One of the things I most looked forward to after the pandemic restrictions were lifted was a dose of retail therapy, and not for stocking up on toilet paper or essentials, but the good old-fashioned, fun kind. No matter what they may say about the variety and convenience of online shopping there’s just something about in-person shopping which appeals to my creative soul, even if it’s just browsing through the stores to see what jumps out and says “Buy me! Buy me!”
Many people like the idea of having something nice waiting for them when they get home from work, or they just like the idea of getting packages. But to me, the frustration of having to send things back, far outweighs the convenience. I only order online, if I’m fairly sure I’m going to keep it, just need a different color or size than what’s in the store, or can’t find it anywhere else.
I prefer to see exactly what I’m getting, feel the material, assess the quality. I have bad luck with ordering clothes online, as I’m a hard to fit size. It reminds me of my grandmother ordering from the Sears and Eaton’s catalogs when she was older and a shut-in. It would look so appealing in the photos but inevitably it would all go back, and she would complain of having all this money to spend and no way to spend it. What would she think of the zillions of online choices today?
But how often do you keep things instead of dealing with the hassle of returning them? My only clothing purchase this spring consisted of four pairs of capri pants. (I’m always in search of the perfect capri pants.) I ordered two sizes in two colors and couldn’t decide which fit better, so I kept them all. They were already on sale, and then the store emailed me a voucher for $30 off if I spent $75 on regularly priced merchandise before the end of July, but the clothes in the store were so ugly I couldn’t find anything to buy. And don’t they always reel you in with those special offers?
I’ve done my fair share of shopping in my younger fashionista days, starting from my teen years trying to re-create the looks in Seventeen magazine on a student budget for our monthly dress-up days (the rest of the time, we wore ugly navy and white uniforms), to my university days living in downtown Toronto where I was too poor, and too busy, to enjoy the fashion world at my feet, to my working years when I would while away many a Saturday afternoon at the mall trying to assemble and coordinate a professional wardrobe, right down to the accessories. In the eighties, to get ahead, you had to look put together.
I’ve always been a shopper. Growing up in the country with no wheels, my sister and I would accompany my mother on her weekly trips into town and hit the clothing stores while she did the grocery run. We did a lot of looking and not much buying, still it was fun to check out the latest trends and styles.
When I was student in Toronto, the campus was near downtown, and we would occasionally go down to the Eaton Centre mall, but you would only buy if you needed something specific, like if there was a formal coming up, or you needed a new winter coat or boots. Mostly we went for the frozen yogurt banana splits at the food court, which was a new trend we thought healthy, or to try out a new restaurant like the Magic Pan or the Great Canadian Soup company. I lived on Bloor St. in third year so it was closer for us to go shopping at the corner of Bloor and Yonge, but again it was a lot of browsing.
It seems strange today, when young people have so much, but back then you didn’t expect your parents to supplement your wardrobe. It was enough they paid your tuition and residence. The $1000 I made each summer (yes, $2/hr) had to last for living expenses and food for the whole year. I find it funny now to look back and think that that my entire wardrobe fit into a small dorm closet, (we lived in jeans), but maybe I’ve come full circle now that my wardrobe has shrunk considerably and I’ve reverted to what is basically a capsule wardrobe.
I’ve blogged about my love of shopping and clothes before in Thanks It’s Vintage, and also my frustration with finding stylish clothes for older women in Twenty Pairs of Black Pants. Sadly, to say my wardrobe has deteriorated even further with the pandemic. I’ve lived in yoga pants, track-pants and an assortment of t-shirts and tops, which have become so shabby with continued washing, that I’m embarrassed to be seen in them. Not to mention, the need for new underwear, socks, pajamas and running shoes.
So it was with some excitement that I hit the stores when they finally reopened in July – yes, we were in lockdown for almost six months. And even before that, although I may have made a few quick trips to the mall last summer and before Christmas, they were quick in and out, don’t touch anything and certainly don’t try anything on affairs.
So imagine my disappointment to be confronted with this…..
Are these left over from last year or this year, and who looks good in gold anyway, unless you’re a contender at the Olympics?
Or this…
Or how about no color – this is from a popular store that I usually walk right by as the quality is so poor.
Neutral is almost as bad as the endless sea of black and white we see every year. Not that there’s anything wrong with black pants. There were years when my entire wardrobe centered about black pants and an assortment of cute tops, but where were all the cute tops?
