I was walking to work yesterday when I passed this rather psychedelic-looking mushroom near the tube station. And I think that's a dog's nose peeking out beneath it. Kind of surreal!
I took the Christmas lights off the avocado tree several days ago, and then Dave and I were missing them. There's something comforting about that colorful glow in the early morning hours before dawn. It's nice to sit on the couch and blog in their diffuse rainbow light.
So I put them back up again. Only, this time they wouldn't light! Apparently something in the act of my taking them down, boxing them up, pulling them back out and winding them around the tree again (all very brief tasks -- it's only one little strand of lights) loosened a connection and somehow killed the whole shebang. We've had them since 2011 and several of the little bulbs no longer worked, so I guess they've lived their life. I'll have to get another strand for next year. Or not.
I decided on Thursday that I really should get another Covid booster. I haven't had one since September 2022 and since Dave and I are about to embark on some traveling, and people around me at work are dropping like flies, it seemed prudent. Dave got one last fall after getting a notice of eligibility from the NHS. No one ever notified me that I'd be eligible (and you can't just buy the jab in the UK, apparently) but I thought I could make a case, given that I live with an immune-compromised person.
So I went to our local walk-in vaccination clinic on Thursday evening and they told me to come back yesterday morning. (They didn't want to open a new vial late in the day, apparently.) So I did, and got my jab. They didn't seem too concerned about my eligibility, but they did ask.
Then I learned that yet another of my librarian co-workers tested positive for Covid! I worked with her all day Thursday, so it's anyone's guess whether I was too late with the vaccine. I think they take a couple of weeks to reach maximum effect. I felt tired yesterday afternoon but I suppose that could just be vaccine after-effects.
"Maybe it will make you feel better to know that while Dad, Melanie and the Karmann Ghia are no more, I still have the 8-track player that tied it all together," he said.
This is not unusual for my brother, who loves to hold on to sentimental objects, and in this case I'm glad he did. It's nice to know the old 8-track is still out there. He didn't mention whether or not he has any tapes to put in it. Since 8-track tapes barely worked when they were brand new, I can't imagine they'd work now.
When I got my first car, a 1977 Pontiac Sunbird, it had an 8-track player. By the time I was driving, in the early '80s, 8-track tapes were passé but I used to pick up used ones now and then at Goodwill. They invariably broke almost immediately.
Today I'm thinking about a scheme to return the Ikea shopping cart, which is still sitting on our street. Stay tuned!
I can't believe your brother still has that 8-track player. You're obviously related. Glad you got the vaccine and hope you didn't catch anything in the meantime. I find that mushroom art kind of pleasing and, especially, the dog's nose. But stickers where they're not supposed to be drive me nuts and I always want to clean everything off and repaint. (Which is why we have no refrigerator magnets.)
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, I got my second to last booster vaccine the day before I went on a 33 hrs flight with two stopovers in crowded airports. My man didn't get a booster but got COVID. We didn't find out until day four of his infection - he had no fever just a sore throat - and stayed close until he finally tested positive. By that time two more people who stayed with us were also positive but I never got it and I am immunocompromised. Boosters seem to just do that, boost existing immunity, other than a vaccine.
ReplyDeleteI guess an eight track might be what we called a cartridge player. Very few people bought them.
ReplyDeleteWe've had six Covid vaccinations. The serum keeps changing and we are urged to have an injection every six months if we haven't had Covid in that period. Our last was just before Christmas. We never have side effects. Just do it.
And of course you did.
ReplyDeleteI did my COVID booster and flu shot and RSV shot in November; it's a lot of pricks but it makes me feel better about being around the masses.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there are 8-track tapes anywhere left in the world that can still be played?
Darling little mushroom.
ReplyDeleteI guess that eight-track players were the first real breakthrough in being able to play your own music in a car as opposed to just listening to the radio. As such, they were pretty amazing.
I bet the one of your dad's would still work.
So much covid around, I'm glad you got the booster. I hope it's in good time to avoid what your colleagues are coming down with.
ReplyDeleteIt's good you got the booster and I hope you don't get Covid from your coworker.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that your brother still has the 8 track as it's not hooked up to anything so it wouldn't work anyway, right?
He puts lovely vases on windowsills like you do! Did you learn that from your Mom?
I never dreamed that someone would be ineligible for a covid shot! It just makes sense to have everybody vaccinated . Like your comments on the 8 tracks. I hope you don't come down with covid.
ReplyDeleteyou know, you're a little anal. I don't say that as an insult. I've been accused of it myself more than once. I prefer to think i'm laser focused on whatever. anyway, why does that cart out there bother you so much? I'm surprised some homeless person hasn't claimed it. apparently Ikea isn't concerned about one missing cart or the city for that matter.
ReplyDeleteyou should get a new string of lights.
My first car was a Pontiac Tempest but a little older than yours. I think mine was a 1964. I love that car and every now and then I have a dream that I still have it.
ReplyDeleteI love that your brother saved that 8-track player. My dad had one in his car and I remember the sound it would make every time it changed tracks.
Good luck on your IKEA adventure.
PS, glad you got the booster. I got my last one about 2 weeks before I flew to London. So far, so good.
ReplyDeleteGood move to get another booster, especially since you are going for a ride in the human mailing tube soon. I remember 8-tracks, I also remember seeing their carcasses and miles of tape scattered along the roads and highways back in the day, no doubt the result of people getting p***ed off because they stopped working and threw them out the window!
ReplyDeleteYour ability to find something interesting and new every time on the way to or from work is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI got my Covid Jab in the fall of 2023 so should hopefully be good. Fortunately here, I just walk in and get it. The only questions asked are how you reacted to previous shots. I don't even think they asked me about when my last Covid shot has been.
