Sunday, July 25, 2021

CoViD-19: US Going In 'Wrong Direction' | Mass Shooting In Texas | Monsoonal Ants Attack |

 

Anteater at San Diego Zoo (Taken 6.14.21)

I didn't have big plans this weekend, but I certainly didn't expect to be in bed by 9:30pm on Saturday night nor did I expect that Sunday would turn into a deep cleaning day, but it actually felt kind of amazing to be well-rested and have a clean house. 

Our very old property has a known history of major ant problems. It was so bad in early 2020 that our neighbors moved out and that's why we went for almost a year without downstairs neighbors. But we managed. We've bought more peppermint oil than anyone should ever have to buy and stockpiled Terro traps. I often find myself cleaning counters in the middle of the night when I can't sleep. But my Mexican mom would always say when they're really out it's because they're preparing for rain. And with the weird monsoonal pressure and moisture and *actual* rain last night, they made themselves known today. 

And if you try to kill a small group of ants, it leads you to their entry source or what they're interested in...usually one tiny kibble of cat food that got away or one tiny piece of shredded cheese that is hiding under the toaster. So that's how Darren and I spent our Sunday. (We let Nova off the hook with helping after she vacuumed the living room.) It started with a shelf, then the fridge, then the rugs and carpets and sweeping and mopping and bleaching and pepperminting and then it carried to the bedroom and bathroom and the house is nice and clean and tonight we shall drink and celebrate our efforts. 

The news was much of the same today; lots of weekend shootings, Pelosi found another Republican to name to the January 6 investigation, and Dr. Fauci was on the Sunday news shows offering the dire warnings about Delta getting out of control and I think my pals at Channel 8 are using my page as inspo because today they did a story on long lines at testing sites. 

I should note that I've been reading and sharing and sounding the alarms about Delta for awhile now, and it is important to keep perspective: cases rising in highly unvaccinated regions has different ramifications than more vaccinated areas with rising case numbers. For example, it is more dramatic to say "cases rose 400x" than citing the actual number, and I think since we're seeing breakthtough numbers may be so much higher than the CDC is suggesting, because they're not actually counting breakthrough cases unless they become hospitalizations or deaths. it is important to look at the ratios of cases to hospitalizations between vaccinated and unvaccinated populations and the same for deaths as those suss out in the next few weeks (as they lag behind case numbers), too I'd be interested in seeing the ratio of cases to hospitalizations in California vs Arkansas or Mississippi or Florida or Texas. It's probably out there somewhere but I'm not gonna put in the time to dig for the info. 

There was also a significant change in tone of reporting today across news channels. Where they would optimistically report vaccinations as "over 80% of seniors" or "65% of eligible adults" to skew the numbers high, media outlets now seem to be looking at overall percentage of the population vaccinated, which is only 49.1%. I think they realize that the needle isn't gonna move much on currently eligible Americans, but once kids are eligible, those numbers could and should climb, especially because school reopenings are going to be full on shitshow if our numbers stay where they are. 

The greater point is you should still be cautious, even if you're vaccinated, especially if you're around mixed crowds, and especially if you spend time with children and/or immunocompromised or vulnerable people. Stay safe out there.  

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