6 March

Another sunny day and the forecast says no precipitation til next Wednesday. And the temperatures should be in the 50s and 60s. Nice.

Interesting little note from this morning's news: last month the economy "generated" 379K jobs. I put that in quotes because the economy, of course, doesn't create jobs; it is the individuals and companies who open up jobs. I find it fascinating how human agency is taken out of such statements. However, the economic news reporters are all atwitter about those fantastic numbers and see them as indicating the economy is coming back fast. I seem to remember, though, that the economy lost (there we go again with the erasure of humans) 700+K jobs per week. It seems to me the hole is getting deeper and we are still digging.

Axios has a nice piece on the jobs numbers, both good and bad. 

On the COVID vaccination front in our area: the eligibility for the vaccine has been lowered to 50. Mom and I have been eligible for a while now since we are both over 70 but we haven't tried to negotiate the process for getting an appointment yet. We have explored sites where the vaccine is available. So far the local Meijer's pharmacy, Walgreens, and a local doctor's office are taking appointments. So is a center set up at the local fair grounds and run by the city. We are still going to wait a bit--until the rush is over. We don't have a lot of exposure and we have our masks. On a very nice note the news last night said that this year's flu epidemic didn't appear. Cases and deaths are well below normal. I wonder how many people decided to get the flu shot when they might not have--like us. But then I also wonder how much the lockdowns, distancing and mask mandates had to do with the low numbers. I speculated a while back that perhaps mask wearing should become a standard of everyday life.