Our county case chart is just a straight line up. And we’re at a new all time high on our 7 day rolling average. I don’t know why the screenshot is so damn fuzzy here – but the blue line is 2020, red is 2021, and purple is the goal for “moderate” community transmission.

Our hospitalization rates are still low, but I know that’s a lagging indicator, and even if the rate of hospitalizations to cases stays low – when the cases are so high, that can turn into a lot of overwhelmed ICU’s really fast. I truly hope it is as mild as it may seem right now, and we don’t see a ton of long Covid to go with it.

If you’re thinking “why are you torturing yourself with these numbers?” – well, it makes me feel like I have a handle on things. I can’t control it, but I know where things stand. Of course, the county health department website says “Data should not be used to determine your individual level of risk or to self-diagnose” – no, I’m not gonna use a chart to self diagnose, but I am sure as shit gonna use it as part of my risk assessment. (Granted, my risk assessment has pretty much been FUCK, NO since March 2020, with a brief relaxation for 2 months this summer.)

Tried my KN95’s again this morning for the Starbucks pickup and they’re still a no-go. :( They literally flap at the sides when I exhale (which is legit hilarious), but if I throw a cloth mask over it to secure it, it’s too much and I can’t breathe. So, guess I’ll stick with my ASTM3 disposables + cloth mask for the time being – I did double up the ASTM3’s this morning when I ran into the market and while it wasn’t super awesome, I could breathe.

I have N95’s but they’re way too big for my face – I did find some small 3M ones and they’re on order, and we’ll give those a whirl. Yeah, shoulda done that 2 weeks ago. (Non-sketchy N95’s were out of stock for so long, I guess I just unconsciously gave up on finding them.)

I’ve also got 4 quick tests arriving today and damn if I don’t feel like I’m sitting on a gold mine with those. Walmart is updating stock in real time, so if they’re out of stock when you check – look back again in a few hours.

I called the Honey Baked Ham shop and switched my pickup from in store to curbside. Thank you, Annie at HBH. I also gave them a container of cookies as a thank you for being flexible in the middle of a hard week. The “Wait what?” look as I handed them over made me wonder just how bad this week has been for them. But, I have safely acquired a 1/4 bone in ham! And sent a “your crew was flexible and awesome and I appreciate it” email to corporate.

And I tried the KN95 again while I was in the car waiting for the ham – and the sides didn’t flap around this time? WTF? Then I realized, I had the straps clipped in the back and I didn’t this morning… Well, looks like I’ll just have a fuckton of masks, LOL.

You stay safe.