I have purchased 3M Aura N95s from Home Depot. Before I purchased them the first time, I called 3M customer service and was told Home Depot was an authorized dealer. The 3M Aura’s are the most comfortable N95 that I have found.
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I’ve been using kn95s for a long time but still haven’t tried an n95. It looks incredibly uncomfortable.
Uline has been my go-to throughout the pandemic. My advice is buy from a source that was making/selling N95’s before the pandemic.
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Industrial N95’s designed before the pandemic were made to be worn for 8 hours straight by workers so a fair amount of thinking went into making them comfortable.
I have a lingering concern with Chinese KN95 certification. China is not a democracy and you have little recourse if the certification process was corrupt.
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I agree, I look for a brand I trust, and 3M works for me. We used them all the time when I worked in an oil refinery, where you know the safety specialists would have done their research.
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ETA:
Which led me to look for the latest I could find on this…
https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2022-DON400
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Bingo card check…
Ostriches running amok in Alberta
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Reports are that so many people have their heads in the sand these days that the ostriches have run out of room.
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Good one!
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I’ve liked these masks the best. How much safer they are, I couldn’t say. I find them comfortable all day - mask of choice for air travel to WDW last summer.
I’ve ordered twice from this company.
I thought it was RCMP budget cuts - the Mounties have to downsize from 4-legged beasts to 2-legged 
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Pfizer/BioNTech are seeking emergency use authorization (EUA) for their Omicron booster for kids under 5.
Also, I came across this website that collects research about long covid and summarizes the findings to make them more accessible to laypeople.
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Some key bits:
The Centers for Disease Control Prevention on Monday encouraged people to wear masks to help reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses this season as Covid, flu and RSV circulate at the same time…
“One need not wait on CDC action in order to put a mask on,” Walensky said. “We would encourage all of those preventive measures — hand washing, staying home when you’re sick, masking, increased ventilation — during respiratory virus season, but especially in areas of high Covid-19 community levels.”…
About 5% of the U.S. population lives in counties where the CDC is officially recommending masks due to high Covid levels. The CDC continues to recommend masking for anyone travelling by plane, train, bus or other forms of public transportation, Walensky said.
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Flu A went through our house Thanksgiving and the following weekend. DD7 caught it from a friend (who showed up to a lunch get together while visibly very sick and then tested pos for Flu the next day). Then DW and DS5 got it from DD7. We had to skip our Thanksgiving plans with family and I spent the weekend taking care of all three of them. Somehow I didn’t catch it despite being surrounded by Flu virus. Though maybe I had it and was asymptomatic???
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Pet peeve alert 
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This reminds me I still need to go get my flu shot. I can get another Covid booster in a couple weeks too. My niece has come down with the flu …less than two weeks before they come visit us. I’m pretty sure I got RSV back in September. I’d like to avoid the other two this holiday season.
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That’s so rude. I think I would have kicked them out if visibly sick.
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Yes so my dad has covid. Symptoms started Saturday or Sunday, but he didn’t test til yesterday and only bc the guy renovating their bathroom got a call his wife and daughter were positive. The man left and he went home and tested positive too. Mom is negative so far and now taking every available precaution. Dad sounds and feels much better today already. He did do a video dr visit after I insisted and called his dr office on his behalf. They decided he did not need paxlovid and stated there was a shortage of it which was news to me. Please say a little prayer my mom doesn’t get it. Her reactions to the vaccines have been so strong I think she’d have a rough case if she does get it.
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Are people finding any tendency for a regular old cold to last longer than they used to? That’s what I’m reading, but I like real world experiences to help back it up. DD13 has had congestion and a slight cough for a week, no fever, multiple negative Covid tests, including today, and she isn’t believing me that it could be just a cold. I agree with her that in our house we used to pass colds in a matter of days, but things seem to have changed.
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