health history pragmatic historian reading

Can’t Get Scalzi’s Lock In Series Out of My Mind

My book reading pace has not slowed this year. So far, I’ve read fourteen-and-a-half books, and we’re not even half-way through the year. It’s like I’m playing catch-up on the low-reading years or something. It helps that I’m reading mostly fiction, which I tend to read faster than nonfiction. I’ve also continued on my John Scalzi book binge, which I wrote about last month. Since then, I have read the first two books in Scalzi’s…

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reading

Scalzi Book Binge

Normally, I read between 20 and 25 books per year, a mix of fiction and nonfiction. In 2022, I only read 4 books the entire year because we were packing and finishing up home improvement projects in order to sell our house. In 2023, I managed to read 13 books, well below average, because we were still sorting and getting rid of stuff from the move, as well as clearing out long-term storage and helping…

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family health

Covid – Blech!

It finally happened. After managing to avoid Covid through the pandemic lockdowns and beyond over the past almost-three years, I finally contracted it. Hubby had it once before and we were so diligent about staying in separate rooms that I didn’t catch it then. We’ve been pretty good about getting our shots, but over the past year, we hadn’t been back to get the fourth one due to getting a house ready for sale, buying…

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family health

The Mother of All Sore Throats

It started with a scratchy throat, nasal congestion, and a bit of a cough last Tuesday. Have y’all noticed during this pandemic that anytime you come down with symptoms that seem like a cold, the flu, or allergies, surely you’ve got Covid? Even though I’ve been vaccinated and boosted, with the Omicron variant running around, I figured I’d better take a test. We had a box of at-home tests, so I took one and tested…

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health tips

COVID-19 Testing in Rural Minnesota

This fall I’ve been dealing on and off with a scratchy throat and cough. Naturally, with those being symptoms of COVID-19, the first thought upon developing them was that I was sick with Covid and I should get tested. The Minnesota Department of Health encourages testing regardless of how severe your symptoms are because even those not displaying symptoms can spread the disease and testing is the primary way they can properly track it. When…

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