The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 367 (867)

Not long after I posted yesterday's no-news good news, I saw the not-so-good news that POTUS has a case of Paxlovid rebound. Last I saw, they were saying he has no symptoms. Dr. Fauci's symptoms were worse with his rebound case. This does make me wonder if, should covid find me, would I seek out Paxlovid. A lot of people are having rebound infections, though the percentage of Paxlovid takers who do is hard to pin down. 

The director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota observes, "We've had a shift in our baseline ... Earlier in the pandemic, we never would have accepted these numbers." Those numbers would be that hospitalizations have doubled since May and that there are currently over 400 deaths each day. The good news is that both those numbers are significantly lower than they were at the peak of winter's Omicron wave. Still, the numbers we seem to accept have definietly shifted.

The New York Times had a list of "five steps to take (if you haven't already)." I'm good on all of them; how about you?

(1) Max out your vaccines and boosters. 

(2) Find out your community Covid-19 indicators. 

(3) Mask up, and not just outdoors.

(4) Keep rapid tests on hand--and use them.

(5) If you're traveling, find out how to get treatment.

On the traveling one, I just don't. This weekend I'm taking The Professor to Son #2's cabin, about 75 minutes away. We've gone there for a whole week the last two summers, but can only manage a weekend this year. That's close enough to home that I'm not really worried about number (5). I'll be pulling together what news I can and posting anything I find when I get home. We have been told that there is now an intermittent Internet connection there, but I don't want to count on it. 

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 366 (866)

Had there been new coronavirus news out there this morning, I might not have given the master bathroom a thorough cleaning. Bathroom cleaning vs. research and writing? The latter wins every time. So while the research time was spent on the bathroom, the writing time is about to be spent working on a quilt binding. If there's no news tomorrow, the basement's guest bathroom is on the agenda.

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 365 (865)

There was more monkeypox news than coronavirus news this morning. Here's something with relevance to both. Americans are still more afraid of catching covid than they are of catching monkeypox. In a recent survey, 30 percent of respondents feared catching covid compared with 19 percent who feared catching monkeypox.

 Non-immuno-compromised people under the age of 50 are going to have to wait a little longer for their second covid booster shot. Pfizer and Moderna are now saying that they can have the Omicron-specific vaccines ready in September. The plan is to offer boosters to all adults, though some experts are saying teens, too, should get them. People who are just now getting their second booster will have to wait a little longer for their third. If they get boosters too close together, antibodies from the first dose received will keep the second dose from working. 

And believe it or not, that's what I found going over the usual suspects, er, sources this morning. I'm not sure the lack of news is a positive sign, though. While it could mean the coronavirus is becoming more integrated into our daily  lives, it could also mean that a lot of people have their heads in the sand. Sad to say, I see the second option as more apt to be correct.

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 364 (864)

A quickie from yesterday's notes that I did not include: Australia just set a new record in covid hospitalizations and is seeing a sharp rise in covid deaths. Why? There has been a low uptake on booster vaccinations but, possibly more importantly, it's winter there. I wonder what we'll be seeing in six months. Winter is coming. 

There was one more percentage from the survey of parents of the youngest children. Some 13 percent said they would get their young children vaccinated only if they had to. This brings the total of somewhat negative responses to 83 percent. More generally, a majority of parents of the youngest children consider vaccination a greater risk to their children than covid. 

One last quickie: Remember the murder hornets from the early days of the pandemic? For a while, they were called "Asian giant hornets." They now have an official name, Northern giant hornets. I don't know about you, but I really liked "murder hornets."

An article from Science Translational Medicine reports that researchers in London found that a specific area of covid's spike protein is a good target for a pan-coronavirus vaccine that could offer protection against all covid variants as well as the common cold. They do caution that there is "a lot of research still to do." I hope that research is fruitful.

About five percent of infected adults may have long-term smell or taste problems. There have been over 550 million confirmed cases of covid. Of these, it appears that 15 million people experience deficiencies of smell and 12 million people experience deficiencies of taste. Some unlucky people experience both. These deficiencies can last as long as at least six months. Women are more likely to develop these problems than men. 

Since we're not there yet, there is research showing that the end of an epidemic or pandemic involves more than disease rates. Those would dictate only the medical end to the epidemic or pandemic. There is also a political end when the crisis and associated regulations pass. Finally, only after a return to normalcy is there a social end. To think of an epidemic or pandemic as a series of discrete biological events is short-sighted. It also includes moral crises that can test the limits of social cohesion and trust. We've seen a lot of those lately and will likely see many more before there is any real end to all this. 

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 363 (863)

Schools start in some places in a couple of weeks. Are students and schools ready? A CNN analysis reports that only 45 percent of children and teens are fully vaccinated and only 9.5 percent are up-to-date on covid vaccinations. (The CDC defines "fully vaccinated" as two weeks past the second of the two initial mRNA shots and "up-to-date" as having had whatever booster(s) for which a person is eligible.) While 4.2 million teens ages 12 through 17 are up-to-date, only 796,000 children ages five through 11 are. As for children too young for school but not for preschool or day care, only 2.8 percent of children under the age of five have gotten vaccinated. In April, 27 percent of parents responding to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll said that they would definitely not get their younger children vaccinated. That had increased to 43 percent in July. Similar "definitely not" responses were given by 37 percent of parents of children ages five through 11 and 28 percent of parents of children ages 12 through 17.

As for monkeypox, I found the layout of today's Washington Post op-ed page interesting. The leftmost column held Alyssa Rosenberg's "Young kids' Covid vaccine uptake is shockingly low." The rightmost column held Leanna S. Wen's "We must contain monkeypox." Dueling diseases, anyone?

In China, Wuhan has shut down a district of about one million people after four asymptomatic cases of covid were identified. All restaurants, entertainment venues, places of worship, and public transit are closed for at least three days. These are called "temporary control measures." Zero covid hasn't gone away yet.

POTUS has tested negative twice and left his "strict" isolation after five days. Now we'll see if he gets Paxlovid rebound. The CDC used to recommend 10 days of isolation. This was cut in half supposedly because most transmission was said to occur early, one to two days before symptoms started to two to three days after that. An article in Nature asserts that ten was better than five is. PCR tests can return positive results even after infection ends. These tests may be picking up non-infectious traces of viral RNA. Lateral flow tests offer a better guide to infectiousness by detecting proteins produced by active replicating virus. Symptoms should not be used in the calculation as they can persist even after tests return as negatives. One study reported that many people maintain a high enough viral load to still be infectious at days seven through 10. A better rule of thumb than the CDC's current five days would be their former ten days. Few people remain infectious after 10 days unless they experience Paxlovid rebound infections. 

