Hello! You survived the pandemic and all you got was this lousy blog post! But you also survived the pandemic! Your first? It was for me and I was spooked. Happier after the vaccine, happier still after I laid in a supply of good masks and home tests, but still amazingly adept at talking myself into symptoms. Couldn’t for the life of me swab up a viral load sufficient to earn a second line on the test puck, but I suppose that is a win. Happy to be here. I am happy you are here too. Is there anything better than company?
A good friend organized a trail ride this last Saturday. Nearly the same one I wrote about in 2021. Bike on car, park at Kinderhook, ride trails/quiet roads to Hudson, eat a breakfast burrito and pedal back.
Last time I had a fairly miserable time, though. Same route, same bicycle and some of the same people but I was a very different person.
A year ago I was very spooked by the virus. The pace of the ride was such that the time I was away from home exceeded my capacity to be away from home.
This time I had found some of my pre-pandemic chill. Not all of it mind you, but enough to have a wonderful time.
Here’s hoping I can heal more and enjoy many more adventures.
Big news here. I retired from the practice of law effective September 1, 2022. Absolutely delighted. You may or may not know that I did not enjoy being a lawyer. I was grateful for the work, the camaraderie and the money, but I had a bad case of imposter syndrome. I have pictures of me in the lobby of my first law firm with a big new wave flop and a Meat Puppets t-shirt. I was a boy skater in a grown up world and I didn’t shake that feeling for a day of my 30 year career. So when I disassembled my home office and turned it into a library, I exhaled a 30 year breath that I never wanted to inhale. Joys.
Thirty days into retirement I received a summons for grand jury duty. I knew it was coming because I had asked for a postponement a year prior. Twelve Wednesdays ending at the end of this year. Some cases are easy to hear but others are shaking me up pretty badly. Harsh world.
I also signed up for a stage three trial for a Lyme vaccine. I’ve been scared of Lyme the 17 years I’ve lived in upstate New York. I still am able to get out in nature, but there is always background static in my mind. I’ve had so many friends get it. Most have an easy time clearing it with antibiotics, but at least one has suffered through a long term battle. Did you know there was a Lyme vaccine available from 1998 to 2002, but demand was insufficient and it was discontinued. It remained available for humans in Europe and for dogs here, but now Pfizer is trying to get approval for an antigen based vaccine targeting surface protein A that will cover a number of the bacteria that ticks share with us. I was pretty spooked about the trial, but my neighbor is a super-scientist at Wadsworth Laboratories and she looked at the documentation and said the vaccine is well researched and tolerated and that I should feel good going ahead with it.
Sunday was my first appointment. There’d be seven appoints and four shots over two and a half years. The first visit would take three hours. I showed up on time and was immediately concerned. No facility at the address. Just a small welcome tent, an RV for staff and a half dozen vans for participants on a gravel parking lot in a warehouse district. I walked in the tent and a trial participant said “she’ll be right back.” I waited five minutes and stepped outside. I was then greeted with the news that I’d have a three hour wait. Huh. I said I’d leave and reschedule, but when I got home I wrote that I am withdrawing from the trial. My guess is Pfizer contracts with this group to conduct the trial and pays the contractor a set fee. The contractor then works hard to lower costs to increase profitability. That, together with the lack of timeliness was enough to push me over the edge. I wanted to do it. To be a hero like the people who participated in trials for Covid vaccines. But sometimes no is the right answer, it was my answer and I’m sticking to it. If the vaccine is approved, I will be first in line to get it. Huge thanks then to the people who stick with the trial.
That’s about it. Hopefully more pedaling, some time in the woods, a few local road trips, lots of cooking and even more eating in my future. I’ll write about it as time permits. Thank you for being there to read it. Be well.
Randal Putnam Loves to Pedal 