I felt like poor Alice who had fallen down the rabbit hole into a strange new world where nothing made sense. Except I wasn’t poor – I had money to spend after two years of pent-up consumer demand, and an economy I wished to support!
Or how about this sweater, from an expensive lady’s store? What kind of animal is this?
I know I haven’t shopped in awhile but is this what passes for fashion these days?
I remember the poncho look the first time around in the seventies and have no desire to re-live it. Besides wool makes me itchy just looking at it.
The long drapey look may be popular, but you have to be tall to wear it.
This muted plaid one isn’t too bad, minus the fringe, but wouldn’t your arms get cold?
Plaid pants remind me of high school, a bad idea then and now.
I think I’ll stick with the classic black ones.
Now I admit, it’s been years since I’ve looked at a fashion magazine. I used to take my copies of Glamour and Mademoiselle to the beach on summer weekends to keep up to date with the latest styles, necessary as we were always a year behind our American friends. The August and September issues were much anticipated as they were thick with pages of the new fall looks. Those magazines used to have style and class, but I eventually stopped buying them when they started to veer into Cosmo territory. It was fashion I wanted, not relationship advice. But it’s apparent I have my work cut out for me if I want to get up-to-date fashion wise. Is there such a thing as a decent fashion magazine anymore?
I’m still mourning the death of the department store. (Sears R.I.P.) It was one-stop shopping for everything, like socks, underwear, pj’s, shoes etc. After a short tour of what’s left of our only mall, I managed to find one pair of summer PJ’s in a lingerie store geared to young people. It had a stupid saying on the t-shirt (Stay Shady with a palm tree) but it was blue and a comfortable cotton and not too ugly, but I struck out with the socks. Even the sporting stores only had those short things that fit inside your shoes. How hard can it be to find a pair of simple white socks to wear with running shoes?
Discouraged, I went in search of a new bathmat, in a light blue, but even that seemed elusive.
Maybe that’s the problem – I’m a boomer who craves color and quality and the stores are geared toward millennials, who want neutrals and cheap prices and prefer to own minimal stuff……soon we’ll have stores selling nothing. Sounds like something right out of Wonderland.
The day wasn’t a total waste though. I did eventually find some white socks, although heavy winter ones, not the lightweight type I had been searching for. I also returned to Old Navy and bought some more face masks – as I’m sure we’re not out of the rabbit hole yet.
After several hours of wearing a mask on a horribly hot and humid day, I’d had enough of the stores and was happy to go home and put my feet up (in my new McGregor socks), and brew a cup of tea. While browsing for books online, I found a nice pair of classic navy-with-white-piping winter PJ’s on the Chapters/Indigo website. Great reviews and great price as they had sent me a 25% off birthday coupon – click. When they arrived Canada Post, the quality and fit were good. Who would think of looking for pajamas in a bookstore? They even came in a cute drawstring bag, as it was gift-ware and the stores are starting to stock (and decorate) for Christmas, even though it still seems like summer here. There should be a law against that before Halloween.
Speaking of Halloween, I found quite a few Chesire Cat face masks available online. “We are All Mad Here” seems to be the second most popular choice, and isn’t that the truth.
PS. This post would have been much better if I had re-read my Lewis Carroll, but Alice was never a favorite of mine – as a rather serious child I found the books nonsensical and full of jabberwocky. From a quick check on Wikipedia, once Alice steps through the Looking Glass, just like a mirror, everything is reversed – running makes things stationary, walking away brings you closer, ugly clothes become pretty etc. You probably need magic mushrooms to believe that one…
thehomeplaceweb 
My heart goes out to you for I too crave colour to offset the sameness of our world since the pandemic took over. There is little in the way of suitable clothing available in our little town and so, on the rare occasions we have to go to the city, I pop into what used to be a favourite shopping mall to look for a top at least … and generally come out with nothing. I cannot abide the monochromatic themes of the clothing rails with ‘pops’ of plum or gold (mustard?) or faded whatever hue. I also don’t need someone else’s idea of ‘cute’ printed on my clothes – let me decide what to brighten them up with!
