Today’s Daily Stoic writing prompt: What thing do I always do that fails and what if I tried the opposite?

I don’t much like the way this prompt is worded, because if I do something that always fails, I’m sure as heck not going to keep doing it! But I do like the idea of approaching something from another (or the opposite) direction if an initial approach does not work or gives incomplete results.

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So far, my reaction to my second vaccine dose has been much more similar to what I have experienced with other vaccines than the first dose was. I slept last night, although a bit fitfully. Today, I’ve been a bit achy and have run a very slight fever, and my upper arm feels like it’s badly bruised. Other than a brief moment of wooziness after climbing the stairs this morning, I’ve felt nothing approaching nausea. I had no issues teaching my Toastmasters officer training class this afternoon; it went really well. Otherwise, I’ve mostly been relaxing and not moving a lot, doing some embroidery, and watching The Muppet Movie (which, believe it or not, I’d never seen.) I’m glad I didn’t have to work today, but I probably could have managed it.

So now it’s 13 days to full coverage –July 9, for those who might be counting . I’m not really calling it “freedom day”, because while it may free up a couple of activities for me (I think I’ll finally be comfortable enough to go for another massage, for instance), it’ll likely be a month or two before things start to look at all like a resumption of life interrupted. We’re talking about an in-person meeting for our CWH book group soon, and I’m sure we’ll all still be masked up for that.

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This is a rather remarkable photo from the building collapse in Florida. When I first saw photos, the debris pile looked formless and chaotic. Here you can actually see the contours of the pancaked floors, and see that parts of the roof look oddly intact.

Still no single cause for this tragedy, although there was apparently a warning of “major structural damage” back in 2018, along with reports of constant standing water in the basement and residents concerned about heavy equipment being used on the roof. (Once again, Sampoong vibes). There are still over 150 people missing.