Dilemmas

The one year anniversary of lockdown approaches.
It’s been a hellava year, hasn’t it?

Worldwide (Map) 
March 18, 2021 - 120,740,000 confirmed infections; 2,672,000 deaths
February 18, 2021 - 109,885,600 confirmed infections; 2,430,000 deaths
January 14, 2021 – 92,314,000 confirmed infections; 1,977,900 deaths

US (Map)
March 18, 2021 – 29,550,000 confirmed infections; 537,000 deaths
February 18, 2021 - 27,824,660 confirmed infections; 490,450 deaths
January 14, 2021 – 23,071,100 confirmed infections; 384,635 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal)
March 18, 2021 – 1,531,000 confirmed infections; 51,560 deaths
February 18, 2021 – 1,496,440 confirmed infections; 48,480 deaths
January 14, 2021 – 1,278,305 confirmed infections; 35,140 deaths

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Tracking Covid-19 vaccinations worldwide 

News blues…

Total number of vaccines administered in South Africa to date: 157,286 out of the 500,000 health workers targeted after SA kick-started the vaccination campaign with Johnson & Johnson's one-dose vaccine last month.

According to health deputy minister Joe Phaahla, SA secured 20 million vaccines from Pfizer and additional supplies through the Covax facility and the African Union.
However, the vaccines were not due to arrive as soon as the government had hoped and this could likely see SA missing its mark to vaccine 1.5 million people by the end of the month.

Read more on this >> 

Healthy futures, anyone?

According to a groundbreaking study written by 26 marine biologists, climate experts and economists and published in Nature, bottom trawling, a widespread practice in which heavy nets are dragged along the seabed, pumps out 1 gigaton of carbon every year.

Fishing boats that trawl the ocean floor release as much carbon dioxide as the entire aviation industry.
The carbon is released from the seabed sediment into the water, and can increase ocean acidification, as well as adversely affecting productivity and biodiversity. Marine sediments are the largest pool of carbon storage in the world.

Read more on this  >> 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Another batch of items went off to the auction house.
Fun fact: the more I uncover “stuff” – tools, tiles, railroad ties, other miscellany – the more stuff appears. A previously unsuspected trove of tools was revealed in a large, dust-strewn box in the controversial shed. I suspect that when my mother moved into this property, many items where never removed by the previous owner. Doing it now is a fulltime job.
Why is the shed controversial? Because realtors dispense contradictory advice about it.
One realtor is adamant that, because the shed is “not on plan,” the seller must tear it down. (In practical reality that means I must oversee the tearing down.)
Another realtor declares that, since the shed existed when my mother purchased the property, it can remain. Yet another realtor has yet to mention the shed at all, simply stating that her client’s offer is “as is” (aka “voetstoots”) – implying shed and all.

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My daughter is one step closer to traveling from San Francisco Bay Area to KZN. She’s vaccinated and we’re confirming quarantine rules for both countries. Research on my end found a lab one town over that will administer pre-flight Covid test for her return to California. (An expensive test: ZAR850 - approx. US$56.) I worry about the risk of travel under current conditions and I’m so looking forward to seeing her.

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Dilemma: with the part time gardener ill or out of commission for the past several months, garden maintenance has slipped. Moreover, I’m doing more and more of the maintenance myself even as I prep, move, and sell “stuff”. I cannot go on this way. Legally I could although ethically I cannot layoff the gardener because he’s sick. I paid him throughout strict lockdown, then through his initial and ongoing illness, but I cannot continue to pay him and a fill-in gardener. But someone must tend the large garden and help with assorted tasks too heavy for me.

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South African days getting shorter while nightfall happens earlier:
Feb 26: sunrise 5:47am; sunset 6:33pm.
March 2: sunrise 5:50am; sunset 6:29pm.
March 9: sunrise 5:55am; sunset 6:21pm.
March 12: sunrise 5:56am; sunset 6:18pm.
March 18: sunrise 5:00am; sunset 6:11pm.