Mothers Speak about War and Terror

Thursday, May 12, 2022

No end in sight

Worldwide (Map)
May 12, 2022 - 519,916,140 confirmed infections; 6,259,850 deaths
May 13, 2021 – 160,450,550 confirmed infections; 3,331,300 deaths

US (Map)
May 12, 2022 - 82,322,360 confirmed infections; 999,110 deaths
May 13, 2021 – 32,814,500 confirmed infections; 583,700 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal)
May 12, 2022 - 3,862,170 confirmed infections; 100,610 deaths
May 13, 2021 – 1,602,100 confirmed infections; 54,970 deaths

Post from 14 May 2020: “Hugging, kissing, a thing of the past!”

News blues

An increase in infections that began in places including the Northeast and Puerto Rico is now being seen in other parts of the [US]. Cases will rise and fall going forward, but more worryingly, hospitalizations have started to increase as well — up 20% over two weeks. The decline in deaths has bottomed out at some 350 a day.
…the U.S. is at a dramatically different point now in the pandemic than in earlier periods. Even as cases have increased — to 80,000 a day, up from less than 30,000 in late March — they’re still far below the heights of earlier this year, and started rising from very low levels.
…There are a range of factors that contribute to cases rising and falling — climate, behavior, and mitigation efforts (or lack thereof) among them. Scientists are trying to zero in on what the latest increase in cases says about the durability of protection and the ongoing evolution of the virus.

***

Doctors across the country are reporting an uptick in health issues that don't involve contracting the Covid-19 virus — but are still caused by the pandemic >>

***

Waste not, want not?

Manufacturing and quality issues led to canceling a $628 million Covid-19 vaccine contract with Emergent Biosolutions.
Millions more AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines — 400 million in total — were destroyed as a result of the lack of standards. … The company allegedly hid batches with potential quality issues from federal regulators in February 2021 following months of internal communication about the substantial problems at the facility.
…[such] quality-control issues led to a contamination of 15 million Johnson & Johnson doses in March 2021, when the company accidentally mixed in AstraZeneca drug substance.

***

The Lincoln Project:
The Crazy Ones (1:00 mins)
Bonfire (0:55 mins)
Yes, we know (0:25 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - May 10, 2022 (2:10 mins)
Meidas Touch: Texas Paul REACTS to GOP Criminalizing Contraception Next (9:40 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

The year the world breaches for the first time the 1.5C global heating limit set by international governments is fast approaching, a new forecast shows. The probability of one of the next five years surpassing the limit is now 50%, scientists led by the UK Met Office found. As recently as 2015, there was zero chance of this happening in the following five years. But this surged to 20% in 2020 and 40% in 2021. The global average temperature was 1.1C above pre-industrial levels in 2021.
It is also close to certain – 93% – that by 2026 one year will be the hottest ever recorded, beating 2016, when a natural El Niño climate event supercharged temperatures. It is also near certain that the average temperature of the next five years will be higher than the past five years, as the climate crisis intensifies.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Not easy getting back into formal work mode schedule after months of informal work mode on my own schedule.
These still chilly days, I’m up at 5am, on the bus at 6:30am, and start work in a local hospital at 7:00am. The doctors I work with – about 60 hospitalists with assorted specialties – are a great team. This third or fourth stint working with them feels almost as if I’m re-entering an extended family.
Alas, medical doctors are flagging and who can blame them given the stresses associated with Covid and the toll the virus takes upon them and their family members and friends.
A handful of docs on “my” team have reached the end of their long careers and plan to retire while plain old mental and physical fatigue is wearing down others. I don’t work directly with nursing and PA staff, but there’s no reason to think they’re faring better.
Hiring medical professionals is a long drawn-out process over months so there’s not quick end in sight for over-worked staff. Moreover, there appears to be no end in sight with Covid; variant after variant after variant ….

Will it ever end?

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Wary

News blues

Two new Omicron sub variants, BA.4 and BA.5, are spreading and may dodge immunity, especially in unvaccinated people, possibly causing a spike in infections worldwide.