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Ah, so it’s a worldwide problem. I thought it might be more common here in Canada, as we generally tend to be behind in fashion by a year or so. Mustard – yes, that’s the perfect name for it – other than ugly. I took my mother shopping last week, her favorite ladies store closed up last year, and she came home with one summer sweater on sale for $15 in an aqua mint green, and absolutely nothing for fall. I guess they are forcing us to do the online thing, but even there, the stuff is ugly. I can’t stand the neutral beige look in furniture either – luckily I don’t need anything right now. I don’t like the look of new houses/decor anyway – I was going to buy a Dream Home lottery ticket to support a local charity, but the house was so ugly and modern looking and spare that I couldn’t imagine anyone even living in it, let alone relaxing in it.
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I’m not a shopper, and all my clothes look the same anyway. But, I get that shortages abound
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I think that might be my problem – what is “in” style and color wise is not my thing. I tend to like a classic look with pretty colors. The sock problem might be a shortage though…
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Yeah…I had trouble finding socks too
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I like the Alice in Wonderland references throughout, Joni.
I haven’t been to any stores other than those selling food since the pandemic, but I’m betting what I’d see is similar to your report.
I also hesitate to shop online because I’m not good at returning stuff. I have a lot of foot problems that make shoes and socks a problem. A friend suggested a company online whose product she finds extremely comfortable. I bought a walking shoe and two pairs of walking sandals in different sizes. Sparing the details, that cost me over $300 in unusable goods. Fortunately, I was able to give the sandals to someone who could use them,
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Thanks Annie! That was an expensive mistake. I’m fussy about comfort in my shoes too, looks come second, but sometimes it’s hard to tell in the store, they feel comfortable, and then they’re not.
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It’s not only clothes. Carpets look faded and furniture is all shades of neutral (that all look the same). Jeans and black pants are my “go to’s” for most things but I do need some pretty tops to dress them up.
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Kate, I can’t imagine having to furniture shop for a new house – luckily I don’t need anything in that department. I would be happy with a couple of pretty tops if I could find them.
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I’ve never really enjoyed shopping and covid, with all the restrictions, only made it worse. I have been doing more sewing though lately and made myself a couple of tops this summer. I have a few more planned but need to take a trip to the fabric store. That is one place I do enjoy shopping.
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I admire you for being able to sew your own tops. I only took home ec. one year and while I enjoy visiting fabric stores, to view all the lovely material, and I didn’t mind cutting out the pattern, I never liked the actual sewing part!
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“frozen yogurt banana splits at the food court, which was a new trend we thought healthy,” Now there’s some healthy rationalizing!
I am not much of a shopper, though I went through some of the phases you mentioned. Had to dress professional in the 80s and 90s. I so loved doing biological fieldwork – the tattier the clothes, the better. Now I am going to need some nicer duds than my usual fare (giving talks at conferences). I wish had someone with style sense like you to shop with/for me.
I love the Cheshire Cat mask! And I love the Alice books, too.
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Thanks for thinking I have style sense! And I’d love to go shopping with you….in the US! Your styles are always nicer and ahead of ours. When I was younger I loved cross-boarder shopping if you could do it duty-free on vacation, otherwise customs taxes made it not worthwhile. I think the Alice books are more for adults, so I should give them another look….
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Well, maybe Durango would not be your idea of shopping heaven. We have at times been voted “worst dressed” city!😁
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Believe me, anything US is better than here!
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We do have some boutique stores, but they may be outnumbered by T-shirt shops!
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I have not been to the mall in a few years – but I see the styles in ads on social media and also when I was still watching the show with its commercials on Amazon Prime. I don’t “get” the clothing styles for women (ugly and too neutral), the makeup for women (either too natural or too-glossy lips) and the hairstyles I really don’t understand – “straight as a pin” as the saying goes, looks uncombed, straggly and unkempt. Is it just my opinion because it seems to me that women are not enhancing their looks, but making themselves look like “Plain Janes” – meanwhile, you and I discussed having all the black pants and cute tops or timeless looks like a crisp shirt with those pants and that seems to have gone by the wayside in favor of these styles. Maybe I’m getting old – sigh. On another note – did you get your Susan Branch newsletter today Joni? I scrolled and scrolled and thought I’d never finish it. She certainly has her fingers in a lot of pies these days – the ceramic cups seemed to be her latest “thing”. She put the marigolds into little vases and it looked cute – if I did it, it would look pitiful.
