Monday, November 23, 2020

Last night I took a Zopiclona and went to bed at 10:30, got up twice during the night, finally getting up at 7am.

Back feels about the same as yesterday, slight stiffness but no discomfort.

Teresa left for the gym at 7:45.

Experienced another 1-second power loss which rebooted the router and television.

I left the apt at 9:15 and took the back streets to Marcos’ apt. we walked to Avenida Poblado then south to Parque Envigado where he bought 3 cigarette lighters. We returned via Parva where we had a café con leche. In discussing our “service problems” here in Colombia I remembered the location of Direct TV in Medellin. It’s in Poblado on 10A near Hotel Diez.

When I returned to the apt I checked my old cellphone backup file and found the cellphone number of English speaking Andres who (at least used to) works there. Now I have to wait a bit to decide whether to cancel it completely or just drop it from Platinum to Basic.

Teresa left for a doctor’s appointment in Las Americas then she was going to Arkadia mall and she would call me to meet her.

I left the apt at 12:30 and walked to the mall. For lunch I had an arepa “sandwich” with chicken. The arepas themselves are so dry I took off the top and ate it open face.

I went down to Todo Fresa and had just sat down with a café con leche when Teresa called me and asked me to meet her at Arkadia mall.

Teresa bought a “thermos” (not sure what to really call it) to carry hot food when she visits the finca.

She bought some makeup at Medipiel and we had ice cream at Crepes & Waffles. We had a great view (behind Pricesmart) of the Medellin airport. I didn’t realize it was that close.

We left about 4pm and returned to the apt in heavy traffic.

I read some of the movie chains here are going to reopen soon but not Cine Colombia. I did receive an email from them today. Among other enticements, they are extending the Platinum membership expiration date to March 31, 2022.With our first visit in 2021 they will award us a complimentary ticket, and a hot dog, popcorn and soda combo. For health reasons they won’t be filling Platinum buckets with popcorn.

 

Covid-19  is raging across the US – passing 12 million known infections over the weekend. More than 255,000 people have died. And every state but Hawaii is seeing a surge in cases. Hospitalizations in New York are at their highest levels since June. In El Paso, Texas, the morgues are so overwhelmed that the Texas National Guard and inmates have been called to help. Health experts are warning the weeks ahead could get worse.

In part because of the holiday season. On Thursday, the CDC recommended everyone turkey in place. But the TSA still screened about 2 million flyers over the weekend. In all, an estimated 50 million people are traveling for Thanksgiving. It's worrying experts since traveling and eating indoors is expected to lead to more infections, potentially adding more strain to the health care system. If you're hunkering down, take comfort. There's something to hold out for.

Today, drugmaker AstraZeneca said its experimental coronavirus vaccine was up to 90% effective in preventing the disease without serious side effects. It's the third major vaccine developer to announce promising results, after Pfizer and Moderna. Meanwhile, Pfizer has officially asked the FDA for emergency approval for its 95% effective vaccine. It could get approval as soon as mid-December and doses could be given to some US patients within 24 hours after that. The FDA also just approved the antibody cocktail President Trump got last month. Made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, it can now be used to treat mild to moderate COVID-19 cases in patients 12 years and older.

 

A key Trump administration appointee said Monday she would allow President-elect Joe Biden to begin his official transition – paving the way for his team to get access to briefings, office space, secure computers and other government services needed for the transfer of power.

So our spiteful president finally relented.

 

The US has 12,078,010 ð 12,288,499 ð 12,418,730 coronavirus cases with 255,000 ð 256,400+ ð 257,100+ deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of this afternoon Colombia has a total of 1,240,493 ð 1,248,417 ð 1,254,979 cases with 35,287 deaths (not sure why the number of deaths hasn’t changed). Medellin has 115,666 ð 116,298 ð 116,869 cases, an increase of 568 from November 22^nd to 23^rd. Envigado has a total of 9,487 cases, an increase of 38 from November 22^nd to 23^rd. New infections continue to decline.

 

Joke of the day

A lady is trotting down the road in her horse and buggy when she is pulled over by the sheriff.

"Ma'am, I have to warn you, you have a broken stake on your wheel," says the sheriff. 

"Oh dear. I'll let my husband, Jacob know as soon as I get home," she replies. 

"That's fine," he continues. "Another thing, ma'am... I don't like the way that one rein loops across the horse's back and around one of his testicles. I consider that terrible cruelty to the animal. Have your husband take care of that right away."

The woman thanks him and drives home.

Later that day, the lady is home telling her husband about her encounter with the sheriff.

"Well, dear, what exactly did he say?" asked the husband.

"He said a stake is broken," replied the lady.

"I can fix that in a heartbeat. Said the husband. "What else?"

The wife replied: "I'm not sure, Jacob - something to do with the emergency brake."