Saturday, September 12th, 2020
My Saturdays are increasingly feeling “normal”. I have coffee in bed and read the news. I had to practice, which today was really good, as I am finally getting some of the concepts and Lucy has given me a lot of time to practice in slow motion.
I went for a swim and then came home for lunch and hung around the house for the rest of the afternoon. My FWB did come by though as EM went of to the mall with her friends. Also, the Aikidoka are doing lunch post class again also. I have taken a rain cheque until October 4th, which is when the public outdoor pools close. I cannot wait to rejoin the post class lunches - this is just such a nice group of people.
At the pool today there were all of six people, just as many patrons as lifeguards which was kind of funny. Definitely no fighting for lanes for a change and I got a full hour. We are still deciding whether to go to West Virginia for a quarry swim tomorrow or stay local – Glenmont pool and some work on EM’s website. The latter may be less stressful as I have an ex-colleague coming over for pizza tomorrow night. Discussions with him are a significant part of building my future. Who knows what that may be like. Am hoping to have more clarity by next week. Then again, with this organization one never knows. No one seems to have a plan or a strategy, despite all the strategy work we do. But unlike April, I am in a good space. I am sort of in “who gives a shit” territory, which is so destressing.
It is in a way relieving comparable to the main character in Shibumi, who felt liberate after deciding not to fight the system anymore. I have spend time with the staff association to understand my rights and obligations. Reached out to a few people and knowing I have options has eased my mind significantly. So am definitely in “who gives a shit mode”. In fact the idea of focusing on Aikido, swimming and interesting work is rather enticing.
Today EM has asked to spend next Friday at her BF’s house as it is “easier to head to Ocean City early in the morning from there”. What can I say? Seeing I agreed to her spending the night once before, I can hardly object now. He was at ours’ yesterday and seems like a very nice young man. I just wish they would spend more time here than there, maybe this is just the jealous mother talking. Of course, the conversation also led to “the talk”. I am grateful I can have such discussions with my daughter in an uninhibited way. I must have done something right somewhere along the line. If and when the time comes I just want her to have a good experience and be safe.
I am ignoring all election news at the moment. I still worry the moron in chief will be re-elected, seeing there is very little I can do about it, I decided not to get agitated about it.
Virus news continues to be unpleasant. The world today reports 28.6 million infected and numbers in the USA are going up again. Today 6.7 million cases have been reached. That is 4k more than yesterday. With a president in denial and lying about the severity on a daily basis this is no surprise. The administration is doing its utmost to keep facts about the Virus blurry.
There is no reliable data about testing, what kind of tests and how many are conducted, a medical doctor with no clue about infectious disease is now heading the government task force. And as it turns out CDC reporting is now controlled and manipulated by the department of health. The Administration in April appointed a former Trump campaign manager with zero scientific background as spokes-person to the department of health who now review everything the science drive and bipartisan CDC publishes to reword it so the narrative fits with the bullshit the Moron in chief spouts. Even after admitting to Woodward how dangerous the Virus is and how easily it spreads the official narrative is still that it is not so bad and under control. The guy by the way is called Caputo and in German kaputt, which sounds exactly the same and means broken. Nomen et omen.
And right down the same alley the department of health is trying to mute Dr Fauci, who is probably the only sane person in the US Corona mess. None of this is about pandemic containment. All is about politics, specifically delivering results to match the rhetoric of the instigator in chief, who is holding rallies defying public health advisors with thousands of unmasked people crowding each other, who seem to take stupid taken to an entirely different level. Selected quotes why people will not wear masks: “the virus is fake“, “numbers are inflated”. All backed by the lies the chief Covidiot spouts minutely.
No wonder China wants to dump US debt. Seriously, back in late April as the retohric against China was ramped up I speculated about China selling of US debt. Seems this may now come to pass. If China, the USA’s second largest debtor, sells only 20% of the T-bills it holds it would have a major impact on the US economy and the USD.
Ending with some positive news: AstraZeneca is resuming phase 3 trials. Coronavirus: Oxford University to resume vaccine trial after pause