Pandemic Report
The latest stats from CDC:
The latest from Worldometers daily:
Perhaps the biggest pandemic news i is that we've now seen new variant BA.2.86 emerge in the US after Denmark and Israel. It is thought despite the inevitable issues new variants pose to immunity defenses, natural or acquired; we don't have a lot of data on the variant bur recent vaccines are considered to be the best defense against serious health complications.
One interesting observation about vaccines/boosters: getting them in the same arm may be more effective.
The postaudits continue including the bungled early vaccine rollout and distribution; see this relevant op-ed. they pointed out that many doses were lost because of state/local policies threatening to strip providers of access for noncompliance. Some groups (e.g., teachers not even in classrooms) got priority over the elderly. I think I wrote about my experiences a couple of years back. A significantly younger brother-in-law was an Ohio girls' soccer coach, and at least 2 nieces, one a teacher and the other an RN not working with COVID patients, got theirs well before me, a Boomer with one or 2 health complications. I don't regret my relatives getting protected but it made no sense from a risk perspective. I was registered with my local county but they never contacted me. (It could be they delisted me after getting notice I. got my shots.) I had some eye surgery pre-pandemic and the provider had my relevant data in their system. They offered me access to apply for an available slot on one of their area campuses. I couldn't get a more convenient location, like the city of Baltimore or my own county, so I ended up having to drive a couple of other counties south/western away. I had to flex my work schedule for the 2-3 hour trip both times.
I think I finally noticed my local Walmart was offering shots when I went on a prescription run months later. I think they eventually encouraged walk-ins, but when I got my first booster they had their own slot system with relevant paperwork. I think by the time the bivalent booster became available, the federal government had a website where you could track which nearby pharmacies had available stock. My local Walmart was out of stock initially but within a couple of days I could get one if I was willing to accept the Moderna version (yup).
Other Notes
Well, last weekend I had a couple of strong pageview days like I haven't seen in several weeks. Oddly enough, it didn't seem to be reflected in my one-off/weekly post pageviews. I just checked more detailed stats and I noticed a large plurality from Singapore, even more than US. Not sure why, but I'm always grateful for my readers. It looks a 1K month is possible but I'll know better over the coming week,
I've always been clean-shaven although my late Dad and my baby brother always wore some facial hair. An increasing number of my adult nephews are taking on facial hair. So, why haven't I been tempted? In part, I prefer the clean appearance. I've also had a fairly light beard; I've rarely had to shave every day. I've owned maybe 3- 4 safety razors over the years, maybe 2-3 electric, and probably mostly conventional blade razors. The problem during the pandemic is I've mostly worked remotely with limited public appearances. So I'll let shaving go for several days in a row, and even with a lighter beard, most blade systems are notoriously incapable, clogging after just a few strokes. Safety razors cut through with ease, but the name is a misnomer. More often than not, I'll get one or more cuts. I had had electric razors over the years but they broke down
So, I decided to shop for a decent electric razor on Amazon, with dozens of choices with overnight delivery. I now have a baby-soft chin and throat for the first time in weeks.
In all the years I've owned a car, I've never had a dealership reach out to me so many times to buy back my car. I've finally reached the final year of payments. Good hybrid: I've reportedly averaged 55.4 mpg. I guess the used car market remains robust.
