Life in the Age of Corona

A Daily Diary

December 11th, 2020

Stark Differences

Yet another uneventful day in quarantine. The main excitement was a trip to Germantown for another COVID test which is to yield results in 24 hours and my swim. Now that I will not be able to swim for four weeks I think I need to restart a dry land exercise routine. Ideally this should include stretches to retain flexibility. I am also considering buying a second Jo so I can practice katas while in Germany.

The current state of life reminds me of what our live was like throughout March, April and May, when we left the house only for a daily walk and a grocery run every ten days. The difference between the first three months and the following six months is stark. It also illustrates how much more our life has become since then, despite the pandemic and all the caution we are exercising in our daily lives. We have between the end of May and now socially met with a select group of people in very small numbers. Our bubble has enabled us to even go to the beach twice and be close to a handful of people. The reopening of pools enables me to swim every day and the socially distanced practice in the park is a welcome diversion. Now that winter is upon us though the sailing has stopped. Once we get back it will be cold, which means far less outdoor socializing, so what we are doing now is a taste of what is to come in the first few months of 2021.

I understand that people are exhausted and tired of this. I know both EM and I are, but I also know we do not want to get this virus, so we just need to persevere. Better times will come again.

We did take a walk around the neighborhood. Like for HAlloween, people are going all out on Christmas decorations and we love it!

In terms of testing on the other side of the Atlantic I have now resolved to drive the 100km to Hamburg Airport on day 5. They appear to be the only ones in the region who can guarantee a 24-hour turn-around of PCR tests. The GP I emailed yesterday kindly responded but advised they would not get test results back to us before the 21st which would mean spending a weekend in quarantine rather than at mum’s; that is of course assuming all of our tests come back negative.

There are countries which have managed to curb the spread and all but eliminate the virus. People in China, Vietnam, Australia and elsewhere have, after 100 days of discipline, returned to almost normal lives. They have a hard time understanding the lack of discipline, policy and leadership in the USA. I share their sentiments whole heartedly; especially when reading about GoP officials holding large public indoor events. While most people do their share, the administration is hosting super spreader event after super spreader event.  Why do these not take out the entire GOP? Oh right, they get access to medical cocktails no one else gets.

Today the USA has 16.1 million reported cases adding 223k within the past 24 hours. 70 million worldwide. Meanwhile authorities struggle with prioritizing who will be vaccinated. I am certain all GOP senators, congress people and governors will miraculously make it to the front of the line. Though they are the least deserving for two reasons.

Firstly, Republican senators have been blocking any new COVID relief bill for six months now, leaving 20% of Americans hungry and states unable to cover the ever increasing costs of providing for example health care to the infected. The main hurdle of course is the senator of Kansas, a state heavily reliant on blue states providing funding to it. The scumbag McConnell will not even debate any relief Bill on the senate floor unless it includes full protection for corporate negligence in dealing with Corona, taking away the freedom of employees infected at work to litigate. So the government is likely to shut down again in a week.

Secondly, almost all Republican states, congressional representatives and senators have now joined the State of Texas in filling a law suit with SCOTUS to invalidate the presidential election in Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin claiming mail in voting was fraudulent. Strangely only the presidential votes cast are fraudulent though, all other for state legislature or congress and senate representatives should not be invalidated even youth they were on the same ballot so also received by mail. The only difference of course is that almost all votes further down the ballot were won by Republican candidates while the presidential vote was won by the democratic candidate. This in itself is outrageous. As is the fact that States want to invalidate the vote of other States. What illustrates the demise of democracy in this country the most though is the sheer number of officials who go along with this court case. Best of course is that the attorney general who first brought this case is indicted and currently under federal investigation for securities fraud. He is hoping to curry a favor with the Moron in Chief - a presidential pardon for filing a case. Amazing how former felons can be denied the right to vote, but how an indicted lawyer can represent an entire state.

Is there no end to the hypocrisy in this country?