Stonehenge

Vaccination

 Woo-Hoo! Today I got my first Covid vaccination (Moderna), with follow-up appointment in 4 weeks, April 8th. My best guess for why I got an email inviting me to sign up is having Kaiser medical coverage via Stanford University (as an early retiree, but I won't question it). California is currently limited to age 65+ or essential workers including all education jobs. I'd looked for appointments with pharmacies (Rite-Aid, CVS, Walgreens), but the web checklists only seemed to include staff at grades K-12, not colleges.
 
Meanwhile, Jonathan (age 65+) got his first shot via the county health department, and was due for his second shot today. Yesterday, they sent email to cancel his appointment (lack of vaccine supplies), saying he should use Kaiser. Kaiser's web forms only show an option for a first vaccine dose. I asked about that while waiting the 15 minutes afterward (no side effects at all yet), and they said just sign up as a 1st dose, then bring the previous vaccination card and let them know it's really a 2nd dose. That's about what I guessed last night when we booked his appointment for tomorrow.
 
We're using the Fremont/Pacific Commons Kaiser clinic in Alameda County even though we live in Santa Clara County (but we're near the border -- the houses across the street have their back yards in Alameda County). It's less than 15 minutes away by car, and seemed very streamlined for vaccinating, as opposed to the Gilroy Valley Health Center at the far end of the county, 45 minutes away (plus Friday evening rush hour traffic), where they seemed slow and disorganized, and his follow-up appointment had already been moved to Gilroy High School.
Stonehenge

Harry Potter and the Pangolin of Doom

In the Harry Potter books, there are several scenes in divination class where Harry tries to use the crystal ball to see the future, and he just makes up something vague, writing down whatever pops into his head at the last minute.  And yet, several of those predictions come true (for example, a hippogriff flies away).

Maybe the same thing happens when Donald Trump falls asleep while tweeting:  
2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covfefe 
2019-2020, SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 

The similarity is spooky.  How can you accidentally get "fe" twice?  Are the first SARS virus and MERS so different that the numbering should skip MERS, or was it the fe-and-fe of fate?

Stonehenge

C-1 Singing Call figures

Disclaimer:  I haven't done proofreading.  It is possible
that these may include a typo or two, and it is possible that some
calls that were once on the C-1 list have since been dropped
(although I've included substitutions for Curlique/Curlicross where
not already included).  You may want to call these figures to a
strong C-1 group to verify their correctness and/or list-accuracy.( Collapse )
Stonehenge

C-4 Singing call "Only You" 


WORK SWING CHAIN: 4 LADIES CENTER, TEACUP LIKE A DAISY
only you, can make this change in me
for it's true - you are my destiny
when you hold my hand i understand
the magic that you do - you're my dream come true
my one and only you
only you can make the darkness bright
when you're thru, let's have those HEADS STEP RIGHT
MYSTIC TOUCH 1/4 and, EXPAND THE COLUMN
then TAG BACK AND DODGE -- you're the one that i, TAKE 2
a FUNNY GOOD SHOW TWICE and FLARE THE STAR
only you, can MIRROR HOT FOOT SPIN
only you, can TRADE YOUR NEIGHBOR IN
PICK AND CHOOSE: WITH FINESSE AND
CENTRAL STRUT RIGHT (INTO THAT SPACE) - with a CRAZY SWITCH
my one and only you.
only you, DIVIDE THE OCEAN RIGHT
then SPLASH IN, and CROSS FLIP -ER'S DELIGHT
you're the one that i sing lyrics to,
CROSS FLIP BACK AND DODGE - you're the one that i, TAKE 4
a STROLL DOWN THE LANE -- and then CHANGE LANES
only you, 1/4 CHAIN AND CIRCULATE IN
only you, 1/2 TAG AND TRIXIE SPIN
in this chaos, you're AN ANCHOR,
EVERYBODY ROLL, CENTERS 3 SQUARE 2 AND 1, THE 2'S
 RUN RIGHT AND ROLL, and LINES (DIXIE
SASHAY) THRU, INTERLOCKED FLIP THE DIAMOND AND ROLL,
SASHAY THRU, THE K and RUN AWAY
CENTERS CROSS SASHAY, THE PULLEY BUT
go 4 STEPS AT A TIME and you'll PASS THE TOP
and then, WORK ONCE-REMOVED: and CATCH TOP 2
only you, can 2-FACED HOT FOOT SPIN
only you, 1/4 CHAIN AND CIRCULATE IN
when you're there, you'll ACEY DEUCEY
and PROMENADE BACK HOME
you're my dream come true, my one and only you
LEFT ALLEMANDE and SWING,
you're my dream come true, my one and only you!
***
A few comments: Swing Chain Teacup Like a Daisy replaces 3/4 stars
with 1/4 stars, so each star is either 1/4 or 5/4.  The double arm
turns are not required, because it is being danced symmetrically so
no one is using up time waiting for the three stars in a row.  The
pattern, for those who don't want to figure it out on their own, is
Star R 1/4, L turn r-h man, R turn partner, L turn r-h man(="back"),
R turn partner, Star L 5/4, R turn corner, Star L 1/4(="back", but
star would have been 3/4 so it becomes 1/4), R turn opposite man,
Star L 5/4, R turn r-h man, L to partner for courtesy turn.

