January 23rd, 2022

Hey there,

Covid here is weird.  They are still into the zero tolerance state of mind, which means all arrivals must quarantine.  It isn't 14 in the hotel anymore cause they ran out of space, but 7 hotel/7 home.  With Omicron, they now make arrivals take a PCR test at the airport and wait for the result (before you would take it and proceed to quarantine hotel), so people are waiting an hour or three for that, which obviously sucks after you've been on a plane for 12 hours.  If you test positive, you go to a hospital and after that, who knows what'll happen.  Betty knows an Argentine lady that had to go to a hospital as she had a positive test (along with three negative ones) and she didn't know at first that there was a camera in her room.  She discovered it after getting naked.  I haven't seen this lady so don't know who suffered more, but still a bizarre scene.

The Omicron is out obviously.  It snuck out via some cleaning people and into the Tasty Steakhouse, but there were only a handful/dozen cases a day for a week.  But then it was 23 and today it is 80-something.  It doesn't take a Fauci/Rogan to know that this thing spreads unlike previous strains, so one has to figure it is fait accompli that it is all over the place.  The vaccination rate I saw is more than the States and have seen articles where the government is hinting that people need to be prepared for this thing to run wild, but they are still gonna try and stamp it out, and to get yourself vaxxed/boosted is the word from above.  It is a week until CNY so the next few days are gonna be interesting to watch.  We've already had some baseball canceled and I am dreading the possibility that they try to shut the whole place down.  

The knee is doing great.  Over did it at practice the other day and was sore the next 36 hours, but it came good and am walking without thinking about or noticing  it a lot of the time.  Talking to some folks and telling them I have a matching set of new knees, a couple of older types said that I am like Steve Austin now.  I know what they meant, but the kids have no idea, and the 20-somethings in the group don't understand what Stone Cold Steve Austin has to do with knee replacements.  I naturally counter that I am the 6 Million NT Dollar Man, which is about US$200,000...so not that great.  A couple others compared the new joints to being like Darth Vader, which I kinda liked, but when I see myself walking in a mirror, I look like I am moving more like C3PO.

Speaking of looking in the mirror, I got pretty mad at Betty the other day.  Was in the bathroom and Betty walks in.  I say to her..."when I look in the mirror, I see an balding old fat guy...I could use a compliment."  She says, "Well, your eyesight is damn near perfect."  

That gag is a tribute to the late great Norm Macdonald, who said it in tribute to the borscht belt comedians of yore.

Not a gag...in response to last weeks discussion on clogging toilets, Betty sent the kids and I this search for the most effective plungers from Wirecutter.  Some fine engineering going on there, and I added the Korky 99-4A Ma Performance Plunger to not only my, but my kids Amazon  X-mas lists.  What I really want now that I never knew I wanted before is a Ridgid 3 foot toilet auger.  Have always thought augers were cool ever since seeing Dick Proenneke use one in Alone in the Wilderness.  

I'd feel like a real man using an auger to clear my Alaskan sized log.

Also not a gag was that it was the one year anniversary of mom's death.  I don't think it was on the actual day, but I dreamt about her for the first time since she passed.  In the dream, she was driving really fast, we caught air at one juncture, and she was simultaneously scared and defiant about her ability to still drive.  Don't think there is a hidden message there, but she was obviously on my mind.

That's it for this week.  Since it is relatively quiet, will leave today by cleaning out a couple of saved news articles.  The first is this gem regarding taboos to avoid during Ghost Month.  Ghost month is at the end of summer, and know I've shared these kind of articles in previous years.  One taboo that stood out in this year's offering was don't walk near walls.  Apparently, ghosts like to "stick on walls because they are cooler."  They are?  I've found the tile floors are cooler, but had no idea about walls.  What is also left unsaid is why ghosts prefer to be cooler.  More investigation on that topic is needed.

Finally, for this week...Nini Music.  Not a type of music but a performer by that name.  Got exposed to her from this article that highlights her music while also detailing the trolling she gets from mainlanders.  She is a local girl that plays traditional Chinese instruments, but in a decidedly cool way while also being super sexy.  Check out her version/outfit as she performs Flight of the Bumblebee at 182 BPM.