Author: MichelleMcHatton

I'm a writer. I'm also a wife and a parent who works too much and lives too little. In addition to writing I also love to read, listen to music, travel, cook, I enjoy looking for bargains at flea markets or thrift stores, Christmas, football and of course writing! How did I come up with the title of my blog? Two things: 1. I live in New England (duh) and 2. Canadian singer Alan Frew once arrogantly told me to "get a New England life"--again--DUH! I already HAVE one!
To Boost Or Not

To Boost Or Not

by MichelleMcHatton

On September 20 all eligible Americans will allegedly be able to get a booster shot of the Covid-19 vaccine. Of course a date was indicated and then it was insinuated that the FDA would have the final say. So who knows.

Assuming this is going to happen, people will be eligible for their boosters eight months after they had their second Covid-19 vaccine shot. My main question is: and then what?

I’m a fully vaccinated person and I have no intention of getting a booster. My reasons are the same as many: there are millions of people around the world who haven’t even had a chance at their first shot. Earlier this month, the WHO asked wealthy nations to stop distributing booster shots until at least the end of September to give poorer countries the chance to vaccinate their populations with the first rounds of shots. “We’re planning to hand out extra life jackets to people who already have life jackets, while we’re leaving other people to drown without a single life jacket,” a WHO official said.

Yet here we are getting ready to dole them out. How selfish are we?

Another reason: over-vaccination. Because just like with over-using antibiotics to the point where they won’t do anything good for your body, you can over-vaccinate as well. Even the flu shot we get only on a yearly basis, not eight months after we originally get it.

It’s bad enough we don’t know enough about the actual vaccine. But let’s go ahead and give these people boosters.

The fact that the boosters are being pushed, makes me believe that the CDC and other vaccine supporters have lost confidence in the vaccine. As Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and an advisor to the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration, said, “I think we’ve scared people. We sent a terrible message. We just sent a message out there that people who consider themselves fully vaccinated were not fully vaccinated. And that’s the wrong message, because you are protected against serious illness.”

So say people get their boosters. Then months later they come down with Covid. Is that going to leave the CDC scratching their heads? Is it going to make them say, whoa! Everyone needs another booster. And another. And another. When does it stop? Because nobody behind the vaccines seems to know enough about how well these work, or for how long they work or what any long-term effects there may be. This entire vaccine shit has been one litmus test after another. Let’s throw this at the wall and see if it sticks. The left hand really has no clue what the right hand is going.

Which leads me to my other concern: the pending FDA approval of this vaccine, which is rumored to be happening on Monday. That only makes it “official” in the United States. Not the entire world. And I’m sure it’s the final straw they are using to try to get more people vaccinated. But there are a lot of FDA approved vaccinations in this country many people refuse to get. And the Covid-19 vaccine will be one of them. I don’t expect any rushed FDA approval of the vaccine to change many minds that have already been made up for months.

Another concern of mine is being lumped into the unvaccinated category. Are people who refuse boosters going to be taunted and pressured by other vaccinated people, just as they do to people who refuse to get vaccinated? I’m still vaccinated. I just don’t wish to get a booster. Are people who get boosters going to have an issue with that?

Everyone keeps harking on the ways people can keep themselves safe: get a shot and wear a mask. Really the best thing you can do to keep yourself safe from getting Covid is to just stay home. Seriously. If we were all staying home as much this year as we had been last year, we wouldn’t be in half the bad shape we’re in. But we all had to get back to the bars, the restaurants, the traveling, the cruises, the offices which were running just fine with us working from home. Think about it: the less you leave your home, the less likely you’re going to come in contact with Covid. You can get ten million shots and wear three facemasks at once but if you go out, you increase your chances of coming in contact with the virus. At home, not as much.

Define “Dramatically Different Place”

Define “Dramatically Different Place”

by MichelleMcHatton

Yesterday Governor Charlie Baker stated that he is not changing his stance on masks for the state of Massachusetts because our state is in a “dramatically different place” than many other states.

