2020: One Day At A Time, We Will Achieve!!
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We had snow overnight that turned to rain by morning. We had about 2 inches but it’s been washed away by the rain.I was worried we might lose power in the wind gusts. So far, so good. We’re staying home warm and dry.0
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Our bank has been by appointment only since March for in-person, but the drive thru tellers are there. They also closed several of their branches, so I have to go a little farther for an open drive thru location, but it’s not terribly inconvenient.
I got my Prolia injection yesterday and it was completely uneventful. Afterward I stopped at a couple of grocery stores on my way home to take advantage of sales on specific items I wanted. One store offered spiral sliced hams for $0.87 per pound, so I got one for DH and me for our Christmas dinner. He loves ham, so all of the leftovers will be used, eventually.
It’s been cold here for the last 3 days, but today is looking a lot better. I think we will get up to around 60 degrees this afternoon and will be nice for several days. My friends and I plan to meet up in the park next Tuesday to take advantage of the projected 68 degree weather. Not bad for late December, right?0 -
Everything is covered in ice here. I'm swamped with work so DH has been working away on it a little bit at a time. Guess there are days it's useful to have him not working. LOL!0
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This could almost have been our house when the furnace was out. Except we don't have any orange guys.0 -
Colbert:
And “even more pathetic than that tweet,” Colbert noted, was the “fact that the president wrote it at nearly 1 a.m. Wednesday.”
“The only reason to be up at 1 a.m. on Wednesday is if you had a really big Taco Tuesday,” the comedian cracked.0 -
From the Post:
We have home test for blood sugar, pregnancy, marijuana etc. that give near instant results. Has anyone tried to develop a home test for covid-19?" ― Tracy in Utah
Many have tried, and a few have even succeeded, but it's going to be a while before coronavirus home tests are as convenient, affordable and available as a pregnancy test. Our health and science reporter William Wan summed up the situation in an FAQ on Wednesday. Here's the gist:
Take-at-home coronavirus tests have actually been on sale at retail stores for months, but these older generation kits aren't exactly user friendly. They cost more than $100 each, and you have to send a nasal sample to a lab to learn the results, which can take a couple of days or more.
The FDA has authorized several new-generation home tests for sale in the past few weeks, and these provide immediate results in the privacy of your home. But there's usually a catch that makes them a less-than-ideal solution to the country's testing problems.
The Australian company Ellume just got FDA authorization for its rapid test kit, which it plans to start selling over the counter in the first week of January for about $30 each. There's even a smartphone app to view the results. The problem is that manufacturing will initially be limited to about 100,000 kits a day. The United States is logging more than 200,000 new cases each day, so that won't be nearly enough tests for everyone.
A competing company, Abbott Laboratories, also got an FDA green light this week for its $25 BinaxNOW test. It plans to deliver 30 million kits in the first quarter of 2021, which is a decent amount. The catch is that to buy one you'll need a prescription from a doctor who suspects you've already been infected.
Lucira Health is the third rapid test maker that has already won FDA authorization. Its “All-In-One” kit is expected to sell for less than $50 and will also require a prescription. According to William, the company has only just begun to ramp up its manufacturing process, so the test won't go on sale until spring.
Check out the FAQ for more details on the marketplace for rapid home tests, including whether you can expect your insurance to cover them and how accurate they are. The good news is that dozens of other companies are racing to develop their own kits, so supplies and accuracy are expected to improve.0 -
How 2020 transformed the grocery business:
https://money.yahoo.com/how-2020-transformed-the-grocery-business-morning-brief-105450387.html0 -
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Yesterday’s snow was washed away by rain that fell through most of the day. Imagine my surprise to wake up this morning to two inches fell overnight. The trees are dusted and it looks so pretty. It’s not enough to require shoveling. DH will use a broom to sweep the sidewalk. Our landscaper came yesterday and plowed the driveway and shoveled the walk. Not enough fell to justify having him come back. We should be able to drive through the bit that accumulated in the aprons. It’s doubtful we’ll go out today and it won’t be warm enough for any melting.0
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I see the weather person is predicting a rare white Christmas for us. It doesn't make any difference this year as there is no place to go. I am not a fan of the white stuff but it creates driving issues on narrow, crooked roads. Our district does a great job with clearing the roads but everyone knows when they cross into another county without looking at the sign.0
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I got up today to find that DH had swapped out my keyboard (along with a bunch of other parts) because he didn't feel like figuring out what part was failing. It was a non standard keyboard. Did you know they make non standard keyboards? Yep. Not immediately obvious to me who/what it's intended for (and I don't care enough to puzzle it out). I'm a pretty good touch typist (as I'm sure you can tell from my long winded notes) and I just couldn't take it. I made him dig around for another keyboard (I knew darned well he'd have several).
