My mom hasn't seen her mom in Kyoto since 2019. Some factors came together so she decided to go next month.
She lost a lot of her vision in a botched surgery in 2020. I can't bear the thought of her travelling alone for the first time after losing her vision, DURING A PANDEMIC. So I'm going with her.
I'll need to work so hard on my PhD, before & during. I'll be there for her, not me. If I can eat one slice of 食パン I'll be happy 😊
The number of people I could ask to catsit Meow Meow has… narrowed… now that I must factor in whether I could trust them not to infect her with covid, but also, if I’m being honest, after she helped me get through the horrors (personal and global) of the past three years, I really just can’t bring myself to leave her alone.
So my mom pointed out, the three of us (me, my mom, and J-M) can never be in Japan at the same time?
I said, no, not until we move there and Meow Meow is settled in too 😁
My mom asked about ways to keep safer during necessary meetings and while visiting her mother when she's in Japan. I launched into my spiel about HEPA air cleaning calculations (by room size and capacity) and the history of far-UVC technology and the pros and cons of what is currently available until she had to cut me off so she could make her scheduled call with my grandmother to firm up her plans 😆
I booked us a little house in the neighbourhood where my mom grew up. There's a little kitchen so we can just do quick and easy masked grocery runs and prepare simple fresh meals for ourselves. The house even comes with air cleaners!! I remember there were air cleaners in the hotel rooms when I was last in Japan in 2019, and I thought "wow, only in Japan. what hygiene overkill" and my mom was like "actually I think they're very important" and once again Mom is 1000000% correct
Meow Meow is sitting in my lap and now I’m making myself cry worrying about if she’ll miss me 😩 she loves J-M too, I’m sure they’ll have nice bonding time together 😭
Mom & I can’t abstain from food & drink for a 14 hour flight, but I have a plan: I’ve seen the data on the filtration efficacy at different distances from my portable HEPA filter, so little under-mask nibbles in 96% filtered air (<10 cm from the outlet) feels pretty good!! might stack it with a cheeky set of Naomi Wu’s portable far-UVC lamps, as long as no one gets weird about them on the plane…! https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/improving-the-qt3-portable-air-purifier-for-covid-19-protection/
I can only guess that this is due to them being too basic to understand the difference between ionizers and HEPA. Flashback to them banning any respirator that looked valved when most people weren't even wearing masks. I'm so upset.
I've already sent them a strongly-worded letter filed under "accessibility issues". Might just cancel and book through Vancouver on a different carrier.
The first few days of our trip will be in Hyogo so my mom can attend some necessary meetings. Much slimmer pickings for accommodations than Kyoto, so I had to go with a hotel instead of a rental home. There will be Protocols™ when we enter the hotel 😆
The hotel is across the river from where she usually stays when she visits that area. She was like "it's really far" and I was like "there's a bridge" and she was like "the bridge is so long though"
Last time I was in Japan in 2019, I discovered the "Hands Free Travel" suitcase delivery system by Yamato Transport (aka adorable black cat delivery service). The secret to why Japanese people never look sweaty/covered in bags!! It got me and my filmmaker friend between Tokyo & Yamagata only '2 suitcases of camera equipment' sweaty instead of '4 suitcases of camera equipment + stuff' sweaty 😆
The stakes for this trip are high: I need to protect my mom, my grandmother, the other seniors & staff at the home where she lives, & everyone they know. I feel compelled to use every ¢ I have to eke out one more % of protection.
I feel our ethical burden is to do everything within our means to protect each other. If I have the means, it’s my responsibility to spend it.
Please take my approach as a ‘kitchen sink’ method & select / adapt what inspires you in your own life 💖
My Flo Mask has been my go-to for a long time now. It gets a good seal & I can install a Sip valve. But since I am a princess who never does anything scary, I’ve never had to wear it for any marathon length of time. It still gets sooo swampy even after a short walk. It’ll be 20 hours from the moment I enter the Toronto airport to the hotel room in Hyogo. I know I can fill it with dental rolls but is the silicone going to get intolerably sweaty? Anyone done this level of stress test with one?
