Post a bad thing that happened in your life today

[CAROL SAUNDERS]

Well I was looking forward to attending The Great Balloon Race at the Shuttleworth Estate this weekend.  However it transpires that I and thousands of other people across the country have fallen victim to a massive fraud/scam.  This was a 3 day event Friday/Saturday/Sunday at well known venues in the UK.  I had booked VIP tickets for 6 at a cost of £252, the event was supposed to be held in June.  This then got postponed apparently due to the high rate of Covid in Bedfordshire.  Whilst I thought it was slightly strange at the time, it did not occur to me in was a scam.  The event was outside and tables limited to 6.  Anyway the offer was of a refund or postponement to 12th September.  I took the postponement hoping for the best with the weather.  Apparently only a handful of folk managed to actually get refunds, others have still been waiting since June.  The event was also supposed to take place at other well known venues.

 

However, it transpires the whole thing has been a scam and affected thousands of people.  I actually phoned Shuttleworth the other day who told me it was a huge scam and the chap running the event wasn't issuing refunds and it was impossible to contact him and I should aim to reclaim the money through my bank.  Then spent another few hours trying to sort things out and managed to get a refund.  However, very disappointed as the tickets were a birthday treat for some neighbours.  Words also fail me to describe the lowlife that organised this and disappointed so many people after such a rubbish year or more.

 

On the mask side, I'm still wearing them when out shopping in small spaces.  

 

Onwards & Upwards......

 

Carol

 

 

[NYCat]

The yearly PhotoPlus Expo in NYC has been cancelled. I had been putting off signing up because I still feel cautious in spite of being vaccinated. Very discouraged these days because a few months ago things were looking up here.

 

Paulette

[Harry Harrison]

The Photography Show in the UK is going ahead though, hard to credit how jostling 3 deep to try out the latest cameras is going to help matters, perhaps things will be more controlled this year.

[MDM]

1 hour ago, Harry Harrison said:

The Photography Show in the UK is going ahead though, hard to credit how jostling 3 deep to try out the latest cameras is going to help matters, perhaps things will be more controlled this year.

 

Basically the message from the top here in England is just get on with it. This is the herd immunity thing they were aiming for at the beginning but very few other countries are taking this laissez-faire attitude. However, they are still requiring people to quarantine from so-called red list countries, many of which have lower case rates than here, and mandatory testing is still required from orange-list countries. That makes no sense except perhaps to those who have invested money in testing companies and quarantine hotels. 

 

I photographed a wedding last week and none of the guests were wearing masks - it was totally back to normal by almost all appearances. The guy who was second-shooting with me and I both wore masks indoors to start but it is very difficult to take pictures with a mask on so we took them off. I appear to have escaped this time as I have done a few lateral flow tests and am negative but it is concerning. I am doubly vaccinated and, apart from photographing weddings, I am otherwise being exceptionally careful. However, my wife is a teacher, also  trying to be exceptionally careful while most of the other staff are unmasked and just getting on with it as are moat of the kids.  I expect I will end up with another dose of Covid at some point - I am just hoping my immune system will handle it. 

Edited September 10, 2021 by MDM

[NYCat]

We are being told here now that people who have had Covid have more protection from it than people who are vaccinated. That seems to make it more complicated as people are being required to be vaccinated in order to work for big companies.

 

Paulette

[MDM]

24 minutes ago, NYCat said:

We are being told here now that people who have had Covid have more protection from it than people who are vaccinated. That seems to make it more complicated as people are being required to be vaccinated in order to work for big companies.

 

Paulette

 

The big question is how long that protection lasts. The immune system is very complex. What does more protection even mean anyway - less risk of very severe illness (hospitalisation or death), less likely to develop any symptoms, less likely to experience long term effects the second time and so on?

 

I think the danger is in just pretending everything is back to normal. There is no doubt that vaccination greatly reduces the risk of severe illness but it does not mean that the pandemic is over.  In my opinion, the message from the top should be proceed with caution and continue to wear masks in enclosed spaces to protect others as well as oneself (needs higher quality masks than the standard surgical masks) even if vaccinated. 