New versions of Omicron are again causing a surge of COVID-19 cases in South Africa, and studies show that these new subvariants are so different from the original version of Omicron that immunity generated from a previous infection may not provide much protection.
BA.4 and BA.5 are nearly identical to each other, and both are more transmissible than the Omicron BA.2 subvariant. In South Africa, they replaced the BA.2 strain in less than a month. They are now responsible for a spike in South Africa’s COVID-19 cases, which have tripled since mid-April.

***

On war…

Ukraine – photo essay on Russia’s May 9 celebration of war

Healthy planet, anyone?

According to a new five-year climate outlook from the World Meteorological Organization, greenhouse gas emissions have continued to increase since the pact was signed, and the WMO found there is now a 50-50 chance that the world will temporarily cross the 1.5-degree threshold sometime in the next five years.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Reality check: Driving here and there in an attempt to replace the various cards, phone numbers, IDs, etc. stolen at Oliver Tambo Airport back in February, meant, 1) finding parking in downtown areas (and all areas are “downtown” in the Bay Area, 2) filling my gas/petrol tank.

Parking? There isn't any easy on the street parking anymore. If one finds a spot, one must pay for it with a debit or credit card. If one's debit and credits cards were stolen, one is out of luck. Parking lots cost up to $16 - ZAR267 per day - and that's cheap! If one wants to park for just 20 minutes? Too bad. Pay the full amount. Anyway, I eventually found a spot - $2 for 15 minutes to purchase my card for public transportation. A win for womankind!
As for gas/petrol, the orange warning light blinked brightly as I sought “reasonably” priced gas/petrol. $5.99/gallon was too much, wasn't it?. Alas, many stations advertised $6.25 and more per gallon. I ended up putting $50 into the tank at $5.75/gallon. Sticker shock!
On the plus side, my vehicle can now rest comfortably in its parking spot with a 2/3 full tank, until needed. This, as I replaced the stolen card required for public transportation. As of tomorrow, I’ll ride the bus to and from work. Unlike the commute I faced last year, working in the Covid clinic – a 2-hour drive each way – this job is less than a half hour bus ride.

Riding public transportation also presents a good read on how “the public” deals with today’s realities: Covid (case numbers increasing), high gas/petrol and food prices (increasing), general inflation (increasing), and gross political infighting in the nation’s capital, (increasing).

California – the US in general – does not face the sorts of challenges that South Africa faces, but it is a mess of infighting, high prices, stress, stress, and more stress.

Moreover, there's always bicycling. Yes, on Sunday I rode my bike for the first time in several years. Accompanied by a friend who rides her bike everywhere - including from Anchorage, AK to Seattle, WA - I purchased groceries at the local Trader Joe's. It was a cold day, plus fat rain drops fell on us for 15 minutes, and my leg muscles complained after the first 20 minutes, but we did it. I intend to continue riding my bike, an inflation-and-high-price beater!

Not an anomaly: After recent floods in KZN destroyed infrastructure, roads, and railways, ACSA Airports Company South Africa, a state-owned enterprise that manages SA’s nine biggest airports, is trying to reassure the aviation industry that its stock of jet fuel at OR Tambo International Airport is stable and that ACSA has emergency contingency plans available if it faces severe fuel shortages.
Not to be cynical but… hmmm, good luck with that. These days, even the most diehard ANC supporter must be kinda sick-and-tired of having to cope with ANC government bungling and corruption.

Since the floods damaged Transnet railway lines at the beginning of April, Acsa says there have been 14 flight cancellations by two airlines from April 24 to May 1, mostly at OR Tambo, affecting approximately 3,150 passengers. So far, international, domestic, and regional flights have been affected. Domestic and regional flight operators can plan around the fuel shortages because they can easily refuel at other SA airports.
The cancellations have affected Acsa’s revenue, with the state-owned enterprise losing at least R1.5-million. Acsa generates fees by charging airlines when their aircraft lands at its nine airports across the country and when passengers go through its airports.
In a briefing with journalists on Monday, Acsa group CEO Mpumi Mpofu said OR Tambo is operating “lower than normal” in terms of its available jet fuel stock. But the supply “remains stable”. OR Tambo usually has six or seven days’ worth of fuel stock to meet the demands of airlines and for the airport to function without any disruptions. But at last count on Monday, OR Tambo had 3.5 days’ worth of fuel stock.

