Snow: It is a beautiful snowy night here. Like the first snow of any year, this one is beautiful and welcome. I have nowhere to go, the neighborhood is adorned with Christmas lights, and everything is covered in a blanket of white. I should take a walk in it, but I will wait for morning to do that.
The forecast is for another snowstorm with more accumulation on New Year’s Day. Hope that happens as well.
The Virus: There were reports today that the more contagious strain of Covid was detected today in Colorado. This was not good news. It makes me want to be even more of a homebody than I already am. In the headline of the story, The Washington Post called it the “highly infectious coronavirus variant.” It seems that this variant has showed up in seventeen different countries that include South Korea, Australia, and Canada. We have to assume it is even in more countries.
I am wondering if this has all spread from the UK where it was first detected. Or has this mutation simply happened in several countries simultaneously? Without any expertise in virology, I am guessing the simultaneous evolution is less probable.
“The good news is that B.1.1.7 does not seem to cause much more severe disease, and there’s no evidence that it is managing to evade the immune system, which means vaccines are expected to protect against it,” William Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health…
I hope further mutations do not make the disease mortality rates increase nor result in the vaccines, we are placing so much faith on, to be ineffective.
Lazy Day: I had a lazy day. It involved reading a few chapters of a few books, a couple of meals, a movie, and a nap. I didn’t intend for it to be so lazy. I had a list of things I wanted to do. But, for me, this easily happens when there are no pressing deadlines. This is a well-worn groove or path for me. It is a habit that I wish I could change. Progress, however, in this regard has been minimal over the years.
The only deadlines that are effective are those that have to be done and there in no slack or zero postponement time. Yes, this means that I have waited until the last minute. This also means that I only focus on work related assignments and those imposed by the government (think taxes for example). Anything self-imposed, becomes, well, way less imposing. Self-imposed deadlines, tasks, and to-dos are much more subject to procrastination that I have natural refined to world class levels over the years.
Sure, I could make to-do lists with deadlines. There are even apps for this and I have tried a few. Heck, I actually teach project management. I am well aware of what to preach. I am just not good at the practicing part when it comes to more discretionary, self-improvement kinds of tasks.
There is a long vs. short term component to this as well. I am much better at self-imposed deadlines to write several blog pieces a month rather than write a book over that might take two years.
I could be fully retired if I wanted, but my biggest fear is I would start to wrack up lazy day upon lazy day. Thus, it is good that I am not ready to fully retire and enjoy my encore career at the university.
My December Challenge Update: With this post, I will have only two more days to achieve my goal of posting something everyday this month. I am feeling pretty good about this project. Not all the posts are winners. Yet, I think the distribution of good, mediocre, and not so good posts has not changed this month compared to total history of the blog.
Will I continue to write and post every day in the new year? I will continue to write everyday, but I will not be posting every day. I am thinking every other day... or less.
I have been posting late into the night most days this month. I probably should establish a routine of getting up early, exercising, writing, and then starting my day university day.
We shall see.
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