If The Professor or I do happen to get infected, we'll be going by the previously recommended 10 days, not the now-official five. 

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 362 (862)

We have some coronavirus news! But first, the US tops the world list of monkeypox cases, with over 3,800. We were at the top (and bad) end of many coronavirus lists early in the pandemic, so why not reach for the top in monkeypox as well. Yesterday was a bad day to be on death row with four people executed in Myanmar and three in Japan.

As for deaths here in the US, there were no executions, but the covid death rate is up 34 percent over 14 days. Hospitalizations are up 12 percent, and cases are up 10 percent over the same 14 days. POTUS, who would be included in the case number but not the other two, is recovering nicely. His symptoms have "almost completely resolved" according to the White House physician. 

China allowed the use of Paxlovid to treat covid starting in February. Now, China has given conditional approval for a domestic firm's HIV medicine to be used against covid. Some say that this could be setting up a move away from the zero-covid or, as it's known there, "dynamic COVID zero." The HIV medicine is intended for patients with the "normal type" of covid, or covid infection with signs of pneumonia and that is not yet severe.

Facebook may end restrictions on covid misinformation. They have been deleting it but are now considering labeling it as faulty or demoting it via algorithm. The self-regulating oversight board Facebook set up in May 2020 will review the issue and offer recommendations. Of course, Facebook does not have to act in line with the oversight board's recommendations.

Two peer-reviewed studies published today say that evidence points to SARS-CoV-2's having come from the Wuhan market rather than laboratory. The articles approached the question in very different ways yet agree on the finding. One study showed that most of the earliest known cases clustered around the market. The other study used genetic information suggesting that two variants were introduced into humans in November of December 2019. Two different methodologies and one conclusion. Sounds good to me.

And closer to home, My Mom's assisted living facility has reported four residents testing positive and, so far, one staff member, who works in dining. My Mom does wear a mask every time she leaves her apartment, but obviously can't wear one at mealtime. She tested negative today and will be tested again on Monday. I'd keep my fingers crossed, but that would make typing and otherwise being creative difficult.

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 361 (861)

I think that the media believe "Yes" is the appropriate answer to the question "Are we there yet?" The earliest mention of covid in The Washington Post was on the third page, in the "Digest" section of short blurbs: "Biden's symptoms continue to improve." The morning news emails came up lacking as did the news websites I checked. Most of the things that were out there were updates on POTUS or cautionary human interest pieces on mask wearing (we should be doing it), pandemic pets, etc. I did find something making the point that getting covid more than once does not raise the risk of long covid, and more research is needed to learn what predisposes someone to long covid. 

There was a New York Times list of headlines that included "What questions do you have about the coronavirus and its variants?" This morning, that was answered by "We are no longer accepting submissions." I guess we're supposed to know everything by now.

On the good side, there isn't much new to report on monkeypox either.

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 360 (860)

The only new coronavirus news I was able to find checking my usual sources was that POTUS likely has BA.5and is improving, though sore throat and body aches have been added to the list of what he's feeling. He told one committee virtually that he felt better than he sounded. 

Have a good Sunday afternoon and evening!

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 359 (859)

My cup of coronavirus news runneth over today. I may not end up using all the notes in this post, but it's nice to have enough that selecting might be reasonable.

Monkeypox moment: WHO has declared monkeypox a global health emergency, their highest alert level. Currently, there are two other global health emergencies, covid-19 and polio. While the publicity has centered on men who have sex with other men, two children and eight women have been diagnosed in the US. Officials think the children caught it via household transmission. 

POTUS is said to be improving. It's been said he will isolate until he tests negative. Interestingly, this goes beyond the current recommendation of the CDC which is to isolate for five days and then wear a mask for five more. Someone who still tests positive but goes out on the sixth day is still able to infect others. 

Europe has loosened most of its covid restrictions. A bookstore patron described still-posted warning signs as "things from the past, like bricks of the Berlin wall." Governments are not cracking down because they are not seeing a serious rise in severe cases, ICU admissions, or deaths. Experts, though, still worry about vulnerable people, the possibility of more long covid cases, and increased potential for mutations leading to more dangerous variants. A former consultant to Italian leaders predicted that over time, as vulnerable older people died, deaths caused by the virus would fall and it would become endemic. An Italian woman still wearing a mask and keeping socially distant describes it as, "Reality goes faster than laws."

Last week, POTUS extended the federal emergency declaration until at least mid-October. By Monday, fewer than 12 states will still have their emergency declarations in place. Most states have let their declarations expire. New York, on the other hand, has extended their declaration until 2023. 

Australia has some of its highest case numbers since the pandemic began but has implemented no new restrictions, just recommendations. These include wearing masks indoors and working from home if possible. The Prime Minister says that people are flouting the few restrictions that still exist. In regard to the restriction that masks be worn on public transit, he says, "Only about half the people are actually doing it. Now, do you get on the trains and buses and arrest people or fine people for not doing it?"

POTUS is taking Paxlovid. Dr. Fauci took two courses of it. Experts say that many doctors aren't sure whether to use Paxlovid; they don't see it as a good option. It is a combination of two antivirals that "interfere with multiplication of the virus." It prevents the virus from causing more damage and reduces the need for hospitalization for covid patients by 88 percent compared to a placebo. It has to be taken within five days of the onset of symptoms. Maybe the publicity about POTUS receiving it will help educate doctors that are wary of it. 

I have not gone to a meeting of my quilt guild chapters since before the pandemic started, and I am glad I haven't gone back yet. I just saw an announcement from another local guild that someone at their meeting this past week tested positive three days later. She thinks she was exposed at a regional meeting offering assorted classes. I know that several people in the guild and chapters to which I belong were there as well, which means people meeting with them are not in the clear. One less thing to worry about, and not having to worry is a good thing.

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 358 (858)

Let's ease into the weekend with the little coronavirus news I could find this morning, starting with a bit of monkeypox news. CDC says that we still have a chance to contain it, but if we don't it could take its place on the standard STD list along with other diseases such as herpes or syphilis. 