So how bad is it for me to lift up my mask to sneak nibbles on a 14-hour flight? Of course I found a video of a quantitative fit test of this, because Team Avoid Covid is full of brilliant people. Gerard Hughes took a looong slurp on a straw under a mask (as a control/comparison to the Sip valve) & still got 2x better filtration, over a 40-second average, than a surgical mask. Comboing that with a portable HEPA blasting up my chin is feeling like a good plan. https://youtu.be/tFp_PTJbEGY?t=554
I'm thinking about breaking my personal "no selfies" rule while on this trip, for a couple of reasons:
wearing a mask all the time means you'll barely be able to see much of me anyway, and that feels really comforting
I've really enjoyed seeing people share photos of themselves living full & joyous lives while being covid ethical. I've wanted to contribute to that sense of possibility with this thread, and a picture is, of course, worth a thousand words.
I keep handwritten notes for all of my research, because it makes a huge difference in my ability to focus & process information. it's less good now that I'm thinking about what I'm going to jam in my backpack so I can work while on an airplane.
so. many. notebooks.
my actual primary research data is scanned & digitized, but all my notes on reading articles?
I'd better finish referencing EVERYTHING before I get on that plane 😬
I feel so guilty about air travel while the world is on fire. Just like travel during a pandemic, the best option is to just… not. But my mother needs me. I don't know what any of this is for, if we don't take care of the people we love.
I was born a product of a globalized world, my genes tearing me apart, pulling me to two ends of the planet. I wish 'going home' didn't cost us all. I wish I could solar sail, or swim. But I'm doing my best. Let's eat the billionaires instead, ok?
Airplane entertainment systems often have lots of international films that I can't otherwise access, so I was checking out what's available, daydreaming.
Then I saw Black Panther was on the list, and I laughed aloud.
Do I have a copy downloaded on my phone at all times? Absolutely yes. But the AIRLINE needs to KNOW that I LOVE THAT MOVIE, okay?????
Not that I'm going to be watching movies. I'll be working hard the whole time. Yessir.
Feeling so guilty about needing to fly, not only for this trip, but any other time we go to Japan (in preparation to move there so we never have to fly again). Our options are limited by a giant ocean & raging pandemic. I also feel angry, that I feel guilty about taking care of my family while others are filling alternate modes of transport with virus-breath, turning the carbon math of slower modes of transport into exposure counts / time spent accumulating viral load. It’s fucked.
The university told my mom that they've dropped all covid protections. She's scared & asking me if her fit-tested mask will be enough to protect her for hours of meetings 😖
BUT this did lead me to learning about Japanese building codes. apparently their buildings are audited every two months to make sure CO2 is below 1000 ppm (20 m3 of outdoor air per hour per person). So, her CO2 monitor will give her grounds to shriek if they violate building code 😁 I'll lend her my far-UVC array too.
my mom is starting to get more and more nervous about this trip as we hear horror stories about very careful people having precautions bypassed by gross medical negligence and/or overwhelming viral burden in the environment. I'm so gutted that my MSA Advantage P100 is leaky. I ordered a Moldex 7941 and some Bitrex ten days ago from International Safety and it hasn't even shipped yet. ugggghhh the Microclimate Air3 can't come out fast enough
my laptop gave up the ghost in 2020 (that laughably catastrophic thing where a system update with inadequate storage makes it brick itself). I had no reason (or, honestly, energy) to repair it since I wasn't going anywhere. now it's suddenly crucial that I have a functioning laptop and I'm realizing that even if I do repair it, I'll still be travelling with a persnickety laptop that is past its prime. so I'm getting a spiffy new laptop too!! building a full arcane circle of comfort artifacts
the downside of having been obsessively worrying since 2020 about how to make sure we can safely get to Japan to see / help my grandmother is that I have collected all of the necessary tools over the past few years and since have had time to lose them in our apartment 🤦♀️ we just tore the place apart looking for the Sip valves I ordered a million years ago. Bless J-M and his infinite patience for my foibles. we are two gremlins wedded in chaos.