Staying with this topic of energy, energy supplies, and bungling, Eskom’s head of generation, Phillip Dukashe shows the country his way of fixing the problems besetting the country: dump his job at the end of May “due to stress” and “the need to balance his health, family and work responsibilities.”

Engineering News reported that Eskom expects a R20.9-billion diesel bill by April next year, while Fin24 said the utility is burning nine million litres of diesel a day to keep the lights on. Diesel prices are skyrocketing because of Russia’s war on Ukraine, and South Africa buys at spot costs.
Eskom currently has almost one-tenth of its fleet capacity in essential maintenance and probably needs more due to the age of its fleet.
While President Cyril Ramaphosa lifted the licensing cap on power generation to 100MW for own generation and onward sales in June 2021, the regulator, Nersa, and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy have not cut the attendant red tape to get the power into the system.

I’m 14,000 plus miles away and I feel the stress, too. How can a country continue in this way? I guess we’ll find out….

***

Sunny and crisp in the Bay Area…
Sunrise: 6:02am
Sunset: 8:07pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:33am
Sunset: 5:17pm

Sunday, May 8, 2022

B/day and M/day

News blues

… officials warn that there could be 100m Covid-19 infections this fall and winter, potentially spurring a surge in hospitalizations and deaths. The White House is preparing backup plans for providing vaccines to US residents if lawmakers refuse to provide more funds for coronavirus response efforts….
The US coronavirus death toll is expected to reach 1 million this week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said last week that 60% of US residents have been infected with Covid-19….
The official’s dire projection was based on several models, not new data, and was not a formal prediction. These models operate with the premise that Omicron and its sub-variants will keep driving community transmission – and that a significantly different strain will not emerge….
This prediction was also made with the assumption that there will not be additional federal aid…[and that] many vaccinated people, and persons who were previously infected, would get Covid-19 again.

***

Coronavirus infections and hospitalizations are again climbing in the Bay Area as the region enters what public health officials say is the sixth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic >>

***

On war…

Ukraine – photo essay “Two Months of War in Ukraine” >>

***

The Lincoln Project:
Truth Matters (1:53 mins)
Doocy Roasted (0:27 mins)
Two Plans (0:26 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

On this Mother’s Day, an estimated 10.4 million children have lost a parent or caregiver, putting them at higher risk for poverty and every major cause of death >>

***

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon surged to record levels for the month of April, nearly doubling the area of forest removed in that month last year -- the previous April record -- preliminary government data showed … alarming environmental campaigners >>

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

This year, my b/day (birthday) and M/day (Mother’s Day) coincide. To celebrate, my daughter made me a mug of strong coffee presented with a slab of rich dark chocolate with hazelnuts.
I dipped a hunk of choc into the coffee. Delicious.
Alas, an hour later, I – and my tummy – wished I’d hadn’t indulged.
Ah, well, nothing a brisk bike ride won’t cure.
Much has changed in this town in the past three months: condos built, parking lots extended, roads improved….
Later today, I’ll check out the beach and bay for birdlife. The presence/absence of feathered friends indicates the waning of winter and the arrival of spring and summer.

***

The following observation after more than 36 hours back in San Francisco Bay Area: in public, people – strangers – snip and snap indiscriminately at one another, and the atmosphere in the public sphere is tense; the wearing/not wearing of masks is sometimes, not always, a focus of such snipping.
Not fun… even less fun to recognize that one’s own high levels of stress contribute to the fraught atmosphere.
I try to keep the lid on my stress, but it is difficult.
Road rage, too, is rampant.

