No, I am not specifically talking about Joe Biden dropping out, though that is something that has felt inevitable for a long time now. I do feel badly for him, but I do wish he had realized his limitations and just how much the Presidency had sapped his abilities, and set up a better succession plan. An 80 year-old man (or woman) really shouldn't be President. I felt the same way about Reagan's second term, i.e. being too old, and he was only 73 and in better overall health than Biden, though apparently towards the middle of his second term there were some significant declines in his mental abilities. Exactly how well Kamala will do is anyone's guess, and I fear she will lose anyway, but at least it feels like there is a chance she would win. As ever Democrats finally get around to doing the right thing versus the GOP where concepts such as acting in the best interests of the country are meaningless.
Instead, I am sad to report that after all these years, I have finally come down with COVID. I caught it either at the conference in Baltimore (where there were a few people coughing up a storm!) or on my way there. (There was generally little drama on the way down. I'll talk about the epic struggles to get home in a later post.) A handful of people, particularly the handful of Canadians in attendance, wore masks throughout the conference or at least part of the time, but I'm not sure how much that would actually help once you factored in eating in the large group dining room. (As the food was generally pretty dire, I might have been better off skipping the lunches, though I don't think I would have worn a mask.)
I felt pretty bad on Thurs., but attributed to stress over trying to cover for two people (one other person was supposed to come to the conference but came down with COVID the week before!). Then I was working on two proposals, and again the person that was going to write the majority of the proposal went on holiday, so I had to do that and finish up my presentation! So I was sleeping very little, and then was out walking around in some extreme heat, since I was staying about a mile from the conference hotel.
I kind of forced myself to go through two museums Thurs. evening. (They were only sparsely attended, so I don't feel that I spread COVID much at that time.) I actually pulled myself together a bit on Friday, though the travails of trying to travel during the global IT meltdown didn't help. I was actually feeling more or less ok by the time I finally got home (on Sunday!), but I took the test anyway, and I got the dreaded second line. So sad.
I had almost decided I was immune after all that time with the exposure at Union Station and never (knowingly) catching it. And not catching it after my son had it! What is true is that I am almost symptom-less, aside from a bit of a cough, trying to bring up some junk in my lungs. But I don't have any major aches or pains. I still have my sense of smell and taste. My appetite is undiminished. I'm tired, but I'm always tired... So it's very hard to square this away with the dread of catching COVID, though I know several people that have caught it recently and really did suffer quite a bit, but in my case the symptoms aren't even as bad as a typical summer cold. Go figure. All I can say is clearly the vaccines have really done a good job of preventing anything worse, and that perhaps I have gotten a strain that has mutated to be less dangerous to the host to better increase the spreading potential. (Some scientists think this is a likely outcome.)
So it does suck, and I really hope to be testing negative in only a few more days. I already had to skip going to The Rex for one show, and I probably can't see the group playing at the tail end of this week. I also had to reschedule my tickets for Hamlet in High Park (I was going on Tues. actually). I am really going to be upset if I have to miss any of the concerts that are part of TO Summer Music next week, so I guess I need to drink lots of fluids and get as much rest as I can. So on that note, I'll just sign off now.
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