This is what dd(20) has said frightens her most. She said she could (grudgingly and grumpily) deal with a lingering cough or headache or even loss of smell and taste. But she already deals with occasional autoimmune brain fog issues, and is terrified of not being able to think straight or complete her classwork. She has also expressed concern about the effect something like that might have on her graduate school plans.

If you think smokers have lost the battle, come visit VA! Or rather, don't. Instead, I think I want to come visit you! 😉

The factors which seem to me to be driving vaccine refusal in my area are politics, religion, and low levels of education. These factors are so entangled with one another that it is difficult to tease out the primary cause of vaccine resistance. As far as social clusters go, I think that at this point, even those who could be swayed by a logical and clear presentation of safety data or risk analysis will continue to refuse to be vaccinated because they don’t want to be perceived as somehow betraying their political or religious family/friends/colleagues.

Hugs to you, Number. Anxiety stinks, and you are not alone! And super-duper-extra-happy birthday wishes to your dd! Sheesh! I'm a serious introvert, and I'm dying to party like it's 1999. (Hey, remember 1999? You know, when we could actually party without being afraid we'd die or kill someone else because we piled into a room like sardines and then sang karaoke? Yeah, me too. Anybody have a spare Tardis? 😉)

Numbers from Covidactnow.org 46% fully vaccinated and 50% at least one dose in my metro area. The infection rate is 1.2 in my city, after reaching a low fo .69 in May. 😔 It’s so disheartening. In Williamsburg, the rates are even worse: only 43% fully vaccinated. I am beside myself with anger at William and Mary. The idiot administration has decided that they will operate fully in person and at full capacity with no masking, distancing, or vaccine requirements. Who cares if students/faculty/staff get sick, have long Covid, or die as long as W&M gets their money? I was proud to say I was a Tribe mom a few years ago. Now all I can do is hang my head in shame, and pray that my dd isn’t one of the ones that this horrible institution sacrifices in the name of the almighty dollar.

Are you doing anything to deal with inflation? Uhhhhh…eat less and exercise more?

Sure! Here's a photo of mittens made from my parents' tri sheltie. The little sweetheart in my avatar is half lab. I have tried to get some spinnable combings off of her, but to no avail- she's all hair and no undercoat. It's the downy undercoat from double-coated dogs that makes the best yarn.

Still reflecting on the “good old days.” Guys, do you realize that we are coming up on the 10th anniversary of the Great Cupcake Kerfuffle? 😁

Oh, and the “Willy-nilly” one! Wasn’t that what the one who ran around waving its arms was called? On a somewhat related note, does anyone remember the day the emojis went supersized, and we had giant emojis that took up half the screen? Or the update where we knew there was going to be an outage of several days, and we were all wishing each other well and telling each other to hang in there until the board goes back up? Ahhhhh….such fond memories of board glitches and changes…*sniff, sniff*

The problem with Hair of the Dog is that someone else already loves it too! 😂 What a clever idea to have booze-themed colors! Love it!

So I did an informal poll of the knitters and spinners at my LYS during the Tour de Fleece spin-in, and have decided on…. Ruffspun Fiber Arts! Looks like I might have lucked into spinning combings from a Pyrenees named Brutus for my first official job! ETA: Oh! The whole point of this post was to say thank you to everyone who replied!

I used to be in NY, moved to VA abut 8 yrs ago. About as soon as we moved here, I realized that a dozen years in the north often turns one into a northerner! 😉

I feel like I have stepped into a dystopian, made-for-tv miniseries. So now, I have no PCP. Called yesterday to get a refill on my asthma meds, explained that I wanted the first available morning appointment because the practice has only one, tiny waiting room, and I didn’t want to sit with other potentially sick people. So far, so good. Then the following conversation took place: Me: Just to confirm, patients must wear a mask, right? Receptionist: Oh, no ma'am. Now that there are vaccines, we no longer require masking. Me: But the providers are still masking, correct? Receptionist: No, ma'am! (laughs a little) Why would they mask if they have all been vaccinated? Me: I guess I need to cancel that appointment I just made and find a doctor who actually cares about his patients. Have a good one. <click> Now, I know the doc who runs this practice, and have for thirty-some years. He first treated me for tendonitis in my wrists when I was in junior high school. My mother worked as a nurse for his practice for quite a while when I was much younger. He played guitar at my wedding, and his kids were the attendants at my wedding. (The first round of kids, anyway. He divorced their mom and married a much younger model- she's my age- about the time my daughter was born.) This isn't just me losing a physician, it’s me completely losing faith in someone who I believed was a good doctor and a good friend. At this point, if Daleks were to appear in my backyard, I’d almost welcome them, because at least then I’d know that it was only a matter of time before the Tardis shows up, the Doctor sends the bad guys packing, and we could roll credits on this whole distressing episode.

