Key West Lou / VACCINE SHOTS AT COLLEGE UNFAIRLY PERFORMED

Sometimes you just can’t win for losing.

Getting my first vaccine shot continues to avoid me. I qualify. Unquestionably. I am 85 years old.

A month ago, shots were being given at the Gato Building.

Someone told me to call for an appointment. I was not aware Gato even had the vaccine. I recall no advertising to inform the public.

I called 4 days in a row. Four times a day. A recorded message said leave your name and number and we will get back to you.

The fourth day was a saturday. I even called on the saturday. A new recorded message to the effect we are out of vaccine, do not call this number any longer, call the Health Department. A message will be on the Health Department’s website. A number to call would be provided.

I immediately went to the webs site. Even though a saturday, the vaccine was at the top of the list of everyone to get done.

Took me a bit of time to find the message. My recollection is it was in a small yellow colored rectangular box. The message in effect was don’t call us, we are out of vaccine.

The next set of vaccines I became aware of were to be given at Publix. One in Big Pine, the other Key West. My recollection is that each store had 100 vaccine doses available.

I live in Key West so I considered the Key West Publix store.

Then the thought occurred there would be a mob waiting in line to get one of the 100 shots. Waiting line would be 1-2 hours. No way could I handle standing in line that long. I would have to use both of my canes to hold myself up.

Ergo,I never went to Publix.

Approximately 10 days ago, I learned through the media or some person that the College of the Keys would be providing shots via their nursing program. Instructions were to bring up on the web site, a Florida government address, pick my county, and enter the information requested.

It was simple. I did it all.

I am still waiting. The College gave its first shots yesterday. Four hundred.

The message on the web site was that those either 75 or 65 and older would be taken first as well as first responders who had not yet received their shots.

Contact to me was to be made by e-mail. Sunday has come and gone. No one contacted me.

Today’s media advised 400 shots were given. The system was that someone would telephone and arrange an appointment for you. Those to be scheduled first were people who called in or came to the Health Department looking to get a shot. Those people who had made such a call or stopped in between the end of December and middle of January.

Those who would receive the shots were health care workers who have direct patient contact and persons 65 years or older.

No one called me. I suspect the web site information was not being used. I thought my 85 had some value in these circumstances. Though I did not provide the Health Department with the completed web form till about some time late in January. There was no delay on my part. It happened to be the the State came up with the new distribution idea that involved the web site only very recently.

What pisses me off frankly is those who had walked into the Health Department or made a call would first be taken. I did not know I had to visit the Health Department. I recall no notice regarding the same. Nor anyone calling me. I have been quarantined 339 days.

I know not what to do except complain publicly. Maybe someone will hear my message. Otherwise, I hopefully figure I should be taken the next 2 or 3 times vaccine is available again.

The State of Florida and Monroe County are totally screwed up as to distribution. Distribution has not been fair either. Early on, Ocean Reef near Key Largo got 8,000 doses. An example of the affluent coming first.

I am experimenting. Not sure where to put the Greece blogs. I have tried it up front, in the middle and at the end. I would enjoy some suggestions.

Today a middle one.

DAY 13…..Greece the First Time
By Key West Lou

Breakfast is simple.

Whatever time I roll out of bed, I throw on a tee shirt and pair of shorts. Then up fifty tortuous steps. There is a small bakery a few feet away. All goods baked fresh a few hours earlier in the dead of night.

A little old lady runs the place. Works it. Dressed all in black. A widow, I assume. White hair.

I try to engage her in conversation. She ignores me.

Each morning, I purchase three different baked goods and a cup of coffee. All kinds of baked goods for sale. I generally get some crispy thing covering fruit, one with spinach and finally a small loaf of olive oil bread. I pick at the three for breakfast while sitting on my little terrace outside my cave. Overlooking the volcano, sea and boats. What I do not finish, which is most of it, I leave wrapped in the refrigerator. During the day, I pick at the remnants.

Being on a small island half way around the world can make you feel cut off from the rest of the world. Especially when the computer is down. I use a computer at an internet store. Yesterday morning, every attempt came up labeled disconnected from the internet. I returned at 5 in the afternoon to do the blog yesterday.

I took the free time the disconnected internet gave me to walk. Oia is Greek Orthodox. Tons of Greek Orthodox Churches and shrines. People all over the place praying and bowing.

I visited one of the Greek Orthodox Churches yesterday. It sets in the middle of the marble walkway behind my cave accommodation. About a mile down the way. In front is a huge plaza. Then an imposing white church.

I had never been in a Greek Orthodox Church before.

Dark when you first enter. The sun and eyes. I sat till I could see clearly. Beautiful! The only word to describe what I saw. Riches, also. Chandeliers of gold and silver. Wall plaques and figurines of gold and silver. Be clear. Not brass. Not a thin covering. For real gold and silver. A shining brilliance! The Greeks do not cheat their God as they honor Him.

Most visitors were Greeks coming to pay homage rather than curious visitors. Some locals, some foreigners.

They all burn candles. Or what I assume are candles. They look like bloated incense sticks. Light at the top. When lite, were placed with others in a stand. Then the supplicant would bow, cross his or her self several times and then bow again. I hope I have the sequence correct.