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Yea, I don’t get fashion these days either, but at least you have malls you can shop at within easy driving distance. The closest big mall to me is an hour and a half away, so 3hrs for a round trip does not entice one to go shopping, even for the day. I got my SB blog, but haven’t read it yet. She had some website issues recently I think in the last one I read. I find her a wee bit irritating lately, but it’s probably just me, envious of her perfect life. She had been posting quite a bit about her trip to England next May, and how may of her gf’s have signed up to go over on the cruise ship with them and take tours, but she is very careful to say that she won’t be joining them other than for some picnic, which leads me to believe that maybe they are getting some kind of sponsorship deal out of it?? I don’t get the ceramic cups/mugs either, as white cups stain inside if you’re a tea drinker like me. I don’t know why she is still working at her age but she seems like one of those people who never rests.
I don’t know, just my thoughts. But sometimes her blogs do go on and on, worse than mine. I left a few comments once, but felt I wasn’t part of the gf clique. I think I had asked about where to buy one of her books in Canada, and got a really abrupt reply from her PR assistant.
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Interesting about Susan Branch blog issues. This is the first communication I received from her in a year, if not two. I used to look forward to them and I agree with you … it went on and on and I stopped reading it and just looked at photos and quotes. I was going to use her quote on “style” when commenting on your post and went back and could not find it — alot of bragging, so maybe I’m envious too. ACG&S begins Sunday January 9th.
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I just finished reading SB’s latest blog – she also sent it separately as a Willard but I thought she had discontinued those, so maybe she still wasn’t sure the blog was working okay. They were the same issue/material. It was okay – I liked the grannychic decor stuff – as that’s basically how my house looks! Who would know I would be back in style. That might be something to blog about sometime in the future. It’s a backlash to that minimalist neutral trend in houses.
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For some reason you had told me in the past that you got it as a blog post and I had always gotten it via e-mail as a Willard. I subscribed a long time ago when I bought a calendar from her – has to be 20 years ago. Maybe you subscribed later when she did the blog? I did like the grannychic decor … her house looks cozy.
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She probably resuscitated the Willard format and email list as she was afraid the regular blog email wouldn’t work. I wonder how a blog with 55,000 readers could get in trouble like that, but I guess stuff happens. She said she had IT people working on it. Although I doubt she still has that many readers, there are still sometimes a thousand comments on one post. She says she reads them all, but she has two assistants so I doubt that, as she wouldn’t have time to do anything else! Certainly it was an assistant who answered my question about how to access her books, which she has been self-publishing for the past ten years as she lost her publisher, but hey now that grannychic is back in maybe they will be interested again! I know I can’t get any of her books here in Canada, except on e-bay/Amazon and they are super expensive because of duty and shippng.
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That’s an amazing amount of followers – even with two assistants, how could you keep up? So no wonder the posts/Willards are that far apart. How does she do everything? Cook, garden, paint, write, blog? Maybe hubby helps with the first two items to give her more time to create? I imagine it would be pricey to ship to Canada, even via Amazon. I just ordered cod liver oil pills from Amazon tonight. I USED to be able to buy them at Meijer grocery store – no more. Looked when I got my flu shot about five years ago – nope, they only carry “fish oil” or “krill oil”. So I know I got TWO bottles for $30.00 from Amazon in the past – each bottle has 300 capsules, which you take two per day. I’ve been taking cod liver oil since I was a little kid. My mom bought the cod liver malt from Eaton’s or Simpson’s catalog – one spoonful every morning. So as I placed the order I saw one bottle was $31.92. So I read it again – same price as two bottles just last year or year before. I usually order two bottles so good for awhile. I had to place another order. That’s ridiculous in my opinion, but I been taking it all these years and not about to stop now. That’s all I take, plus a multi-vitamin and Caltrate, which the latter I just started in April.
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I don’t know how she does it all either. She posted all these cheery blogs all during the pandemic then last spring there was a long gap and then she posted one about being super depressed, and then later she posted one about her mother dying the year before, but she couldn’t write about it for awhile. at the time. I suppose she feels her Readers only expect light and fluffy, but as you know life isn’t always like that. Nobody’s life is that perfect. The painting alone for each blog post would be time-consuming, but maybe she has so many files she just assembles them? I think her husband was a cook and had his own restaurant, and probably does the gardening too, as he is retired now. I think the price increases are crazy too….for everything, but esp. groceries. The double turkey breast we bought last year for Christmas was $35 and we had leftovers for days after. Our whole turkey was a good price – $20 for 10 lbs, but this year a similar size turkey breast was $68?? The butcher asked me if I wanted him to cut it in half and I said no, it was still too expensive, so we got the frozen one. You really have to watch the flyers and buy on sale, which I try to do now that I go weekly. I’ll have to see what the Cod Liver oil costs here the next time I’m in a pharmacy.
