— पांच हजार एक सौ उनतीस —
I haven't gotten my results back yet from the Covid test I had yesterday evening at the
Curative testing center at The Paramount Theater. They have a sandwich board outside the entrance to a very small sort of atrium, off to the side from the large lobby entrance to the theater. There might have been two doors that were closed on two sides, one directly ahead once coming inside and one to the left; to the right was a wall but along the wall to the front, next to the aforementioned door, was a stairway, presumably also leading to the main lobby. There was a guy sitting on those stairs and eating pizza.
Even though testing demand has dropped dramatically, just as daily case rates have, this site has a sign up that they are not accepting walk-ins. They had been early last month. I had to buzz at the door. Two workers in PPE were inside, and one held up a "just a minute finger," and shortly after another young woman let me in. There was a ton of supplies of some sort stacked to the right, and to the left was a folding table with a clear plastic wall erected around it for the young lady to sit behind. All this stuff in that already fairly small space made it feel even smaller yet.
The test itself, comparatively, was truly a dream. This was now the third Covid test I have ever taken, and the first two involved the bizarre sensation of a cotton swab shoved so far into the nostril it felt like it was piercing my brain. The first was quite some time ago now, when Shobhit and I got tested pre-emptively before visiting my brother and Bill in Idaho in August 2020, barely more than a month after Mom's death (not of Covid) and nearly a year before Bill died (of Covid). The second time was just last month, after the two family holiday gatherings, just for peace of mind. The test in late July 2020 was at the UW Medicine testing center up on Aurora Avenue, a long line of cars to wait in. Last month's was at the GS Labs testing site Gabriel told me about on New Year's Day, located up in Northgate, in a parking lot where we were once again tested through the windows while we sat in the car.
Shobhit was tested a couple of weeks ago at the same GS Labs location again, after a coworker tested positive on a rapid test while he was there. This location at The Paramount is operated by Curative is, along with UW Medicine, officially affiliated with the City of Seattle (GS Labs is not), so I was genuinely surprised by how easy and comfortable the test was this time. They didn't even administer it: the young lady gave me a cotton swab to use myself, simply sticking into each nostril in turn, only as deep as the cotton end, and swirling around the rim of the nostril.
GS Labs does both a rapid test and a PCR test, so you get the rapid test results within an hour or so. This swab was so easy, I thought maybe they were just doing rapid tests. "This isn't a rapid test," she said, and a later email confirmed it was a PCR test. At the very least, with this pandemic lasting so fucking long—fully two years now—they now have far less invasive and easier testing procedures. Why different sites still do the brain-piercing version of the test, I don't know; maybe it has to do with supply availability.
Anyway. I'm supposed to get the results "within 24 to 48 hours." I'm a little anxious about it, but given that I haven't fallen sick after the apparent exposure at the restaurant last Friday, I remain hopeful that it will come back negative. If it's positive, it's going to be a real pain in the ass, and I have no idea how the three of us at home can best handle it. I'll be so relieved once I get the results.
— पांच हजार एक सौ उनतीस —
— पांच हजार एक सौ उनतीस —
I walked to The Paramount, and after the shockingly quick in-and-out of that test, walked the rest of the way home. Now that I have the option of taking both the Monorail and Light Rail to cover just under half the distance, it had been a while since I last walked the entire way. I should do it more often, though. Especially after working from home through nearly all of January, I could really use the step up in exercise.
I went next door to feed Alexia's cat, Cassie, who this time around has not once come out to greet me, like she did the last time I cat sat her. After that, soon Shobhit got home from work, and we made a couple of Indian meal packets and fried up frozen parathas for dinner, which we ate while watching this week's very entertaining, and kind of visually spectacular, episode of
Peacemaker on HBO Max.
The new season of
Raised by Wolves has also started, so I went to that next, starting what I thought was the season premiere. Shobhit and I both watched the entire episode before realizing what we'd just watched was the pilot episode of the first season. Oops. So then we actually watched the season two premiere. They actually released two episodes this week, but there wasn't enough time for the second. We'll probably watch it tonight.
— पांच हजार एक सौ उनतीस —
[posted 12:27 pm]