Edited September 10, 2021 by MDM

[sb photos]

1 hour ago, Harry Harrison said:

The Photography Show in the UK is going ahead though, hard to credit how jostling 3 deep to try out the latest cameras is going to help matters, perhaps things will be more controlled this year.

I will be passing on the Photography Show Meetup this year, and until normality truly returns, if ever. If I see an unmasked person in a supermarket I treat them as if they had the worst possible plague. I will likely be photographing a largish protest in London, and in a way that I am in control. No risky trains or tube, will drive in. Hopefully the street parking will unaltered from 2015 when Google street map there was videoed showing parking restriction signs on lamp posts. If problems I’ll have to do some extra walking. Will be only the 4th trip into London since Covid became a serious risk.

[spacecadet]

58 minutes ago, NYCat said:

We are being told here now that people who have had Covid have more protection from it than people who are vaccinated. That seems to make it more complicated as people are being required to be vaccinated in order to work for big companies.

 

Paulette

I think you're being told wrong and that the antibody count from vaccination is much higher than that from contracting the disease. The protection is also much shorter lived.

Edited September 10, 2021 by spacecadet

[spacecadet]

1 hour ago, MDM said:

a wedding last week and none of the guests were wearing masks

Everybody in masks- that's something you want for decades to come in your wedding album!

[Harry Harrison]

8 minutes ago, spacecadet said:

1 hour ago, NYCat said:

 

I think you're being told wrong and that he antibody count from vaccination is much higher than that from the disease.

I think this information comes from Israel, but they are reluctant to be seen as recommending that people should opt instead to try and catch the virus, for obvious reasons.

 

https://www.science.org/content/article/having-sars-cov-2-once-confers-much-greater-immunity-vaccine-vaccination-remains-vital

[Harry Harrison]

1 hour ago, MDM said:

 

I photographed a wedding last week and none of the guests were wearing masks

Glad it went well Michael, a challenging situation I'm sure.

[Harry Harrison]

31 minutes ago, sb photos said:

I will be passing on the Photography Show Meetup this year, and until normality truly returns, if ever

I'll give the show a miss this year but I don't mean to put a dampener on it, I imagine it's still possible to feel safe in those large airy halls but I expect it will be a little different to normal, in the past it's been a real scrum around Nikon, Canon etc. I hope it is a success for them, it's a good show.

 

Really I don't have enough of a reason to go, might be different if I had, if they hold the 'Society of Photographers' Trade Show in London in January I might go to that I suppose.

[spacecadet]

13 minutes ago, Harry Harrison said:

I think this information comes from Israel, but they are reluctant to be seen as recommending that people should opt instead to try and catch the virus, for obvious reasons.

 

https://www.science.org/content/article/having-sars-cov-2-once-confers-much-greater-immunity-vaccine-vaccination-remains-vital

Of course that greater immunity does require you to be alive to benefit from it.

There are a lot of problems with that data- sample size, testing self-selection among them. I'd prefer just not to get it. Failing that I'd prefer to be vaccinated.

Edited September 10, 2021 by spacecadet

[NYCat]

I just ran into a client who told me she and her partner have just gotten their booster. Hmmmm. They had their two shots about the same as i did... the second one mid_Feb.

 

Paulette

[Michael Ventura]

26 minutes ago, NYCat said:

I just ran into a client who told me she and her partner have just gotten their booster. Hmmmm. They had their two shots about the same as i did... the second one mid_Feb.

 

Paulette

 

Not sure about your clients but I know people are lying to get their booster early....they just say that they are immune compromised and the facility can't ask for any details.  I will wait my turn but I know 4 people who have done this.   So we have anti-vaxxers and people who can't wait! 

[spacecadet]

Boosters are still merely being considered here, for over-50s. There's no consensus that they're universally useful or necessary, AFAICS neither vaccine's effectiveness has dropped by as much as 10 percentage points yet. So they will only be given to those proven to benefit.

You certainly can't get one just for the asking.

