Oh, I Think So

Various iterations of Star Trek have featured episodes where an individual is used as a human vessel for a pathogen that will kill the Borg or as a way to combat overpopulation.  North Korea has been bragging that they have zero cases of it ... until yesterday. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/25/world/asia/north-korea-coronavirus-kim-jong-un.html?smid=em-share The infected was a North Korean who had defected to the South and was living in Gimpo, west of Seoul, and home of the smaller of Seoul's two international airports.  It makes sense that he was exposed somehow and then made his way into North Korea where he fell ill.  He only made it as far as Kaesong City, just over the border and has been quarantined along with anyone with whom he came into contact, Kaesong City, and anyone who has been to Kaesong City in the last five days.  Of course, it's not known if they even have any testing kits. Their border with China is closed to prevent the illness from getting ...

So dinner was nice with family!  There was no hugging but there was laughter and good food and eating in a garden and being in a house that was not my own.  Thanks!  The next time I have anything like that planned is election night when I am going to spend the night at the house of my friends.  We are going to get good and sauced and we will either cry from horror and depression if the loser wins or cry from joy if the winner wins. Haircut and blondification at the end of August!!!  For real!!  It will be just a week shy of six months since my hair was last professionally visited and I must say that I like it longer except when it's hot which it has been.  Maybe I should just shave my head and wear wigs.  Hot weather?  BALD! Other than this, everything is wildly unspeakable and I probably -- almost 100% probability I think -- will not be going to Japan at the end of November.

Someone I want to see is coming to town and has advised that I cannot be in on the seeing excitement unless I get a negative result on the Covid-19 test and then quarantined from the time I had the test until I actually see the person. I took an hour of personal time and drove downtown to my usual hospital for a drive-through test.  Long story made short, they took a swab and shoved it up my nose to where the nose and the throat meet (as a former ENT of mine said, "The nose bone is connected to the throat bone.") and then rolled it around up there 10 times. This was not a surprise as the nurse said, "I am going to put this up your nose and roll it around 10 times," and then proceeded to do so.  She put the swab in a vial and sealed it and then had me look at it to make sure my name and date of birth were correct and she said if it's positive, they will let me know within 24 hours.  I then drove home and sealed myself into my home. The next day I called my do...

My deadline for deciding if I would take the retirement package came and went yesterday and I decided I wanted to get on all the amusement park rides until I've no more rides to take.  I am grateful for the job I have as they are not going to get rid of us it seems, so I smile and ride on.  Life now is a Tilt-A-Whirl without the safety bar but I scream like a little girl and laugh like I'm brave. At least now I have 18 months to figure out what I am going to do. One friend was furloughed and then was offered the package which she is taking.  Her husband has a job he loves so she will be on his insurance and will finish all the projects she's toyed with and then will perhaps volunteer.  Another friend and her husband had sold their home and bought another in the suburbs to be near their daughter and her family.  She said the job just wasn't fun any longer and once they are moved into the new place,  she said she will get a job at Costco or Woodman's or Jew...