On the presidential front, POTUS continues to work through isolation. He could end up being in isolation for eight to 10 days. Dr. Biden and VP Harris continue to test negative. If both PORUS and Vice-POTUS ended up in the hospital and unable to function, Nancy Pelosi would act as President. I don't know if that would make Fox News happy or enraged.

Japan is urging people to exercise the "highest level of vigilance" as a record number of new covid cases is recorded, over 186,000 on Thursday. People in Okinawa have been asked to avoid non-essential travel until mid-August. Groups of up to four diners will be permitted to eat at restaurants but can't stay for more than two hours. People with underlying medical conditions are advised to meet only with family members with whom they live. 

This is Japan's seventh wave. The death toll is low and lockdowns, nonexistent only because mask wearing is widespread (just as it has always been for things such as colds) and a very high number of people have been vaccinated. Despite having a very large population over the age of 65, Japan has the lowest per capita rate of covid deaths among 38 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development nations.

And wowzers! That's it for today.

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 357 (857)

There was more news than usual this morning, meaning I left some items on the screen rather than the page. All that fell to the wayside when I saw the announcement that POTUS tested positive for covid. I may have mentioned here in the past my concern that if Uncle Joe (he wasn't POTUS when I first worried about this) got covid and had an ICU-level case or, gasp, passed to the great beyond, a certain EX-POTUS now living in Florida and New Jersey would crow to the heavens about how he was a stronger and better man having survived covid himself. Never mind that he was sicker than he claimed and got multiple treatments not to mention a ride around the crowd to wave. So far, POTUS is said to be having only mild symptoms--fatigue,runny nose, dry cough--and is working from the residence. He started taking Paxlovid as soon as the positive result appeared. As I recall, EX-POTUS also worked while in the hospital. I am sure those blank pieces of paper required a lot of his attention. 

People are wondering where POTUS got infected. Saudi Arabia? Israel? The halls of the White House? Does it really matter? It's not as if covid from location A versus location B means different treatments. I expect that this will be a continuing news story for as long as POTUS tests positive and for possibly more than a few days after he tests negative. So far Dr. Biden is testing negative; I expect she will likely test positive in the next couple of days. But who knows. Covid seems so fickle at times.

Taking a break, let me wish My Mom a happy 90th birthday. Four score and ten. She has seen the Great Depression and a myriad of other notable economic events. One world war, a police action in Korea, the Vietnam War (it's called the America War over there), not to mention various conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. She went from the old hand telephone to cell phones, and while she has never had a smartphone, she explores the WWW from a ChromeBook and uses email. She got her second covid booster yesterday, and made it through a case of covid in the pre-vaccine days.

And now back to the coronavirus. In China, 247 million people were under full or partial lockdown in 31 cities last week; this week, that would be 264 million people in 41 cities. There are 2,000 tourists stranded in a beach resort town. As long as they let them use the beach, being stranded in a beach resort town doesn't sound half bad. Since July 6, at least 10 different Omicron subvariants have been identified in China.

Cases are surging in Australia. So far, the government is not reimposing any restrictions. The government policy is apparently "living with the coronavirus."

Five countries--Columbia, Paraguay, Iraq, Kosovo, and North Macedonia have moved to Level 3 of the CDC's travel advisory. Level 3 represents the riskiest countries. 

The pandemic is giving birth to a new division in the Department of Health and Human Services. What has been called the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response will become its own operating division, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. This will be a new federal agency on a par with the CDC and the FDA. It will be responsible for crucial health logistics including oversight of the Strategic National Stockpile and contracting for and distributing vaccines in an emergence. 

Finally, there's been the coronavirus, monkeypox, and Marburg fever. Now, a New York resident has tested positive for polio, the first reported US case in almost 10 years. What can I say? You be careful out there.

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 356 (856)

 

On this day in 1969, the Eagle landed on the moon, something we could not do now but hope to do again. I remember watching it on the television in our basement, feeling a bit wistful that they couldn't wait a couple of hours and do it on the 21st otherwise known as My Mom's birthday. I at least managed to defend my dissertation and earn my PhD on My Mom's 50th birthday. But back to the coronavirus.

The CDC has approved Novavax for primary use but not for boosters. This gives people who don't want one of the new-fangled  mRNA vaccines an option. The morning email update from CNN included a description of how the Novavax vaccine is made. I found it both fascinating and hilarious. 

Novavax scientists identified the gene for the spike protein and created a modified version of that gene, which they cloned into a baculovirus that infects insects. They then infected moth cells -- specifically, cells from the fall armyworm -- prompting them to produce the coronavirus spike protein. These virus-like nanoparticles were harvested to make the vaccine.

I have to ask, though I do not know whom to ask, whether spring armyworms are different from the fall armyworms mentioned here.

The BA.5 story continues. New cases in the US number, officially, around 120,000 daily. Given home testing and fewer official tests being done, that 120,000 could actually be a million or more. Cases in Europe have tripled over the past six weeks. There were nearly three million new cases last week alone, about half of all cases worldwide. Hospital admissions have doubled. ICU admissions are relatively low, but deaths among older people are rising. Almost 3,000 people in Europe are dying from covid each week. WHO says that the current wave could be followed by something worse and is urging countries to reintroduce mitigation measures now if not sooner.

In Guangzhou, China community workers broke into homes to look for people who tested positive for covid, picking locks to enter 84 apartments. The head of the neighborhood apologized to residents individually and promised compensation. The pandemic has enabled the Communist Party to deepen its reach into citizens' private lives, track and limit movement, and confine people to homes or businesses. 

The CDC has ended its covid mitigation program for cruise ships in US waters. Travelers must now contact cruise lines directly for information on their covid measures such as testing or isolation. Carnival will continue requiring guests to be vaccinated or apply for an exemption, and guests older than two must test negative prior to sailing. Royal Caribbean will require guests ages 12 and older to be vaccinated. Guests are strongly urged, but not required, to have received boosters. American Cruise Lines will not require vaccination but will require guests to declare their vaccination status.

The chairman of the House committee looking into the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection has tested positive. He urged the committee to continue its work without him. He was fully vaccinated and boosted, again pointing out that no one is immune.

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 355 (855)

As covid cases rise in 40 states, some US health officials just don't seem to care. The health department commissioner in Chicago said that reinstating any restrictions would be tantamount to "crying wolf." A state health official in Louisiana said that the ongoing rise in cases is "concerning" but "not alarming." Some places are reacting to the current wave, though. Los Angeles County is planning to reinstate its indoor mask mandates on July 29. Besides the wave of covid, there is a wave of pandemic fatigue. At the same time, there are scientists warning that the current wave could be something of "a giant petri dish" in which new variants might develop.

