Tuesday, March 23rd, 2021
Today I received a request to become an advisor to a FinTech Association. I feel honored and very excited about the opportunity, but before I can accept, I need to go through an internal process with our ethics folks to ensure there are no potential conflicts of interest. It would of course be pro bono and the association is a none profit, so it should hopefully be okay.
Otherwise it was a normal workday with my usual swim break over lunch, today again a fullfifty minutes, not that this helps against the belly fat. And it being Tuesday there was practice in the park. I am beginning to rather enjoy working with the Jo and something is beginning to stick so I can reasonably free-style now. Today, for the first time since September we pcould practice in t-shirts without coats! I am seriously contemplating reopening my outdoor office given temperatures are warming up. Once summer is in full swing it will be to hot to use between 11:30-15:00 as there is no shade at the time and the laptop overheats in the sun. Still, I am so ready for summer. I am trying to juggle a few things in preparation for it.
EM’s 18th birthday is coming up next week. It is in the middle of spring break and two of her five pandemic friends are unable to make it. The alternative is for her and I to go out for a fancy dinner. She just needs to decide what she would like to do so I can make a reservation, which is already proving difficult at the only 3-star Michelin restaurant in the area. I tried for the birthday and graduation day, but neither is available. Likewise, I am waiting on other people to figure out their schedules so I can make plans for Memorial Day weekend. Why is it so hard for people to make decisions?
Numbers are creeping up again. Maryland has seen a 26% increase in new infections. We were doing so well. This new development is counterproductive and the States reopening is not helpful. Thankfully Montgomery County continues to maintain restrictions. The USA reported 58k new infections over the past twenty-four hours to bring the total to 30.6 million.
Most infections are in areas where people voted for the GOP. These are also the greatest vaccine doubters. There are now concerns that jurisdictions with mostly Republican voters will continue to be hot spots for infections. I think I can live with that if contained to Republican communities. This I believe is called natural selection. Everyone has the right to choose how they die.
While vaccine roll out has been picking up and 3-4 million doses are administered across the USA every day now, the USA is also beginning to face supply problems, something which seems to be an issue with. JNJ is expecting to deliver less than anticipated in the coming weeks. To date it appeared to be a problem only the EU was facing and with all licensed suppliers. Maybe oral vaccines could be a game changer. While in early stage development, they could be great especially for lesser developed countries.
I had not known that viruses compete for which one gets to infect the human. As a result, the common cold might beat Corona, if vaccines cannot.
As more people in the USA are inoculated, travel is back on the table. General advice is to drive rather than fly, especially if no rest stops are need. Clearly driving to Europe is not an option.
We shall fly! After our Christmas trip home, I feel confident that it is safe.