Pandemic Report
The latest stats from WaPo:
The latest from CDC:
Well, an uptick in new cases to 38.6k daily; BA.5 is decreasing in variant share, and BA.4.6 seems to be growing. BA.5 subvariants BQ.1 and BQ1.1 are rising. Early data on Pfizer's bivalent boosters is good; the reason this is notable because CDC/FDA waived human trial data before approval. Still, celebrities are continuing to report infections, including former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr. More disturbing, nearly half of COVID-19 patients haven't fully recovered nearly 6 months later.
I continue to urge users to complete their primary COVID-19 series, and for those whose last primary or booster shot was over 2 months ago, please get your bivalent booster. Only something like 4-5% of Americans have gotten theirs. If the news above isn't concerning enough, look at what's happening in Europe. I had a small talk with my Walmart pharnacist when I had 2 other vaccine shots today, and he noted when they were early in the primary vaccine stage, they had long lines queued. Now it's more like one at a time. I saw an elderly woman getting one shot of something when I came in to pick up some meds this morning. (I had noticed in my health provider portal I was overdue on a couple of shots.) Walmart also pinged me my digital 3-booster COVID-19 vaccine record is available. (I did my primary series at Hopkins.)
Other Notes
Weird blogger readership pattern continues or maybe Blogger stats like when I saw only 1 pageview for 16 hours and later saw stats replenished with a more normal distribution. It's too early to tell but I'm currently trending below my multi-year low of 3 months back.
I manage to amuse myself sometime. I somehow misplaced my Amazon Fire Stick and Chromecast dongles during last year's local move. To a certain extent it's a blessing because I don't think the cheap flat screen TV I bought in Arizona about 6 years back (my cable provider required an HDMI connection) could handle 3 HDMI connections simultaneoudly; my TV remote would go crazy, rapidly cycling through menus uncontrollably. Now the regular reader probably knows I discuss watching Amazon Prime Video. Now, obviously I can watch content on one of my PC's, but how did I watch it on TV? Long story short, I discovered a while back my cable provider has third party app support for Prime Video integrated with my cable remote's voice functionality. I've indirectly mentioned it before in this space that my cable provider will drop the app during periodic testing of alert functionality. So I've gotten used to toggling back and forth between cable and AmazonVideo. So it's basically it's in muscle memory.
Amazon Prime had a recent second Prime Day; among other things, Amazon usually deeply discounts its devices, including its TV Cube, a separately powered upgraded peripheral alternative to Fire Stick functionality. So I ordered it and set it up. To access it, I have to use my TV remote to toggle between HDMI port connections. So anyway I recently was looking to switch back to cable. The voice function on my cable remote wasn't working as usual. It suddenly dawned on me that I was watching Amazon Video ob the Cube and had to use my TV remote.
I may have figured out what I earlier mentioned happening to me when I couldn't find the "continue watching" queue. It happened to me recently when watching on the Cube. It's like an alternate Amazon interface where you're toggled out of Prime Video, which appears as an available icon. When you toggle back into Prime Video, the "continue watching" queue reappears.
I recently mentioned looking for a cheap 12-cup coffeemaker walmart.com implied was in stock. I recently dropped by my regular Walmart the other day for a different reason. I almost never carry cash on me, maybe up to $20 for unusual scenarios where credit cards aren't accepted, like say cash tolls or paying my local barbers. I don't have a local bank, but my bank normally pays transaction fees on debit card ATM withdrawals. I know--tons of ATM's to use, but usually my local Walmart has one near customer service. Ir's not something I do very often--maybe every 12+ months. So I couldn't believe it, but their ATM was out of order my prior 2 trips (not weekly). It's not like I had an upcoming cash emergency, but I had broken my last $20 bill at the barber, and I'm not the kind of guy who waits until his gas tank is near empty to gas up. So anyway the third time was the charm. I decided to check their coffeemaker section, and they just had one drip coffeemaker on their shelves (other than demos), and it was a model selling $30-40. I wanted a backup model (I use Lipton gallon tea bags to brew my iced tea using a coffeemaker). So I have no idea why my local Walmart isn't stocking its shelves if the cheap model is in inventory as the store portal shows.
So this is the first time I ever tried the "curbside pickup" option. So I wasn't sure how it worked. I've sometimes seen cars lined up like in the fire lane near the entrances. I checked on my cellphone and saw my purchase was ready; I halfway expected them to say it wasn't in stock. But no clear description on how the parking thing worked. I decided to wing it, and discovered little direction signs, like exit signs in a parking garage. They led me to a parking strip on the other side of the parking lot. So there are number signs in each designated slot, and in the Walmart app you check in, give them your space number and car color, and they respond, we're on it and will be to you shortly. It was like 10-15 minutes. I called the voice number at the stall to check if they were on the way when some dude passed near my car with stuff. He approached my driver door with John Doe's package. Now I'm totally confused--I thought the whole deal with giving them the spot number and car color was to locate me. Thank God he did have the right package in his cart, but it was an unusual experience.
Well, I finally finished my "All in the Family" watchathon. It's odd--there was nothing really to distinguish the end of the series like a final curtain call, although they had then just celebrated the 200th episode and did it then; the Mike/Gloria characters had been basically written out of the series the previous season, with Mike getting a West Coast college teaching job. (The Bunkers did do episodes related to a West Coast visit.) Oddly,a number of later episodes I couldn't recall, but it's been 30 years. The last episode was a well-written one showing a heart-warming side to Archie. Edith has developed phlebitis in one of her shins, hampering her mobility. The doctor catches it in time and prescribes her meds and basically bedrest. Archie is pissed that Edith didn't tell him (she didn't want to worry him). In the final scene, he slips into bed next to her and says he's taking time off work at the bar (he bought his favorite local saloon) so he could personally nurse her back to health, that he is nothing without her, etc. There are lots of other episodes of note, like when his politically opposite son-in-law Mike Stivik accidentally locks them in Archie's bar cellar, and Archie tells a number of stories about his tough Dad and hard times (shoe-booty); Mike is moved by his new insight into Archie's character. Then there's one of Edith's step-causin Floyd's primary school daughter, Stephanie. Floyd abandons Stephanie at the Bunker's; Arch isn't thrilled at the idea of the empty-nesters becoming parents again in late middle age, but Stephanie wins her over; in a subsequent episode, alcoholic Floyd tries to extort $1K out of Archie or he'll take his daughter back. It's almost a crime just to mention a few episodes. Your mileage may vary.
Well, the WWE Extreme Rules premium event is history, with Ronda Rousey finally regaining her championship from Liv Morgan., who freakishly smiled near the end of the match. But probably the biggest news was the long awaited return of Bray Wyatt. It wasn't directly in a storyline; I thought maybe Wyatt would seek revenge against his last defeat by now-injured Orton through his tag partner Riddle. And you have to wonder about Alexa Bliss who betrayed him. So the rumor is that he's building a faction with live versions of his Playhouse puppets and even finally an incarnation of Sister Abigail (Liv Morgan?). Apparently he'll be on the Smackdown roster, and presumably his faction will challenge the Bloodline, but I doubt Bray will immediately contend for Reign's championships. I'm not even sure if they'll book him face or heel although he's cutting face promos.
