Dodging Bullets
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| From Edward Lear's limerick There was an old man of St Bees |
You'd better get a cup of coffee. This is going to be a long one!
This past week has certainly tested South East Queensland residents. (Pun unintended) In one week we went from 37 to 169 cases of Delta in the community. This probably seems a laughable figure to the rest of the world and indeed parts of Australia like Sydney but it does demonstrate how quickly the virus can spread. And the fact that contact tracing included at least half a dozen schools, a university, at least three major shopping centres and a couple of hospitals did tend to put the wind up us. I was very sorry to see my first library listed. Til now I've been rather foolishly reassured by the fact that no bookshops or libraries have been listed to date .
Here's a map of the close and casual contacts close to where I live.
I've included Ipswich as well as that is where my daughter and I were on Thursday last - one of the many bullets dodged. It really is sobering to see places listed that you visit on a reasonably regular basis e.g. your local shopping centre, a lovely local deli and the coffee shop where my daughter used to work.
And then of course beyond the western suburbs, the city itself. Sure enough, my beloved GOMA ended up on the list and so my son who shares a house with someone who works there had to self-isolate and get tested too. A member of another family close to me had gone to the Brisbane Girls Grammar Open Day so they had to isolate and get tested too. Half of Brisbane's surgeons were out of action. All the schools affected are what we might call feeder schools or some of the best schools in Brisbane so it really affected the professional community.
Today it's been announced that we are out of lock-down in SEQld but Cairns and Yarrabah are going into lock-down this afternoon for three days because of an outbreak there. For the next two weeks we still have to wear masks everywhere and we're back to 1 person per 4sqm for shops etc. Weddings and funerals can go ahead but with a maximum of 20 people.
Teachers have now been put on the 1B priority list for vaccinations which seems to me to be long overdue. High schoolers will need to wear masks at school which also seems long overdue.
For more of these memes/words go here
Those over 60 are being urged to get their 2nd dose ASAP. And grandparents asked not have contact with grandchildren until they've had their 2nd dose. I have only been able to have 1 dose so far and am booked in for my 2nd AZ dose on 20th August. I'm trying to get it earlier than that but living in what I call "Ground Zero" or the western suburbs of Brisbane makes it a challenge. Chemists have them available from tomorrow but when I rang my local chemist yesterday they were still trying to work out a priority schedule. If I don't get my 2nd dose until 20 August, then I won't be able to see Frankie or Bel until at least 3rd September to be safe.
It's so difficult for young/new mothers these days to get the support they need while this is going on. Thank goodness for the internet, Zoom, mobile phones et al which helps break down isolation. Bel and I have chatted via Facebook messenger so Frankie can see me but this invariably leads to tears on his part when the call ends or the phone is taken away.
According to the Johns Hopkins site 17.24% of the Australian population is fully vaccinated. We come in at number 75 on the list of countries just above Costa Rica and just below Peru. Go Australia! (yes I am being sarcastic).
And so what have I been doing to distract myself? I was going to do a lot of scanning this week but I just haven't been able to focus or apply myself. Organizing basic things like online grocery shopping seemed to take hours; setting up accounts, then having to choose the right supplier for what we needed, then choosing the right method of getting the groceries (boot collection proved the "fastest"). Supermarkets, particularly locally, were overwhelmed and not able to deliver for a week. I imagine much of their casual workforce was in quarantine too. I succeeded in buying the world's smallest block of cheese. Fool me once!
Actually my
online shopping increased vastly overnight. My daughter's birthday is
tomorrow and I realised I wasn't going to be able to get stuff for her
any other way. Luckily an order I had placed with Red Tractor arrived
on time and I have re-purposed Christmas gifts into birthday gifts. I
had to cancel coffee with genealogy friends and coffee with old
school/baby group friends. My haircut was postponed by a week. My
birthday gift from Dad to a concert at QPAC went by the by. My bridge
playing increased enormously.
But I am mindful that this is nothing in comparison to what Sydney is going through. My niece is expecting her first baby in a fortnight and we are all thinking of her and her partner and her mother who is mad with frustration that she can't support her during this time due to border closures. Big virtual hugs to all my buddies down south.
Genealogy wise this is what I have managed to achieve:
Volunteering
As Social Media Coordinator I've had to put up a lot of posts advising about the QFHS library being closed until Tuesday. I've promoted upcoming workshops and other things that I think our community might be interested in. I also put in a report for last month's efforts on our social media accounts. We posted 106 times in the past 28 days. We increased our activity on Twitter by 309%. We posted to Insta 46 times and increased our followers by 19. I have been greatly aided in my efforts by using Buffer. A big shout-out and thank you to Fran for showing me how to use Buffer.
As Acquisitions Coordinator I need to take a great stack of books to the QFHS library (probably tomorrow) for cataloguing. I have also submitted a report to the Management Committee of purchases to date since I took on the role properly in April. It's been a slow process finding my feet.
Reading
I reviewed a local history book I've been meaning to review for ages and you can see that on GoodReads here.
Learning
Doing
Positives
- I raised $1k for the Dry July campaign. You can still contribute if you wish here.
- I won the eBay bid on a box of Thomas the Tank engine stuff which will go towards Frankie's 1st birthday gift in October. We now have a turntable, tracks, engines and a roundhouse.
- I earned myself another 0.09 of a MasterPoint in a bridge tournament on Friday afternoon. Much jubilation. I now have 1.1MP. My teacher at the club Therese Tully has 6,434.08 by way of comparison! I have a loooooooong way to go. Big shout out to all the gorgeous people at Kenmore Bridge Club who performed double triple somersaults to keep us playing bridge online through lockdown. Gold medal effort.
- I finished reading my book in time for book club which is a major triumph for me. Lockdown is good for some things :)
- I finished the back of my vest in terms of knitting projects.
- I made chicken stock for the first time in my life.
- My mate Alison in the UK seems to have recovered from her bout of COVID - phew. And aren't we all sick of that Greg Coulter meme on Facebook asking if we personally know anyone who has had the virus? Is this part of a campaign to suggest this is all a hoax? Dear Lord. I know 5 people personally who have had the virus so far if it helps you get over the hoax line. 3 in the UK and 2 here in Oz.
- The jasmine is out!
- Last but not least a big shout out to everyone who has
participated in the blog challenge so far. You are champions and a big
shout out to Chris Crissouli for writing a beautiful poem and collating
the bloggers on her blog here.
Comments
My pleasure to collate the list of contributors. I am trying to keep up with all.. anyone I miss, please contact me.