https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1tyK9BCSL0
Obligatory Metroid sound effect, since I'm a fan of those games.

You can see the selfie video I filmed getting my vaccine on my twitter! https://twitter.com/GuineaPigDan/status/1371555046756732935?s=20

Today was the day I got my first Pfizer covid vaccine, nearly a year after California started quarantines. 2020 to the present has been one of the most trying periods of everyone's lives, including my own. Countless people have had a lot of heartache going thru this pandemic, not being able to see friends or family, watching loved ones catch covid or catch the disease themself and possibly come away with life-lasting lung damage or other serious medical issues, or they lost their job or were unable to pay rent (something that could have been prevented had the government done consistent stimulus checks, see New Zealand and how they're covid-free), or some other travesty I haven't thought of. Going on twitter or reading journals on fA would feel like doomscrolling sometimes, seeing furry after furry that I follow announce they tested positive for covid or someone close to them had died from the disease. And it didn't help that we had a dumbass president downplaying the disease, mocking mask wearing, suggesting to inject disinfect, and inciting racial hatred against people of Asian decent by calling covid the "China virus." 2020 just felt like a hopeless year. Even when Trump caught covid in October, he was not humbled and continued to act like a dumbass by waving to people in a presidential car while he was still contagious and could infect the Secret Service riding with him. But how could Trump possibly relate to the many Americans who have suffered from covid when he got the best medical attention in the world and cable hugboxes like OAN and Newsmax singing his praises? Thankfully Trump is out of office (though his continuing strangle-hold on the Republican Party is very worrisome), and we have vaccines finally rolling out (which Trump did NOT help create, contrary to his lies) to get the pandemic under control, and hopefully we can return to relative normal life soon.

Now some of you might be wondering how was I eligible to get a vaccine at this time? I don't normally talk about my personal life outside of the furry fandom in these journals, but given the circumstances of the past year and how I've seen many people open up and talk about the struggles they've gone thru in 2020, I think it's time I open up about myself a bit. When I'm not posting art or doing fursuit videos on you tube... I'm a front line worker. I work a retail job pushing carts and being a cashier, though in recent months the store has me exclusively as cashier. Yeah, not a glamorous lifestyle. This is the reason why I sometimes have very long gaps in-between new art or videos, because much of my time is spent working just to make enough money to pay school loans that don't go away even during a pandemic. And 2020 was a very difficult year, being at ground zero when the massive toilet paper shortage occurred and dealing with customers trying to overstock on cleaning items and food when the lockdowns first began. And then when the George Floyd protests began, the store was barricaded for a month and made bringing carts into the store very difficult until the barricades were removed. And then the California fires occurred in August, meaning I'd have to push carts in the middle of smokey haze (I'd wear a double mask when in the smoke, so I didn't mind when the CDC recently suggested double masking to protect against the covid variants). Christmas time was kind of crazy, though the store did limit how many customers came in so it wasn't as crowded as previous years. Almost everyday, I'd go to work stocking and cleaning carts, and help people buy food and cleaning supplies or whatever else they need to help them get thru the pandemic. Even though plexiglass shields have been added around registers, I still often have to get close to customers sometimes to help them like answering a question or assist them at a self check out computer. I had asthma as a kid and even though it hasn't affected me as an adult, having to get close to people who might be infected and give me a disease that could fuck my lungs up for the rest of my life or even kill me was scary. My nightmare scenario though was if I caught covid from work and came home, I could potentially spread it to the rest of my family. Fortunately, my family and I have remained healthy. Finally getting my first vaccine after a whole year of mask wearing and constant hand washing is just a major relief. I'll get the second vaccine in April, but until then, please keep wearing masks and social distancing even if you are vaccinated! Vaccinated people may not get sick from covid but can still spread it to unvaccinated people. Masks and social distancing not only keep yourself from getting sick, but are also a courtesy to protect others around you! You never know if someone might have a pre-existing condition like diabetes, asthma, or something else that would make them vulnerable to a severe covid infection! I hope in the coming years doctors will develop new treatments (medication, stem cells, more advanced PowerBreathe inhaler devices or whatever) to help those with lung or heart damage from covid to recover and return to a normal life. I'm scared to think the next time I go to a furry con I will see many friends now with breathing difficulties or other health problems that just make their con experience miserable. Everyone please continue to stay safe as vaccines are being distributed to more people!