WHO is calling on Europe to reinforce, not reduce covid-19 monitoring, a current blind spot in assessing the state of the virus. They warn that winter will be difficult. There are already some 3,000 people dying every week. The waves are coming closer and closer together. There may well be a fourth wave in the autumn followed by the expected winter wave. There was a hope that the pattern of cases would become regular as that of influenza is, tough winter months but little the rest of the year. The reverse appears to be happening with covid. Needless to say, this was not expected. 

At the start of the pandemic, waves were created by new variants. Waves now are driven in large part by immune escape. Vaccines offer much-needed protection against severe illness and deaths but do not do much against infection, and what protection they do offer wanes quickly. An immunologist at Imperial College London says that if we let nature follow its course, we'll "reach some sort of equilibrium, but it may mean coexisting at a lower level of overall health." It's not a pleasant option to consider, but 78 percent of people in a recent survey think that we won't be rid of covid in our lifetimes. The biggest concern expressed was "spreading the virus to people who are at higher risk of serious illness," cited by 27 percent of the respondents. 

As I typed "Day 855" in the title, I could not help but think what if this gets to Day 1,000? If covid has become truly endemic, there may not be much news coming out by then. I'm not sure how "same old same old" is going to pass as a new way of life. 

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 354 (854)

Another slow day on the news front, but not as slow as yesterday. Monkeypox is still out there and, now, so is Marburg. Two cases have been identified in Ghana, the first time Marburg has appeared there. Marburg is a relation of Ebola, and got its name from the University of Marburg in Germany where it was first studied. There is no vaccine nor is there any treatment for Marburg, making it almost as deadly as Ebola. The fatality rate ranges from 24 percent to 88 percent. It can spread to humans from infected animals including bats. Marburg was the name of our first family dog. Yes, he was named after the virus just as current family dog Lassa is named after a different virus. 

It seems that 70 percent of Americans 50 and older who got a first booster have not yet gotten a second. It might be time. A study just published in Nature found that BA.5 is four times as resistant to mRNA vaccines as earlier Omicron subvariants. The BA.5 wave is looking worse in the South, just as summer waves in 2020 and 2021 did. As to how high the wave is, a scientist at the University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation says, "We estimate that for every reported case there are 7 unreported." Other scientists say there may be 10 more unreported. 

On the vaccine front, I read something I had not thought about--the suggestion that too much tailoring of vaccines to fight new variants could allow older variants to reappear. What if the vaccines have been changed enough that they no longer work against Alpha, Beta, and friends? While I cannot address that medically, it's worth pondering philosophically.

Dr. Fauci says it is "very likely" he will retire by the end of POTUS's first term in office, in other words, before January 2025. He does not expect to stay until the coronavirus is eradicated because, he said, "I think we're going to be living with this" for years to come. "Are we there yet?" may become a rhetorical question. On Friday, POTUS extended the covid-19 public health emergency.

Cases in India are the highest they have been since February 20. Most covid-based restrictions have been lifted. Two billion vaccinations have been given. Eighty percent are the AstraZeneca vaccine made in India. The others in use are Covaxin and Corbevax, both made in India, and Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 353 (853)

I did not think it would happen, but none of the sources I usually check for coronavirus news had anything new. The ones that did have something were repeating articles from yesterday. I did find some tweets with advice on making sure an N95 mask fits properly. Another advised wearing a high-grade mask indoors at all times even if alone because of the length of time viral particles can float around in the air. Said tweet advised that masks should come off only outdoors. I'm not ready to start wearing my mask inside my own home, but I do make a point of wearing it in any other indoor setting. How long I'll be doing that remains to be seen, as do so many things.

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 352 (852)

Monkeypox moment: The demand for monkeypox vaccine exceeds the available supply. We have also had the first confirmed case here in Central Virginia. On the coronavirus front, the wastewater analyses done in Virginia suggest that we are in a post-holiday surge. Or we can hope it's just due to the July 4 holiday and not to the growing prevalence of BA.5. A post-holiday surge would be shorter and, maybe, less worrisome. 

The chronic shortage of registered nurses is worse than it's ever been in some parts of the US. That's causing more and more covid patients to lack nurses to care for them. Or, if the nurses that are in one hospital are busy with covid patients, other patients are doing without. Nursing employment seems to be somewhat cyclical. One year, graduating RNs are easily able to find employment in whatever place they want to live. Other years, graduating RNs take what they can find where they find it. Back at the start of the pandemic, there was mention of applications for nursing and medical schools increasing. Maybe we need to give it another year or two for the nursing students to graduate assuming they went to programs giving a bachelor's in nursing.

China's economy just had the lowest quarter of growth since early in the pandemic; it only grew 0.4 percent. Lockdowns and quarantines in support of zero covid are having a significant effect. Zero covid makes it hard for companies and even small businesses or shops to make investment decisions, buy property, or travel. There is a growing sense of impatience, but the government seems firmly committed to zero covid.

Research on viruses. Good or bad? In mid-2020, researchers catching bats in Laos found coronaviruses very similar to SARS-CoV-2, the one underlying the pandemic. They are experimenting with one in a high-security lab in Paris, letting it evolve and studying how it might jump to humans. So, is this a good thing? We clearly need to know more about viruses, but should research be done on a new one or the one we need to know more about? There's your starting point for a rousing dinnertime discussion.

 

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 351 (851)

Not too much coronavirus news out there this morning. Are we becoming numb to it all or saying that if I can't see it, it can't see me? Someone in a group to which I belong and which is scheduling an indoor potluck that will involve sitting shoulder to shoulder on couches while eating and not knowing anyone's vaccination status responded, "I love that some normal life has returned." Her normal and mine are obviously not the same. If it were outdoors, on picnic tables or eating sitting on the grass, I would think about going. But not indoors, not with limited space, not with people who may or may not be vaccinated. IIWTR? Is it worth the risk? Not for me. 

Over the last two weeks, cases have increased in 38 US states. The largest increases have been in states with the lowest vaccination rates. Unvaccinated people may have had covid, but vaccines offer greater protection than infections do. Coronavirus immunity seems to wane faster than immunity to other viruses. Unfortunately, there is no systematically collected data to show how common reinfection really is. Hospitalizations are up in 43 states. There are over 40,000 people in hospital for the first time since the end of February, and the slope of the ascent is increasing. Hospitalizations are the best indicator of covid spread given the undercounting in cases caused by home testing. 