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Yes, I agree. If she does a blog filled with her passions for creating and her cozy home and Jack the cat, she really can’t stray to reality or risk losing followers. I have bought my pantry items for Winter for years – my mom and I were doing it for many years as well and I’ve never had such issues just getting everything in. I sure am glad I started over Labor Day because Meijer’s remodeling and renovation has caused everything to be moved all over and I was told that they destroyed a lot of their old aisles because they were getting new ones for the renovation and they never came in. It was supposed to be done by 10/22. Shopping for groceries has been a nightmare as shelves are often empty or they don’t get in certain brands. I will have to make another trip for a large load – I want as much in as possible due to this snowy Winter they are predicting. The prices are outrageous for everything. I always got cod liver oil pills at the store and can’t figure out why they discontinued them, but they have pills for all kinds of other things I’ve never heard of, or vegan or gluten-free. I didn’t think Amazon’s price for 300 cod liver gel capsules was a bargain at $31.92 for each bottle and I got two bottles as you take two per day.
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I have stocked some things for over the winter but mostly the things I would have to drive into the city for – I bought 20 bars of Yardley lavender soap – that should get me through the winter! Mom’s white paint was out of stock for months, so when it came back in I bought enough for the winter too. It’s funny how sporadic the missing items are. I think people are more into other fish oils now for the omega-3’s mainly. Do the capsules taste fishy?
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I see, as of today, not only can Canadians cross into the U.S. without getting the COVID test if fully vaxxed, but they are going to open up some port cities in California 24/7 to try to move the goods faster as the shelves are empty, etc. They are already talking about how you should order toys and items for Christmas now to guarantee you have them in time! Good thing you got extra paint for your mom – she’d hate to run out of paint in the middle of a painting! No, the cod liver oil pills have never had any fishy taste or smell. They have some lemon in them (it says in the name), but you can’t detect a lemon taste. They are huge pills too. Carlson brand, 460 omega-3’s, A & D3 (I know D3 is good for bone health) and they are Nordic (which I read somewhere that wild-caught Norwegian Arctic were highest concentrations of fish oil. My friend Carol was taking red krill oil capsules specifically for dry eye on the advice of her eye doc, but said it didn’t help.
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I saw that too – but I think the US is going to open up to a list of 23 other countries? I suspect the Canadian opening is to allow the snowbirds to go south and spend their tourist dollars.
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Yes, it is other countries as well and I don’t think it is until November 8th if I remember correctly. Over here they grumble about Canada’s stringent rules on border crossings … look at Canada’s COVID stats and look at ours. If I were Canada, I would have kept the restrictions in place even longer – they just show a double-vaccine card when it goes into effect.
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I think they’re doing it for the snowbirds who stay or have property in the southern states. I can’t see anyone going over for a day trip or shopping as you have to have a PCR test to get back into Canada. PCR test usually is $150 plus a 3 days wait for results. ,so that alone would be discouraging. Work colleague who lives in Michigan hasn’t seen her mother in a year and a half, although she is allowed to cross for work as she is an essential worker. She married a Michigander. I have a question for you – am thinking of getting my Pnemovax and Shingles vaccine next week, but not sure if I want to do them both on the same day, (they can the nurse said)? Have you had either, and did you have any reaction/side effects? Friend told me she felt bad for a day or two after Shingrix. They are both covered now for me, due to my (advanced) age!