***

Update on jet fuel supplies disrupted due to the KwaZulu-Natal floods and to volatile fuel prices in South Africa:
While suppliers saying they cannot guarantee enough [jet fuel] supplies at OR Tambo International Airport, Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) says its overall supplies of jet fuel are stable >>

***

Sunny and crisp in the Bay Area…
Sunrise: 6:04am
Sunset: 8:05pm

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:32am
Sunset: 5:18pm

Friday, May 6, 2022

Catching up

Day 783 – Friday, May 6, 2022 - Catching up

Worldwide (Map)
May 6, 2022 - 516,292,775 confirmed infections; 6,248,083 deaths
May 6, 2021 – 154,775,000 confirmed infections; 3,237,590 deaths
May 7, 2020 - 3,755,379 confirmed infections:; 263,831 deaths

US (Map)
May 6, 2022 - 81,711,380 confirmed infections; 997,025 deaths
May 6, 2021 - 32,557,300 confirmed infections; 579,300 deaths
May 7, 2020 - 1,228,603 confirmed infections; 73,000 deaths

SA (Coronavirus portal)
May 6, 2022 - 3,818,125 confirmed infections; 100,475 deaths
- May 6, 2021 – 1,588,225 confirmed infections; 54,560 deaths
May 7, 2020 - 7,808 confirmed infections; 153 deaths

Post from 7 May 2020: This is not my beautiful life
Post from May 2021: Choices

News blues

For the first time – at least for now - the US is not highest on the list of Covid infections and deaths. According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center , US numbers, at least this week, fall behind those of Germany, South Korea, France, and Italy.
This as the World Health Organization (WHO) released its estimate of global mortality from the Covid-19 pandemic: 14.9 million deaths, from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021.

That tally is the number of “excess deaths” compared to a baseline of expected deaths in a world without Covid-19 [and] includes not just the people who died from the virus, but also those who passed away in the ensuing chaos as hospitals filled up and workplaces shut down.
It’s a stunning snapshot of the sweeping devastation the Covid-19 pandemic unleashed around the world, showing that the virus wreaked havoc far beyond the infections it caused. The WHO attributed about 5.4 million deaths to the virus itself.
The burden of these deaths was not spread equally. India suffered the highest toll from the pandemic with nearly 4.7 million fatalities, about 10 times the country’s official estimates. India’s per capita excess fatality rate average for 2020-2021 — 171 per 100,000 per year — was roughly in the middle of the pack among countries. The highest per capita rate was in Peru at 437 per 100,000 per year. The US meanwhile saw 820,000 official deaths from Covid-19 by the end of 2021, but the WHO estimated an additional 110,000 fatalities over this time frame, with a per capita rate of 140 per 100,000 per year.

***

Nevertheless… the omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1 is poised to be the next dominant strain in the U.S. Mutations appear to have helped it replicate better and resist prior immunity.

After a weeks-long plateau, coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are once again rising in the U.S. as a new, highly transmissible omicron subvariant rapidly makes its way toward becoming the next dominant virus strain.
The current seven-day rolling average of cases is back to where it was in February, with an average of 64,000 cases tallied Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s roughly three times what it was toward the end of March.
The seven-day average for hospitalizations is also up by 20%, with the CDC reporting an average of 2,215 admissions over the last seven days ― up from the prior week’s average of 1,845.
Deaths from COVID-19 have stayed near record lows.

***

On war…

Ukraine – photo essay >>

***

The Lincoln Project:

JD (1:00 mins)
JD Mandell (2:00 mins)
Last week in the Republican Party - May 2, 2022 (2:15 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

What’s a nurdle, you ask…

A nurdle is a bead of pure plastic. It is the basic building block of almost all plastic products, like some sort of synthetic ore; their creators call them “pre-production plastic pellets” or “resins.” Every year, trillions of nurdles are produced from natural gas or oil, shipped to factories around the world, and then melted and poured into molds that churn out water bottles and sewage pipes and steering wheels and the millions of other plastic products we use every day. You are almost certainly reading this story on a device that is part nurdle.
…
An estimated 200,000 metric tons of nurdles make their way into oceans annually. The beads are extremely light, around 20 milligrams each. That means, under current conditions, approximately 10 trillion nurdles are projected to infiltrate marine ecosystems around the world each year.
Hundreds of fish species — including some eaten by humans — and at least 80 kinds of seabirds eat plastics. Researchers are concerned that animals that eat nurdles risk blocking their digestive tracts and starving to death. Just as concerning is what happens to the beads in the long term: Like most plastics, they do not biodegrade, but they do deteriorate over time, forming the second-largest source of ocean microplastics after tire dust. (A nurdle, being less than 5 millimeters around, is a microplastic from the moment of its creation, something also known as a primary microplastic.)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Back in California. Back to easy wi fi... unproblematic showering... electricity ... yet, after working hard to comply with advice from various website – print out and sign assorted Covid-related forms for entry into the US, I was astounded to not be asked to produced a single one: no more Covid paperwork required.
Americans, it appears, are so over Covid.
Masks schmarks… Wear one or not. No longer required on planes and in airports … some people wear ‘em, some people do not, personal decision time.
Passing through US Customs was the easiest I remember: zipideedoodah and I was back. Picked up my bag from baggage claim, hopped onto BART and 45 minutes later, hopped into my vehicle and was driven home.
What a long, long journey, from SA to CA. Watched Kenneth Branagh’s movie, Belfast and Robin Wright’s Land aboard the plane, enjoyed and recommend both.
Life is… fast paced….
Time to catch my breath.