Define “dramatically different place”. Are we in a “dramatically different place” because we don’t have our hospitals filled to capacity and not an ICU bed in sight? Are we in a “dramatically different place” because three-quarters of our state have received at least one shot? Although there is a quarter of our state who haven’t received any shots.

Until Massachusetts reaches and remains at zero cases, hospitalizations and deaths, we are “in the same place” as any other state in the country that is fighting the coronavirus. Baker also has to remember that the majority of our students have not even gone back to school yet. That’s when the real fun will begin.

There’s nothing “dramatically different” about people experiencing and dealing with a pandemic day in and day out. Our state’s experience may not be as dramatic as another’s, but it certainly isn’t different. Because Delta is not any better here than it is in Texas or Florida. It is the same highly contagious variant no matter where you are.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Be Careful What You Wish For

by MichelleMcHatton

I am a fully vaccinated person.

I do believe the vaccines help keep people safe. To some extent anyway and at least for now.

I consider myself a realist about the whole thing. I’m not one of these vaccine extremists who live and die by the vaccine and declare that you must be vaccinated. In reality, how does anyone know how well the vaccinated people will be doing a year from now? At the rate we’re going, it’s not looking too good. Sure, the FDA is trying to rush through the “officialness” of the vaccine. Whether that will be a good thing or not, the future will only know.

If we must get political, I do not consider myself a conservative nor a liberal so we’ll leave that right there. And vaccines and facemasks are not about politics. But because so many think they are, I had to get that out.

In getting back to the vaccines, we really don’t know enough about them to definitively and confidently say that since we’ve been vaccinated we’re out of the woods. Especially with breakthrough cases happening. Although not as severe as if one were unvaccinated, vaccinated people are still getting Covid. And you can say that 99.99% of vaccinated people don’t end up in the hospital or die. And you’d be correct, although they do end up in the hospital and they do die, which is also correct. And the data on breakthrough cases is very sketchy, probably because the CDC wants it that way. And most importantly, we still don’t know how long these vaccines are effective for, although much recent data has shown that just after four months they have lost effectiveness. I personally feel that the vaccine is something that will be needed on a yearly basis. But that’s up to the CDC and the vaccine manufacturers to decide, I guess. Hopefully they’ll decide sooner than later.

Today New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio announced that vaccinations were going to be required of people wanting to dine, use a gym or see a concert, play, sporting event or something of that nature. In other words you’re going to have to prove you’re vaccinated if you want to do any of that sort of stuff in New York City. They have dubbed it the “Key to NYC Pass”.

On the surface this sounds great for New Yorkers. At least the vaccinated ones. But then I got thinking about who this does not sound good for: restauranteurs, gym owners, venue owners and families with children too young for the vaccine. And it doesn’t even really sound that great for vaccinated people. Especially since they can carry and pass on Covid, which the CDC recently revealed. It also doesn’t sound fair to anyone who medically may not be able to be vaccinated. But maybe De Blasio doesn’t think those people would want to dine out, go to a gym or see a Broadway play. Who knows?

I can’t speak for the gyms because, unless there is a childcare center within the gym, I’m unsure of anyone bringing their child to that location. But families, at least in my area, dine out quite frequently. I would think they do so in NYC also. How about those family Broadway shows? “Christmas Spectacular” sure won’t be too spectacular if the kids can’t see it. Because they’re too young to be vaccinated.

I searched the Internet high and low for any information about allowances for children under twelve. I found only one article that mentions anything about it:

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/03/1024206826/new-york-city-proof-of-vaccination-coronavirus-delta-variant

And even the small paragraph that mentions children doesn’t define anything specific, it only mentions discussing “reasonable accommodations”. Uh, no. It’s either one way or the other. If NYC is saying no unvaccinated people can do this, that or the other thing, then that must include children. Even if their parents are vaccinated and want to go out to eat with them.

It’s clear that NYC is pulling the same stunt the CDC pulled when they told all vaccinated people they could go without their masks. It’s their roundabout way to get the unvaccinated vaccinated.