@Quill Sorry about the anxiety! Would it help any for you to laugh at my current ear worms? For the past week or so, I have been flipping between the theme from St. Elsewhere and the Lonely Goatherd song. 🤪

Ok, so there is apparently this kid out there with a Twitter account where he posts photos of all the dogs he has pet. I believe it’s called I've Pet That Dog, or something similar. Well, y'all, I’m telling you, this thread is making me want to start one: I've Spun That Dog! Newfie and Malamute and GSD…..oooh the yarn that could be spun from all these glorious coats! 😁

*sigh* A month ago, I was hopeful. The numbers were dropping, and it looked like a somewhat normal summer was within reach. Now, we are back at 6.8% positive, cases are on the rise, and no doubt death rates will follow the trend. Honestly, this is no real surprise, because where I live, the vaccination rate will stay low because of politics, and around here, July 4th= time to get drunk and blow things up, so I was expecting a bit of a surge after the holiday, but hoping for better. Now, I’m back to feeling very uncomfortable just walking the dogs in the park, since there is no way to know if that unmasked person who refuses to give you space on the trail is vaccinated (given the rates here, and the experiences I have had recently, the answer is probably no.) And then there are the kids (of course they aren’t vaccinated!) who think they just have to pet every dog that they see. 🙄 So although I really, really want to be out and about, I guess I am headed back into 100% lockdown. I’m glad that dd is currently doing research in a high vax area, but concerned about her resuming in person classes at her college here in the fall (currently 4.8% positive, but sure to rise when students return.) I am so freaking tired of stupid. I’m ready to move back north to Mordor now. At least most of the orcs there have been vaccinated.

I thought I’d be clever and get a photo of all three of mine together. Fifteen minutes and about 2 dozen treats later, this was the best I could get! Can you tell which hand was holding the treats? 😂

Congrats to the feline mama! I must have missed the original thread, because here I was, bouncing along liking posts, and realized that it’s a zombie thread- Only it isn’t a zombie thread after all! It’s a happy kitty birth announcement!

There are quite a few of us crazy chiengora spinners out there! Depending on the dog, you can get quite a lot of useable fiber from just a couple of combings. But the thing about dog hair is that it is hot, way hotter than wool. So if you plan on wearing an item made with dog, you blend it with other fibers. But most of the people I know who have spun or knit their dog's fur have just made it into little keepsake items like a Christmas tree ornament. I once made a passport holder for a friend who travelled a lot out of her critters' fur. Ok, editing again, because clearly I’m not fully caffeinated yet. What I was trying to say was that you don’t need much dog hair because most of the time you’re either blending it with other stuff or making small items anyway.

Pen, you’re a genius! I never would have given a thought to using my photo of Pip as marketing. I’m liking Ruffspun Fibers, and it looks like the name doesn’t exist yet. (At least, I didn’t turn up anything in a brief Google search.)

Thanks guys! Keep'em coming!

Yikes! 😳The things you learn on the board!

I may consider other pets, depending on the fiber. Some fibers just aren’t suitable for spinning. Sadly, I can’t do cats. I'm terribly allergic. 😞

I'm finally going to hang out my shingle as a handspinner, and need a clever name. My focus will be spinning (and possibly knitting) combings from dogs. Go ahead, tell me how crazy I am! But this is something I have wanted to do for a very long time, so I'm going to give it a whirl. (Pun intended.) Any ideas?

Ok, did I multi-quote you? Or did you fill it in? I can’t figure out how what looks to me like an empty box showed up in my post. 🤪