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I had no idea it was that much for a test – is that the same as having a COVID test with the swab up your nose? I had no idea it cost that much – I’m floored. I don’t think you can get them both the same day. And you are getting a pneumonia shot – it is in two doses, one year apart and the shingles vaccine is two doses as well, but I think that is just four or six months apart. I just asked when I was there for my flu shot. I got the part two pneumonia shot a couple of weeks ago. When I got it in September 2020, I was on Obamacare – I paid $212.00/health insurance paid $42.00. This year due to my (advanced) age, Medicare paid the whole part two. I was happy for that. I had no side effects except a sore arm for two days as it’s in the muscle and that happened last year. I did have a rash at the site, nothing bad though. I’m going to wait and get the Shingrex next year as I don’t want to mix and match too much right now. I had the flu shot the second week of September, then the pneumonia shot and the FDA just authorized use of a booster shot for Moderna for older (cringe) adults (65 and older) and immuno-compromised any age and first responders. As soon as the CDC finalizes it, I will get the booster. It’s just a half-dose for Moderna as Moderna’s efficacy is the best of the three. I got the “old shingles vaccine” in 2014 after my neighbor had shingles so bad it was in her scalp and eyes and her eyesight was bad after she recovered. She had postherpetic neuralgia. I asked the allergist to write me a script as you had to be 60 to go into a pharmacy and ask for it. I had to pay full price for it; now they have an improved shingles shot. A fellow blogger has shingles in her eye/eyes (not sure if it is plural) and she has not been blogging for about three, if not four months. She is a just a few years younger than we are. Very scary.
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The PCR nasal swab test is the one that is sent to the lab, so takes 24-72hrs. The quicker swab one is $40 I think and results are in 15 mins – some of the pharmacies do them here, but I think of them more as a screening tool as they’re not as accurate so for traveling many countries require the PCR instead. The nurse at my doctors told me I can get both pnemovax and the shingles the same day if I want, but I am sort of reluctant for the same reasons you have, although it would save me the hassle of going back though. Ontario only does the one dose Pnemovax, you only get the two dose one with the Prevnar a year apart if you are considered high risk. I think I might do the Shingles first, as I know two people with bad cases recently, one on the face/eyes, who died, although she was 89, and the other an 80 year old. I had a mild case of Shingles when I was 50, and it was bad enough that I don’t want a repeat of it. There’s no sign of any COVID booster doses here other than for nursing home patients (who were done last Feb) and high risk patients. Everyone else had the second dose in June or July, so not as much time has elapsed. I will get that when it comes out, although I suspect they will do the elderly seniors first, the over 80yr olds etc and work down as they did last time. Flu shots have not started here yet, but will be in a few weeks. Generally we don’t do flu shots here until late Oct/November as if the flu season lingers until March, it may have worn off, but I know some places start earlier for logistics reasons as it’s hard to get everyone done in a month.
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I went to CVS Pharmacy last year as I was going there for flu shots under my Obamacare insurance. I asked for the pneumonia shot last year as I’d had the other one years ago when my mom had hers. At the time, I thought they were good for life – no they weren’t, but this one is, or that’s what I was told. The told me it was a two-shot dose a year apart. Hmm – I didn’t say I was high risk, although I asked for it (and it was pricey to me as I mentioned) because this was before the COVID shots were even developed and I wanted all the protection I could get. They do a lot of advertising for the Prevnar vaccine here. I just looked how long my original shingles vaccine lasts – it didn’t say and the Shingrex only lasts five years. I thought that one was for life. It’s given in the muscle, so you wouldn’t want the pneumonia shot the same time as it goes into the muscle as you probably know. I’ve only known the two people with really bad cases of Shingles. Marge had three deaths in her family in a short amount of time and so she attributed her outbreak to that. I don’t know about fellow blogger Sabine, but she was very worried about getting COVID and protective of herself, so maybe it was that fear. She is a just a few years behind us. I wish I’d waited for my flu vaccine – I’ll amp up the oranges/orange juice next April to compensate for the flu vaccine wearing off.
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I think the two dose thing is just a financial decision Linda, as our health care system probably can’t afford to do both. I think I might just do the Pnemovax first, one at a time and then the flu shot in a few weeks..
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That’s probably best Joni. I have to go for my next allergy shots on November 1st and if the booster comes too close to that, I have to wait for the allergy shots – I think they said 48 hours in between. I’d like to go another few days beyond that I think.
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I just got the Pneumovax yesterday, arm a bit sore today but nothing major, and no fatigue/fever etc. I’m going to space them 2 weeks apart, (as my immune system is not that robust) and as I need the flu shot and the COVID booster first I may leave the Shingrix until after early spring. I mostly went to have a sun spot burnt off my back as it seemed larger/scaly and she did that which required an in office visit. I had several blistering sunburns when I was a teenager back when we didn’t have sunscreens over SPF8! Our Covid boosters may not be until Jan. anyway, so that will be spaced enough. I know initially that they would not give you the Covid booster if you had received another shot within 2 weeks, so just playing it safe, although I think they are allowing the flu shots to be closer as they have to do so many people in a short period of time.
