and figured it was an autumn cold. I woke up Thursday and felt really tired. Still just a cough but really really tired. I figured I'd better be sure just in case I did want to go somewhere this weekend. So I went to the clinic. I got the test. Positive. How?Was it the waiter at the Hungry Fox last Sunday? Was it the fact that Eileen has had to go into work three days a week? Did she carry it home asymptomatically?Who knows? The fact is my streak has ended. I did not escape the vid. Few do. The good news is that by Friday I already felt a lot better. Still a little tired with the cough but not as tired as Thursday. Frankly my reaction seems to be similar to the reaction lots of people described having to the vaccines. I never had any reactions to he vaccines so I figure this is payback. Nevertheless, I shall begin my five-day coalescence (as will Eileen, just to be safe). LA County sent me an alert and I registered my positive test with Exposure Notification. I'll be getting a call from the county soon to check up on me. I'm fine. Luckily. What I'm more excited about than my positive COVID test is this week's episode "A Word." I have admired Andrea Jones-Rooy's many appearances on Andrew Heaton's podcasts so was super excited to talk to them about Identity. It's not going to be what you think. Andrea has a very nuanced take on identity. It's a really fun and I hope productive conversation that moves past "scoring points" or signalling virtues and into what the issue might actually be about. At the very least I think it will help you form your own opinions without preaching about which ones you should hold. Hope you enjoy it.Now to pretend I feel worse than I am and milk this positive test for all it's worth! Laying around, here I come!Tom
Tom Merritt Finally Got COVID
Tom Merritt Finally Got COVID
Tom Merritt Finally Got COVID
Well it finally got me. The vid. The rona. The plague. I finally tested positive.Since 2020 I've been very careful not to say I never had COVID, but that I never tested positive for it. And I tested around a dozen times. My doctor even tested my antibodies. She found them unusually high, which she said could either mean that I had it and was symptomatic or that my body just reacted to the vaccines really well. Either way, it explained why I hadn't seemed to get it. I had a robust immune response. I traveled to Hawaii. I traveled a few times to San Jose. I traveled to Austin. I traveled to Las Vegas. Didn't get it. I went to four BTS concerts, two Twice concerts (heh twice), a Seventeen Concert, an Aespa concert, a Stray Kids concert, a wedding and a Dodgers game. Didn't get it. I got my fourth vaccine shot on September 27th, the bivalent one. I was feeling really good. This virus can't catch me!And when I wasn't doing all the stuff I mentioned I really wasn't out and about much. Over the past week I hadn't really gone anywhere. I mean nowhere. There was no reason to think I might have got infected. So Wednesday night, when my throat felt scratchy and I was little more tired than I should be, I took some nyquil and figured it was an autumn cold. I woke up Thursday and felt really tired. Still just a cough but really really tired. I figured I'd better be sure just in case I did want to go somewhere this weekend. So I went to the clinic. I got the test. Positive. How?Was it the waiter at the Hungry Fox last Sunday? Was it the fact that Eileen has had to go into work three days a week? Did she carry it home asymptomatically?Who knows? The fact is my streak has ended. I did not escape the vid. Few do. The good news is that by Friday I already felt a lot better. Still a little tired with the cough but not as tired as Thursday. Frankly my reaction seems to be similar to the reaction lots of people described having to the vaccines. I never had any reactions to he vaccines so I figure this is payback. Nevertheless, I shall begin my five-day coalescence (as will Eileen, just to be safe). LA County sent me an alert and I registered my positive test with Exposure Notification. I'll be getting a call from the county soon to check up on me. I'm fine. Luckily. What I'm more excited about than my positive COVID test is this week's episode "A Word." I have admired Andrea Jones-Rooy's many appearances on Andrew Heaton's podcasts so was super excited to talk to them about Identity. It's not going to be what you think. Andrea has a very nuanced take on identity. It's a really fun and I hope productive conversation that moves past "scoring points" or signalling virtues and into what the issue might actually be about. At the very least I think it will help you form your own opinions without preaching about which ones you should hold. Hope you enjoy it.Now to pretend I feel worse than I am and milk this positive test for all it's worth! Laying around, here I come!Tom