ReplyDeleteMy first car had an 8-track player. Back then, Tupperware had a green bread box that fit a loaf of bread to keep it from going stale and it fit perfectly between the driver and passenger seat of my car and held I think, around a dozen 8 track tapes. I had them organized in alphabetic order so I could get the next one without looking. ABBA was of course the first one in the box. But like you said, they never lasted too long and as soon as I scraped up some money, I put in a cassette deck in it's place.
It seems to me that while some people have had covit 4 or more times, others have not caught it at all, and it does not seem to be related to their behaviour. You may be one of the lucky ones.
ReplyDeleteI hope you stay healthy. This new Covid strain is so contagious. People in New York were succumbing at an alarming rate over the holidays. That’s another way to get boosted I suppose.
ReplyDeleteYour post prompted me to see when I got my last COVID booster. October! So funny that I thought it was far back in the mists of time...
ReplyDeleteI think you should get white lights to put on the avocado tree & just leave them up year round (or do you move it outside in the spring?).
You might be able to find some lights on sale now that the season for them is over. If not, they aren't very expensive anyway.
ReplyDeleteGood idea to get a booster before traveling. I got one with my flu shot last fall.
Jab On Brother Man & Smell A CA Is Calling Your Name - Looking Forward To Those Photos For Sure - For You & I Currently , Feb Will Be Summer Time There - Start Pounding Water Now
ReplyDeleteCheers
An 8-track player--that's very cool! I never thought (at that time) that we'd loop back to vinyl. I'm glad that the 8-track is gone though because what a pain getting to the tracks I wanted to listen to. Covid is rampant here too; I had my booster in October, prior to the holidays. John had his later than I did (November?) and still got Covid recently but it wasn't bad at all like his first bout with it.
ReplyDeleteLoving your brothers glass selection
ReplyDeleteIf you get new lights for the avocado tree, you can choose to get LED's and they are brighter than the older non-LED strings. I highly recommend the LED's. You might be one of the lucky people that never gets Covid.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I missed the eight-track phase. Good luck with the Covid shot -- I hope you avoid it. Seems like a smart idea though, with the trip and Dave.
ReplyDeleteEven the prices on the LED lights have come down and they seem to last forever. I know what you mean about the glow of the lights when it is dark -- there's something warm and comforting about that. Much as I hate still having the big Christmas tree up (I don't mind the small ones -- they aren't as seasonal) I do put on the lights every morning and again in the evening. It just feels right.
I do Hope your Booster protects you since co-workers are now coming down with the latest strain of The Rona. The East Coast is getting hit hard with it too, so I'm sure it will come West. I don't know why it seems to go in the East to West pattern, but, it does. We're vaxxed up and some are Masking again locally, mostly the Asian population and the Elderly, who take it all way more seriously. So, we likely won't be the Spreaders. Since I'm reading backwards I know you took the Cart back to the Company that didn't even care about it, but, Bravo, it was quite sacrificial given that hefty Cab Fare. But, it was the Right thing to do, they are expensive and they do make any area look trashy when strewn about abandoned. I never owned an 8-Track, I know not why, always preferred Vinyl. I missed the LP Covers once everything went to CD's, but Vinyl and Album Covers are making a comeback with the Young and they Love it.
ReplyDeleteLike your brother, my DH still has an 8-track player and quite a few tapes, too. Both the player and tapes still work. Probably because he takes better care of these objects than he does of himself...kidding, sort of. :)
ReplyDeleteMitchell: I like the mushroom sticker too! It's very '60s psychedelic.
ReplyDeleteSabine: OK, that's good to know! I haven't come down with anything so I guess my tiredness was just from the shot.
Andrew: Dave has had six shots so far, I believe. I've only had four.
Bob: I bet they exist and they're probably utterly worthless. A quick eBay search would tell us!
Ms Moon: See, as I remember, 8-tracks and cassettes were somewhat concurrent. I never understood the appeal of an 8-track. Remember how they'd fade out in the middle of a song? So stupid!
Boud: Me too!
Ellen D: Yeah, I don't think he even tries to play it. I think he just kept it for sentimental reasons. Our grandmother used to put her glass vases in the window!
Red: Surprising, right? But here you can't just walk in and demand one unless the NHS agrees you need it.
Ellen: You wouldn't want a shopping cart sitting on the street outside your house, would you?
Sharon: I do too! That "click-click" (or "kerchunk," maybe?) sound!
Jim: Ha -- "human mailing tube"! I like that.
Yael: Wonderful or slightly crazy, I'm not sure which. :)
Ed: A bread box! That's a good idea. Yes, cassettes were much more compact and reliable. :)
Tasker: Well, I've had it twice, but it was mild both times. Yeah, some people seem to get it more than others.
37P: Either way you emerge with immunity, but getting sick is no fun for anyone!
Bug: We do put it outside in the spring, so the lights would have to come down then.
Kelly: Yeah, I'll just wait to buy some more this fall, if I get motivated.
Padre: Yeah, it's going to be a big change, climate-wise!
Margaret: I never thought vinyl would return, but I'm SURE 8-tracks won't. I don't think they have any advantages at all!
John: He was inspired by my grandmother, who had one of those red vases in her window. (In fact he has hers, though I don't think that's it in the picture.)
Susan: I wish! I've had it twice already, but it was mild. Yes, LED lights would be better!
Jeanie: I don't think you missed much with the 8-tracks! They weren't around for very long, as I recall.
Bohemian: Album covers on vinyl records really ARE so much nicer. In fact, I remember reading an article years ago, when CDs were the thing, that lamented the loss of the album cover.
Mary: Ha! Some people are like that! I don't think my brother has any tapes and I don't think he ever plays this 8-track player. I think it's just around as a keepsake.