***

Chilly and overcast in the SF Bay Area…
Sunrise: 6:06am
Sunset: 8:04pm

Chilly and darker sooner in

KZN, South Africa:
Sunrise: 6:31am
Sunset: 5:20pm

Unanticipated consequences

Day 781 – Thursday, May 5, 2022 – Unanticipated consequences

Arrived in Zurich – 12C and drizzling - 3 hours later than originally scheduled. This, due to a side trip from Johannesburg to Durban before flying to Zurich. That, due to road and rail damage related to flooding after Durban’s torrential rainfall of few weeks ago resulted in no jet fuel transported to Johannesburg. Our filled-to-the-gills Airbus rerouted to Durban, refueled – took an hour to fill so LOTS of jet fuel – and we took off.
This airport’s security required stripping down to seeds and stems – jacket off, shoes off, pockets emptied, “cosmetics” gone through. On discovering a forgotten half-filled bottle of water in my backpack, the security agent admonished me with a stern look and, “No water! Don’t you do that again!”
Hmmm, remember Richard Reid, the guy who carried explosive material in his shoe heels, aka The shoe bomber? Thanks, Richard, for over-vigilant security agents each traveler faces while you spend three consecutive life sentences and 110 years with no possibility of parole in Florence, Colorado’s supermax penitentiary, the prison holding the most dangerous prisoners in the federal system.

***

I have 3.5 hours to consult my cell phone – airport wi-fi is iffy – stretch my stiff body by walking and exploring Terminal E’s long hallways.
Catching up on the news via spotty wi-fi access, Ukraine has moved off the front pages, replaced by the dismaying news that the US Supreme Court really is considering overturning Roe v Wade. This means abortion becomes a state-by-state elective surgery – and that many states will refuse the procedure to women wanting/needing it.

Will Americans really stand by for what will be an ongoing disaster?
Potentially, a very thorny socio-political direction ahead. Don’t expect assistance from Democrats who lost their spines and their courage decades ago and who seldom fight back against Republican over-reach.
Might We, the People fight for women’s rights and vote against Republican and evangelical over-reach in the upcoming election?

Days 780 - Wednesday May 4 - Foiled again!

As a goodbye “gift”, Escom/Eskom saw fit – due to “heavily constrained system” – to load shed between 10am and 12:30 pm today. This feels like the kick-a-woman-when-she’s-down syndrome… an expect-the sort-of-unexpected except it is Escom – regularly offering the loadshedding gift that keeps on giving.
No electricity, no wi fi, no printer. Grrrrr!
That was the first half of the day.

***

After I agreed to SwissAir’s conditions related to “a change in flight” I discovered the change: the flight departs Johannesburg and heads to Durban before heading to Zurich. I could have paid for a taxi service to Durban and saved myself a pile of rands if I’d simply noticed the extra tiny print on the itinerary. I’d also have saved myself several hours of wandering around Oliver Tambo Airport, too. But then I likely would been missed an incredibly intrusive security check. I thought Heathrow had intrusive security checks – they do – and today’s agent was almost on a par. Today’s agent removed a full bottle of facial freshener, a 4/5 empty bottle of mouthwash, a metal nail file, and a tiny foldup penknife set that I never use and that has traveled tens of thousands of miles, forgotten in a small pocket of my small backpack.
Passing through security, however, was the good part of today’s story. The stressful part was arriving at SwissAir’s document check kiosk and discovering my Covid test – negative – was unacceptable. It was a day old. This, after asking the test lab about the longevity of the test results and being assured that, because of the double holiday – International Worker’s on Sunday and Monday – I’d best take the test of Friday.
My downfall?
Trusting professionals.

