118 Comments
Nov 19, 2021Liked by SGBear

Thanks, everyone who responded to my request for input yesterday on our Thanksgiving dilemna.

You supported the idea that it is important for everyone in a gathering to be vaccinated. We're going with that and so are our sons. Mrs Slug was heartened by the collective DBD response, truly.

Thank You, all.

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Maybe, hopefully, this will prompt some other folks in your family to get vaccinated.

My sister recently had a wedding and there were a couple of people in the family who could best be defined as "vaccine hesitant." She was uncertain about whether or not to require vaccinations for attendance (not wanting to step on people's toes) but ultimately did. Guess what? Everyone got vaccinated and had a great time.

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Glad it worked out in your family, BTW. That's what should always happen.

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I'd certainly hope so, but it appears to us there's probably three hold outs, one of whom is our nephew. He's a Trumper and he displays a Blue Line flag at his home (he's not a LEO, though, thank Gawd). Also, not helpful that Mrs Slug's bro and his wife couldn't be bothered to get vaccinated and they've given over their hearts (and apparently their minds) to a Higher Power.

I *know* that the stage was long ago set for a fractious falling out with Mrs Slug's siblings. That day will come soon enough, but in the meantime, we're focused on enjoying Mom's company and not making things complicated or contentious.

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The nephew sounds like he may be a lost cause, yeah.

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Probably is. Might surprise me, though, if he ever starts to question his "faith".

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LEO?

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Law Enforcement Officer

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Have they had Covid? Would they change their minds if one of their loved ones got it bad?

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The nephew's wife caught a mild case last winter. Didn't change anyone's mind. Even if someone ended up hospitalized, it's unlikely to change anyone's mind. Long haul COVID or death would be required. Even then, I would imagine none of the unvaxed would change their minds. Too stubborn.

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If someone dies I'm sure they'll find some other excuse.

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Unfortunately, my feelings on marriage notwithstanding as they are likely to be in the minority, that seems like a really high price for your sister to pay to ensure family members get vaccinated ;-) ;-)

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DBD Test Kitchen

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Wife made something new for the third day in a row! Not sure what's got into her, something from the Falastin cookbook. Shulbato: Bulgur, tomato, and eggplant pilaf - with a side dish of yogurt cucumber salad. Very tasty, half bottle of Chianti worked fine.

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For Thanksgiving, No 2 and 3 will be back and my cousin and his wife, his daughter and her daughter will be over with my mom and me. We're buying a Peking duck, I'm going to roast a chicken, make some egg rolls, some salmon, a pressed tofu salad, and a couple of other vege dishes.

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I'm going to Goldbelly something to No 1 since he isn't coming back. It was a Peking duck last year. I may do that again this year or do something like Clam Chowda or maybe Bo Ssäm Dinner from Momofuku.

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Wife and I did the Peking Duck from Goldbelly last year. Be advised, the instructions last year did not make sense to me and I modified the instructions and achieved my sought after improvements. Yes, that means I corrected Dave Chang.

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There were a few peking duck ones. Some come pre-sliced. I got him the whole one from Tao so he could warm the whole thing up, slice up the meat, and then take the carcass and make his own stock. It also came with the small bao, hoisin sauce, and green onions. It was expensive, but worth it and seemed to be very good.

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Last year for Thanksgiving, due to Covid and most classes being on zoom, Vandy had the kids come back and do the 1.5-2 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas online and take finals online. Which is much better since I didn't have to pay an arm and a leg to fly him back the Sat after Thanksgiving and back for Christmas. Alas, this year I have to overpay for him to fly back on Sat and then back the Fri before Christmas.

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I just saw the charge for my daughter’s train ticket for next week and holy shit is all I have to say

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Rail fare is ridiculous unless its a subsidized route. Another reason why the people pushing for alternative transit are pushing a wet noodle up a wall. If they want enough volume to make Amtrak profitable and rail feasible the price has to be affordable.

