Saturday, August 29th, 2020

Farewell

After we left the beach last night it started to rain and it continued through the night and woke up to a bleary day, which made saying farewell to our house bythe beach easy. It wasn’t cold, just grey. We packed up. I was a little sad not to have put on swim wear as it would have been warm enough for a final dip in the sea. As it is, we just drove off without goodbyes to the little birds running up and down the shores.

On the upside, it was lovely to have the afternoon settling back in at home. Groceries need to be procured and I made an appointment at the nail spa, which turned out to be too crowded for my taste. I sucked it up and stuck it out so my toes now look decent again.

EM met her BF for a brief hike, I was surprised at how early she got back. Now we are back home for the next presumably five months of more of the same. Her setting up her classroom in the dining room, me migrating between the garden and the office. I did ignore all work emails for the past week, which felt like a luxury and our get away was lovely.

A little bit of the vacation flair is still lingering though, as we have all of Sunday to chill. Starting with breakfast/ lunch at my friend/ colleague/ neighbor’s house – Vietnamese pho, homemade. Then a few hours at the pool. Monday, real life will start again with day one of virtual education and me re-immersing myself in strategy work.

Somehow, I feel like I am done. I need some sort of change. No idea what that may be though. All I know is, I am tired; tired of the constant change, tired of what feels like a never challenge; tired of all the negative news and yes, weary of this country. Maybe I should take a break from the news, but it is like I am addicted, I just cannot ignore all that is going on. Like the blatant disregard for staff, which is just another drop in the ocean of the moron in chief. He and his troops have no problem putting their security details at risk. And I fear for this great country. What if there are four more years?

While the administration has declared defeat, accepting that every American will get COVID-19 (the official explanation given for packing the WH South Lawn for the moron’s acceptance speech), there is still an opportunity it’s to stop the spread of Corona in this country.  It will however require a national effort. And we all know, they do not have what it takes.

Today the world knows of 24.8 million infected. The USA accounts for 6.1 million of them, keeping steady at its 25% share. Over 186k have died. Does that spur any action? No. It is just too frustrating for words.

In the meantime, everyone is hoping for the magic wand of a vaccine. And while there is some hope with nine vaccines in phase 3 trials and another 35 in clinical trials, it is by no means the magic bullet.

Kudos to the NBA for supporting fair elections by converting a their stadiums into safe polling stations. Getting as many people to come out and vote is the only chance this country has.