Feeding the colonies today was interesting. It's been a lot worse but the storm felled a tree at one of the colonies (the one our Indy lived in coincidentally) just enough to make getting to the food bowls dicey. We'll take care of it soon but today was interesting.
Unlike a lot of year ends work is a little slow this year so I may actually be able to do some other things. After working 7 days a week since February sometime it will be a relief to catch up on some things.
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Fascinating review of the administration's covid response to date:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/trump-covid-pandemic-dark-winter/?itid=hp-top-table-main
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Nothing exciting here. I do have an appointment with the urologist tomorrow which probably will result in an appointment to see if the bladder cancer is back. This is just a routine yearly deal but involves the "Michael Jackson juice" to put me out while the check is done. I hate getting someone to drive when that is done.
The second vaccine has shipped; our state is now very red and that has nothing to do with politics. Thanksgiving visiting paid off in a negative way, and now Christmas lies ahead. I don't plan to visit anyone but have a solitary Christmas.0 -
Nothing exciting here. I do have an appointment with the urologist tomorrow which probably will result in an appointment to see if the bladder cancer is back. This is just a routine yearly deal but involves the "Michael Jackson juice" to put me out while the check is done. I hate getting someone to drive when that is done.
The second vaccine has shipped; our state is now very red and that has nothing to do with politics. Thanksgiving visiting paid off in a negative way, and now Christmas lies ahead. I don't plan to visit anyone but have a solitary Christmas.
I pay for Blue Cross dental coverage. My dentist isn't a participating dentist. I realize how dumb that is. But I like the hygienist and every time I go online and look around to consider a participating dentist I see them touting their "oral sedation". In other words you take a pill of something like valium. My dentist offers nitrous oxide and I can drive home. Since the last thing I want is to need someone to drive me to every dentist appointment every time I look around I just end up staying with my dentist. I'd like to find a close by participating dentist that offers nitrous.
We are actually doing all our usual Christmas traditions but somehow it just doesn't seem the same. I think back to the wonderful childhood Christmases or even the Christmases after I left home while my mother was still alive and realize none of that will ever come back. For some reason that hit me more than ever this year. Once this is all over, as I wind down my career, I probably should look for volunteer opportunities over the holidays.0 -
DH and I never found dental insurance to be very cost effective for us. He has had the occasional filling and recently had to have his first crown, while I have only 1 filling. I did require 2 dental implants a few years ago as a result of a fall that cracked the root of one of my front teeth. Aside from that, we both go in twice a year for cleanings and that’s pretty much all the dentist makes off of us.
Maryanne, are you thinking of retiring sometime soon? I don’t recall if you’ve mentioned that before. In my first year or two after retirement I did some volunteer work. First at the local hospital and then at our local library. I didn’t really enjoy the hospital and after the volunteer coordinator ticked me off one too many times I quit and tried the library. It was a better fit, although it was rather boring work. After I broke my ankle I never went back to it. I haven’t felt the need to seek out any other volunteer activities since.0 -
My current plan is to work 4 more years (I'll be 75 in March 2025). For the first time in aeons we're a little slow this Christmas. If that happened at a Christmas in the future, after it's safe to go out, it had be thinking doing some volunteer work might be nice.0
