Tuesday, December 8th, 2020
Not much going on in our lives given we are self-quarantining as we hope we will be able to fly to Germany on Saturday.
Nothing special happened at work
I did my 40 minutes in the pool and skipped Aikido in the park to ensure we stay COVID free.
Next test is tomorrow and then another one on Friday. I have asked the Germans if we can test five days post arrival rather than on the day of. Waiting to hear what they come back with.
So I am not terribly motivated to write tonigh; listless. There is just nothing to report.
My sister has managed to procure the data package for our quarantine time in German. Now we ae waiting for the SIM to arrive.
I am procrastinating on wrapping my Christmas gifts, mostly because I really do not want to jinx it. I still have a few days before we need to pack up. What a bummer it would be if any of our test results returned positive. The final one I booked today. It is a PCR test which returns results within 24 hours so we should have them before we make our way to the airport.
At least I think the cat sitting situation is sorted. EM’s friend N will have primary responsibility. She will also look after the plants and let the cleaner in. I am admittedly amazed by my neighbors and newly found friends who will take on the evening shift. A-S, the mum is super engaged in taking this on and I am grateful they only live a couple of houses down the road. My main challenge now is to have additional keys cut as somehow our spare keys have disappeared.
As I am stuck at home my focus has been on the news feed, Twitter and FB as a means to connect to the outside world. There is a lot going on in the big wide world out there.
The moron in chief just lost another court case to have election results overturned, his 50th loss. All of his lawyers have now tested positive for Corona virus. How fortunate that the all attended on of the holiday parties at the WH. Increase the spread!
Today another 202k new cases were reported and total death are at 293kIt is scary and this is just the beginning of the post Thanksgiving surge.
German research shows face masks work to reduce the spread. Now can everyone finally wear a mask when leaving their house?
The Washington Post today published the stories of seven nurses working in intensive care units and what they feel people should know about COVID. Their stories and their messages are super powerful. Do people not read this? If they did they should be scared as hell.
The big announcement of the day is on FDA review of the Moderna and the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines. It seems the FDA concluded both meet their criteria for approval, bringing emergency use authorization one step closer. Just such a pity that the administration was too reluctant to order the doses they were offered and will now only have enough to immunize 20 million Americans between now and June. I am hoping Oxford/ AstraZeneca will come through.
Meanwhile, the GOP continues to hold in person celebrations and fundraisers. If only all those house and senate Republicans contracted COVID and died it might be worth it, but for some reason the virus seems to avoid them.
At least there is a good chance for sanity to return to the administration. The SCOTUS rejected a case filed by the GoP to overturn Pennsylvania’s election results. And reading about President-Elect Joe Biden’s plans on dealing with the virus in the first 100 days in office is refreshingly sane.In consultation with medical and infectious disease experts he is calling on the nation to wear a mask for his first 100 days in office. Mask wearing will be mandated in all establishments under federal control and he is working on vaccinating 100 million Americans during the first 100 days so schools may safely reopen.
Way to go!