Who Else on my TV has COVID-19?

 This week we learned the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi tested positive for COVID-19. [She is quarantining and doing well.] 

The Gridiron Fundraiser Dinner resulted in 68 people testing positive, including President's Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

I also discovered we have an unofficial government tracker, to tally these results.  COVID Positive in Congress

Why do I bring this up?

National figures have the same issues as the rest of us-- we want to hang out with our friends, go places, hug, chat and eat at restaurants. 

We want our pre-pandemic lives back-- we want to be mask and hand sanitizer free!

We are grown, free and over 21-- right?

Yes-- and no.

Yes-- we have all the rights guaranteed under the Constitution and values our freedoms to live as residents and citizens of the United States of America.

No-- we are members of a community village and have a moral responsibility to take care of our circles. There are the inner circle of family, friends, and the secondary circle of co-workers, acquaintances [church, library, gym] and the great unwashed public we interact with on a regular basis [drive-thru staff, gas station, carwash, mini mart].

So, remember:

1. the Pandemic is the Great Equalizer- it doesn't care about your zip code, college degree and how well-connected you are or how important your job is

2. the Pandemic is NOT OVER- people are still getting sick. Less are dying [thank God!] but who wants to have their life disrupted by having to quarantine for 5 days?

2. Vaccines and boosters reduce YOUR life-threatening illness [hospitalizations, ventilators to help you breath] but make you a Spreader- you and your friends may be OK to have a scratching throat or cough, but your 80-year old grandmother or your cousin with asthma may end up in the hospital on a ventilator.

3. Masks and face covering reduce the spread of your air and vapor when you talk and breathe [that is why your mask is wet after a few hours]. 

    No one likes them.

    No one wants to wear them.

TOUGH! Wear it when you are out in a crowd, or around the general public. You don't know what you picked up at Wal-Mart, Price Chopper or Krogers that you are bringing back to breathe on your baby, or 80 year old grandma. 

Get disposable masks so you can vent your rage at a small piece of paper and elastic, and throw it away-- or burn it!

Welcome nieces, nephews and younglings

 I am starting a new blog-- a place to retain thoughts, prayers and insights as a family matriarch [Big Momma], church historian, wise elder, cultural mentor and senior digital sherpa living in a pandemic.

Have I learned a few things-- yes. 

Do I have a lot of questions/queries-- why yes I do!

What I Have Learned from the Pandemic

#1  I don't want to die:  the fear of the unknowns, the changing guidelines and data spikes caused the loss of many hours of sleep. That being said, I fall back to to 7th grade learnings: the Scientific Method. https://www.thoughtco.com/scientific-method-p2-373335

Start with a Hypothesis, see if the data available provides the hypothesis true or false. 

a.  If no answer is achieved, rinse and repeat

b. If an answer is achieved-- rinse and repeat [new hypotheses emerge, new data is identified, so critical analysis needs to continue]. 

#2  Wear a mask: while we were not sure about the statistics of efficacy, time has shown the reduction of illness due to less breathing in of the unfiltered air of the general population.

#6  Find a mask that actually fits your face: the term face covering really is correct in that the goal is to cover where air comes in and goes out. However, the one size fits all [even with material that has high elasticity-- like t-shirts/jerseys] works for some situations and not for others. Same with the KN-95 or the paper disposables.

#12 Find a mask that reflects your personality/style AND fits your face: I have learned that face coverings need to be able to sit securely over your hose and under your chin, without traumatizing your ears. You also need something that works in the different aspects of your life [more on this later]. So masks really need to:

a. fit the lower mandible of your face; this is the part no one saw coming! How much do you move your mouth to talk? How much air do you expel? How much spray?

b. fully cover your nose and be able to be tucked under the lower frame of your [sun]glasses. This addresses the air movement from both the nose and the mouth. The shape of your nose [Roman, African, button, other] has its own challenges, and does not work if you are pulling it up/down when you open your mouth to speak.

c. sit smoothly on your cheeks like your favorite pair of jeans sit on your legs. You don't want 'draft' coming in on the sides.

#20 Lean in and Learn as much new technology and social media applications as possible. things that I never heard of before 2020 as now a standard part of my life of social distancing, working remotely [or hybrid] and reducing interaction with the general public inside buildings.