Sending you big hugs from me and lots of puppy dog kisses from Dixie

I think a lot of us share your frustrations, JB.

JB, I am with you on breaking the TV. LOL

This 2020 year is stressing and testing a lot of people. Such a weird year! Nobody expected this pandemic unless it was a very few infectious disease experts. And what if we're still having major virus problems next year at this time? Will vaccines even end it? I really wonder.

I'm grumpy because it seems I'm developing allergies at my age! Right now the grass pollen is really high and every time I go outside I'm sneezing and having to blow my nose and coughing, oh, well, not really anything to complain about , I guess. The worst part is when I have to go out. I wear a mask, but if I sneeze while Im wearing one, people flee from me like I'm carrying the plague. I'm specially afraid to cough. That is a symptom of the virus.

Yes and after grass comes the molds... in autumn. One for every season but winter...and actually some are allergic to pine sap and or get hives from the cold!!

I think there will be a vaccine however since the virus has mutated ( no big deal in the great scheme of things as mutation can sometimes be good ) it makes it harder to nail down a vaccine

I think a lot of folks expected this pandemic.. as we had the response all planned out and strategized for a decade and the dept of defense reported on it in November 2019

I don't mind things being reported all over the TV.. I just wish they would not interrupt shows nor forget that their is OTHER news besides the same stuff over and over.

I bought a mask with a one way valve
And I also found n95 filters.. the n95 masks still being confiscated but I got some filters

I am grumpy today because a small bottle of sanitizer at the market was 9.99. That's BS.. at least alcohol is still dirt cheap... oh wait it's impossible to find.

Jacque this was the first year in many the 7 sons shrub got to be a foot tall... I did not spray it and BAM!!! The deer got it

Rosie, you can purchase masks here in the strangest places. I found the ones I really like at my local hardware store. I also got the disposable paper masks there because now we're required to wear masks when we work our Master Gardener projects, and due to my previous heat stroke, I cannot tolerate the extra heat generated by a cloth mask. The Gov here is still resisting to order folks to wear masks, and our cases here make us one the states talked about on the nightly news, plus we are bordered by other states where there's really a huge issue with new outbreaks, like Texas. Why, oh why can't these folks wear masks? I would really like to resume a somewhat normal life style by Christmas.

Harbor Freight sells masks as well. 10 disposable for $5.99. Can someone explain the disposable thing? No way I am going to toss out one I have only worn for 30 minutes.

Thanks, Linda, good to know! We have a Harbour Fright right here in town. Well, the reason I wanted them was because I can't wear the cloth ones when I'm working outside. And I want to keep some in the car in case I forget my cloth one. 😊

I have asthma, cough a lot, so I detest wearing a mask. DH doesn't want me to go out anywhere because I will scare people that I got the virus.

Well, you have a medical reason to where you're not required to wear a mask. You could go maskless, and then hang a sign around your neck that says I've got asthma! Really, people are so rude nowadays. When my allergies are raging and meds aren't helping, I have to get out and even though I'm wearing a mask, I've had people approach me and tell me I should stay home! One lady got really personal, so I told her to mind her own @%#$ business! This coming from someone who WASNT wearing a mask!

We should never shame anyone for not wearing a mask.. it just promotes anger and historicity and people dig in more.

Margaret, I don't know if you are interested..but I used to make gaitors ( the neck cuffs ) from polar fleece. People with asthma and emphysema just don't have what it takes to pull air thru cloth .. and many cannot stand the dyes and smell in the material..even if most don't. Polar fleece can be cut with no hem needed ..it does not unravel.. I just cut a strip about ten inches high and I think it was 18 long and sewed the two ends together .. that's it,, pull it over the head and up over the nose.. you are loosely covered from neck to nose and it stays up just fine. best of all.. for what ever reason they can pull air through without a hard draw in which always stimulates a cough .. I did not make these because of Covid .. it was because a blast of cold air sets the coughing off. Polar fleece is the stuff the baby zipper sacks for sleeping are made from., its used in lots of clothing but that is the one that comes to mind .. takes bout 5 min to make

Lynda, glad you told that woman off, they just don't understand what it's like to have allergies.

That's an interesting idea, Rosie, I used to have some polar fleece, but I think I got rid of it because I don't sew anymore, got other interests. Same thing happens to me with cold air, cough my guts out.

It really helped my patients to..just warming the air they breathe through one layer of the polar fleece ..I liked that I did not have to hem..no unraveling...but they were not as pretty as they could be without a hem .

It does help some people with allergies to take something to temporarily minimize the symptoms before going out among the throngs, so to speak. I occasionally take pseudoephedrine pills (the kind you have to give the pharmacy an ID and sign for) when allergies are acting up and I'm going to the city because the other Sudaphed product available on the store shelves doesn't seem to help at all and neither do other decongestants on the shelves. Around my own place I rarely take that medication. But we usually know when it's only allergies. I also have problems during the winter...when I get just a bit chilled, my nose start dripping. Annoying, but it's similar to allergies...or maybe it is an allergy to cold.

I do use pseudoephedrine on occasion, but only if I just can't stand the running nose any more. It acts like a stimulant in my system and makes me so nervous that my hands shake. And I can't sleep taking it. The pollen count is way down now, and my runny nose and sneezes have greatly subsided.

My doctor told me to take a 24 hour non drowsy extra strength antihistamine for my runny nose and post nasal drip, it has helped a lot, although it does make me feel drowsy at times, I have been sleeping way better at night.

Just a reminder, if you are 60 or over, please get your shingles vaccinations. On behalf of my sister, who suffers from PHN, caused by shingles I'm reminding people. Because I love her and would hate for others to suffer also by having shingles. Not all who have shingles get this, but just shingles by itself is bad enough.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/dis...

Good article, and good advise, but starting with my initial outbreak of shingles in 2013, I continued to have outbreaks twice a year since. I didn't have an outbreak in 2019, but just had one last month. This is NOT that post pain, I do get the blister patch every time. The outbreaks have lessened greatly over time. I was told that approximately 10% of all folks that have shingles have recurring outbreaks, often for the rest of their lives.
My PCP several years ago told me I couldn't get the shot until I had been symptom free for at least two years, and that hasn't happened. I now have a new PCP, so I'll ask her.