Saturday, January 16th, 2021
Today just a short note. I am back! Back in the pool where I had 45 minutes and forgot to change style, so freestyle all the way. Back at Aikido practice, where I was warmly welcomed by my fellow Aikidoka. It was lovely to see everyone again. Talk of the town were of course events on January 6th and the upcoming inauguration. Given I had to rush to my lane I did not spend too much time chatting after class.
Class went surprisingly well. There was body memory and I could pick up right where I had left of. Plus, the new Jo is awesome! Just the right weight, though my next Jo may end up being a little longer, even though this one is the perfect size for my height. Only downside: My hands were freezing during warm up as I had grabbed to right hand gloves so was bare handed throughout practice.
I briefly dropped in at Strosnider who have reopened after dealing with 12 COVID cases. The patio stones I wanted are not back in stock, but I did get new fire starters and the bulbs EM needs for her closet.
Last nights happy hour with the ladies plus one gentleman was fun, albeit wet as of course it rained the entire time we were out. We braved it anyway! Now I am entertaining plans to have an outside gathering for my birthday. I may need to get charcoal or something to add a second fire outside. The Weber worked very well for the Christmas event I am just not sure it can handle proper logs. The rest of the afternoon was spent making a Bolognese filling for our spaghetti squash – tomorrows lunch.
Tomorrow will be busy. I have a lane booked for 10:45, I need to rake the leaves in the garden and do a grocery run. Some people advise stockpiling food for two months. That will not happen in my household. I like fresh food! Later in the afternoon my friend C will come by with her fiancée for mulled wine by the firepit. I am back out there in the world – mindful of the spread though.
The spread is continuing in the USA with 240k new cases over the past 24 hours to bring the US total to 24.2 million today so the USA continues to account for roughly 25% of the global total which stands at 94.2 million reported cases. Sadly I learned yesterday that two of my friends from Istanbul who are now in the DMV area have also contracted the virus and he is not doing well; contrary to my Manager in Africa who seems to be recovering. It is coming closer.
The more I read of the incoming administration the more hopeful I am that they can at least manage to deal with the ongoing health crisis. As far as vaccination goes, they have a plan. This makes me hopeful that we may be among that number. If all fails, I learned last night that the UN is procuring vaccines for its staff and their dependents as they recognize many are aliens in the countries they work in and might therefore not be in line for a shot. So we have a back up plan!
In the USA though the skipping of the linesto get a shot has begun. Admittedly I sympathize with those who go after “left over” shots. I would consider doing it myself as I think lining up for unwanted vaccines is not jumping the queue but rather making good use of a scarce resource.
Meanwhile it is more important than ever to be vigilant and wear masks. In this context I found an article about different masks super helpful. Obviously not every mask is offering an equal level of protection. However, how is one to know which cloth masks are good and which are not? The authors suggest a certification, which to me would make a lot of sense. Maintaining vigilance becomes even more important in light of the latest research.
Scientists have observed virus mutations in laboratory conditions and have found the virus to be a shape changer. Changing in such a way as to increase its infectiousness. One mutant was 600 times more infectuous than the current strain. That is freaking scary.
The only chance to beat it is to reduce the spread, hence vaccine rollouts also need to be sped up.