I have found over the years in my infrequent visits to religious places unknown to me, that there is a peace and tranquility in spending some time in them. I felt it yesterday. I recalled a similar feeling thirty some odd years ago at a Muslim museum in New York City. I sat in a small room with several Buddhas. I did not want to leave.

You will recall last year my blood pressure problem. Took a whole year to get it under control. My ankles were constantly swollen with fluid. I was popping water pills daily.

My ankles were big yesterday. First time in a couple of months. I carry water pills and potassium pills with me to use if necessary. My heart doctor said lay flat for three hours after taking the pills to get the best effect. I did. I lay for three hours in the cool of my cave on the bed. I would have done it outside down the steps by the pool on a chaise lounge. However, I needed to be near an appropriate facility when the need to expel fluid arose. Ergo, the bed with the bathroom nearby.

Everything is hills in Santorini. Even walkways and roads. Up and down. Everything is steps also. Too many. For example, fifty steps down from street level to my cave. To the pool, an additional fifty steps. What goes down, must come up. The reverse has generally been true. Ho ho! These steps are not normal. No codes here. They are different widths and different heights. I find the fifty steps from my cave to the road a killer. I have to stop and sit a few minutes at the top before proceeding.

Walking is impossible to avoid. The parking lot for my rented car is 1/2 mile down the road. An example of being compelled to walk every where.

Why am I boring you with this onerous walking situation? Because it is causing my belly to go down. For real. More than half way. I can’t believe it! I have no scale to see if I have actually lost weight. Whatever, my stomach is dramatically down and my face decidedly thinner. My heart, whether stronger or weaker, I do not know.

Come walk with me in Santorini!

Ate at the Katina again last night. The restaurant sitting on a concrete shelf beneath a towering lava created mountain. The daughter of the owner greeted me. I was remembered. So did 4 or 5 waiters.

I sat precisely at the edge of the concrete abutment. Another inch and I would have been swimming with the fishes.

I knew exactly what I wanted. Did not need a menu. I started with hot grape leaves stuffed with rice covered with oil. Everything is covered with oil in Greece. Understandable, there are olive trees all over the place. Red snapper for my entree. The fish was grilled and delivered to me splayed with the spinal bone removed. Boiled potatoes and cooked greens. Both buried in oil. For dessert, baklava. A rich crispy cake covered with honey. A double espresso. With the meal, I enjoyed three gins and one ouzo.

When the bill arrived, I was comped certain items as occurred with my previous visit. The waiter told me the 3 gins, 1 ouzo, the grape leaf appetizer, the espresso, and the baklava…..were on the house! This entire glorious meal cost me all of 24 euros. $34 American money.

Burbing is in vogue and socially acceptable in Greece. At the end of my meal, I inadvertently let out a big one. The waiter looked me, beamed and said…..good! A Greek couple sitting at the table next to me did likewise.

Another beach day in the making. Today it is Kamari Beach. I have inquired and been assured no hills to climb. Park the car and walk directly onto a flat sandy beach.

Kamari is supposed to be a tourist place. Many restaurants and bars. I may stay for dinner.

I have also been assured there will be topless and totally naked woman. We shall see. No, I shall see.

Enjoy your day!

The weekend was a pleasant one. Very little Trump. Some significant sports.

Super Bowl! In Tampa last night. Yes, I did screw up yesterday by placing it in New Orleans. Don’t ask me why. I can only attribute it to old age.

Tampa walloped Kansas City 31-9. Kansas City should never have been on the field with Tampa.

The game not a great one. Good, however.

Tom Brady is eternal. He threw the ball like he was a young man instead of 42. Such precision!

Golf big this weekend,also. The Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Bruce Koepka won. He came out of the pack yesterday on hole 17. He chipped in from well off the green on a par 5 for a 3. He won by 2 strokes.

Jordan Spieth has been a disaster after starting up several year ago as perhaps the next Tiger Woods. He was back in the game the first 3 days of the tournament-67, 67 and 61.

I watched saturday when he shot the 61. Very long putts were dropping. His fairway game was better than it has been.

Saturday evening found him in first place with another player. Both were 2 strokes or more ahead of the rest of the pack.

The putts did not drop for Spieth sunday. Not off by much. An inch or two. However enough not to go in the hole.

Spieth finished 2 strokes behind Koepka. He shot a 71. Ten strokes higher than saturday.

Half time entertainment at Super Bowl was not to my liking. The star The Weekend. Probably because not my kind of music.

I do not follow music as I did when I was younger. I had never heard of The Weekend till yesterday.

I turned the TV on after the first kick-off. Ergo, I was not aware that the poet Amanda Gorman appeared in a prepared video with a new poem immediately before the game.

The poem she read was newly written by her especially for her Super Bowl appearance.

Amanda God willing is going to be America’s joy for the next 50 years. Yesterday, she was the first “bard” to perform at the U.S.’s most watched sporting event.

Tonight my blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Nine my time.

The ranting and raving should be less. I have little to jump on Trump with. In any event, the show will be interesting. Please join me. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Enjoy your day!

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