Endemic Report
The Sick Times:
For the first time in months, we are not seeing COVID spiking in a state; in fact, it is lessening in most states. By far, the biggest story remains the mutant Cicada variant. A new variant, by nature, means earlier infection or vaccine may provide some but not full protection against infection. I don't think we've seen evidence of more serious outcomes to date, relatively speaking.
Latest COVID-19 news items:
- "Study finds higher heart disease risk in long COVID patients"
- "Kids are more likely to get new 'Cicada' COVID-19 variant"
- "New T cell mechanism could lead to longer-lasting vaccines"
- "Researchers Uncover Disturbing Link Between Fashion and Covid-19"
- "Multipurpose anti-viral pill may treat colds, norovirus, flu and covid"
- "Female veterans faced steeper well-being declines after COVID-19, study finds"
- "Pfizer, BioNTech halt US COVID vaccine study after recruitment struggles"
- "Maternal COVID-19 vaccination protects infants for up to 6 months"
- "Study finds third dose of COVID-19 vaccine is crucial for immunocompromised patients"
- Prosecutors continue to pursue COVID relief fraud/other crimes:
- "Former Milford MA business owner pleads guilty to COVID relief fraud"
- "Mount Pleasant businessman pleads guilty to $1.2 million COVID-19 relief fraud"
- Legal/political issues:
- "Settlement for workers impacted by Covid-19 at Blackstone’s Servpro worksites"
- "Federal government again sues Silver Cross Hospital over mandatory COVID-19 vaccine requirements"
- "Moderna, Pfizer Press to Toss Bayer’s Covid-Shot Patent Suits"
- "Rep. Richardson Supports Amendment to Prevent Mandatory Vaccination of COVID-19"
Other Notes
Bloated pageviews continue to be reported, but some posts struggle to find double-digits. No new posts, but I'm working on a deferred post after the Pretti murder I also intend to comment on Trump's war on Iran. X\Twitter remains difficult as followers fluctuate, and I haven't had a 4-figure tweet in a while.
It's not that big a deal, and I don't know why I'm experiencing the issue, but I've occasionally used Walmart for grocery home delivery. Granted, I needed it more when I was transitioning out of rehab last spring, but it seems like the selection is much more limited than before, and many of the items I want to buy show as out of stock, with almost no fresh cuts of meat. I know in the past I bought 60-egg boxes before and now I couldn't even show the item in inventory. I'm leaning against renewing the subscription. PS I think I figured out what's going on. I think there's a Walmart physically closer to me (about 3+ miles), but I've never gone there. For the past 9 years, I've gone to a Walmart Superstore that (about 8.5 miles)was closer to my old local apartment. I still use that one because there's a Lidl nearby and there's not a closer one. So I think the closer Walmart is not a superstore. I discovered Walmart had changed the store in my profile to the closest store, without my knowledge or consent. When I reset my Walmart location, all of a sudden I could see the shopping options I remembered from a year back. I don't know what they think they were doing by overriding my choice (reducing shipping costs?) , but I have a couple of grocery delivery alternatives from Amazon.
Speaking of groceries, Lidl has limited free item rewards as your overall grocery total over a month. Maybe a free bakery treat or cheese item, etc. One little detail: you need to proactively clip the coupon online. So when I double-checked yesterday's receipt, I wondered why Lidl didn't credit my bag of frozen peas. I checked my app; I hadn't clipped the necessary coupon. It wasn't worth my gas or time this weekend to redeem the expiring coupon for free frozen veggies.
The Final Four games on TBS today were disappointing; UCONN and Michigan dominated most of the games.
I guess I wasn't paying attention when WWE shifted its NXT PLEs from Peacock to YouTube. So I'll probably start canceling certain streaming subscriptions.