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There are some intervening variables here, including “traveling the day before Thanksgiving on the most used route in the US” and “paying for premium seats.” And the problems with Amtrak as a viable service are much more complicated than just “it could be cheaper.”

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Long distance rail here is as much as a plane ticket. Short distance rail (like within 1 hour to Hangzhou/Suzhou) is 1 nicer lunch or under.

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Steaksgiving - Thanksgiving #1 I will be making popovers, creamed spinach, green beans, pumpkin pie, mac and cheese

Friendsgiving #2 - Cantonese sticky rice stuffing, Apple Cheddar Pistachio Salad with shallot dressing, mac and cheese

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I love sticky rice stuffing.

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me too!

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When the boys were younger, I used to make Chinese food for Thanksgiving.

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Ours has always been traditional Thanksgiving PLUS Chinese greens and a big order of Cantonese barbecue (duck + roast port + goose). Now that "the kids" are all 40-55 with kids of their own, the centerpiece meat has moved to rack of lamb + roast beef + small turkey.

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My family always did American Thanksgiving. I wish we did hot pot instead.

That being said, I feel like every Chinese person, when doing American Thanksgiving, makes sticky rice stuffing with mushrooms, Taiwan sausage, water chestnuts, etc.

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As a couple, we've never done turkey for Thanksgiving - but the in-laws always did. Their Thanksgiving meals were ok, but their New Year tamales were awesome.

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When I was little we did the turkey thing. And even after getting married and having kids we did the first few years. Then we starting doing things like mexican food and Chinese food Thanksgiving. We hadn't planned chinese stuffing but maybe I'll add it to my list.

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my good pal ywc is a long flight and 2 weeks quarantine away.

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Eclipse!

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I slept through it because I had to get to work early.

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I slept through it because it was at 4AM.

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Cloudy and raining the whole time.

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Total, and of the heart...

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Too cloudy :(

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same here. not even light from the moon shining through the overcast

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Big Game Weekend

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Saturday - Tailgate (standard, 7 of us with grill, booze and games), go to game, tailgate more, go home, sleep.

Sunday - Hangover, visit Archbishop Mitty Highschool at open house for my son, hangover, sleep, play Fortnite, sleep.

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Saturday - Spin Class, Haircut, seeing the new HK movie 'Anita'

Sunday - Big Game, Shanghai Disney Resort

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Ooh, Saturday night - Fulham Barnsley - 11pm Beijing time

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DBD Not Official Financial Advice Thread

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I just noticed I had XX,XXX dollars in my IRA just sitting there. Guess I should slide it into some index funds.

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Yes We Cannon Nov 17 Liked by Berkelium97

venmo.com/yes-we-cannon

4 Reply

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its in Yuan so its not real money

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I still feel uncomfortable having Mao Dynasty money in my drawer.

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<<Tosh_jumbaco.gif>>

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DBD AV Club

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Wheel of Time starts today on Amazon Prime for first 3 eps. I am much excite

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According to r/berkeley - Chris Nolan was on campus yesterday location scouting for his upcoming Oppenheimer movie. There's a photo of him walking near Wheeler.

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Hawkeye starts on Disney+ on Nov 24 with a two episode drop

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Our Crumbling Democracy

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I am reflecting on what just happened when I went to go pick up lunch. There is a lady in a hijabi walking behind and to the side of a big white SUV, which is backing up in order to get straighter into a parking spot. Suddenly the car takes an unusually sharp turn and goes much longer than it needs to, right at the woman and I start running to see if I can save her. I only get about two steps into my run when the car stops violently and goes forward into the spot. So I just walk to my car thinking all's well that ends well. Before I get in my car, I glance back and the passenger is in front of her car with her hands on her hips glaring at me. She throws her hands up as a challenge and yells WHAT'S UP?!?.

"Just making sure she's safe", I say..

