Wednesday, October 7, 2020

 Last night I went to bed at 10:30, got up once during the night, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

Last night I played 2 games on Chess.com, winning both. In the first game I was playing the white pieces and my opponent resigned on the 26^th move. I was up a piece to 2 pawns and had a passed pawn but it was still an unexpected resignation. That win brought my rating up to 1499 – oh, so close. I had the white pieces again in the 2nd game and won that one pretty easily bringing my rating up to 1507. I decided to enjoy breaking the 1500 barrier for at least 24 hours so I didn’t start any more games. Now my goal is to stay above 1500.

This morning is not a good start for my back.

I watched the first 20 minutes of the Today show then left for my walk. I was walking quite gingerly at the beginning but my back seemed to loosen up after 20 minutes or so. At one point I encountered an elderly lady approaching me walking her dog. The sidewalk was narrow and she said something to me but I just stepped off the sidewalk a foot or two and that seemed to placate her. At the end of my original route I walked to the little mercado in La Buena Mesa where I bought 8 tomatoes and a head of lettuce and then returned to the apt.

We left the apt at 1:15 for Torre Medica in El Tesoro. Of course we arrived 30 minutes early for her dentist appointment. While Teresa waited I went to Carulla where I had some pages printed. Teresa was still waiting when I returned but the doctor soon called us in. Teresa had some type of hole filled on the outside of one of her teeth – not sure if that was cosmetic or functional. She did some shopping in Zara and H&M but didn’t find anything. She bought a small cup of shrimp cocktail then we went down to O’Cake where I bought a small café con leche. It was nice to sit for awhile with our masks off. We went back upstairs and immediately caught a taxi. Just before we exited the grounds Teresa exclaimed that she didn’t have her purse and her Cedula was inside. Luckily it was an easy matter to circle around and we were soon back next to the café. I could see Teresa talking to some people. I was thinking it would be easy to prove it’s hers since she had her photo ID inside. When she returned with her purse she confessed that it was empty; she just had it for show. We were back at the apt by 5pm.

 

Millions of people will live with coronavirus’s effects long after the pandemic subsides. Even mild cases have caused lung, heart and kidney damage in otherwise healthy people. It’s unclear what their future health-care needs will be, or how much their care will cost. As with HIV and opioid addiction crisis, the scope and newness of the pandemic presents many new questions about what treatments insurers will cover.

Group health plans and insurance companies are supposed to cover diagnostic testing for Covid-19 under federal laws passed in response to the pandemic. Plans shouldn’t charge deductibles, co-payments or coinsurance for office, telehealth, urgent care or emergency-room visits where a Covid-19 test is given or ordered.

But no federal law requires insurers to pay for coronavirus treatment.

“Insurers can put coverage limits on anything,” said Sara Rosenbaum, a professor of health law and policy at George Washington University. “It doesn’t matter if it’s Covid-related or not.”

 

I watched the 90-minute vice-presidential debate and about 90-minutes of the following commentary.

 

The US has 7,480,422 ð 7,526,661 ð 7,579,513 coronavirus cases with 209,900+ ð 210,600 ð 211,600+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 862,158 ð 869,808 ð 877,683 cases with 27,180 deaths.  Medellin has 69,598 ð 70,372 ð 70,962 cases, an increase of 590 from October 6^th to 7^th. Envigado has a total of 4,336 cases, an increase of 74 from October 6^th to 7^th.

 

Joke of the day

Three explorers--a Frenchman, a Brit, and a New Yorker--were trekking through the jungle when they were captured by pygmies.

"I've got good news and bad news," says the chief. "The bad news is that we're going to cook you, skin you, and make canoes out of your skin."

"That's terrible!" exclaims the Brit, "What's the good news?"

"Well..." the chief responds, "We'll let you choose the manner of your death, and even perform it yourself if you'd like."

The Frenchman steps forward first. "I vill take ze rope, s'il vous plaît."

The chief hands him a rope. The Frenchman ties a noose and shouts "Vive la France!" before strangling himself.

The pygmies cook him, skin him, and make a canoe out of his skin.

Next, the Brit steps forward. "I'll have a bloody pistol, chaps."

The chief hands him a pistol. "God save the Queen!" shouts the Brit and blows his brains out.

The pygmies cook him, skin him, and make a canoe out of his skin.

Finally, the New Yorker steps forward. "Gimme a fork!"

"A FORK?!?" The pygmies are perplexed, but nonetheless, give him a fork.

He starts stabbing himself in the face, neck, chest, and legs. All over his body, he plunges the fork into his skin until he is bleeding from a thousand tiny holes.

The chief is aghast. "Good Lord! What are you doing?!?"

The New Yorker bellows,

SCREW YOU, AND YOUR CANOES!"