The COVID Chronicle, October 2021

 

October 1 [Friday]

Governor Newsom laid out his mandatory vaccination plan for public school students 12+ years. This would be effective sometime in 2022. I’m conflicted. I want the children to be safe, but I’m also in favor of making information available, then advocating for people to make their own decisions. So, I resolve my internal conflict by agreeing with the mandate and keep the kids safe. But I want the disagreeing adults to have the freedom to remain unvaccinated. Anyway, I suspect there will be an uptick in California’s home schooling next year.

 

October 3 [Sunday]

[The boy] finally drove his new car back to Cal State Fullerton. It was living in our driveway in San Dimas for a month waiting for its license plate. [He didn’t want to buy an on-campus parking pass without plates, then later need to update the permit, so he waited.] Well, he drove away this evening. There’s no Covid angle. I’m just documenting a significant event. Maybe it’s just the symbolism. He drove away, himself at the helm in charge of his destiny. It felt like we’ve done our jobs, [Wife Klem] and I, and he’s now off leash into the world.

 

October 4 [Monday]

Virtual work continues for me, but today was a one-day reprieve. With my employer’s go-ahead I went to the Long Beach Convention Center today for a restaurant / mobile food truck convention with an associate with whom I work. His office had a booth at the convention representing my employer and I assisted in manning the booth. I had requested approval of my employer to attend, it was granted. The convention was not jam packed like I imagined it would have been in pre-Covid years. This event was postponed from last year due to Covid concerns. This was a productive day. Masks were required, though not enforced. I wore mine because [Wife Klem] is vigilant and I like her.

The traffic in the morning and drive home in the late afternoon seemed pre-Covid thick. The talk radio was just as angst-inducing as I remember from pre-Covid, back when I spent several hours each week driving for work and listening to talk radio. I do not miss them, the traffic or talk radio.

 

October 7 [Thursday]

A tankless water heater and water softener were installed today. This has been three months in waiting due to supply delays with the softener. Again with the microprocessors, bottlenecks in worldwide parts supplies and a backlog of cargo ships at the local ports off the coast here in Los Angeles. The anticipation had been a long time brewing and today was a relief seeing the task to completion.

 

October 11 [Monday]

The days of strictly virtual work are winding down, even if only in the slightest manner. We have been advised that we may recommence our field work when we feel comfortable. I’ll milk this for a few more weeks, then free up a day to get back in the field, at least once to get the proverbial virtual monkey off my back.

 

October 12 [Tuesday]

An evening of playoff baseball made its return after last year’s Covid cancellation. I get together annually with a few friends at a restaurant laden heavily with big-screen TVs. We watch a playoff baseball game while talking nonsense and off-gassing about work and life. We watched the Dodgers beat the Giants in the Division Playoff Series!

 

October 21 [Thursday]

I lunched with a friend today, a pal from college. He’s got three kids, same age range as ours. It helps getting together periodically torealize these parenting trifles are not just mine, everyone’s juggling the same.

On a Covid note, we ate indoors because their former Covid-era outdoor patio dining area had been dismantled, only indoor dining remains. I take this as Covid being incorporated into the normalcy of every day life for the intermediate future. As if, ‘It’s here, not going away. Let’s carry on with sensible precautions, but we’re going to keep moving forward.’

 

October 25 [Monday]

Today confirmed that strictly virtual work is winding to a close. A colleague of mine has been out doing a handful of field work this month. Well shoot, with this development I must prepare myself to vacate this cozy virtual cocoon of comfort and return to some modicum of field activity. 

 

October 26 [Tuesday]

I often read from Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine over breakfast. I read an article this morning about vaccinations and how they will likely affect the cost of Health insurance in the very near future. Not for 2022, but probably by 2023. For example, Health insurance questionnaires and enrollment applications ask if the applicant is a tobacco user. The answer affects the premium. The same kind of question will likely be added pertaining to the Covid vaccine. The unvaccinated may see an increase in their Health insurance premiums. Plus, studies are in progress to see if people who have had Covid are more prone to develop subsequent health problems.

 

October 27 [Wednesday]

Strictly virtual work comes to an official close in December. We will have an off-site Live team lunch meeting. I haven’t seen my colleagues, other than Skype, since December 2019. I work with a good group and look forward to the festive-feeling of a live-action get together. Although I have mixed feelings about disbanding from my cozy obligation of strictly virtual work. But really, I knew it couldn’t last forever, and it lived on much longer than I had expected.

 

October 28 [Thursday]

The battle over vaccine mandates is heating up. There is at least one state [Florida] suing the Biden administration over a mandate for government contractors. Large corporations are weighing whether or not to mandate. A large number of employees are purportedly prepared to quit work and find other employment if their employer requires vaccinations or weekly testing. The discussion also rages on for school children with parents concerned about lack of research about possible long-term effects of the vaccine. And of course, much of this political. The WSJ statistics suggest that 90% of Democrats have been vaccinated compared to 71% of Republicans. As Covid seems to have a smaller daily impact on my life personally, this thing is clearly going to be raging on with its impact felt for years to come.

 

October 29 [Friday]

I was in the field today conducting work for the first time since March 2020. I drove to the High-Desert and it reminded me of the lost opportunity time for all the behind-the-wheel drive time. Two hours driving there and back means two hours in lost productivity. I don’t miss the driving, but is part of the job. I anticipate being in the field a few days per month in the coming months.