YEAH, SAW HAR. SHE WAREN'T LOOKIN CUZ SHE LOOKIN AT HAR PHONE!

My shoulders sink as it all clicks into place. Oh, the driver knew what she was doing. She wanted to scare someone for being overtly Muslim. That's why she went way out of her way. And because she's got a extreme right wing gun nut (3 percent) decal on her car, I spin on my heels to leave rather than risk her drawing down on me. She doesn't want to be left alone by the government... She's a racist.

I know there are racist out there. This is America. I wasn't angry. I felt... sad. Not for me, but her who is so consumed with hate that it's right at the surface and is part of her identity.

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Nasty peeps are nasty. But your instincts are dead on.

'Murica's got a lot of work to do just to be better.

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/smh

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Rittenhouse acquitted on all charges, naturally

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Not shocking. I think he's morally in the wrong, but legally his self-defense claim was strong.

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Exactly. Going out for a jog with an AR-15 amidst riots is pretty f-ing stupid and piss poor judgment, but first degree murder was always a tough sell, especially so once Grosskreutz' witness testimony exploded in the prosecution's face.

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Once that testimony happened there was zero chance for a murder conviction.

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McCarthy yields his time. All the Repubs were tweeting during the speech.

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I fully understand the role of stagecraft in advancing one's agenda, but I can do without this particular oddity of American politics.

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Today in Covid 19

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Going to get Moderna booster today. Had one shot JJ in March

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My 6 month is in a few days. I guess I'll schedule something for after Thanksgiving. I'm #TeamPfizer. I guess the question is if the booster should be Modera or Pfizer. Thoughts?

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It looks like Moderna booster is best even if you had two Pfizers. (I just read a few articles about it, but never did any fact check of my own)

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But you did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night

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on Monday night I did

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UCSF’s Dr. Monica Gandhi spouted misinformation about asymptomatic cases in the football team outbreak

https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/11/18/borenstein-cal-bears-covid-outbreak-narrative-fueled-by-misinformation/

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The framing here is a bit unfair to Gandhi, IMO. She thought, as many did, that most of the Cal football outbreak was asymptomatic. Only later did information emerge that most of them had symptoms.

The last line of this article baffles me: "Unfortunately, citing confidentiality, Cal officials now say they erred in releasing the number of symptomatic cases and won’t do so again."

Wait, why? It's knowing that number that helped people understand their decision process here. Not knowing is what fueled the rampant speculation. They don't have to give the names of the infected players.

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Colleagues have been calling her out for the entirety of covid for her misinformation and bad science

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Eh, I'd say she's been right sometimes and wrong sometimes. The linked article here doesn't really suggest that she's doing "bad science." Experts can disagree.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Monica-Gandhi-is-S-F-s-most-controversial-16538324.php

“There are some people I disagree with where I think they’re not paying attention to the science, they’re not reading it carefully,” Wachter says. “Monica is not like that at all. ... I often find myself shifting a little bit after listening to her.”

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We've been watching the UCSF Covid grand rounds for over a year. Hosted by Wachter, and Ghandi has made several appearances. Wachter and Ghandi may not completely agree, but they do respect each other.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ucsf+covid+grand+rounds

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Right, I've ben paying attention to this. There's no question that Gandhi has been an outlier at times among her peer group, but some people talk about her like she's some dishonest misinformation peddler who doesn't know anything, and I don't think that's right either.

If I had to pinpoint what she does, it's that she's more willing to stretch out and try to be on the leading edge of what she thinks is right, whereas others in her group (like Wachter) are more cautious. That means she has been right on some things (like reopening schools) and also wrong on some others (thinking we could safely relax restrictions right before Delta hit). Even on the latter, I don't find she's ridiculously out of line with her ideas (the CDC also thought removing mask recommendations was the right call, around the same time). The actual disagreements with her colleagues don't seem to be as severe as Twitter would make you think.