But now I’m just like WHAT IF 4 VALVES ISN’T ENOUGH
Now entering the last phase of trip preparation, as our departure becomes nigh (in two weeks). Next weekend I start stress-testing different mask options to see what it's like to wear them for fourteen hours straight. Do they become intolerable after a certain length of time? We'll find out!!!
trying to time it out so I have my 2-week vaccine maximum strength power!! at the right time, but I have to get the stinky outdated bivalent. feels like handing a VHS tape to my B-cells 😫 but the new XBB one won't come out in time 😣
none of the pharmacies have any vaccine left because they're waiting for the refresh, so I had to use Toronto Public Health's website to make an appointment. It ground to a halt on my browser so hard that I thought it had crashed, but I have my appointment. Hurray.
I said I felt a moral responsibility to do everything within my means to protect my mom, grandmother, everyone at her seniors home, etc. What price would I pay for a seat outside of others' cough radius? turns out, a lot: that of a ticket in fancypants class. I doubt I'll be blending in.
Please take what I share from Davos Safe Land as surveillance and tactical intel.
once again my favourite Japanese magazine is out of stock on Amazon.co.jp and I was like "do I pay for a reshipper from Rakuten or do I allow the insidious temptation to do indoor shopping in Japan when I would NEVER do that at home" but then I realized I can Rakuten it to the house in Kyoto hahahahahah you'll never get me!!!!
there is no. greater. statement. of my commitment to not getting covid. than sacrificing the family ritual of my mom and me spending hours & hours at Daimaru every day
Stress testing respirators to decide which will be the Chosen One for the flight to Japan! I’ll wear each one for fourteen straight hours and record if/how I suffer! Today: the 3M Vflex.
I installed a Sip valve using a bookbinding awl + a pencil to widen the hole (much better success than scissors, since I seem to make the holes much too big).
So far: comfortable enough to sing along with Homeschool Rock Dad’s cover of “Even Flow” while doing laundry 😁
Now to play a few hours of Dungeons & Dragons with my friends over Discord! I just did the recap through my AirPods which I can wear completely comfortably with the Vflex straps. No one has said anything about me sounding muffled or has seemingly noticed any difference 😁 and of course I was able to speak continuously without any impediment or compromising the seal.
Sip valve failed!!! Heard a pop as I was inserting a straw to take a drink. Now there's a tiny gap between the top two teeth! I'll keep using this mask for the rest of the test to see if there are any other failure points from continuous wear. I've stuck the cap on the valve for now.
Also, practising sneaking under-mask nibbles. Inhale, pull mask away, nibble, exhale to clear mask air.
2 reasons to keep a mirror handy: to check problems (like Sip fail) and to check if I got food on my mask 😆
Happy to be stress-testing a mask today because it’s a good air quality day here in Toronto, so I can actually open some windows and purge some carbon dioxide, but the joke is that there are no good air quality days in Toronto, because we exist in a 24-hour cloud of weed smoke. But I can only baaaaarely smell it with this mask on. So that’s nice
At hour 7.5 wearing this Vflex and the lower elastic head strap is starting to rub a bit at the base of my earlobes so I keep tugging at it. (Fun Elana trivia: I have the “attached earlobes” recessive genetic trait.) but on the other hand I wore a pair of shoes yesterday that gave me blisters on the bottoms of my feet after walking in them for less than half an hour, so.
(They’re extremely cute pink strappy wedge platforms and they’re a size too small and I do not care)
Had an early night last night (I was worn out from my booster), so I wore my Vflex to bed. I intend to sleep on the plane so this is a relevant test! I was able to sleep fine—even on my side, with the little wings folded up! I woke up from a nightmare at ~15 hours of wear and took it off, and definitely slept more deeply afterwards, but sleep is possible.
Overall, after about 10 hours, the mask truly became incorporated into my bodily schema and was quite comfortable, like a warm face blanket 😁
Today’s mask stress test is going to be my Flo Mask. I’m giving my face a break for a bit first, because back in the Ancient Times (surgical mask days) I would get painful scaly skin irritation on my cheeks if I wore one long enough for humidity to build up, and I was worried that would happen this time, but no! Nothing! Cheeks as supple as always 👸😆 I think it’s because N95 masks just don’t actually contact the skin nearly as much!
