Cool and damp, but not cold. Hoping the wind blew yesterday’s patchy clouds out of the area. Some sun and warming would be nice.
I spent more time getting out of the house yesterday than I’d hoped, so I got up here a bit late. Did some small things, basically decided not to start anything big I couldn’t finish on time. Broke up and moved some concrete. Literally chipping away at that task… move three wheelbarrows full before I lost the light.
Did some more planning for how to reshape the grades around the house to better deal with water and drainage. It must have rained up here because there was evidence that my channels from last visit drained a bunch of water. That gives me some good contour lines for how the grades need to be.
Lake is up some more toward normal levels, but still a bit low, maybe 6″. The waves make a lot more noise when the level is up. I must have forgotten that.
One of the things I listened to on the shortwave last night was two western journalists living in Peking talking about their bouts with chinkyflu and the changes in the city since the restrictions were lifted. They both had mild cases, in bed for a couple of days despite being fully vaxxed and boosted (so- worse than most recent cases here). They were excited to ‘just get on a train and travel’ without having to register, get tested, show vaccine passports, plan ahead, quarantine, etc. That is for domestic travel this week. I almost never even think about restrictions or getting wuflu any more. What a difference. And an interesting ‘slice of life’ I wouldn’t have come across if not for shortwave listening.
Maybe having been burned so badly, now china will be a bit more cautious? Naw. It’s not in their nature.
I’m sure there will be another plague that spreads around the world. It’ll likely be worse too. Don’t get complacent with preps. 45 days without leaving the house would be a nice level to have…anything really nasty should burn itself out in that time. And if it’s less nasty, that level of preparation will stretch and be supplemented with whatever you can get, just like the past three years.
It’s funny, youtube put a gardening video from 2 years ago in my recommended list, and I watched it day before yesterday. It was a guy in the UK, who decided to start a garden, since he (and everyone else) was essentially locked in his house due to wuflu response. [he was pretty successful, but that wasn’t what caught me.] We were never confined to quarters. I had enough exemptions that I was able to go out if I wanted to, being a landlord, among other things. Most people had no problem moving around if they wanted to. I can’t imagine what it was like in places where they heavily restricted movement, and I have trouble believing that people COMPLIED the way they did. But they did. And they will again. Except in the US. Unless people are dropping in the streets with their eyes bleeding and skin sloughing off, I don’t think we’ll comply.
Stack your stuff high. Ordinary stuff. Extraordinary stuff. Stuff that would be ‘nice to have’ and the stuff you need every day. ‘Cuz I’ve got a feeling we’ll need it.
nick