Tag Archives: covid-19

one down, one to go…

12 Monday Apr 2021

Posted by in coronavirus, covid, sevilla

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , ,

So after spending all day in a total tizzy (my vaccination appointment wasn’t until 5.30 pm) I made my way to the health centre, bared my chubby arm, got the jab, and then went for a cold beer. Peter had met me there on the off chance that someone might not have shown up for their appointment and he might luck out and get his too. But it turned out that they were calling people by year of birth and he is just a couple of weeks away from his. It was actually very efficient. I was called within less than a minute of arriving, then was told to wait for 15 minutes before leaving. I waited half an hour just to be sure – I once had an anaphylactic reaction after a chemo infusion (after I got home!) and don’t ever want to experience that again.

And so that’s one down and one to go. On July 1st. Guess I should know soon enough if I am going to have any nasty side effects. So far so good… 🤞

az for az

09 Friday Apr 2021

Posted by in coronavirus, covid

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

, ,

AZ

So I got the call this morning. My first vaccination will be on Monday and the second one on July 1st, about eleven weeks apart. Astra Zeneca, which I have to admit I’m not too happy about. According to this article there are benefits to delaying the second dose, but I still don’t understand why AZ is considered dangerous for people under 50 but fine for people 60-69 (which is the latest vaccination strategy). I’m guessing they’re experimenting because they don’t have data on over 60s yet. Anyhow, have already heard from a few Twitter pals that they, or someone they know, has had AZ and they are fine. But what if I’m one of the unlucky 1 in a 100,000?? 😬

it’s been one year…

14 Sunday Mar 2021

Posted by in coronavirus, covid, home, sevilla

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, ,

A year ago I was away on a research trip to Málaga, visiting wineries for an upcoming article in Decanter Magazine. It was just an over-nighter (March 11-12) and I packed a lot into those two days, arriving back home by train at about 10 pm, then finally getting home (taking the bus from the train station) by about 11pm. A hot shower to “wash the train off me” and then into fresh pjs, I got into bed just feeling happy to be home again.

During those two days travelling around Málaga in the Axarquía, and meeting up with many people, there was lots of kissing and close contact. And it was during this trip that I had what ended up being my LAST HUG… fuck.

Anyhow, the day after I got back, on March 13th, I went out to do some shopping and stopped in at a couple of bars for tapas and heard the first whispers that the bars were about to be shut down, like in Italy… like what? And then the following day, March 14th LOCKDOWN was officially declared. I made a last quick trip to the supermarket that afternoon to stock up on cat food (I always have plenty of toilet paper) and after that the world changed.
Continue reading →

salvemos la hostelería

05 Friday Mar 2021

Posted by in covid, restaurants, sevilla, tapas bars

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

salvamos la hosteleria

First off I want to say that of course I support the bars and restaurants here, many of which I love like my own second home and the people who own and run these places are like my family. And there are plenty of others that I respect and enjoy visiting. BUT… I have always felt it was my right to express my personal opinion about any of these places because, well, why not? It’s not like I’m anybody important.

But the ironic thing is that, since Covid, you are suddenly not allowed to say anything critical about any bar or restaurant because they are suffering, under pressure, doing their best, etc, etc. Well, I call bullshit.

Continue reading →