The BA.5 subvariant has passed the peak of BA.2 variants and continues to rise. Some breakthrough infections are severe despite the vaccine's generally reducing the severity of cases. It is also possible to get long covid after mild or asymptomatic cases. Animal studies are showing BA.5 to be more severe than earlier Omicron variants, but that may not be the case in humans. (I'd cross my fingers except for how difficult typing would be then.)

And some of the news just makes for some head-scratching. Portugal is one of the most vaccinated countries in the EU yet cases, hospitalizations, and deaths all rose significantly with Omicron. South Africa, with more immunity from infections than vaccinations, yet while cases rose, hospitalizations and deaths stayed low. The general population is younger, which may be a factor.

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 350 (850)

Right after I posted yesterday's abbreviated effort, I got a news bulletin that the FDA had given the Novavax vaccine emergency use authorization to be given to adults. The CDC advisory committee and the CDC itself need to approve its use before it can become available to the general public. The clinical trials on which authorization was based were done before the Delta and Omicron waves. Some experts are hoping that an alternative to an mRNA vaccine may appeal to some of the 22 percent of people in the US who are still totally unvaccinated. Novavax is a protein subunit vaccine. It contains a spike protein and an adjuvant to enhance the immune response. Authorization was as a primary immunization only; no decision was made on using it as a booster.

Shanghai has recorded over 400 new cases so far in July. Twelve of 16 districts have been ordered to do two PCR tests in three days. That means testing every resident twice. Two residential committees have reminded residents to stock up on food and medicine for 14 days just in case their apartment building is locked down. Says a tech worker, "The government has lost the trust of the public. Whatever they will do, I have enough staple food for one month of survival and home anyway." Already, over 300,000 people have been screened or placed in government isolation centers. 

Back in the US, the spread of drug-resistant infections surged during the pandemic. Deaths from such infections rose 15 percent in the first year of the pandemic when compared to 2019. Forty percent of these were in hospitals; the rest were in nursing homes and other healthcare settings. The total could be much higher since labs were swamped with covid testing.

Hawaii will end their public school classroom mask mandate as of August 1, the day the new school year will begin. Masks may still be worn, and a cluster of cases in one classroom might bring back masks temporarily for that classroom. Quarantines resulting from classroom infections will end as well.

Finally, the Government Accounting Office warns that the CDC's reliance on outdated systems to collect and analyze data on international air travelers makes responses to incoming disease threats difficult. Let's hope they get a new or updated system going before the next pandemic arrives.  

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 349 (849)

I only got a few notes taken this morning before embarking on taking My Mom to a medical appointment. Given things that need to be done here at home, I'll write about those few notes and call it an afternoon.

Only three coronavirus variants have become dominant worldwide, Alpha, Delta, and Omicron. The Omicron subvariant BA.5 is about to join them. "Immune escape" is its route to dominance; you may not have too serious a time, but it will get you given half a chance. The virus's evolution is accelerating. 

Three forms of a nasal spray vaccine are in late-stage, randomized, clinical trials. A nasal vaccine would protect against the entry of the virus into the upper airway. Shots can do this, but the protection does not last for any notable length of time. Nasal vaccine does.  

WHO says that covid remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, a state first declared on January 20, 2020. Genome sequencing is becoming spotty, though, raising the question of just how closely developments can be monitored. WHO's Director-General says, "New waves of the virus demonstrate again that the Covid-19 (pandemic) is nowhere near over."

Finally, a poll done by the New York Times and Siena College asked respondents what they thought was the most important problem facing the country. I can't argue with the 35 percent who said inflation or the economy, but I could have words with the under one percent who said the pandemic.

And there you have it. I hope to have more time to take notes and ponder about them tomorrow. 

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 348 (848)

I had to hunt diligently for what coronavirus news I could find today. The dearth at least gave me some time to work on a quilt, somewhat calming after a less-than-calm morning. Since there's not that much to write here, I may even get back to that quilt today.

Officially, the US count for new daily cases is around 100,000. Some epidemiologists, however, believe there could be as many as a million new cases each day. Hospitalizations are up 18 percent over two weeks. One expert called the BA.5 subvariant "the worst version of the virus that we've seen." US health officials are "urgently" working on a plan to make second boosters available to all adults. Son #1 is hoping it happens before he flies out of state in late August for a  100-mile race.

Children's physical activity declined by about 20 percent during the pandemic. The researchers looked at rates in all continents but Africa and Antarctica (I'm not sure there are any children there). The decline has been cited as one of the factors responsible for the increase in depression for children and adolescents. In my childhood, we were allowed to play outside on our own, which makes me think our activity would have gone up if schools had suddenly closed and virtual school took less time than in-person school had. The days were different over 50 years ago.

Various Canadian cities or provinces could be entering or already be in a seventh covid wave. Ontario and Quebec are already there, as is British Columbia which happens to be in its third wave of Omicron. Cases are rising there but not as significantly as hospitalizations are. Alberta's case and hospitalization rates are rising as they near that seventh wave. In The Professor's home province of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, and North Battleford are nearing a seventh. The COVID-19 Hazard Index uses data on vaccine protection, current caseload and spread, impact on healthcare system, and mortality to compute what danger places are in. Newfoundland and Labrador have the highest ratings, 2.98 out of a maximum of five. 

And that's it from here--no really bad news but also no really good news. 

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 347 (847)

A bit from The Washington Post: "America has decided the pandemic is over. The coronavirus has other ideas." Among those ideas is Omicron subvariant BA.2.75, an evolutionary jump away from Omicron variant BA.2. It has more and different spike mutations than BA.5, eight as opposed to BA.5's three. In other words, immunity from infection with BA.5 may not protect against BA.2.75. BA.2.75 is most prevalent in India but has been identified in other countries including the US. It seems to be showing an exponential increase in the rate of transmission. 

The assisted living facility in which My Mom resides is finally giving residents a second covid booster; I dropped her consent form off this morning. It's about time, I say, having had my second booster in early April. The US now ranks 67th in the world for boosters, below such countries as Iran, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan. I've read several sources recently touting high-quality, well-fitted masks; physical distancing; air filtration; ventilation; and vaccines as the best protection from BA.5 infections. Mitigation is not an all-or-none proposition. Wearing a high-quality, well-fitted mask is better than doing nothing. Right now, one in three Americans lives in a medium-risk county while one in five lives in a high-risk county. Hospitalizations hit a pandemic low in April and have been steadily rising since then. Of concern is that hospitals could get overwhelmed if a new wave comes too soon.

