“This is not my beautiful life…”

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 Tomorrow is the first day of Lockdown Week 7.

Forty-two days behind a security fence. Forty-two days with insufficient aerobic exercise. Forty-two days talking to dogs, monkeys, fish, birds, bugs, crabs, and plants…
How much more of this must a gal take?

Bad case scenario?
In 42 more days, this gal pines for the good old days of Lockdown Week 1 or 2… or 6!

News blues…

Dr. Tom Frieden, the former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, laid out "10 plain truths" about Covid-19 … at a House Appropriations Committee hearing on the pandemic response.
A summary of Frieden’s ten truths:

1. "It's really bad" in New York City
2. It's "just the beginning"
3. Data is a "very powerful weapon against this virus"
4. We need to "box the virus in"
5. We must find the balance
6. Protect the "frontline heroes"
7. Protect our most vulnerable people, too
8. Governments and private companies need to work together
9. We must not neglect non-Covid health issues
10. Preparedness is paramount

Read the details

***

One joy of statistics and mathematical formulae is their ability to ‘sanitize’ the human experience from the messy and unquantifiable psychological and emotional aspects.
Let’s try that:

Worldwide – Confirmed infections: 3,755,379; deaths: 263,831
US – Confirmed infections: 1,228,603; deaths: 73,000
SA – Confirmed infections: 7,808; deaths: 153
Turkey* – Confirmed infections: 131,744 deaths: 3,584

*Turkey listed as I may fly to California via Turkish Airlines via Istanbul.
My motto? Know the numbers and the risks.
Johns Hopkins University ranks Turkey seventh in the world for the number of confirmed infections although the actual toll, like everywhere else, is higher.
Is there a crew sanitizing the airport?

There is increasing evidence that the rise of highly infectious diseases is linked to the increasing destruction of, and human encroachment into, the natural environment. It behooves humans to understand – and mitigate – our destructive tendencies.
Start small. Understand the concentrations of carbon dioxide - CO2 – in our fragile atmosphere:

May 2, 2020: 416.82 part per million (ppm)
May 2, 2019: 414.45 ppm
10 years ago: 393.18 ppm
Pre-industrial base: 280ppm
Safe level: 350ppm

From Mauna Loa, Hawaii. Source: NOAA-ESRL 

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it?
Figure our what you, in your ecosystem “bubble”, can do to cut down on CO2 emissions, plastics, and non-recyclables.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

I’m far from my houseboat home but I’m secure, nourished, with adequate privacy. Still… I’m ready to return to California.
I thought, briefly, about reserving a seat on a repatriation flight from South Africa to Doha, Qatar. Dates were posted, people booked flights, things looked good – except for the part about having to find one’s own way from Doha to California.
Then, last night, the US Consulate in South Africa issued a follow-up email:

Qatar Airways Flights
We have received notification from Qatar Airways that all flights scheduled for May 7 and beyond have been canceled. If you have already booked a seat with Qatar Airways, please contact the airline for a refund. We have no further information on whether other repatriation flights from Qatar will be available in the future.

What happened?
No one is saying…

Moreover, Americans trying to register for information on the SAA repatriation flight to Dulles, Washington D.C. get the message that the SAA website is “experiencing technical difficulties”:

“SAA has assured us that the site is up and functioning, however, they are experiencing significantly higher than expected demand.”

Hmmm, this reminds me of my experience with the Department of Home Affairs in Pietermaritzburg where I tried – for five years! - to get my passport. I’d presented my fingers for prints, smiled for the ID camera, and paid the fee.
After that?
Nothing.
I called to enquire about status and was told, “You didn’t pick up your document, so we sent it back to Pretoria.”
Finally, I went through the SA Embassy in Los Angeles.
I was issued a passport within six months.

Joke: the SAA flight captain welcomes passengers aboard the plane, “Shortly after takeoff, our flight crew will come around and take your cocktail orders. We look forward to getting you to your destination. Be assured nothing can go wrong… go wrong … go wrong….”

Plan for Day 42? Do a giblet run….


Read Week 1  | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4  |  Week 5   | Week 6

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