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Indeed

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Pro

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Ohtani wins AL MVP unanimously

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The mystery was why this was ever even in question.

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The argument I saw was his team sucks

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I assume the other fans thought Vlad was a better hitter and they discounted Ohtani's pitching stats.

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Just imagine if the Heisman operated this way. Best player regardless of team

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Yeah, only it couldn't work, way too much of a team sport. Great running back with no line? Awesome QB without any decent receivers?

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He deserves it. Maybe not unanimously because Vlad Jr had an incredible year, but I think he rightly wins it.

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Yes. Hopefully this leads to more instances of 2-way players, as it SHOULD happen more often, considering ace pitchers are usually one of the more athletically gifted players on the roster.

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That would be awesome if we can see more 2-way players.

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This Pen Shuai story is crazy. She posts an IG story (I think it was) that details sexual assault from a senior Chinese communist party official and then she disappears. The Chinese internet scrubs here from it. Then a "email" appears where she says she's alright and says she never verified or confirmed the content from the original post.

@Yeah I believe that email is really from her@

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its not crazy, its what the Chinese government has been doing for years to quiet down the celebs who are "misbehaving". And by misbehaving, I mean that they are doing anything that could cast the Chinese government in a bad light. Their recent pattern is 3 months of 'reconditioning" then a public groveling recanting everything they said before. Jack Ma and Fqan Bingbing come to mind. Those who don't recant, disappear from public life forever

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Also a lot of tax evaders. Some guy I know is (was?) her agent - but I haven't seen him for like 5 years.

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“ Today is the fourth anniversary of the time that Marshawn Lynch, at a game staged in Mexico City, sat during the US National Anthem and stood during the Mexican National Anthem. Stone. Cold. Legend.”

https://twitter.com/edgeofsports/status/1461674371173560323?s=21

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I propose we say Good Marshawn rather than Good Rodgers

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Seconded.

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Other College

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For TD_24. Santa Clara women's soccer is at Georgetown in the tourney this afternoon. I've been thinking about going but it's windy and in the low 40s. Not sure I want to sit through that. It was OK as I kept moving on my run this morning but two hours of sitting is different.

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definitely looked cold. How about that SCU 2-1 win though. On to the big game!

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Cal

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Go Bears!!!

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Cal Men's Basketball Takes Two OT to Beat Southern Utah - hey a win is better than a loss.

Read Nick Kranz:

https://writeforcalifornia.com/p/cal-outlasts-southern-utah-in-double

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Plenty of positives to come out of last night’s win, TBH.

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I forgot there was a game and turned it on starting at OT. At least I saw a win.

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so we can beat Southern Utah and the Univ of San Diego. Barely. We aint getting to 10 wins

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We were never getting to 10 wins.

But, the P12 is garbage this year, so we’ll ugly up a few conf wins on nights where we hit FTs & limit to’s...Samford wins at Corvallis last night...P12 gets 2 teams to Dance....maybe 3...maybe.

Southern Utah & USD are not bad teams, tho. Does it suck that we’ve reached the point where close wins over Big Sky & WCC are signature moments...yes, yes it does.

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Samford is a solid team. Key word "team". OSU and a lot of teams that have had massive turnover are very vulnerable in the first month and a half to teams that held together some semblance of a nucleus.

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Agreed...and I don't really get into the fact that a P12 team should never lose to a team from the Southern, or Big Sky or Big West Conference, etc....

Still, it's a sign of general Conference malaise when you have a Samford winning at Corvallis, or N Illinois at UW or UCSD at Cal.....

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We'd better get all our wins with the lower D1 and FCS teams. We may luck into a win in Pac-12 play but don't bet on it.

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In bed recuperating from the booster shot. That's my story even if I have no symptoms.

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I'd say roughly 5 to 8% of our division took time off after vaccination due to after effects. No reason a person shouldn't. After all, you're protecting others as much as yourself.

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Treat yo'self!

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