Sunday, January 17th, 2020
Today was a very relaxed Sunday. I went for a swim at 10:40 and got in my forty minutes. I guess I could have stayed as no one came after me. I did not, but rather headed home for a shower. This was followed by some yard work. It feels like I raked a years’ worth of leaves before heading for my grocery run.
I have no idea how I ended up spending 400 US$ on four bags of produce. Anyway, we now have a well-stocked fridge and I will not need to do another grocery run for ten or so days. Also, I plan to spend some of the day off tomorrow cooking.
At home I had a bit of an angry bout as the Teen in residence seemed to be nowhere around leaving me to unpack the groceries; until that is, I realized she and the BF were raking leaves out back, which immediately appeased me. They moved the bags with the leaves and a yard trim bin curbside, save for the one I had filled. I guess we will need to have a conversation about eyes open and seeing what needs to be done!
Between swimming and the shopping, we never did get around to eating proper food even though I had prepared a Bolognese and a spaghetti squash. The teen and the BF were off to work in his parent’s garden and my friends were about to arrive. As a result, I ended up snacking Christmas cookies, which I know I shall live to regret.
Tonight, I had friends over for white mulled wine and the remains of the Christmas cookies by the fire. We met at a function hosted by the German embassy and in pre-pandemic times would meet for lunch at a nice eatery at least once a month. In the four years since we have first met, she has not only found a partner with whom she bought a house but has also gotten engaged. The wedding being derailed by the pandemic of course. It was a lovely evening; it is just that wine minus food is not advisable.
There are increasing concerns that infections in the US will completely spiral out of control as the new variant from the UK is spreading. With an average of 250k new infections and 4.000 dead every single day the health systems is already overwhelmed. With the new variant these numbers could easily triple as it is 60% more infectious than the current strain. Maybe it is time to change vaccination tactics and get urban centers with dense populations vaccinated first and then move to the rural areas, the inhabitants most of which coincidentally believe COVID to be fake anyway. It would also be easier from a logistical perspective as some of the big sports stadiums and convention centers could be converted into vaccination centers thus reducing he pressure on hospital staff who have their hands more than full dealing with the 132k COVID patients in addition to the regular illnesses and accidents.