Sure as hell

As they announced Trump's arrival to witness the launch,

my first thought was about how he would try to take some credit for it.

The following thought was that he was right there to witness the stunning product of science at work, and that he would return to DC and continue to disparage and defund the science that would otherwise help us deal effectively with the pandemic he helped spread by ignoring the science.


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For some reason

Not to put too fine a point on it, but . . .

Fair Play

The Obvious

Watching the House on Cspan

Tried to make sense of the inanities blustering out of Jordan and then Gohmert. Can't be done.

Switching over to Animal Planet, where growls and barks actually mean something.


Yeesh.

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Got tested ---

The test is required for those of us wishing to participate in the re-opening Pulmonary Rehab program at the hospital.

My results: Negative for Covid, positive for anti-bodies. So, at some point, I did have the virus.

My respiratory therapist is amazed that I'm still standing, given my history. But it's my guess that how I've been dealing with other health issues has contributed to that test result. Some of the covid symptoms are things I already routinely experience, primarily shortness of breath. When that particular condition worsened a bit last fall, it was attributed to advancing COPD. And body aches and pains are already familiar with aging and arthritis. I didn't have fever, or cough, or sore throat, or headache; and having had pneumonia in the past, had any indicator of that showed up I'd have blasted into the nearest ER.

So my conversation with the RT concluded that I should continue with the self-imposed distancing, necessitated by side effects of some meds, that I've been practicing for a couple of years. I can still go to the Safeway for scrips and food, and continue wearing a mask whenever I go out of my apartment. And I will start back with the rehab next week; the hospital has only one entrance open, and they require a mask and temp check before letting anyone in.

Meanwhile, our county commissioners (much in the news lately, and not in a good way -- huge thank you to Rachel Maddow for that!) have changed how the reporting data is interpreted in order to announce that the death count is dropping. Sunday it was 126, Monday it was 86. It's not a miracle, it's a manipulation, the dead are still dead . . .


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Rewriting covid???

The Weld County website has posted daily reports on Covid, number of cases, number of deaths. Yesterday's cumulative death number was 126, today it's 86. Thinking it was a misprint, I refreshed the page, it remained at 86.

Then I noticed the mention of a change in how things are tracked, recorded, and reported. There was a link to the explanation and I followed it. Try as I might, and after repeated reading of it, I can't make sense of it. Here's the link:

https://www.weldgov.com/newsroom/current_news/c_o_v_i_d-19_deaths_in_weld_county_drop

If anyone can help to decipher this . . . please do so.

And thanks.


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The "treat"

It’s been an interesting few weeks, “interesting” in the sense that not doing much of anything isn’t really something I’m used to. It’s already gotten to the point that venturing out to the Safeway pharmacy is one of the highlights of my week, the other being when Caroline brings groceries and we chat, properly distanced, in the carport. In other words, I’ve been doing as instructed, taking care of myself by mostly staying home and mostly doing nothing.

Thus, I decided to reward myself with a treat: I called and ordered a pizza to be delivered. Scandalous, I know, but what the hey. Anyway, a half hour later the door buzzer sounded, the old one where the intercom was disconnected when the new fob system was installed (the system that allows me to buzz the door open for deliveries). Figuring that the driver wasn’t going to hang around long I put on my shoes, switched to the portable oxygen, donned my face mask, grabbed my cane and headed down the long hallway and up the stairs, opening the door to find the delivery guy waiting with my pizza. After signing for the pie I pointed to the sign that directs people to the new keypad next to the door; he just shrugged and said he doesn’t like those new things. He left, and I eventually figured out how to hold the pie flat while juggling the oxygen and cane. Got back to my apartment and sat down for a few minutes to catch my breath, then got a plate and opened the box, taste buds happily anticipating my treat. And it was the wrong pie. Nothing but cheese. Noooooo!

So, got on the phone, called the pizza place. She was very apologetic, said she remembered taking my order and would personally make the new pie. Half an hour later, phone rang, I answered and said I’d buzz him in. Waited. When nobody showed, I repeated the bit with the shoes and the oxygen and the cane and the mask, and headed back down the hallway and up the stairs. And there in the foyer was the very frustrated delivery man, frantically signing to someone over his phone. Clearly, he simply could not hear the buzzer. He handed me a pen to sign the chit, and we both laughed when, on top of everything else, the pen refused to work. We got it sorted out. He did seem a bit surprised when I handed him a tip, so I dropped the mask a bit so that he could see me smile as I signed “thank you.” He left, and there I was again, juggling my way back to my own front door.

Gotta tell you, I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard to get out of cooking a meal. At least there’s only one plate to wash. But I’m determined that my next reward will be considerably less strenuous.


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