The Road goes ever on and on ... Day 277 (777)

Not a lot of coronavirus news out there today. There may be in a few days, though. Each of the 2,600 guests at the White House Correspondents' Dinner last night had to prove they'd been vaccinated, boosted, and negative on a covid test in the 24 hours preceding the dinner. Watching some of the highlights, I can't help but wonder how much of a superspreader event this might turn out to be. I saw no masks. POTUS did not put one on after he finished speaking. Please, pretty please, let him not have gotten it.

China is entering its five-day Labor Day celebration. It's normally a big travel time, but likely not this year. Beijing is tightening things even more. A negative test is now required to enter some public areas and sporting events and to use public transit. Even restaurants will require a negative test for entry. The time period within which the test must happen varies. For public transit, it is one week. For sporting events, group travel, malls, shops, and scenic spots, the test must be within the previous 48 hours. Covid testing will be free as of Tuesday so not being able to afford a test can't be used as an excuse. 

US hospitalizations are declining, but there are still many, many unmet needs from poor and uninsured patients who delayed seeking care during the earlier days of the pandemic. Some patients were afraid to go to the hospital or had trouble finding transportation. People waited months to get care for things such as a broken wrist or torn rotator cuff. The delays made the injuries worsen and become harder to treat. Federal programs that paid for covid care for uninsured people are ending. Such programs also gave financial aid to hospitals that offer the poor extensive uncompensated care for things such as the broken wrist or torn rotator cuff just mentioned. Health care in the US needed help before the pandemic and needs even more now. 

I wonder if there is an over-under for the number of positive tests to come out of last night's dinner. Any guesses?

The View from the Hermitage, Day 236

Come on, people counting votes! I'd really like to pop a champagne cork tonight. I know there will be recounts in several states, but I don't think those will change things.  The Orange Foolius will mount multiple legal challenges that--fingers crossed--will be thrown out due to misinformation in what is filed. 

Speaking of misinformation, I almost wish I had been watching last night when the three major networks (Fox is not a major network) all cut away from The Foolius's speech within minutes due to the number of falsehoods he was spouting. It is about time they did that. I know that they did it now because this country is basically on edge, and that edge is a sharp one. I fully expect some sort of rioting in the streets before all is resolved, and I think the networks knew that keeping the Foolius on the air might bring that to pass sooner. 

The local newspaper this morning carried an article saying that 93 percent of the counties with the most rapidly increasing covid-19 rates went for The Orange Foolius rather than Uncle Joe. I have not the slightest idea why that is so. Do these people not follow what is going on in their own home places? Do they believe that despite how many people are catching it right now the end really is just around some corner? Do they just not follow any news source other than Fox or the One American News Network? Or do they just not care?

As the votes were being counted yesterday, the US set a new record number of new covid-19 cases. Some 120,000 people joined the overall count of people suffering from covid-19. The previous day was in the neighborhood of 100,000. How many more will we see before Thanksgiving which, for my international readers, is in 20 days. Twenty days with 100,000-plus daily is 2,000,000, that is, two million new cases.

The Professor today swabbed himself and submitted a self-test covid-19 kit he got free from the local university. He figured that since he worked the election on Tuesday, he should check just to be safe. I didn't have the heart to point out to him that his testing positive now, after he's been home in close contact with me for several days would mean I'm shit out of luck should his test come back positive. I just keep thinking that 2020 needs another way or two to wreak havoc in my world, and this could be one of them. I'll feel better when he gets the results back and some of the uncertainty is lifted.

Remember former Foolius advisor Steve Bannon? He's been banned from Twitter forever and ever I think after posting that he'd like to see Dr. Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray beheaded with their heads placed on pikes outside the White House. When did we apparate to somewhere like Saudi Arabia where beheading is the legitimate form of capital punishment? The man who would like to see this was at one point an adviser to the President of the United States? That may be a good way to summarize the last four years under President Foolius. Sad, but also accurate.

Word on the Internet is that Uncle Joe will address the nation tonight, though I have not yet been able to find the time of that address. I also do not know if that is contingent on his having amassed 270 or more electoral votes in the eyes of multiple media outlets. I do not expect that the networks will cut away from his remarks. I expect an speech rather than a tantrum, something like the high school valedictorian as opposed to the kindergarten bully.

I moved my principal laptop back to my basement office. I'm finding the standing desk more to my back's liking than the dining room table. I have printed off various articles on treating lower back pain, and it appears that standing and moving are often much better than sitting or lying down. I just wish it would stop coming and going. It will feel fine and, then, bam, it's sore again. I think that overall it is probably better than it was when it started last week. I also know that I did not help it by walking absurd distances for three days in a row to complete a fitness challenge set by my watch. That's really stupid when it comes right down to it, but I knew it was while I was doing it. I can't blame anyone but myself.

Will we have a presumptive president-elect by this time tomorrow? Hell if I know! It's 2020 after all.