Edited September 10, 2021 by spacecadet

[NYCat]

5 minutes ago, Michael Ventura said:

 

Not sure about your clients but I know people are lying to get their booster early....they just say that they are immune compromised and the facility can't ask for any details.  I will wait my turn but I know 4 people who have done this.   So we have anti-vaxxers and people who can't wait! 

 

Apparently my clients were not asked any questions. I think I will wait. i am 80 years old (yikes!) but very healthy. As it happened, I had a complete physical right before the lockdown here and my doctor told me he expected I would survive if I got the virus. Not that I want to get it even if I do survive. I did get a high-dose flu shot last week.

 

Paulette

[Michael Ventura]

6 minutes ago, NYCat said:

 

Apparently my clients were not asked any questions. I think I will wait. i am 80 years old (yikes!) but very healthy. As it happened, I had a complete physical right before the lockdown here and my doctor told me he expected I would survive if I got the virus. Not that I want to get it even if I do survive. I did get a high-dose flu shot last week.

 

Paulette

 

My ex-wife works at the FDA in the area of Pharmaceutical Compliance and so she knows all the ins and outs of the vaccine biz.  She was one of those who got her booster early and told me that I should do the same but I will wait for when it is my time.  I figure, if I wait (December is when I would be due) I would have protection longer. Congrats on your good health!!

[Ed Rooney]

 

The Polar Bears, penguins, and birds are counting on you having a long, active life, Paulette. Hang in there.

[MDM]

2 hours ago, spacecadet said:

Everybody in masks- that's something you want for decades to come in your wedding album!

 

I shot a wedding ceremony in your home town back in June where the socially distanced guests were wearing masks in the ceremony but we did some outdoor pics afterwards without masks. However, they put the reception off until next year. 

 

In any case, I wasn't suggesting mask-wearing for the entire wedding but was surprised to see nobody wearing a mask. Some middle ground would be better if difficult to achieve. Fewer people in ceremonies with some distancing would be more sensible and some control at receptions, but that is impossible once numbers are unrestricted and dancing is allowed.  I am just hoping for the best now but expecting another close encounter with the dreaded virus at some point. How nasty that will be is the question.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Betty LaRue]

Another take on immunity or reduction of…and boosters…

https://www.science.org/news/2021/08/do-delta-breakthroughs-really-mean-vaccine-protection-waning-and-are-boosters-answer

[Cecile Marion]

My 75 year-old sister has been doubly-vaccinated since the spring, but tested positive after being exposed by a friend. She also (most likely) passed covid on to the couple she’s visiting. Because my sister has serious health issues, she was sent to a facility to receive an antibody infusion which took about an hour, then sent home to quarantine. Fortunately, my sister and her friends all experienced mild covid symptoms similar to a cold. She will now have to wait an extra three months before she receives a booster. If she hadn’t been vaccinated, most likely she would not have survived. 
 

I also know people who’ve gone and gotten an early booster, but I plan to follow the CDC guidelines and wait until at least eight months after my second shot. 

[Betty LaRue]

A lady I know, not young, but maybe 60ish, was hospitalized (very ill) for a month from Covid. She was fully vaccinated. She’s being taught to walk again in a recovery home after a Covid-induced stroke.

[spacecadet]

Could we please be careful with stories- especially anecdotal and with partial information- which might give someone- anyone- the impression that vaccination is anything other than the right thing to do.

Yes, you can still become ill, but the chances of infection transmission and illness are far, far less- this is a fact.

[Betty LaRue]

Mark, information is gold. I want vaccinated people to be aware they aren’t bulletproof and to be as careful as the unvaccinated. My information isn’t anecdotal, but straight from this woman’s mouth. I’m not reported rumors, but facts. The facts as she told it.
 

If the vaccinated go about their affairs believing they are safe, don’t stay out of crowds, don’t mask, etc., they could get sick. I don’t want that. There is a real danger that both camps, vaccinated and unvaccinated, with mild cases or asymptotic, could be walking about infecting people.

Cecile’s post is indicative of that. And I don’t believe she’s trying to scare people, but make them aware. If everyone is aware, maybe we can get a handle on this thing.