The group I see getting really hurt in this are the restaurants. Unvaccinated people will still eat from these establishments. Ever hear of GrubHub? DoorDash? UberEats? Or restaurants that offer delivery directly from their establishment? But it will cause restaurants to take a hit, just like they did during the height of the first round of the pandemic. Because if there aren’t many people eating in their establishment, why pay that waitress? Or hostess/host? Or dishwasher?

Of course in everything I read about this vaccination pass business I didn’t read one mention of people needing to wear facemasks in the establishments.

I guess to De Blasio if you’re vaccinated you’re good enough.

A Mask For You, A Mask For Me

A Mask For You, A Mask For Me

by MichelleMcHatton

The CDC is a laugh a minute.

Two months ago it was “okay, vaccinated folks, whip off those masks and party hearty. But not you unvaccinated assholes, although we’ll turn a blind eye while you whip yours off too. Have fun! Especially when Delta gets you! PS: but if you’re on any public transportation or in a medical facility, you still have to wear a mask, no matter what. But it’s okay if you’re at a bar or a concert with 50,000 other fools. No masks needed”.

Now Delta has us, and the CDC, after much pressure and having wasted precious time, has issued new “guidance” that now vaccinated folks must wear masks, but only “when in areas with ‘substantial’ and ‘high’ transmission of Covid-19, which includes nearly two-thirds of all US counties.” Interestingly enough they didn’t mention unvaccinated people in this statement. Also, do most people know if their area is an area with “substantial” and “high” transmission? Do most people even give a fuck? I can assure you the unvaccinated ones don’t. So, it really wouldn’t shock me, with the stupidity of many people, that they would believe this statement says only the vaccinated need to wear masks and not the unvaccinated.

Today Walensky had the audacity to say the following: “In recent days I have seen new scientific data from recent outbreak investigations showing that the Delta variant behaves uniquely differently from past strains of the virus that cause Covid-19,” HOLY FUCK! Ladies and Gents, your “head” of the CDC! Where has this bitch been for the past umpteenth months? Living under a fucking ROCK?????????? Has she not seen what has happened in India and the UK? That a fucking woman Down Under caught it from a person who just passed her by and didn’t even touch her???? Based on this crock that she “just” discovered this data the other day, when most of us have known it since before she declared “no masks” (and we all know she has known it too), she should pack her fucking bags and resign.

Instead of the CDC pussyfooting around and trying to save what little reputation they have left (which isn’t much), why don’t they just fucking say what they’re going to be saying sooner than later anyway:

EVERYONE PUT THE GODDAMN MASKS BACK ON NO MATTER WHAT THE FUCK YOUR STATUS IS, NO MATTER WHERE THE FUCK YOU LIVE!!!! BECAUSE DELTA IS HERE AND IT’S GOING TO BE HERE FOR A GOOD LONG WHILE!!!! ALONG WITH ANY OTHER VARIANTS THAT COME ALONG!!! IN FACT, DON’T BE SURPRISED IF YOU’RE WEARING MASKS FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS!!!!!! PS: YOUR VACCINES AREN’T GOING TO LAST FOREVER!!!!

At least they got the K-12 school thing right. Wouldn’t it only make fucking sense that all students wear masks, especially since a good percentage of them can’t even be vaccinated yet?

Wanna Buy A House?

Wanna Buy A House?

by MichelleMcHatton

We all know how crazy the housing market is right now.

Nobody can seem to be able to sell their house and nobody can seem to be able to buy a house or find a house to buy.

So imagine my shock the other day when a realtor was bold enough to call me up out of the blue and offer to buy my house. Sight unseen.

Keep in mind my house is not for sale, nor will it ever be. I have lived in my house for twenty-three years. I will die in my house. My house will be left to my child to do with as they please. I love my house and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

“But if you sell your house now you’ll get a lot more for it than you would otherwise,” the realtor informed me.

“Yes, I know. But what you don’t know is that I only have eight years left to pay on it and I have no intention of ever moving”.

Click. The scent of desperation faded in the air.