Tuesday, May 25th, 2021
The therapist yesterday spent a significant amount of time and energy working on the knots in the lower back muscles and while the muscle tissue is now subtle and relaxed it feels rather bruised. Strangley there are no visible marks. Lying on my back is painful though and the back is rather sensitive to the touch. I do hope the pain will be gone by Thursday so I can roll during practice. Currently even the idea of my back touching the mat is painful. Nonetheless I shall go back for more next week.
Otherwise today is a bit of a hotch potch of happenings. The rains have passed and the sun is out, at least for a day. Of course, the weather forecast predicts rain for tomorrow evening when I was - for the first time in 460 days - going to meet my German friends for a gameof Doppelkopf.
A week ago, a young couple stopped by to look at my house, since I have not heard from them since I am assuming my property will be too expensive for them. Since she is a realtor and they are pursuing a private sale I guess they are trying to save money. In the current market houses sell far above asking as multiple people bid on a house mainly because there are fewer houses on the market, so a private sale may guarantee them a fixed price and that they get the house. I am hoping it will stay that way until at least the end of the year by which point in time I should be selling.
EM had to recertify as a lifeguard and after a four-hour course including some time in the pool successfully completed the process. She can now work as a lifeguard for another two years and more importantly also as a swim coach. These seem to be in high demand especially for smaller children as the pandemic is over and restrictions are lifted. The fact, that EM is fully vaccinated also helps. She already has several clients in the neighborhood and will coach at the Y as well. Seems like June will be busy with work for her.
Friend after friend is announcing graduation parties, so we have today decided that she will also have one, probably on June 8th, 2021. June will be over before we know it and the day of her moving out will come sooner than expected.
Today I reserved a room in a student residency for her, I hope the reservation goes through as I fear she is not terribly successful in finding a roommate for the apartment she has on hand. While more expensive this would be the easiest as it comes with a private bathroom, cleaning services, including towels and sheets changed weekly as well as a small load of laundry every week.
Another 20k new infections have been reported over the past twenty-four hours to bring the US total to 33.94 million. The New York Times has run four different models, apparently the most realistic scenario is that actual infections are 10-20 times higher, which would translate into 300-700 million infections. I am not sure how that is realistic given the USA only has 330 something million residents.
While restrictions will be fully lifted in Maryland at the end of the month, there are good reasons to retain masks. Beyond health reason mask can hide facial expressions, helpful for all those of us who have not been blessed with a poker face!
I will definitely consider wearing a mask in meetings especially difficult or obnoxious ones, as my face is an open book and I have no way of hiding my feelings.