Our 10mm grommet punch, which works a treat for installing Sip valves into Flo Mask filters, is no good for the Aura. Not enough room in the mouth for all the material to bunch up to be able to access the centre of the mask. So I'm back to my bookbinding awl, wish me luck!!
Also I started playing around with decorating the Sip valve. Peeled the sticker off the gasket & painted it but acrylic paint marker scratches right off. A sticker in the centre of the cap is cute as hell though 😊
It's going to be very very hot in Japan, especially in the first week in the Hyogo hotel. I was fretting because I only have 1–2 suitable outfits for such temperatures. Then I remembered all the packages I've had lying in wait for [length of time] for future morale boosts. Behold: cute cotton dresses, yukata, and monpe!! I'm sorted!!! thanks past me!!!
waiting forever to open packages SEEMS irresponsible or is it actually a delight/surprise inflation mechanism?? (please agree)
ritually writing out my excessively comprehensive packing list now
it's a weird tension because
ideally I don't want to go out AT ALL (pandemic, PhD work, etc.) so I should pack lots of comfy roomwear
but I have a feeling my mom is going to want me to go out at least a little bit each day, which means I need to be prepared to dress to the nines, because it is VERY uncomfortable to look unkempt in Japan (or maybe that's just my Kyoto ancestors frowning down at me)
Trying to put together outfits to pack, feeling completely drained, realizing it's because clothing is social armour and the fashion makeover that I gave myself over the past three years was an act of self-defence after all of my social anxieties came true and everyone I trusted actually did turn on me in the worst conceivable way and I wanted to erase myself to have the strength to go outside, and it all makes sense but gets no easier.
Tonight we begin the laundrypocalypse phase of trip preparation. I excavated many misplaced garments from a Floor-drobe of Mystery and now my dust allergy has me sneezing. Fortunately respiratory symptoms are the hottest trend these days didn’t you know 🙃 [SARCASM]
I really want(ed) to get so much more done on my PhD before we leave but I won’t be able to work very effectively if I show up to the airport nude and with empty suitcases will I. Ho hum.
Really hoping I can work at absolute turbo speed while I’m there.
Putting together my bag of respirator supplies: pre-punched Vflexes (with & without Sip valves); extra brand-new valves; extra Flo Mask filters (punched & unpunched), foam insert & head strap; extra Sip gaskets & caps (decorated with stickers); bag of tiny straws. I feel like dumping a box of extra Vflexes into my purse. I'm so stressed out. Couldn't make an Aura work with a Sip valve but the Vflexes also sometimes fail on installation & split along those triangular stamps. I'm just so scared. 🙈
Chilling out by giving my Flo Mask a bit of a decoration refresh. I want to look classy* at the airport so I'm putting some floral washi tape all the way around the frame.
your tastes may well differ. but. like. classier than the childishly hand-drawn cat nose and whiskers that I had before.
Had the Talk with my mom to set expectations about me not going out with her every day (i.e. for walks or outdoor shopping) while we’re in Japan. So many reasons: pandemic risk, even if small; PhD pressure; but also, my social anxiety makes it very draining to go out in public. After 3.5 years of losing my ‘going outside’ callus even as my symptoms ramped up for obvious reasons, the thought was just feeling really stressful. She was totally supportive! I love boundary setting ☺️
going hard on self-soothing list-making right now. like at this point I'm making lists of things I'll put in my suitcase if I have extra room (hahahahaha). both the list and I know its true purpose is to cushion my sense of control in the world
I was musing if I should bring sandals and J-M was like だめ！！！夏じゃないよ！ And I was like 😰 but it's going to be over 30°C!! So I called my mom for advice and she told me she respected J-M for obeying Japanese norms of ignoring the weather and only looking at the calendar 😆 but it would be fine for me to wear sandals because "you're a foreigner" 😳 😭
Surely climate change has made people budge on these strict rules? no?????