At least three Chinese cities are now in partial lockdowns, Xi'an, Lanzhou, and Haikou. Macau has again closed all its casinos. All non-essential businesses have been closed, and residents have been told to stay at home unless they need to buy food. There are new cases in Shanghai of a subvariant BA.5.2.1. Enough testing is going on that more lockdowns could be coming.

European Union agencies are recommending a second shot of vaccine for people over the age of 60 as cases and hospitalizations rise. Boosters have been recommended for people over the age of 80 for some time. The European wave is, so far, driven by BA.5. The European Medicines Agency is reviewing data for two adapted vaccines.

Back in the US, Novovax is predicted to get emergency use authorization soon. The government has announced that it will buy 3.2 million doses. Novovax ia a protein-based vaccine that may appeal to people skeptical of mRNA vaccines.  

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 345 (845)

So I just posted yesterday's entry. I noticed that as I went to post that I was taking today off. Does that mean I am making a post today? Not! I spent this morning doing things I did not expect to be doing, and really want to get to the endpoint of reorganizing my studio/sewing room. And as I type that, it occurs to me that since tomorrow is my second birthday (Son #2 and DIL= could not make it last weekend), I probably won't fit in posting then either. 

Queen Elizabeth still lives. Ukraine is still at war. Americans still own too many guns. There is a lot that is still right in the world and a lot that isn't.

See you on Monday.

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 344 (844)

Two percent of US children under the age of five have received at least one dose of covid vaccine. This was not unexpected. In general, the percentage of people getting vaccinated has decreased as the age group decreases. A higher percentage of adults have been vaccinated than teenagers. The rate for teenagers exceeds that of children between the ages of five and 11. And the five to 11 age group has a higher vaccination rate than the under-twos. 

Beijing has apparently ended the vaccine mandate for entry into public spaces before it really started. A person still needs to present evidence of a recent negative covid test and a non-feverish body temperature. Getting vaccinated is by "informal, voluntary consent."

The formal name of long covid is evidently "post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2" or just PASC. There is no medical definition of long covid yet, and that's probably a good thing. The CDC looks at covid symptoms lasting at least four weeks after the original infection. WHO looks at symptoms within three months from the onset of covid and its symptoms. The lingering symptoms or effects should last for at least two months. Over 50 different symptoms have been reported as being associated with long covid. Rushing a medical definition runs the danger of overlooking something important or otherwise overlooking large groups of patients. If you had Latin along your educational path, you may have recognized that "sequelae" is plural. There could well be multiple syndromes present and/or multiple specific causes. 

The CDC says that there is no evidence yet that BA.4 and BA.5 are more severe than earlier Omicrons. Still, hospitalizations are rising. If hospitals get over-crowded, care of other disorders might suffer.

And now to arrange materials for my class, all except the wool roving. The cat with an appetite for wool is sitting in my workspace, something that will be corrected before I log onto Zoom.

I thwarted the cat's every attempt to get wool. As for the sheep, it somewhat sucks, but I did learn some things. While the wet felting class I took last month was fine in Zoom, this would have been much better in person. Here's what passes for a sheep.

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 343 (843)

Monkeypox opener: WHO is reconsidering whether to declare monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern. Over 6,000 cases have been identified in 58 countries.

"They're the Houdini of covid. They're the escape artists." Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 now account for over 70 percent of covid samples in the US; BA.5 is pulling ahead of BA.4. Both do better at evading immune system defenses than any other variant so far. In other words, the opening description from an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco is quite accurate. Singapore is just one country in which BA.5 has grown into the second highest case peak after the original Omicron BA.1. Hospitalizations are still rising as well. 

Symptoms of BA.4 and BA.5 are similar to those of BA.1: cough, runny nose, sore throat, fatigue, headaches, and muscle pains. Loss of the sense of smell or taste happens much less often. BA.5 is very much an upper respiratory infection including sinus congestion. A BA.5 sore throat can be as sore as that accompanying strep throat. I haven't had strep throat in many decades, but I remember how painful it seemed to my kids when they were little.

In response to a spike in new cases of covid, Cyprus has reinstated a mask mandate for indoor public spaces. Beijing has instituted a vaccine passport to be required to enter libraries, museums, and other public places. Older people are being encouraged to get vaccinated. As of early May, 82 percent of people over the age of 60 had gotten two doses of vaccine, while only 51 percent of people over 80 had. The mRNA vaccines being used in the US are not approved for use in China.

A Pew Research Center survey of 10,282 adults showed the public is losing trust in government leaders and public health experts. There is also a wide partisan gap. Fifty-two percent of respondents said that public health officials had done an excellent or good job. This 52 percent was composed of 72 percent of the respondents identifying as Democrats and 29 percent of those identifying as Republican. Public confidence in medical centers and hospitals remains high. In general respondents were less worried about catching covid or unintentionally spreading it, and most thought the worst of the pandemic was over. Only 25 percent saw the coronavirus as a significant threat to their personal health. 

I'll be taking a three-hour needle felting class via Zoom tomorrow afternoon, so if the blog post is that sparse, maybe I'll include a photo of the sheep we are supposed to be making. I've done some needle felting before but feel especially weak on making the metal armature over which the wool is positioned. I'll be paying extra attention to that part of the class.

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 342 (842)

Covid was the third leading cause of death in the US in 2020 and 2021, accounting for one of every eight lives lost. Heart disease topped the list followed by cancer. I wonder what 2022's list will look like.

Here's another reason to get vaccinated. A study is out claiming that long covid was less likely to occur in healthcare workers who'd gotten two or three mRNA shots compared with unvaccinated workers. The prevalence of long covid was 41.8 percent for unvaccinated workers, 27.4 percent for workers who had gotten two doses of vaccine, and 16 percent for workers who had gotten three. A physician at Washington University in St. Louis who was not involved in the study notes, "Everyone is at risk. The more optimal strategy is to avoid infection or reinfection in the first place." He says that studying long covid "should be a national priority."

