You may have noticed that I’ve been pretty quiet this week and that’s because I had my first experience with COVID-19.  The good news is that I had what would be considered a mild case which I’ll give credit to vaccines and boosters which I am a big believer in.  I first experienced symptoms Thursday and by mid-afternoon I had a pretty bad headache and was run down. Didn’t make much of it until later when I had a slight fever so I went to bed early.

Woke up Friday and felt like I had been run over by a truck.  Jane gave me a COVID test and was not the least bit surprised when it came back positive in no time.  Headache was still there, had stuffed up nose and chest congestion.  My doctor prescribed Paxlovid which is an oral medication you take for five days.  The only downside is it does leave you with an unpleasant taste in your mouth…mouthwash helped a little.

Anyway Thursday and Friday were the two days that I felt what you would call sick….very tired and beat up.  By Saturday I was feeling better and I saw improvement each day.  Tested negative twice on Tuesday and came back to work Wednesday feeling 100%....well 100% for me that is.  Also learned a good lesson…if you are going to get mild COVID have it on a football weekend as it was a good time to be in bed.

I felt terrible that I had to miss the Toms River Schools Athletic Hall of Fame Induction program on Saturday…an event that I was scheduled to MC. With only one days’ notice I had to pass the torch to District Athletic Director Ted Gillen.  Word was he did a terrific job with the ceremony and nobody missed me.  Good to hear!

Generally speaking I would say Ocean County is not the cultural capital of New Jersey and those that are interested in things like music, art and dance often have to travel out of the area.  Well if you’re looking for something to do Friday night and are not afraid to experience something new than the Grunin Center at Ocean County College is hosting a dance show celebrating the New York City club scene.  Get tickets to Ephrat Asherie’s Underscored at grunincenter.org or by calling the box office up until an hour before the 7pm show at 732-255-0500.  The dance performance promises to be something truly special!

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