My Kyoto ancestors are going "tchk!" and glancing away, I can feel it 😖
It’s going to be beautiful weather in Toronto for the next few days—in the low 20’s!!!—which is marvellous, because it means zero overlap with any of the clothing I need to pack for sweltering heat 🙃 things are beginning to pile up on my open suitcase. I once had a collection of vacuum bags to make packing easier and more organized, but they got worn out and popped over the years, and Meow Meow also may have had her way with some. One lone straggler remains. I shall put my best finery in there 😆
Coming through to the other side of “oh god I haven’t needed to prepare for this many days of looking presentable in literally years” and reaching “well, I guess every day is going to be a goddamn fashion show as I bust out all these cute outfits that I have had absolutely no occasion to wear”
Taking this long break from civilized society (such as it is) is really letting me enjoy the novelty of it all now
Defying physics, it all fit in my suitcase. I feel exhausted. There are basically three different wardrobes in there:
house mouse writing PhD in comfy clothes
presentable adult human traversing the streets of Japan
huffing and puffing up the slopes of Daimonji as little old ladies whip past me
plus a few pinafores (my safety garment) and nearly every type of socks that I own, because I just don’t know anymore, it’s wild out there, gotta have every type of socks I guess
And all my study supplies seem to fit in my backpack too. After being so spread out in the goblin mess of my office for so long, I can hardly believe how so much of such importance can fit into a container that I can bear upon my back.
Now I’m fretting that I can’t find the little carry bag that came with my Flo Mask, but I’m also exhausted. Time to sleep.
I've been looking up reviews of Air Canada Signature Class, to try to understand what to expect. ≤2019, the reviews are just neutral information. In the days of mandatory masking, AC got excellent reviews for being very clean. Now, in our plague rat free-for-all, they are docked for being dirty: trash from the last passenger, coffee stains… I remember seeing that sort of thing in Peasant Class 🙃 but this seems consistent with the AC that has been in the news lately…
Thinking of the lengths we’re going to avoid sitting in other people’s cough plumes for 14 hours, it feels like we’re looking at airfares all wrong. First class should be considered an accessibility accommodation for the chronically ill, immunocompromised, and disabled. In fact, rip out 2/3rds of all seats and make the whole plane first class!! And they should be priced on a sliding scale with corporate travellers charged the most!!!! Just put me in charge, I’ll solve everything 😆 (not serious)
well, packed all the stressful things (clothes, covid mitigation tools, study supplies). Run out of concrete things to worry about. So my brain is just like, "what else ya got? I've got a taste for blood now!!! that's fine, I can make my own fun!!!!! you want generalized, directionless anxiety? you got it sister!!!! enjoy the tingly hands 😉 👉 👉 "
siiiiigh. therapy is so good because it empowers me to just go 😑 and pat myself on the shoulder and steer my anxiety to bed like a drunk friend
I asked J-M to go over some worst case scenarios with me to help me work though my anxieties (trust the process) and eventually he came up with "you could forget your Suica card" and I was like "I don't think we'll be taking much public transit" and he was APPALLED. "That's. Not. What Suica cards. Are for."
The man takes his 自販機 (vending machines) seriously 😂
I used to try to adjust my sleep schedule toward the Japan time zone before going there, in order to try to make the jetlag less horrendous
This time, I was already most of the way there before I even knew I would be going 😆
I feel bad for J-M because I’ve been puttering around all night for the whole week, except he’s already fully adapted to my habits 😆 ask him about his space-age sleep mask, it’s a prized possession 😆
We have entered the CHARGE EVERYTHING! phase of trip preparation, ranging from my laptop to my little Hello Kitty lanyard fan 😄 the last time I used my portable phone battery was in 2020. Think it still works? Who knows! It’s charging (I hope)!!!
Oh what’s this? Another cute little pouchie that is almost but not quite exactly the dimensions I need to contain the items I have? Curses!!!!!
Another annoying consequence of the hopium years is that I never thought to put all of my travel gear into some type of sensible storage, because first we all thought we’d just be in quarantine for a few weeks… a few months… surely by next year… and at this point all my little travel doodads have eroded to dust like the crypts of ancient kings 😖
but the precious, it needs safety!!! Put the precious insides a mesh pouch. A breathable pouch, yes, for the precious. Then the pouch goes inside the structured bagses, yessss. Then that bag goes in a bag. Yesssss! Protect the precious!!
