Booster Shot

 Today I learned what a flood stopper does to a washing machine supply and how that complicates life for a condominium owner. Apparently before making any home improvements whatsoever in a condomium, one needs to consult the condominium association in order to make sure it is approved/doesn't violate condo rules/hasn't been discussed and vetoed already before I even bought the condo. It's frustrating and is really making me second-guess my decision to buy a condo. Even something as straightforward-sounding as replacing the washing machine turns up new challenges. It's like Forrest Gump except opening up a chocolates is a scene out of a horror movie: it's Pandora's box of chocolates and you never know what you're gonna get. This time it was the existence of a flood stopper, which sounds like something they needed at the Hurricane Katrina cleanup or CNN covering a natural disaster on an island country but instead is a device that is installed to prevent water leaking everywhere when dispensing into a washing machine, especially for downstairs neighbors because water has a propensity to flow downwards. Our condo association required that every unit install a flood stopper to its washing machine, so imagine my surprise when the washing machine company arrived with our brand new washing machine, MJ and I are all jazzed to finally do a clean wash without residue of the last machine, the installation gentleman is ready to pack up the old machine and ship it out like an unwelcome guest.......when (horror music hits) there he stops and says he can't do anything until the flood stopper is uninstalled by a certified plumber, as there are alarm systems and attachment to the water piping that he dare not try to disassemble likely for fear of (gasp) being responsible for any damages. 

So no new machine, I have to call a plumber to de-install the stopper, THEN call the washing machine company again, THEN call the plumber AGAIN to put the flood stopper back in. It's not lost on me that when we lived at an apartment all of these things were taken care of by just a quick phone call or filling out a maintenance request. No such luck no our own. 

The stock market has gotten quite a booster shot of its own in late October to early November as several stocks have shot up again like it's the moon, and not just IPO's like Portillo's Hot Dogs (Chicagoans love them) or Avis Rental car due to the semiconductor shortage, but even trillion-dollar valuation companies like Tesla and almost-there Nivida, who climbed 12% (15% at one point) on just positive sentiment about its role in the metaverse, not even because of earnings or any merger news, 12%! On a top Fortune 500 company! Incredible! As a Nividia stockowner from a 4x in valuation ago I feel like I Katrina and the Waves "Walking on Sunshine." 

And yes, I did get a Covid booster shot today at my local CVS, quick and painless and necessary, as my single-dose JNJ was feeling a little vulnerable in the face of Delta and other variants. I wonder how many people got a JNJ-Pfizer booster combo, as most people didn't exactly brag they got the JNJ. If it's anything like last time there'll be a shocking report the day after I get the booster that it may cause blood clotting. Ironically my booster date is also the date Aaron Rodgers (former Jeopardy guest host) and Packers quarterbrack getting eviscerated for not getting vaccinated and defending himself for not doing so, blaming it on the woke mob. As more and more people get boosters, I feel like it's the new extreme dichotomy in America: red v. blue states, rich v. poor, white v. non-whites, and now.........the super-vaccinated v. the unvaccinated. Not much middle ground, like some guy that just got one JNJ vaccine and said, "I'm good!" It seems like human nature at least nowadays to take the more extreme stance, either "Go big or go home" and take a strong stance, even double down on positions like Rodgers did today. 

Also human nature: to get comfortable with how things are and forget about past pain and experience, like the very bad, no-good day I had 7 months after the first vaccine.......couldn't get out of bed, felt weak all over, questioned whether getting Covid would even be this bad......and then less than 24 hours later I was back to normal and never felt better, letting the negative experience fade away into memory and allowing myself to risk it again with this booster. Here goes nothing!