An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research-SCAN Foundation survey conducted in mid-May reported 12 percent of 1,001 respondents as saying their lives were the same as they'd been before the pandemic. Another 54 percent reported their lives as being somewhat the same, while 34 percent said their lives were not the same as before. Fifty-one percent of the respondents said they considered vaccines as essential for them. Related to vaccination, 39 percent felt that things won't go back to the way they were until nearly all people are vaccinated. (Yeah, that's gonna take a while.) Half viewed the availability of effective treatments as essential for participating in public life. When it came to masks, 22 percent of respondents said that wearing masks in indoor public places was essential to going back to pre-pandemic life.

A study published Wednesday said that an experimental drug called sabizabulin developed to fight cancer cut the risk of death for patients hospitalized with covid. The company making the drug has applied for emergency use authorization. Some scientists have criticized the study for its small sample size: 134 patients who got the drug and 70 who got a placebo. Of the placebo patients, 45.1 percent died, compared to 20.2 percent of patients who received the drug, yielding a 55.2 percent reduction in the risk of death. 

About six percent of Bhutan's gross domestic product comes from tourism revenue. As the country reopens, that tourism is going to cost about twice as much. Before the pandemic, tourists had to be affiliated with a tour, with a fee of $250 per day covering accommodations, meals, guides, and a government tourism fee. Starting in September, the government fee will be $200 paid directly to the government and all other costs will be the responsibility of the tourist. The aim is to rebrand Bhutan as "an exclusive destination" for "discerning tourists."

The physician who gained noteriety pushing hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for covid died last week. No, he did not die of covid, but of lung cancer.

Finally, Dr. Fauci figures that covid is his last pandemic. The 81-year-old is said to still work more than 12 hours daily, seven days per week. In retirement, he plans to teach and to write a story of covid as well as a memoir of his early life. He also wants to encourage young people to enter civil service. I hope he lives long enough to enjoy his retirement; he certainly won't be idle.

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 341 (841)

I'm writing later than usual today since this afternoon was my annual well-adult maintenance check. I have a checklist of things to do and to work on, and will get to doing and working on them. I am definitely a work in progress.

Covid case rates are getting even more tentative. Many state and local governments are closing testing sites. Some states are no longer reporting daily data; at least one state is only posting updated case numbers once every two weeks. The number of lab-based PCR tests done in July will be roughly half of those conducted in March. Some scientists say that the current wave is the second largest of the pandemic so far. The New York Times database reports an average of 113,000 new cases daily. At the same time, a scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security says that his "back of the envelope" estimate is about one million new cases daily. Hospitalizations remain low but have increased a bit throughout June. Deaths remain well below the daily death toll peak of the pandemic. 

Plug for covid boosters: During the spring, people over age 50 who'd had one booster were dying from covid four times the rate of those who'd had two boosters.

As Shanghai reopens, Anhui Province in eastern China has an outbreak. There were over 200 cases Monday; there have been over 1,000 cases since June 26. The Communist Party secretary said that transmission outside quarantine centers would be eliminated and told local government officials there could be no covid-related deaths or cases among medical workers. Oh, snap! I would not want to be one of those officials. Also in China, Xi'an, population 13 million, is shutting down for one week. Eighteen cases have been found since Saturday.

Here's a great headline: "Fear of public shaming keeps masks on, and infections low, in Japan." Japan has the lowest death rate among the world's wealthiest nations, roughly one twelfth of the US rate. Japan, the world's largest economy and the 11th largest population, tops world rankings in vaccination and has one of the world's lowest infection rates. "Face pants" is a buzzword used in Japan that implies dropping one's mask is like taking off one's underwear in public. 

Continuing on the world beat, New Zealand is on the brink of another wave. Average cases are up, immunity is down, and new variants may arrive along with winter. The government has been criticized for not giving covid enough attention. One microbiologist says that not acting is based on wishful thinking. If the current 12 to 14 daily deaths continue, there would be 5,000 deaths in the coming year. That's 15 times the auto accident total and 10 times the mortality from influenza. He says that each repeated infection is a new roll of the dice for long covid, organ damage, mental health, neurological effects, and serious illness. 

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 340 (840)

Happy Independence Day! In true American fashion, there was an active shooter at a parade in Highland Park, north of Chicago. One report said there were at least five people killed and 16 people injured enough to go to a hospital. Another report said that the shooter was still at large. Happy Holiday? Not! All this has happened after I had put on my "CANADA: Looking Better Every Day" t-shirt and moose earrings. 

Very, very little covid news out there this morning. So let's start with the now-daily monkeypox note. If the monkeypox rash moves into a patient's eye, it can cause permanent damage including, in rare cases, blindness.

If monkeypox is not enough, there is now news of Pasco County, Florida's being in quarantine due to a rapidly-growing population of invasive giant African land snails. They carry something called rat lungworm, which can cause meningitis. They also eat over 500 different plant species as well as paint and stucco off houses as a source of calcium. Some people keep them, illegally, as pets. If a snail is released or escapes, it can lay 1,200 eggs each year. Two giant African land snails were also found in luggage at Atlanta's airport, discovered thanks to two members of Customs and Border Protections's "Beagle Brigade."

As for covid, any strain should be evaluated on three things: infectivity, immune escape, and severity. The BA.5 subvariant is worse than others on the first two items. Severity is still up in the air. Hospitalizations are up, but deaths are not ... yet. As for number of cases, one estimate is that we could be missing 80 percent of all cases due to home testing. That would put the current US peak about the same as the initial Omicron peak in January.

Finally, a legislator in Hong Kong tested positive for covid a day after having appeared in a group photo with Xi Jinping. The legislator stood two rows back, and everyone was masked. A new round of testing has been ordered in Macau. I don't know how it works that casinos are still open but staff have been asked to stay home. Self-serve gambling? Slot machines and electric poker? They need to be careful in Macau. The population is 600,000, but there is only one hospital. One.

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 339 (839)

So where do we stand right now in terms of covid? Some hospitals are touting that they have no covid patients in their ICUs. Deaths are around 360 daily. That's nice, but it's still above the lowest point since March 2020, 228 daily in July 2021. Cases now run around 109,000 daily compared with 20,000 daily a year ago. That 109,000 is a serious undercounting given the current use of home tests. One influence on all the numbers is immunity. An Associated Press story this morning reported, "As many as eight out of 10 people in the US have been infected at least once, according to one influential model." Some experts say that built-up immunity from vaccines or infections puts the current covid death rate "solidly" in range of the typical flu season, though there is yet no seasonal pattern similar to that of influenza. Cautions exist, though, as an infectious disease specialist at Baylor notes, "We thought we understood it until these new subvariants emerged." He says it would be wise to assume a new variant is coming later in the summer and that there will be a fall-to-winter wave as people move back indoors. 

