Note to Snow Crash Readers: Just a reminder that the Mainland Missive Series is based on weekly emails I send to my family on the mainland. They can be a little rough and personal.
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8/15/20
Aloha All!
Big news this week has been the dramatic rise of Covid 19 cases on Oahu,
with the accompanying strain on the health care system. There could not
be a clearer experiment showing (a) the contagiousness of this thing
and (b) how effective responsible behavior can be to contain it (an unmasked
biker rally of 250k doesn’t qualify as responsible, IMHO). Oahu went
from having the pandemic nearly completely under control to
record-breaking numbers that are outstripping ICU and hospital
facilities in just few weeks. Some of this is due to large cluster
outbreaks in prisons and military installations, but mostly it is
because loosening restrictions in early July led to large gatherings and
unmasked close contact. Come on people, get a grip! This isn’t a hoax
– it *really* does cost lives and money in terms of expensive
hospitalizations and lost business.
In more mundane news, our wet and cool weather is getting ridiculous.
On Tuesday night it rained 1.4" at our house, then another .7" on
Wednesday night, and on Thursday night yet another .6" . Notice I said
“night.” This almost always begins in late afternoon and continues into
evening – our days start with beautiful mornings and then clouds move
in later. And living at 800' on the Kona coast we frequently are able to
watch a colorful sunset even while it is dumping rain. We had a couple
of really sunny days last week and my solar pv system was able to nearly
wipe out the month’s deficit, but then the cloudy pattern returned and
we are back to being in the red, though not that deep. Our meters are
read on the 20th, so we could still get enough to break even if we get a
bit more sun.
In addition to being wet, our cool temps are continuing – on Thursday
night it got down to 67! Break out the parka! In a house that can’t be closed up entirely and
has no insulation or heat, that can feel pretty chilly. Usually at
this time of year the low might be around 72-74. Strange times we live
in, right?
Three pleasant things happened this week. I got my hair cut again (what
a treat, despite all the precautions), so I’m ready for another
lockdown if it comes. On Wednesday Karen & I worked out at PF (only
about 10 other people, all masked) then had a Vietnamese Lemon Grass
Chicken sandwich from one of our favorite restaurants (Bale), which we
took to a beach park near the airport. Weather was gorgeous – until we
got back home. Finally, my handy man came on Thursday and we finished
repairing the lanai railing I’ve been working on. Always a good feeling
to finish a project....until you realize there are 6 more waiting.
Ok, that’s it. Off the market, breakfast picnic, and then our PF
workout. Take care everybody, stay comfy, safe, and as sane as you can.
3 comments:
Oxford is waiting for #s to climb with the return of partying students....give it 2 wks and things will be shut down again. Why can't people learn? New bike path almost complete so we can go from home to Peffer pk and the other way to Dewitt and Bonham Rd if you want to keep going. Long time in coming and more to come eventually. Hope you both keep healthy!!
You get sympathy for the pandemic surging, but none for the weather. Ohio has been over 1,000 new cases/day most days for quite a while. On June 12 there were 380 new cases. "Human behavior, always good for a laugh."
Don't suffer with your weather any more- move to Southern California. One day back in March we got 4-5 inches of rain. That's about half our annual average! How's your frog problem? A couple weeks ago I found a frog the size of a quarter on my outdoor grill. On Friday evening I removed the grill cover and he (or someone who looked a lot like him) was back.
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