Shutdown Diary
The latest stats from Washpo:
In the past week in the U.S. ...
New daily reported cases fell 29.4%
New daily reported deaths fell 8%
Covid-related hospitalizations fell 10.8%
Among reported tests, the positivity rate was 2.4%.
The number of tests reported fell 40.9%
At least 168.7 million people have received one or both doses of the vaccine in the U.S.
This includes more than 136.2 million people who have been fully vaccinated.
The number of aggregate vaccinations has dropped to just over a million a day. This means we're down to about 2% of the American public of first-time or second doses per week. So we're now 40% fully and almost 51% partially vaccinated. If you look at the roster of states, you see a clear trend of red states trailing the blue states in vaccinations, and shots trending down by about a third.
My 14-month younger RN sister (with the J&J vaccine back in early March) had herself tested for COVID after developing a respiratory ailment on a recent trip; thankfully, the test turned out negative. And it looks like work is transitioning fairly quickly to a minimum half-time (alternating days or better) on-site work schedule, with telework tailing off over the weeks ahead, say based on CDC guidance. Part of the logistics issue is they don't want adjacent cubicles occupied given the social distancing heuristics, plus they feel they can't mandate vaccinations and worry inquiring vaccine status would violate HIPAA privacy guidelines. Personally, I don't have an issue with occupying an adjacent cubicle.
I continue to review COVID-19 notes of interest. Probably the most interesting point I've seen over the past week (H/T Marginal Revolution) is that Canada is enabling
mix and match vaccinations. In fact, as US daily rates are dropping, Canada's proportion of the partially vaccinated
eclipsed the US'.
Life's Little Problems
I raise one of life's disgusting issues: earwax buildup. I've occasionally had to deal with it over the years, most notably when I had to go to a Navy physical in San Antonio (I lived in Austin, unemployed after getting my MA in math, no car) prior to getting my commission. So I recall they paid for the bus fare, hotel, meals (I think); I recall the obligatory drug test urine sample, and the physical was an early morning assembly-line operation. So the doctor started examining my eardrums and started grumbling. (My hearing was good, so I didn't have a clue.) He then scraps out a big chunk of wax. He then goes to the other ear, throws up his hands: "I'm done!" Apparently I had the same problem there, too. I don't think I've ever heard of someone flunking a physical over earwax. To be honest, I was pissed over the pettiness of the situation (but that was nothing compared to what happens when you join the military). I had to go back to Austin, make an ENT office appointment to get my ears cleaned and then arrange for the next round of physicals. This may be somewhat oversimplified but it's like the ear doctor had a mini-hose that quickly flushed out the wax. He was confused why one ear had more wax than the other. I recall at the time it cost $35, a lot of money to someone living on a spartan budget. I remember the treatment affected my equilibrium walking home; everything is louder with an echo-type quality.
A few weeks back I noticed my hearing was worse with one ear. Now my late dad had hearing issues, but he had spent years on a flightline as a jet mechanic. Of course, aging can also be an issue, but I felt it was probably an earwax problem (not sure why affecting my ears differently). I recently changed health plans, and really didn't want to deal with COVID policies in getting the issue resolved. I got one of those earwax kits (bulb and solution). The first application was futile, but the second was successful. My hearing immediately improved with similar observations as I described above.
Entertainment
Probably the biggest WWE news has been the release of Aleister Black and Braun Strowman. It's not at all clear what motivated the cuts, especially since the WWE had been cultivating Black's return to TV and a feud with Big E. I had actually been rooting for Black to gain a title while he was a babyface. Now Strowman bodybuilder/strongman gimmick had gained main event status and reportedly a million dollar a year contract. But his wrestling moves were limited and most matches were unbalanced with opponents half his side. and his runaway train gimmick, running around the ring, flattening wrestlers like bowling pins, to me was annoying. To be honest, though, I thought the end was near when he jobbed to Lashley in a TV match a while back. Of course, they were building Lashley as unstoppable, but it damaged his character as a monster among men. I wasn't quite sure what storyline they would work, maybe a new alliance with Bray Wyatt.
The story I'm hearing is these were budget cuts as McMahon tries to dress up finances in selling the promotion. Only time will tell.
