Monday, October 12th, 2020
I learned that today was a federal holiday, which meant for us it was also a holiday. I had completely forgotten about its existence as school was in session. Now thinking back over the past four years, this has always been the case and schools typically invited parents to attend classes. In the virtual world we can technically attend on any given day, so no parents were invited.
Today is Columbus Day or as some States have renamed it Indigenous People Day. Because I had sort of forgotten about the holiday, I did have a few calls scheduled and had promised some deliverables. Still it was a very relaxed day, although the weather is mostly miserable (15C and drizzly rain, dark skies), so one is not inclined to venture out much. That however did not stop me from going for my daily swim.
Clearly I am confused today as also I showed up 45 minutes early. I was convinced my reservation was for 16:15 and was quite upset to not be on the list. Thankfully they had open lanes as due to the miserable weather some people just did not show up, so I could stay. Coming home I of course checked my booking: It was for 17:00; well maybe someone else will profit from me being no show and can enjoy the swim.
Otherwise I pottered around the house. Seeing I have been pestering EM to sort through her stuff I sort of felt obliged to do the same. I cleared out the closet in the guest room and the basement storage. Over the coming week I think I will purge the shoes and go through my wardrobe. Apparently, home organization is the latest big thing during the pandemic, after sourdough bread baking and planting of victory herb gardens. In these uncertain times, it lends people the illusion of being in control and has therefore gained in popularity.
This aligns with my observation in the Hood, where people seem to have been decluttering for months and there is a new curbside alert every other day. Fortunately, my closet is color coded already and by bookshelves are sorted either by author or genre, hence nothing to do on that front. But I have embarked on a declutter mission, discovering items I had long since forgotten about, many of which will join EM’s curbside items.
The spread of the virus is increasing rapidly. The USA today reports 8 million infected (out of 37.6 million worldwide) and almost 220k dead. That means 1 in 2000 Americans has died 1 in 50 has been infected; however to reach herd immunity 45 in 50 need to have been infected, so there is a long way to go if that is the preferred route. The alternative route to herd immunity is via a vaccine and scientist continue to work on it. Some vaccine makers are looking to conduct challenge trials for COVID-19 and the UK is about to allow this. In challenge trials vaccinated people would be deliberately exposed to the virus in the controlled setting of a medical facility to test efficacy of the vaccine.