Doing online check-in and having a full grimlaugh at the airline telling me that I am forbidden from bringing any biohazards or infectious materials. Well, I'M not going to, but you may want to look around because I suspect a fair few passengers may be engaged in smuggling 😑
Haven’t slept a wink. Did review תפילת הדרך though; no atheists in a pandemic I guess. It’s a roll of the dice no matter how many tools and resources I throw at it to try to weight it in our favour. The last thing I can think to try is to implore that divine intervention itself be on our side.
Did you know it’s צום גדליה (a minor fast day) today? Good reason not to unmask to eat 😆 though apparently the end time is determined by destination time zone so it’ll be over before we even take off 😆
In the fancypants lounge now. Free 3-course meal where my mom and I are doing under-mask nibbles. CO2 at 733 ppm. I didn’t sample the terminal though. I wish I wasn’t so exhausted; my procedure would be much more rigorous. Mom has already accidentally popped the filter out of her Flo Mask twice and I’ve had to put it back together again. Glad we’re practising at <800 ppm.
Seen maybe 10 surgicals so far in Pearson Airport, and one couple wearing head strap N95s!!
CO2 in fancypants lounge no better than at gate (high 700’s)
wasn’t self-conscious about being the only ones in a mask, but Mom was, and her awkwardness made me uncomfortable.
CO2 peaked while taxiing, as expected, but only at 1661 ppm. I’ve seen reports in the 3000’s! I suspect that’s where fancypants class pays off: lower density.
now cruising at 1427 ppm
tried to take selfies but I just look terrified. this is fucking harrowing, do not recommend
Have landed at Haneda airport in Tokyo. Using the Microclimate Air to eat on the airplane works a treat. However, immigration in Haneda requires that you remove your mask (& glasses) long enough for a machine to take your photo while your fingerprints are scanned. My mother, whose rheumatoid arthritis prevents her fingers from straightening out enough for the scanner, was standing there with her whole face hanging out, surrounded by crowds, CO2 >800, while it failed. Holding in how upset I am.
After that harrowing experience at Haneda airport, I am amazed to report that the domestic flight from Tokyo to Osaka defied all expectations for ventilation. Hovered around 1000 ppm the entire time, even while taxiing. I think they keep the ventilation going even during times when they turn it off in North American airlines. Really damning for North America, encouraging for domestic travel within Japan.
Also a flight attendant moved the guy who was next to me, to space passengers out better 🥹
Because our seal was compromised en route, and we only have one hotel room to share for the next five nights, I’ll be wearing my respirator at all times when my mom is with me. Luckily the Vflex is so comfortable it basically feels like part of my face now. The far-UVC array I got from Naomi Wu’s webshop is paying its rent too.
Our room is huge and gorgeous. Ventilation isn’t great (867 ppm CO2 after the two of us have been puttering around for a bit) but I’m in a Vflex anyway so 🤷♀️
Woke up with sore throat. Full freak-out, looked for any open hotel rooms in town to get my mom away from me. Could it be the 14 hours in 12% humidity (thank you Aranet 4 graph) then sleeping under the direct blast of an AC? idk?? Some dryness even masks can’t block?
So tired I can’t even read the instructions on these rapid tests. So glad we both slept in N95s or I’d be losing my mind.
Gargled with some mouthwash; sore throat is already nearly gone. But the terror is forever 🙃
Well this little housecat is taking her first covid test ever!!!! Can you believe I made it to September 2023 with zero exposures and zero symptoms??? Not a bad run.
Swabbed nose, throat, and cheeks. My nasopharynx (I think?) feels weird now 😆 I wasn’t too forceful because I heard that traces of blood can compromise the test.
It’s cooking now. A negative won’t change anything, but I need to know if I’m in a world where my test comes up positive.
Actually slept enough to wake up on my own. (There was a FIRE ALARM earlier. Unbelievable timing. They sent someone to knock on our door AND called our room to keep us updated 😅) Feeling a little more human though.
Very pleased with my setup. I run the PureZone HEPA filter in the bathroom during/after any unmasked activities like brushing teeth, and blast the main room with far-UVC when I do any under-mask nibbles. May unexpected chaos always crash against the shores of my overpreparedness 🙏
Went to the food hall at the local Hankyu department store to pick up meals for today and tomorrow. That was my first time in a busy indoor grocery store-like shopping situation since 2020. Japanese department store food halls are made of pure choice paralysis at the best of times; I just broke down and told my mom I would be completely unable to make any decisions. I just wanted to get out as quickly as possible.
