Happy Sunday y’all! It’s our check-in #17, dear Covid-19 warriors! I hope you had a great week. My week has been full of surprises. It’s been our 6 years in the US anniversary – more on that later. It’s also been my 15 years anniversary with the company, too. 9 of those I spent with a company, that Amex acquired. I had almost forgotten about that.
Only almost though, because I have a great team and they made sure I would not forget about it, at all. It was lovely (the good way of lovely, not the ironic one – in case you read any of my posts about Brits). I really enjoyed all the surprises, as you can see here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nannette-coerlin-07036a2b/detail/recent-activity/shares/
The other surprise last week was a Hurricane moving towards Southeast Florida, where we are living. The worst was supposed to stay on the ocean but to our next surprise, we did get almost no impact at all. Some rainy swim sessions, but those are not new to us, living in Florida. And a little bit of wind (really not more at all).
The forecast of this being a rather active hurricane season, seems to be accurate. It’s really early for the first hurricane having come that close. We would not mind, if they actually got this forecast wrong.
Well, since the weather was ok (ish), Sam still ended up having a blast, as always. There were even sunny and warm moments that he definitely thoroughly enjoyed. So did we.
I also used the periods of rain, to write a “regular” blog post (as Henning would call it) about focus and how it might help in times like these. Maybe this can help you as well https://mykindofsuccess.net/focus-is-our-friend/
In case you were wondering, we have officially entered the 6th month of March (aka August). 2020 is really quite something. Even Coca Cola apparently can’t stand it anymore.
Now, since this blog is a service and you know me for getting my facts straight, I did do some research. Apparently there was indeed cocaine in the original Coca Cola formula. Makes sense, why else would you call it Coca Cola. Coca is the plant used to produce cocaine. A friend of mine told me, in parts of South America they are using the plant to make tea. I am not sure if that would be appropriate for a 5 O’ clock tea though.
https://www.businessinsider.com/what-happened-to-the-cocaine-in-coca-cola-2012-2
Here in the US I do not recommend having a sip of their original Coca Cola. Drug tests are a big thing here, which I found pretty weird coming from Germany where you cannot mandate those as a condition for employment. And honestly, if the companies are only doing it before hiring someone, they are VERY optimistic. But right now I guess every laboratory is busy doing Covid-19 tests anyways.
Turns out, preliminary research done in Germany shows, that Covid-19 has had an impact on the brains of patients, who were in the ICU. They were i.e. showing signs of memory loss. Researchers found, that some small parts of their brains had died, probably due to Covid-19. That makes sense. No, it really does – especially if you are reading more and more stories like this one:
How else, other than with brain damage, can one explain this? More and more people infected with and sick from Coronavirus think, going about their normal life and exposing others knowingly would be a good idea. Sure. And with that being said, this next news is not surprising at all
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-florida-covid-new-daily-record-high-coronavirus-deaths/
Question is, is it the warm weather in these States that is frying peoples brains? Texas is hot too, but it’s also high up on the list of cases. I rest my case. And no, I do not have proof for this, just desperately trying to understand..because news like these drive me crazy and can actually ruin my day.
Tomorrow is another day. That is what people would say, to encourage each other. Nowadays, when I am thinking about saying it, I am worried people might take this as a threat.
People are doing really weird things right now. For example, the President and his Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos are mandating schools to re-open amidst a major increase of cases and us not yet having reached wave 2 at all.
The second weird thing is, they can’t actually do this. Still there is some school districts that are following their “orders”. And to discuss how, they are holding one zoom meeting after another. Because, you know, meeting in person would be far too dangerous. Yes. 2020.
Another work week is about to start. My little work companion is already getting himself ready by resting in “his bedroom” (aka our guest room) on the bed. But not without having checked in briefly to get his Espresso Pablo treat.
The other night, Henning and I were looking for some entertainment while eating dinner. Yes, we are usually eating dinner on the couch while watching TV. Every nutritionist (and “good” parent probably) would tell you this is wrong. It probably is. But it’s not likely going to change.
I digress. SC (since Covid), we have watched the late night talker (Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and James Cordon) and their “work from home shows” while eating. All of them are on summer break.
So we watched some stand-up comedy specials and stumbled across “Jack Whitehall”. He is really quite funny. But he has a show with his Dad (Jack Whitehall: Travels with my Father) and that show is REALLY funny. If you have a Netflix account, check it out. The episodes are all older – no Covid-19 jokes or masks anywhere to be found. Quite refreshing.
Speaking about TV shows. The presidential debates are going to come up soon. Does anyone else think, that one of these debates between the Covidiot in Chief and Vice President Joe Biden should be done just like Jeopardy? Hosted by Alex Trebek and with categories such as “The US Constitution”, “World History”, “Ethics”, “US Foreign Policy”, “Facts on Covid-19” and “Climate Science”?
I guess future Historians will be asked, which quarter of 2020 they specialized in.
And in times like these, it’s refreshing to see that some companies walk their talk. Delta Airline’s CEO Ed Bastian made it clear, that people that insist on not wearing a mask on board of a Delta airline flight, will not fly with them, period. And recently one of their planes returned to the Gate as 2 passengers refused to wear their mask.
Wearing a mask is uncomfortable. Staying at home, when you are sick, is uncomfortable. Having to be put on a ventilator or dying from Covid-19 is far more uncomfortable. You pick.
This is not over yet and we do not have a choice. There might be a vaccination soon. Or not. But until then, there is really no protection other than wearing a mask, keeping our distance even when we are wearing one and making sure, we are keeping ourselves healthy and as fit as we possibly can.
Masks are protecting others and that might not be relevant for the egoists among us. However it might be relevant for these Covidiots, that they are protecting them as well. Here just as a small reminder, how that works.
Are you ready to face another week in our now normal? Are you going to have a busy work week or are you going to be taking time off? Whatever it is you are doing, make sure you are taking care of yourself. And do not forget to check in with people. Your family, your friends, colleagues and even your boss. You might just make someone’s otherwise challenging day a little bit brighter.
Sammy rearranged the bed cover in our guest bedroom to his liking. He is too funny! Apparently it was hard work, too. He fell asleep right there and then.
And with that, I am ending our check-in #17. I wish you a good night and an awesome week! Be as great as you are!
Keep your distance, wear your mask, stay healthy and take care!
Hugs,
Nannette
Hey Nannette, Sam is too funny! Love his pictures.
Jack Whitehall is very funny indeed, I usually do not watch tv while having dinner however we always do as soon as we do the dishes and clean up the kitchen (kids here, you know, no tv allowed while eating 😊)
We do not watch news, we do a lot of movies with the kids & documentaries if they are asleep, we both enjoy history so we tend to select history documentaries, not funny however we enjoy learning things
Always a pleasure to read your blog posts, thanks for sharing!