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I had some bad sunburns too – my mom warned me all the time “don’t lay out in the sun” but I, of course, didn’t listen. I regret it now. I visited friends of the family in Puerto Rico for Easter vacation of senior year. The senior trip was the Bahamas and I had been with my parents the year before. So, I am fair skinned and we were out the first day and it was cloudy – very cloudy. We were sightseeing in a jungle rainforest. It rained 2X while there. No sun and just sightseeing, not laying on a beach and that night I was beet red!
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My worst was a weekend shopping trip to London with some high school friends in the summer. We booked into a motel with a pool and lay beside it all afternoon – that night we went out to listen to some music and when we came back I had the chills so bad I couldn’t sleep and then blisters a few days later. I did the same thing on our senior trip to Florida – you’d think I would have learnt my lesson – I’m smarter now.
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Yup, it was painful indeed, but then it was my mom saying I’d have skin like shoe leather – I don’t recall warnings about sun damage so much. Then I started working at the diner and a nice couple came in daily. They owned the Dairy Queen and when they closed up in October, then went to their apartment in Florida until the DQ opened again in April. They must’ve had a lot of pool time as her skin was quite bronzed in April and lots of sun damage, just like shoe leather. No, you couldn’t tell us anything back then. We are smarter now – “too late smart” as the expression goes.
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PS. Considering we have edged up to 79 active cases locally again, and supposedly have 87% of the population double vaccinated, I would say the Delta variant must be way more contagious.
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We have had almost 23,000 deaths in Michigan as of yesterday … I just heard that factoid yesterday. We have maybe 70 or 80 deaths a day after their review of records … I think that’s terrible and they said it is as bad as in the early days of the pandemic thanks to Delta. I have a teeth cleaning/dentist appointment on Monday and I admit I’m a Nervous Nellie about it. I did decide to get my hair cut and wavered over that for weeks. But I wanted the layers back in my hair as I have just been cutting the ends off and have not had a professional cut since October 2019. So I called this past Monday and got voicemail which said “text might be better but just leave a message here and we’ll get back to you.” I suggested Wednesday or Thursday at 9:00 a.m. as I wasn’t getting highlights, so knew I had time before work. I also e-mailed Jill (she subscribes to my blog and I’ve e-mailed her before) … however, no response to my voicemail or e-mail. Then sent a follow-up e-mail and said “guess you didn’t get my message Monday?” I wavered on it long enough that I really wasn’t comfortable going and took this leap of faith. I decided it was not supposed to happen. I’ll cut it myself and see how things are in the Spring … it is hat weather soon anyway. I almost cancelled when they called to confirm the dentist for Monday morning … I was just going to be honest and say I’m nervous and my teeth are fine.
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We’ve had around 9000 deaths in Ontario, and 28,000 in all of Canada, but Ont. has the largest population – 14 million out of 36million total. Our daily provincial cases range around 400/day right now, with 3 or 4 deaths. Most are in school kids I think, although I did read that 130 or so were in vaccinated people, but those hopefully are milder cases. I felt comfortable at the dentist when I went in June and go again in early Dec. I had left it 9 months which the hygienist said wasn’t good for my gums. I’m getting a color in 2 weeks and feel comfortable there too – Do you think your hairdresser retired as they didn’t get back to you or are maybe out of business?
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They have all this stuff with the masks in schools and the parents object, the teenagers object because they can’t see their peers’ faces … if I had a kid, they’d wear the mask irregardless of what the school says or stay home and learn online. We have tons of cases, but now for kids who don’t want to have online learning, but were exposed to other kids who might have COVID, they have to have the nasal swab test every other day. (I guess the cheaper one you told me about.) But that is a good source of our rising cases right now. I just heard Dr. Fauci say today, that if more people get double vaccinated, we can do more at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thought that was interesting as just last week he did not give the idea a lot of hope. When I drove past the hairdresser, a lot of the time their lights are out, but, the voicemail at the shop said to text them as hours are crazy. I talked to a woman at the Park today who told me another walker there has been going to a small shop nearby. I thought about her but was concerned about COVID protocol. I could ask I guess, … or maybe not. I really wanted to get a good, layered cut, but can wait until Spring now as it is “hat time” and I’m not sure if I’ll get highlights again. I asked the woman today as she’s older than me and her highlights look natural. She drives 30 miles to this guy as he does a nice job and just goes once a year (which seems odd). I went three times a year.