That said, CO2 in there, even crowded, maxed out at 834 ppm. Not bad.
I’m so physically exhausted. After 3 years of being a housecat lounging on a velvet pillow, I’ve been underslept, underfed, hauling suitcases, and walking around in sweltering heat. At home, I don’t even unscrew a tightly-closed bottle on my own 😅 but there have been a million reasons it has been crucial for me to be here with my mom. Her CO2 monitor was wildly decalibrated, for example (just fixed that for her). She supplied the little suction cup buddy for the process though 😊
@elana
if that's a vitalite style monitor, it "auto calibrates" once a week marking whatever the lowest reading it got as "400", which... is a problem :s
@vantiss Yeah, I read the document that the Donate A Mask Project put out about that… shocking!! But with our little suction cup buddy, it's no huge hassle to recalibrate it regularly. I have an Aranet 4 to keep us steady 😁
Highlighting this amazing!! reply from a Mastodon buddy explaining why masks don't actually help much with protecting the throat from dry air: https://zeroes.ca/@tunguska/111099926697409346 The dry air hypothesis is feeling well supported. My throat still feels a bit funny but no longer hurts at all.
Mom is out for the day, so I fully unmasked for the first time after 57 hours. It was barely a hardship with the Vflex, just requires a little bit of adaptation. My face feels fine—if anything, softer 😆
There’s a massage chair in our hotel room (!!!!) so I am so happy to be chilling and getting all the tension worked out of me while I catch up on my Mastodon feeds ☺️
So far I’m up to ten hours ago where some buds are chatting about artisanal wooden Corsi-Rosenthal box frames, and I’m like THIS is the ‘pandemic baroque’ chic future I want!!! https://zeroes.ca/@PacificNic/111098104458137686
I’m not kidding, my biceps are so sore from lifting suitcases and pushing carts two days ago 😆 I was talking with J-M about how I wish I’d been able to prepare more before this trip in the sense of being more well-rested so I could be at my best on game day. Add to the list that I should have built up some stamina!!!
(J-M was rightfully skeptical of the efficacy of trying to berate myself into being more relaxed and well-rested next time 😆)
My mom told the hotel staff that they didn’t need to come in to clean our room because of “the covid situation” and now she thinks she scared them by making them think we were the covid infected ones so she wants to go back downstairs to explain 😆
Started feeling a bit worn down, and hopped straight into the spiral. Do I have to cough? Am I achy? Is this “pre-sickness” feeling? Or have the past few days been taxing on my body in ways I haven’t had to stretch in years? No, can’t be that, that’s too hopeful, hopeful will get ya, are my protections adequate?
Crawling onto my futon, trying to turn my brain off. Toasted the room in UV-C for 30 minutes before Mom got back, Vflex back on. I test again tomorrow.
Mom is live-reporting to me from her meeting. CO2 in the room is 574 ppm with 50 people in it!!! Pretty good!! And she has a mask-wearing buddy! They're going to leave to eat lunch together in a safer spot 😁
… omg. She just told me her mask buddy had surgery this year to treat lung cancer. Buddy said she wouldn't have worn the mask if she hadn't seen my mom wearing one too.
😭
Everyone, we CAN and ARE making a difference—I'd argue, even saving lives—with our small actions. Please take heart.
FWIW, I would expect a mask to offer little or no defence against dryness, for basically the same reason the "CO2 buildup" myth is bogus. On every exhale, the mask will capture some moisture and it'll get damp, but the lower the ambient humidity, the faster that moisture evaporates away off the mask.
So over time, your throat will lose moisture at (I'd guess) pretty much the same rate replenishing the rapidly-evaporating dampness of the mask as it would directly to the air (though each individual inhale won't feel nearly as sharply dry, because you do get a little "buffer" effect from the dampness in the mask).
Hopefully that makes sense. And more importantly, hopefully it is just a dryness thing.
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