The View from the Hermitage, Day 269

The Guardian and The New York Times today sed the same metaphor to describe the US, and an apt one it is. We are a split-screen nation. Two stories being shown side-by-side. Uncle Joe and The Lame Duck. There were two briefings, conferences, or the like yesterday, one by each of the main characters in our split-screen drama. Uncle Joe spoke about the "serious pandemic" we are facing and will be facing for quite a while. The Lame Duck (seated again at his tiny desk) said that we are "doing incredibly." Given that covid-19 was the leading cause of death last week, we can't be doing all that incredibly. And The Lame Duck again stated that the next administration would be a Surname-of-The-Lame-Duck administration. Dr. Fauci was unable to attend either event since there was a celebration for a colleague at NIH who had won the Nobel Prize. Since it was at NIH, I imagine it was masked and distanced; attendance might even have been in waves to limit the number of attendees. Fauci wasn't there in person, but he had taped a message to be shown at ... wait for it ... Uncle Joe's event. 

Dr. Fauci has worked under multiple presidents and, so far at least, even survived The Lame Duck's administration. As to how that has happened, he said that he follows a key bit of advice he was once given: 

“When you go into the White House, you should be prepared that that is the last time you will ever go in. Because if you go in saying, I’m going to tell somebody something they want to hear, then you’ve shot yourself in the foot.’ Now everybody knows I’m going to tell them exactly what’s the truth.” 

I love that and wonder just who it was that gave him that nugget of wisdom. Dr. Fauci will turn 80 on December 24, Christmas Eve. This will be the first birthday he will celebrate in the absence of his three daughters. As with Thanksgiving, they will Zoom their celebrations. He sets a good example. Do as he does, not as some others say.

Covid-19 numbers here in Virginia are skyrocketing. Yesterday was the first day with more than 4,000 new cases, with the seven-day rolling average going over 3,500. The county schools here are going back to all virtual sessions as of Monday, which starts the last week before the winter break. They will stay all virtual for at least one week after winter break, though I don't think things are going to improve all that much by then. I expect they'll be all virtual for a while longer. I'm still waiting to hear what the governor has to say about new or repeat mitigation measures. Our neighbor to the south, North Carolina, has instituted a curfew for 10:00 pm to 5:00 am. I'm not sure what good this will do. If the idea is to keep people out of bars after 10:00, close the bars. There may be some way to ban alcohol sales even at retail locations after 10:00. A curfew all by itself doesn't seen a strong enough measure.

The Professor has not yet received the results of his covid-19 test. Another of his grad students, who was in the company of the student who tested positive for longer than The Professor was has tested negative. I told The Professor I wasn't taking my mask off until he had gotten the results and we had discussed whatever they might be. Back to preparing for the worst while hoping for the best.

On the more humorous (well, in a bizarre sort of way) side of covid-19, Royal Caribbean has been running "voyages to nowhere" out of Singapore. You get on the ship, sail around for several days, and then go back to Singapore. The voyages are supposed to give people something to do not to mention to make money for Royal Caribbean. On the most recent voyage, an elderly passenger tested positive for covid-19, forcing the ship to return to Singapore one day early. All the passengers but the covid-afflicted one got one day of their fare refunded. The covid-afflicted passenger got his whole fare refunded.  Want a free trip? Schedule your positive test for a couple days into the voyage, and you won't have to pay for the early day(s) of your trip, before any symptoms arise. 

In copying a few past posts into the Word file of all these posts (it's up to 280 pages long), I noticed that I had promised photos of whatever metal garden creations I might make as Christmas presents for my daughter-in-law equivalent. I made two before I packed away all the metal stuff to get back to using fabric. I don't think that DiL= (I may keep using that for her) reads this blog, but just in case she stumbles on it, I'll put the photos up after the gifts have been opened. I know that my mom reads this blog, but I have no way of knowing if The Professor or The Sons do. If they do, they've never mentioned anything to me. I'm not sure they've visited my website either, though I really need to spend a morning or afternoon updating it. Maybe I'll try to do that tomorrow.