Wednesday, August 19th, 2020
Despite the weather forecast claiming otherwise it rained in the middle of the night and yet again all outside cushions are drenched! This is so annoying as it meant working from inside all day. They are almost dry and I have a good mind to cover them up tonight so I can enjoy my garden again tomorrow. With all the recent rain the patch of lawn between the two tiled patios is getting swamp like. It would probably be easiest to just cover it with Flagstone, like the rest, but not sure I can be bothered. Will need to think about this.
Surprisingly a GE technician actually showed up today. His diagnosis was the same – the motherboard of the unit needs replacing. Through some miracle Bray & Scarf had ordered the part and it has actually arrived today. I am now curious to see if anyone will show up to install it tomorrow. First thing I will do is run the self-cleaning program. Bray & Scarf has promised that if it packs up again it will be replaced. And at this stage, making it blow up is kind of what I am hoping for., Thank goodness I bought a fire extinguisher a while back.
Many of the schools and universities which had reopened are already closing again as they turn out to become Corona hotspots. In this context it may be of interest to look back on how schooling was handled during the 1918 pandemic. when schools did open with tight health monitoring and health support for all families. Something the USA today can only dream of.
One way or another it seems the next US industry to be impacted by the Virus is the education industry. I had no idea that foreign students spend around $40billion here. The majority of students come from Asia and are now looking to go elsewhere, anywhere with the Virus under control. The fact that the administration speaks of Kung Flu or Chinese virus is also less than helpful to incentivize students to come here. Once the migration to other countries starts, it may be very hard for the USA to make it back to the top of the list. Admittedly, I cannot really blame them for staying away. In terms of virus management this is one of the least attractive countries to live in.
Today the USA records 5.68 million known cases, 44k more than yesterday, maintaining its 25% share of the worldwide 22.2 million reported infections. If nothing else, in terms of Virus spread the USA is first!