Facts Of Life

 Gloria Loring - The Facts Of Life

You take the good

You take the bad

You take them both and there you have

The facts of life

The facts of life

When the world never seems

To be living up to your dreams

Then suddenly you're finding out

The facts of life are all about you 

Ooh ooh ooh ooh you

I've been humming the theme song to Facts of Life a few times over the last few weeks.   I can blame a few episodes of Married With Children for putting the song in my head.    Basically there was a joke of nothing being on cable and when Al puts on the TV, the Facts of Life theme song starts blaring.   Then there's another episode where Kelly is contemplating about life while sitting in the living room.   She turns on the TV and you guessed it, the Facts of Life song blares out as Kelly bops her head to the theme song.

I can't help but hum the song myself when I think of all the good and bad things that have so far made its way into 2022.   BAD:  I ended 2021 and started 2022 with being diagnosed with kidney stones.   BAD:  I didn't have health insurance so now I have to work through the process of how to pay the bill.   I was supposed to get some forms in the mail to fill out as far as getting help on the bill but those have yet to arrive.   And as of this entry posting I have no idea how much the bill will be.     GOOD:  I was able to reduce the cost of my prescriptions meds a little bit by joining Walgreen's Prescription card plan.    GOOD:  I successfully passed a kidney stone on January 7th and there doesn't appear to be any additional stones.   GOOD:  That same day I got a call from my future employer telling me that I got the job.

The latest BAD and the reason for this entry.   I found out yesterday that I tested positive for COVID.

Dom and I went to the Gary Health Department on the 11th to get tested.   Dom mentioned several students being out from school due to having COVID.    Also with all the daily Amazon texts on employees testing positive, I thought it wouldn't hurt for me to go as well.

It was an adventure even getting tested.    We arrived at the health department and after navigating around some icy slick sidewalks (we had a major snowstorm a few days before), we were told that the COVID testing was moved to a different building.    Thankfully it was less than a mile from the Health Department at a local high school ironically named Polk High.    That happened to be the name of the high school where Al Bundy scored four touchdowns in a single game.   It made me wonder if the Bundy's really lived in Gary instead of Chicago.   They just didn't want to admit being from Gary.   *LOL*.

Anyway it took a minute to figure out which door to enter from.   The flyer we received from the Health Department specifically said Door C.    But where we parked there was a Door F.   I tried to tell Dom that it wasn't the correct door.   And that we may have to walk around to find the right door.    But as I mentioned earlier, we had a major snowstorm and walking was treacherous in some spots.   Plus Dom isn't in the best of health walking wise.    So he decided to go through Door F.    

We entered a long hallway where we immediately get stopped by a lone guard.   Basically we had to drive around to the other side and enter Door C which was on the opposite side of the hallway.   It was ridiculous since the testing facility was just down the side hallway near where the guard was situated.   But rules are rules I guess.    So we drove through some icy streets and I had to go the wrong way down a street because the next street was being blocked by EMS and cops.   

The sidewalks were not cleaned at all by Door C which was a travesty since they expect people to go there.    We wound up walking on the street which thankfully was cleaner than the other street I drove through to get there.

So we finally get past the guard after confirming our names and then upon entering the testing room I get scolded by the medical professional.    This guy wound up being the most annoying a-hole.   Since I was first I wound up getting tested by him.   Dom lucked out and got tested by another tester who was much more pleasant.    My tester scolded me for getting tested since I didn't have any symptoms and he seemed to really attack my nose follicles.   I hated him and if I never see him again in my life, it will be a good life.

I'm at work Saturday the 15th and during my first break, Dom messages me that he got his test results.   His test came back NEGATIVE and he wanted to know if I got my results.    My phone was still loading updates since I turned it off during my shift.    I get to my car and see the email from the Indiana Department of Health.   I log in with my credentials to get my results and I'm stunned to see the word POSITIVE.    Normally being positive is a good thing but it's not the case when it comes to COVID.

I was stunned but only had ten minutes to process everything while trying to wolf down some lentils and take some vitamins.   I wasn't sure if I should go back to the building but at the same time I didn't want to lose extra Unpaid Time for clocking in late.    I decided to go back in but leave for home during the second break.

I wanted to separate myself from Dom when I got home but he surmised that we've been hugging and kissing each other a lot and feels my results might be a false positive.    He said as long as we didn't hug and kiss each other, we should be fine.   That's actually going to be the hardest part of this diagnosis, not being able to be affectionate with Dom.    He himself was not feeling any symptoms.    I too had no symptoms although I've had to blow my nose a lot but I always have to do that.   Thankfully my sense of smell and taste are still there and I don't feel feverish or flu-ish.

I reported my COVID results to Amazon and according to their mandates, I have to self-isolate for seven days.    I should be able to report back to work on the following Sunday.    Dom and I will schedule a retest later in the week.    The CDC recommends 5 days of isolation after receiving a positive test result so I should be free to go get tested again this Friday.

Dom is confident that my test results is a false positive.   But on the flipside, there's a chance his results are a false negative.   If there's anything, ugh, positive (I hate that word right now) about getting COVID (assuming it's not a false positive), it isn't the death sentence that it was at the beginning of the pandemic.    This omicron version of COVID they say isn't as lethal as the original.    Perhaps this booster vaccine may be offsetting the worst of the symptoms.   Either way I'm hoping that my next test comes back negative and that Dom's stays negative.   

Stay tuned.