I pushed and pulled my luggage to a series of kiosks each offering one of several varieties of Covid testing. Luckily for me, the kiosk offering the R500 test required me using a QR code that required decent internet connection… that was unavailable on my cell phone. Instead, I ended up at the kiosk offering 15-minute, R150 antigen test. This time, the paperwork was accepted at the document check point.

Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Daze of no wi fi

Day 779 – Tuesday, May 3, 2022 – Daze of no wi-fi!

One day to take off. Many tasks completed over the last 3 months, some remaining. Today’s focus is on getting to a café that offers wi-fi and confirming flights, purchasing seats (always aisle seats for me) downloading Covid and other required health documents, packing…

Day 778 - Monday, May 2, 2022 – Bundu bashing

I met local neighbor Willem who agreed to act as guide along his section of stream/river.
He approved of my foresight in carrying gumboots (see post below) and, after I donned them, we set off… into a jungle of blackjacks, khaki weed, bug weed, brambles, privet, hip-high thick grasses, 5-foot-tall blossoming grasses, and ankle high tangles and tendrils… all happily benefitting from this year’s ultra-wet summer and unusual amounts of rainfall.
Talk about bundu bashing!
Reaching the stream revealed a body of water flowing softly within well-carved banks surprisingly devoid of plastic bags, bottles, and assorted debris. Alien vegetation sucks enormous amounts of water – which may speak to the low flow volume.
Forests of alien trees block out sunlight and I wondered about otters’ attitudes to living amid aliens. If, like the ANC government, otters require the uprooting and destruction of all aliens in order to flourish, then local otters are doomed.
If otters are neutral toward aliens, the stream as is, flowing through a forest of aliens, provides ideal living conditions. On the plus side, overgrown weeds and aliens require extreme bundu bashing – a tour only the physically strong adventurer with a stout heart would indulge.

Day 777 - Sunday, May 1, 2022 – Kvetching, reprise

Kvetching alert: For several years, I’ve been overcharged by my wi-fi provider. I knew it. I made peace with it. Back then, it was tough to find a provider in my location – a verdant, tall tree-covered shallow valley. Potential providers offering affordable packages depended upon “line of sight” to a cell tower and the many trees precluded that.
Last year, Metrofibre installed underground fibre cable in this semi-rural suburb. But 1) no flexible month-to-month service – why pay high monthly rates when I’m not here year-round? 2) service rates somewhat comparable to current rip-off rate, 3) owned a paid for router for which I’d been overcharged, so why purchase more hardware?
On balance? Yes, it would be “nice” to cease “business” with the pint-size, arrogant, over-charging, “no service after 5pm weekdays and no service on weekends” wannabe cowboy provider. (Wannabe cowboy? After he learned I lived in California, he'd come to the house dressed in cowboy hat, cowboy shirt, jeans, and western-style cowboy boots. His horse? A large, black sedan with highly polished chrome grillwork and throaty mufflers.)
Until today, finding another provider, coupled with imminent departure, made it not worth the hassle of seeking a different provider.
Last month, I used less than half of his minimum 50-gig package. This month, I used two-thirds of the same package. He terminated my service at 5pm on Saturday, 30 May (a weekend).
Co-incidentally, I learned neighbors’ choices of wi-fi services include providers that offer month-to-month, unlimited service at far cheaper rates than The Cowboy.
Unfortunately, now - pre-departure, pre-flight - is when I need wi-fi: 3 set of tickets, misc flight details to track, library books to download, rides to and from airports to organize … so many vital last-minute tasks to complete. And no wi-fi.
Alas, International Workers’ holiday means cafés providing wi-fi with a cup of tea and a scone are likely closed. International Workers’ holiday observed tomorrow means cafés providing wi-fi likely still closed.
I soothe myself with all the patience I can muster: Don’t stress, don’t fuss, don’t fret, try not to kvetch (a tall order)… all will be okay. You have done your Covid test and have your results (negative); you purchased a ticket to Oliver Tambo in Johannesburg. What you don’t have is a confirmation from the taxi service for a ride to the airport, requested two days ago.
No wi-fi and spotty cell service increases stress levels.
You can figure it out.
Don’t fret!
What would put the frosting/icing on this cake of kvetch?
Loadshedding.