Some sources are saying that the fall-to-winter wave could also include influenza. The restrictions during the last couple of years have helped people lose some of their natural immunity to flu. Some experts are saying that people over the age of 65 should get covid and flu shots at the same time. 

As I read all the above information, my perhaps-having-read-too-much-science-fiction-as-a-youth mind asked what might happen if the many people with long covid are incubating new variants. Those variants are why the people are still having covid symptoms. I do not at all think this is happening, but I thought I'd share one of my flights of fancy.

Another public service announcement in support of covid vaccinations: Based on data from April, unvaccinated people have a six times higher risk of dying from covid compared with people with at least the basic vaccination. As they used to say on (if I remember correctly) Hill Street Blues, be careful out there.

Poor Elon Musk. Covid lockdowns in China are behind second-quarter drops in production and sales for Tesla. Sales dropped 18 percent, while production fell 15 percent.

Another, possibly more troubling, quickie. I have no details ... yet ... but it appears that an Omicron BA.2.75 subvariant has been found in India and is spreading. 

 

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 338 (838)

According to WHO, monkeypox cases have tripled in Europe. Africa is concerned about not getting enough monkeypox vaccine just as it did not get enough covid vaccine.

New York City put its color-coded covid alert system on hold Thursday just as cases and hospitalizations are rising. The test positivity rate is currently 10.3 percent, the highest since January.  The city is "re-evaluating" the alert system. Meanwhile, the alert system's website Friday said transmission was high and people should continue to wear masks in public indoor settings and test themselves before and after trips or gatherings.

An immunology professor at Imperial College London says that the idea we can just live with the coronavirus is wrong, saying that it is not a "common-cold-like friendly virus." For example, the supposedly "mild" Omicron waves in 2022 have meant 619,000 more long covid cases. As for Omicron, most people, even after a third shot, had 20 times less neutralizing antibody response against Omicron than they had had against the initial Wuhan strain. It seems that some combinations of exposures zap a person's protection more than others. Being infected in the first viral wave and, later, by Omicron is particularly nasty,

Denmark's prime minister apologized to mink farmers for Denmark's killing more minks than other countries. Around 5,000 jobs were lost when the mink farming system collapsed. Some lawmakers have accused the prime minister of using the pandemic as an excuse to end mink farming. 

In the US, 10 percent of the National Guard's membership, over 43,000 soldiers, can no longer drill with their units because they did not get vaccinated. They have not been cut from the force--fired--just yet. Back in New York City, teachers and other educational workers have sued the city over its response to their not being vaccinated. The problem is that they cannot find a judge to hear the case. So far, three judges have recused themselves because they own stock in vaccine manufacturers and have a direct conflict of interest.

North Korea suggests that covid came into the country from South Korea after North Koreans touched "alien things" that crossed the border by "balloons," wind, or "other climate phenomena." There is some foundation for the claim. South Korean activists have sent balloons loaded with propaganda, dollar bills, USB drives with news, and miniature Bibles. North Korea often tries to shoot such balloons down. 

As expected, the world went on yesterday in my blogging absence. I'd like to wish my Canadian friends a belated "Happy Canada Day!" Having attended several Canada Day community pancake breakfasts while visiting, I had pancakes with my birthday breakfast. I remain 125 years younger than Canada.

The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 337 (837) Birthday Edition III

The poem I'm working on for my 66th birthday won't, I think, be as good as the one I wrote for my 65th.  I have too many other things on my mind right now. If it gets to a point that doesn't embarrass me, I may post it, but it won't be today or, probably, any day of the four-day weekend--Canada Day on Friday and US Independence Day on Monday. One summer in which the days fell the same way we spent the long weekend in Stewart, British Columbia which sits right next door to Hyder, the easternmost town in Alaska. Back then, you could just slow down at the border crossing, give a wave, and go on. Those were the good old days. Stewart is where we witnessed something I've never seen done anywhere else, a hospital bed race. One team member rode on the bed and the other three or four pushed the bed down the street. Needless to say, there were also costumes. 

As for the six-months-old resolutions, I'm not totally bombing. I wanted to finish the list of 50 things I started working on in my 50th year, the one leading up to my 50th birthday. I'm getting there more slowly than I had hoped but it's still doable. The Professor has agreed to accompany me on visits to two local historical sites, Monticello and Montpelier. I have written four of the seven poems I needed to finish. I have yet to sketch anything, so I still have nine to do there. I gave away my box of children's books written in Spanish, so I can't take the easy route on reading something written in Spanish. I did find the Spanish shelf on one of the bookcases, and need to see what's there. I did have The Gulag Archipelago in Spanish, but I don't think that's doable. 

I have practiced doing quilt binding on Xena the Warrior Bernina. I haven't decided if I'll try it on the quilt I'm quilting right now. It may take a little while to get back to that quilt. The Professor was complaining not for the first time about all the stuff in our garage. One item was a dresser that originally was our changing table. It moved with My Mom to the condo to which she moved, and when she moved on from there it came back to us ... to the garage. I did not realize that it was not going to fit where I wanted to put it in my studio/sewing room and to put it the only other place it would fit meant a massive reorganization of various things including my dolls. I have more dolls than I thought I did. I also found a couple of decades-old projects that shouldn't take too long to finish once I'm done with the current quilt. 

I wanted to keep up with the on-demand bodyweight training program I'd been doing. Then I had my nose-breaking fall on January 6 that also bruised my knees to the point I could not kneel. Then I developed what turned out to be a recalcitrant nerve in my right knee and spent some time attending to it. I am getting back to working out now, though. I'm doing the morning dog walks in a weight vest and have added some light aerobics to the mix. 

Related to the working out, I didn't want to gain any weight. I haven't and have even lost the couple of pounds I gained over the holidays. The working out helps for sure. 

Finally, I wanted to make friends with our convection oven. While I've done some recipes from convection oven cookbooks, I'm not comfortable yet doing something I'm used to making in the regular oven in the convection one. Adjusting time and temperature is, so far, intimidating. I've got six more months, though. 

And so I begin another trip around the sun, my 67th one. It will hold surprises, some welcome and some not. It will stretch me possibly to new limits just as it nestles around to keep me safe. I hope to be back in six months to make post new resolutions and in six months after that to embark on a new orbit.