I just didn’t care for her giving me a “tiger” look. I’ll feel better when the dentist appointment is over … now that makes me nervous and the hair to an extent. How do they do your hair with a mask on and not pull it off accidentally or cut the straps?
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I wear the mask during the whole two hours – an hour for the color and then while she is cutting too and blowdrying and straightening. The straps don’t seem to be a problem – I guess she works around them??? She may lift them a bit, but my layers around my face are long, so it’s not really a problem. I’m going next week again.
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OK, good to know as I didn’t want to remove my mask at all. I went to the dentist this morning – I was nervous about it, like the last two times, but like you said, they seem to have it down pat on their procedures. That’s it until next April. They took x-rays – happy I didn’t have to pay with this supplemental dental insurance – my bill for teeth cleaning, quick look by the dentist and batwing x-rays usually runs around $350.00 or so.
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No, you have to keep the mask on through it all. Did you ever hear back from the hairdresser?
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That’s good to know. No, I never heard back by phone, e-mail from Jill and Jim started a Facebook page about five years ago and asked customers to “friend” him. I sent Jim a few memes about hair at the beginning of the pandemic. He usually responded to each of them, but the last one I guess he never saw. So, last week, after I left the voicemail and sent the e-mail, I got a response to m message from April 2020. His response was “we never had any cancels” … so I wrote back and said “I’m assuming by now you or Jill got my message – I’ll just wait until Spring to reschedule.” He never responded. The whole thing irritated me to be honest. I’m going to try someone else come Spring … I wasted time wavering whether to do it or not. This morning, even though it got to 70+ degrees later, my head was cold and several walkers were wearing wool hats.
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I would assume from the no reply that he/they must be sulking because you had’t been in so long? I know when I tried to go back to a hairdresser I had left for awhile, she was mad I had left in the first place, and had the desk person just say she was all booked up or something like that. I forget how it was worded, but I had been going to her for ten years! I left because I wanted to grow my hair out one length and we never seemed to get anywhere, despite the fact I had showed her a picture of what I wanted. So I went to the new hairdresser (who was highly recommended) and described what I wanted and she went and got the exact same picture out of the same magazine! I went to her for eight years until she went back to school, and then switched to an apprentice she had trained who was equally as good, and then she had 3 kids in a row, so now I go to someone else. I didn’t realize it was so cold early in the am, because I’m never up that early! But the house seems cold when I get up – although I haven’t turned the furnace on yet.
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That very well may be the issue. And I told Jill three times at least, I did not like the lowlights/highlights as she put a darker brown and I never had dark brown hair, so it looked unnatural. I did like the long layers, so I’ll have to look around I guess and wait until Spring. A woman walker told me another walker went to this small salon – about five blocks away. I’m going to look at her hair (unless it’s under a hat) the next time I see her. Apparently she’s been going to “Mary’s on the Corner” for years. I went to J.C. Penney department store’s salon for many years as I liked a girl’s hair who rode the bus, so asked where she went. That woman remarried and they moved up north, so I started doing to Jill/Jim. It is cold in here tonight and I have it set at 71 but I have to have it on as I sit long periods of time.
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Guy’s perspective here, I would be delighted if clothes in mens’ departments had not changed since 1983 or so. Truthfully I could probably go a decade before enough of my wardrobe wore out to mandate shopping. As it is, I get more gift shirts than I buy and this has gone on for years. And when I do go out I have trouble finding anything I like. Which just reinforces my basic distaste for shopping.
I still laugh remembering a preschool nephew as I watched him open a wrapped gift. His face fell and he said “clothes” in a flat voice. That’s me. 🙂
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HA! Poor little guy…..almost as bad as getting socks. On the plus side, think of the money you save! I’m not keen on the new(ish) look in men’s suits these days – at least on tv -reporters/news announcers/our PrimeMinister etc. They all look like they’re wearing their little brothers suit a size too small – and those brown/tan shoes with a dark suit just make me cringe, so I would happy if things went back to 1983 too!
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