so: Star 1/4 to rh; pt, rh, pt; stars: 5, 1, 5; courtesy turn

Some of the timing is a little fast: Flare the Star; Pass the Top
and Once-Removed Catch Top 2 (certainly not enough time to work
twosome; stretch it at each end instead).

Central Strut Right may be bogus: you must use the definition "pass
thru, right loop zero (i.e., flip right), extend" with the "into
that space" modifier creating a normal tidal 3&1 line.

Heads Step Right (short for Heads Step Right to a Line of 4) is a
call used commonly by some callers, but some dancers may never have
heard of it.

Funny Good Show Twice is gratuitously hard to figure out on the fly,
and there is no "think time" allotted.  Crazy Switch has no "flub
time" allotted.

After the 3 Square 2 And 1, I believe the 2's who are running are
the sides, but I'm not sure; in any event, the others are of course
t-boned to them and probably can't see who is to run.

The proximity of similar calls like Sashay Thru and Cross Sashay is
purely intentional; any resemblance to real choreography or real
callers is coincidental.
Stonehenge

Ask the Square Dance Guru

Well, my personal Stanford website is gone, the copy at Dosado.com is gone, and Comcast no longer has personal web pages, so I guess this is the right place for the Square Dance Guru web page.  It's too big for LJ, so (until I break it into separate and comment-friendly posts) here's the index, and the links should go to my Dreamwidth post:

Ask the Square Dance Guru

The Square Dance Guru (aka Stewart Kramer) will answer your most probing questions about square dancing.  Permission is granted to freely distribute the wisdom of The Guru, but impersonators will be persecuted to the fullest extent of the low.

Unsure? Confused? Squarebroken? If the hissy fits, send email to: [email protected], and all will be explained. (Note: The old address at forsythe.stanford.edu is scheduled to stop working at the end of 2003.  Please use the new address instead!) [2018: All of my addresses at stanford.edu have stopped working.]

Stonehenge

Even the clocks are strange

At MSP, on our way to state capitol #42 for us:

As we continued down the concourse into normal spacetime, we found monitors that said 2:37pm.  I'm not sure that 14:35pm is actually wrong (since it is in fact after midday), but I wonder what 14:35am would mean.

This jetlag stuff can get serious.

  • Current Location
    St. Paul, MN
Stonehenge

50th Birthday

My real birthday party will be at the Albuquerque A&C fly-in, but my folks volunteered to host a local get-together at their house in San Jose.

It'll be an open house 2-5pm (so people can stop by after the SCVSDA Jubilee). My real birthday (the following weekend) conflicts with the Quads Hoedown, Folsom Street Fair, SF Queer Longhair party, and Stanford's first week of fall classes.

It would be handy to know how many people might show up -- feel free to RSVP by joining the FB event or commenting here on LJ. Info with map and details:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1052943811407169/
Stonehenge

Replacing the fence, and the sewer, too!

After we scheduled the fence replacement, the plumber who snaked out the clogged sewer line showed us that there were roots growing in it.  Orangeburg pipe's useful life is "about 50 years under ideal conditions" according to Wikipedia. Ours held out for 55 years so I guess we're lucky. The people up and down the block had to replace theirs throughout the 1990's so we were hoping that ours had already been replaced.

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