***

Good news: Unlike the day before when I walked past his house and called his name, Willem, retired neighbor LINK to post, was home yesterday.
Chatting over the fence, he detailed his dog’s latest ailment – an infected paw, exorbitant vet fees, challenging follow up: soaking the ailing paw 4 times per day, multiple doses of pills multiple times per day, anti-biotics once per day. (South Africans adore their dogs – and talking about them.)
Taking advantage of a lull in his explanation, I invited him into my plan: involve him and other neighbors in cleaning up their section of stream enough to entice otters - and Free Me, the animal rehab and release organization. (Americans adore their wildlife-saving projects – and talking about them.)
The result?
Meet Willem tomorrow at 8:00am for a tour of the stream in his part of the neighborhood, his house the last before the wetlands proper.
My current dilemma?
Touring wetlands calls for wearing gumboots. Should I walk to Willem’s house, gumboots in hand? Or should I drive, gumboots in boot/trunk?
Hmmm. A decision requiring much mulling.
Good natured Willem agreed that, while I’m in California, he’ll invite neighbors to get involved.
Word leaks out, otter families will line up for a spot in a re-hab’d stream (let’s pray they don’t demand wi-fi service…).

Friday, April 29, 2022

Tested - again

News blues

News free day!

Take a break.

Stare at your bellybutton... and chuckle at The Lincoln Project: The GOP isn't interested (1:00 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

If you’re in a fragile state of mind today, skip this article.

If you have the fortitude…

Global heating is causing such a drastic change to the world’s oceans that it risks a mass extinction event of marine species that rivals anything that’s happened in the Earth’s history over tens of millions of years, new research has warned. Accelerating climate change is causing a “profound” impact upon ocean ecosystems that is “driving extinction risk higher and marine biological richness lower than has been seen in Earth’s history for the past tens of millions of years”.

Read “Global heating risks most cataclysmic extinction of marine life in 250m years” >>

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Had yet another Covid test today, my second test at the same pop-up facility located outside a local hospital. I displayed my vaccination card with my long list of vaccination details. I’m eligible for the second booster on return to California, too.

The list is a statement on inequality: I’ve had 3, soon 4, Covid vaccinations. Too many people around the world (who seek vaccinations) await their first jab.

***

Immediately after being robbed upon 4 February arrival at Oliver Tambo Airport, I alerted my CA credit union about the loss and requested they replace my credit/debit cards. Done. (Local Standard Bank was less hospitable and I had to drive half an hour to another branch for one measly debit card and an interaction not tinged with suspicion.) I was unable to replace my stolen California phone SIM card with my years old California phone number, my CA driver’s license (acts like SA ID card), or my public transportation debit card, along with library cards and sorted other cards. All must be and will be replaced upon return.

Upon arrival in CA, my immediate needs include US dollars to pay for public transportation (my dollars were stolen). I NEVER ask anyone to pick me up at SFO, a thirty-minute drive from home under best traffic conditions, but at least 2 hours under “normal” conditions of 6pm Bay Area traffic. I need a alert the person to pick me up at the train station nearest my home (no public phones anywhere anymore). All this with a brain foggy after a 32-hour, southern to northern hemisphere economy class trip.
No phone. No cash. One large bag, one small bag, and one smaller backpack (that, since being robbed, I’ve learned to wear as a front pack).
Oh, joy!

***

International Workers’ Day tomorrow, 1 May… also observed 2 May.

Irony? A unneeded holiday for South Africa's official unemployed - up to 36 percent of the working-age population.

***

Results of having a long Q-tip poked down my throat and up my nose, seeking coronavirus?
Negative.
Yay!