029E7: About the No Guests Thing

Waiting for Taguig City

Metro Manila Community Quarantine - Day 474

So no updates on the Taguig side if Tobie can get vaccinated soon. He may end up going through his sister via Makati City at this point. It would be nice if Taguig pulls through sooner, but I'll be happy for as long as he gets vaccinated. That's priority number one.

Taguig City GCQ Guidelines

So we're still under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) with "some restrictions" until the 15th of July, which really isn't much of a surprise at this point. Our government only knows how to continually tweak our quarantine status so that they remain both different but the same every time. What was of interest to me is the fact that Taguig's guidelines include a reminder that "Gatherings in homes of individuals not from the same household are prohibited" - so this makes our building's rule of banning guests is actually within the guidelines of the city at the moment. 

It does make it possible to meet up with friends in public spaces, provided we follow public health and safety protocols and our group does not violate the capacity limitations imposed on the restaurant or whatever facility. It's not a great alternative, but I guess it's something? Not that I'm all that eager to arrange such a meeting with friends. I really do miss our friends but I think it'll break my heart to see them in public and be limited to waving at them from afar. I've had a few such encounters at random in public spaces and it was very frustrating. 

But okay, for now, I'm keeping focused on doing everything I can to help Tobie get a vaccination slot sooner. Getting that process started properly will mean that I won't feel like I'm putting him at greater risk should I somehow bring the virus home in my vaccinated state. And that will also mean less stress for both of us when we visit our respective families, both of which include people who are classified as being more at risk from this thing. Yes, they've gotten or are in the process of getting vaccinated, so that helps. But we really need to minimize the risk for everyone.

So many my idea of a post-vaccination in-person game night may not be immediately feasible for us here at the Sietch. Between the building rules and the city rules apparently, it's just not an official option. Things might be more relaxed in other cities, but of course, we'd need to carefully consider if that's a good idea in the long run.

I hate all this almost-crazily circular thinking. We miss our friends but we don't want to put them at risk. We want to have limited guests over but now I'm reminded that we're not supposed to based on city rules, so maybe I feel less annoyed by the building rule now? I'm feeling good that I'll effectively be fully vaccinated tomorrow since it would have been 2 weeks since my second shot then, but is it too soon to go back to the gym since Tobie's not yet vaccinated?

Quarantine is hard, guys. And one can only begin to wonder how we'll all be like when things finally return to a greater sense of normal. Regardless, we can only agree that we have all changed in ways we may not fully understand and we'll have to re-learn new social cues and interaction protocols in the future. 

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