Life in the Age of Corona

A Daily Diary

Saturday, March 6th, 2021

Full Day

What a lovely day it was today. Sunny, but cold.

The morning started with a leisurely coffee and the news in bed. Then I headed for the park for practice. Sadly, this was cut short as I had to go to the bathroom badly and there are no facilities in the park. The exercise somehow got my bowls moving, so fifteen minutes before class ended, I really had to go and hopped into my car headed for the gym. I lucked out, I got to the gym 45 minutes before my lane was booked, but was able to switch to an earlier slot; and as a lane was unused at 11:30 I ended up taking it which afforded me with 40 minutes of pool time.

At home I redyed my hair, did my eyebrows and a load of laundry. Then I got ready for book club. Seeing there are no occasions to dress up these days, I put on make up and everyone was very complementary on my looks.

Book club was a lot of fun. Some joined via Zoom (about half) the rest of us congregated in A’s garden around a fire grilling our sausages. The set up was lovely, the food and beverages awesome. As a result, I ended up staying far longer than intended. A. was a great and generous hostess and it was hard to leave.

I  will host the April book club, but it will be hard to meet the bar A. set. Possibly the weather will work in my favor. Nonetheless I plan to have a fire. We have not settled on a book or a date but are targeting mid-April. I was not really surprised that no one wants to read Obama’s autobiography. The general mood is for something light, fun, and easy.

All in all, it was a full and busy day, just how I like my weekends used to be. A. had a variety of sausages we could grill ourselves in addtion to a delicous potatoe dish and kraut.

I did seek council from the book club ladies on my dilemma about having the BF and his parents over for dinner. A few volunteered to join and ask the hard questions. Everyone agreed EM should head to Madrid and see. Everyone thought he should follow. This I guess is based on the cumulatively of some three hundred years of life experience.

After having a heart to heart chat tonight EM and I have resolved that the BF and his parents can join the quaraniversity party. I also noted I may be overthinking things a little. EM is terrified that her choice of study will predetermine the rest of her live. I have tried to reassure her that she can always change. My mantra is she should enjoy youth, try different things. If one path is not the right path, she can change. I hope she is feeling a little more comfortable. I have also expressed my thoughts about her requests. This included a long list of concerns.

I think she now understands where I am coming from. Like every mother I want the best for her. She is now off for a bike ride.

We also established that if J and his family want to know me more the onus should not be on me, but that they have to undertake an equal effort. I am waiting to see where that goes. One way or another, dinner at my house will be on my terms. I get to choose the food; it will be outside and it will not happen before J. works towards bonding with me. A fair compromise I feel.

Tomorrow we shall need to go grocery shopping. I have a lane at 14:15 and then a plan to have my French neighbor and a colleague with kids in the same age group over for sundowners. It will of course require a fire. I am thinking wine and cheese, a tall order for French participants. It will be fun I am sure.

While we try and entertain ourselves as best we can, COVID does not give us a break. Today saw 69k cases added to bring the US total to 29,6 million. I am monitoring vaccine distribution in Maryland and for all I can tell there is a shitstorm brewing in Maryland’s vaccination schemes. The sign up is way too complicated. This results in in people who are tech savy signing up wherever., while vulnerable groups are left out. Ideally there would be one central site directing people to available appointments near them, versus twenty or so sites, allof which need to be monitored.

Also, every county should have one mass vaccination site, which would stop people from travelling across county borders. MoCo, the most populous county in Maryland, has no mass vaccination site and people are confused between Maryland and county eligibility.

Acritical factor in fighting COVID are treatments. After Merck’s two vaccine developments failed it is now focusing on therapeutic drugs, with more success it seems.  With everyone rushing to develop vaccines, therapies have not been given much attention, so Merck’s ongoing phase 2/3 trials on a drug is good news and can expand the arsenal in the fight against COVID.

While the US is focusing on vaccines, other countries are relying on testing. In Germany rapid antigen at home test kits are now sold at grocery discounters like Aldi and Lidl. A pack containing five tests sells for as little as EUR 21. Why does the US not have this? I have a mind to ask mum in Germany to buy a few packs for us and send them over!

Meanwhile some of the vaccine producers are set to make billions. Given all the taxe money provided, this seem unethicsl.