January 12

We have sun today and a moderate (for mid January) temperature. We should have the same for the next couple of days but by the end of the week and over the weekend those temps should drop into the 20s. I finally decided to take out my winter coat. I avoid it because I don't like that coat but haven't found another I want to replace it. Part of the problem is that though I haven't actually gained any weight it has redistributed itself to my gut area and the coat is too tight there. Oh well I will tolerate it until I do find a new jacket.

Several pieces of good news entirely on the personal front since there is damned little positive on the national level. My brother came home over the weekend after several days in the hospital being treated for COVID. He said he got Remdesivir and dexamethasone early on and hopefully will be fine going forward.

I finished another embroidery piece and have already chosen the next--a small round doily that will join the two that are already in progress. I also got two of the three new spindles I ordered a week or so ago: a Navajo support spindle and a Turkish drop spindle. I got the first out of curiosity because I thought it might be useful in spinning strips of cloth or plastic bags into useable "yarn." I gave it a bit of a try and it seems to work nicely. I got the mini Turkish so I could try to spin a finer yarn that I could with my old spindle. That one seems to be working nicely also but it will be a while longer before I feel good enough to display any of my spinning. By the end of the month I should get the takli spindle that is on back order.

I am so looking forward to the 20th when #45 will retire to where ever. I hope the media won't feel the need to cover any of his oral defecations again but he is the kind of publicity hound that will get far more attention than he deserves. And so many of the problems we face are still with us and will be after he is gone. I don't blame him for them but the incompetent response of his administration has worsened them. We have several COVID vaccines available but the roll-out has been less than efficient. It will be months before a significant part of our population is vaccinated. The  economic situation is  dire for a large number and not likely to get any better soon. Number 45 has another dubious distinction in that our economy has actually ended his reign with fewer people working that when it started--for the first time since Herbert Hoover.

We are still learning how to live with COVID both collectively and individually. So many of our social/economic arrangements have been turned upside down and everything is in flux. This article covers only one aspect of the situation--education. I have wondered more and more often (like every time we lose internet and/or cable) if we aren't too dependent on fragile technology.