Pandemic Review
The latest stats from WaPo this past week:
The latest vaccine stats from CDC this past week:
The fact that cases and hospitalizations are continuing to increase at a double-digit percentage page continues to be of concern; we're now running about 72K cases per day, over double that of just a few weeks back. This omicron variant wave is not accelerating as quickly as the last and MAY be past its inflection point. We are nearing a grim milestone of the pandemic: the one millionth US fatality. (NBC already claims we've passed it. WaPo has it about 2851 shy with roughly 300 deaths daily, which means we'll probably reach it early next week, if not earlier.) I really didn't pick up any new major news items; no decisions yet on young child/toddler vaccine approval. In terms of the district court ruling over the mask mandate, CDC and a number of epidemiologists are concerned about losing a possible tool in their arsenal for future pandemic waves.. There are a number of nuances here; for example, airplanes have superior ventilation (with significant filtration of bioaerosols), violations of public review protocol, and CDC acceptance of less effective cloth masks. On a personal note, I asked my RN sister (like ms, fully vaccinated and twice boosted} if she brought along a mask on a visit to California and a coastal cruise. She confirmed yes, for certain crowded contexts (like boarding a plane). I'm pretty much the same way. I carry an N95 mask in the pocket of my pants or jeans, and I've got a couple in my car "just in case". I have noticed that most people I'm seeing in public now aren't wearing facemasks. Typical is this morning when I went to a car dealership for maintenance service. Maybe 5 of 6 customers in the waiting room were maskless but all of us were seated at least one (bigger) seat (in separated adjacent pairs).
Most of the sources I use are disappointed by the booster rate (I share that concern), and most experts are justifiably skeptical that herd immunity from COVID-19 is achievable. I think a consensus is slowly building that COVID-19 will become similar to flu seasonality, with infections declining in hot summer months and picking up with colder weather, more time indoors. NOTE: I'm not saying COVID-19 is like the flu. I'm saying weather factors could affect them similarly.
Other Notes
I'm going to have to stop obsessing over my crashing blog readership numbers. I haven't seen this pattern over the past 2-3 weeks in years, if ever, since Blogger first made stats available. On one recent day I got a total daily readership in single digits (versus a long-time trend of 70 or more). At one point, the rolling week dropped to nearly 100. versus maybe 500. The numbers have modestly recovered since then, but the current trend would be less than half the normal 2K+. It is what it is; I don't write for the stats; To be honest, I wasn't exactly crazy about the long-term trend; I had hoped for at last stealthier growth. Any writer prefers a wider audience, but I also write for personal reasons.
Well, I discovered the egg situation (re: the avian flu) I mentioned in an earlier journal post has definitely hit Lidl and Walmart locally. I've been spoiled for months with eggs costing under $1/dozen, even 18 eggs at times. They are now nearly 4 or 5 times more expensive. It's not necessarily I can't afford it (but I haven't had a recent raise), but food inflation like this I haven't seen in years. It's odd the things I'm noticing, like hot dogs at $4-5/package. Now for dietary reasons, I don't eat many processed meats, like hot dogs, sausages and cold cuts, but I can remember months back buying a package of chicken franks for like about $1.35 at Walmart. I expect eggs to eventually decline as the supply of hens replenish.
What the devil is going on with USPS? I just got a notice days ago in Informed Delivery that they were returning my federal tax return as "undeliverable/not forwardable". They obscured the IRS address (I think in Utah for my state) I mailed to. I'm pretty anal-retentive about details. This has NEVER happened before. Now my tax return will be "late" for God knows what reason, and it was almost impossible to get human assistance from IRS on this.(It's probably OK because the IRS owes me money.) I still don't have the return back yet. Now I'm rethinking my decision to file paper returns, because I can't afford USPS f*kups. That's not their only problem. My Mom never got my Valentine's Day and Mother's Day cards.
WWE Wrestlemania Bscklash was somewhat predictable, with Rousey finally taking the Smackdown woman's title off Flair. They had been booking Flair weakly against Rousey. There was a storyline injury against Flair, but rumor has it she's taking time off to get wed to Andrade, a former WWE talent now working for a rival promotion. (I'm somewhat confused because I thought they had split up.) They didn't have Reigns defend his "unified" belt, but they haven't replaced his 2 belts for one. So I think he'll end up dropping or be stripped of one of the titles; how they'll do that without killing his push is unclear. They haven't booked him into a challenge yet, although they're flirting feuds with McIntyre and Nakamura. Styles could also be booked. There are also hints they may have Reigns turn babyface.
