The days of no effort COVID-19 testing are no more. Till now I just stopped by the booth by Krispy Kreme or Aldi and spent perhaps five minutes getting tested. Now as Jimmy Durante said, “Everybody wants to get into the act.” When I got to my place on Fordham Plaza it took 52 minutes to finish my test. That’s still much faster than the 4 hours it took me four years ago today. I’m not complaining, I’m happy that people are getting tested. The sudden explosion in demand has made it impossible for supply to keep up with demand. We have no idea how long the surge in testing will last; will be get complacent in a few weeks? I was not surprised but still disappointed that people on the line were complaining. We could see the testers working non-stop and efficiently, but people still blamed them. I had an advantage over everyone else near me, I’m a repeat customer so all my data was in the system. That meant I got taken before the people near me in line as when we were called was based on when our names were added to the computer queue. That only saved me a few minutes. The actual testing was done faster than usual; I didn’t get my usual socializing with the testers. I just let them know what an excellent job they were doing. The guy doing the swabs has improved. I didn’t sneeze at all when he tested me. His touch is lighter. Practice does make perfect.
I’m not sure when the results came in as my phone battery went dead on the walk home, and that took half an hour. As expected, I was negative. The PCR results aren’t ready, and they sent a message saying they might take longer than usual. That’s to be expected as they have to do so many more than before. No matter what it is there are delays when there’s peak demand. That’s why there’s traffic at rush hour, delays at airports during peak travel times, and long waits at restaurants on holidays. I have a friend with a degree in City Planning, that this is the reason there are food carts in big cities. It’s not economically viable to have enough restaurants to handle lunch time in midtown. They wouldn’t do enough business the rest of the day. I’m suggested that you get tested regularly and for now expect it to take an hour. You can buy home tests though they are expensive. The one thing that could be done to make that easier is to make those free but rationed. The current system is you have to outlay money but can get reimbursed by insurance. I should find out how to do it. I would be nice to have a few rapid tests in the house to use on days I have plans.
The floor in my bathroom is being replaced. Yesterday they tore up the old floor and laid down a layer of cement that I couldn’t walk on while it dried. They put down planks for me to walk on to reach the toilet. It made me think of all those movies where people had to cross narrow bridges across chasms, think Khazad-dûm in the Fellowship of the Ring. Walking them was easy. Turning around to sit down was more difficult. They had to remove the sink then I had to go to the kitchen to wash up. Intellectually I know that’s fine, my gut is not happy with it. Now they are laying down the tile. I don’t think I’m getting my sink back today. I hope I can shower.
I listened to candidates for top albums of the year while walking and waiting to be bested. Making the list is always difficult but things gelled yesterday. As I relisten to the albums I find that that some that sound good don’t hold hope to focused listening. If I can’t give the album my full attention without my mind wandering, it’s not a top album. It sounds like an oxymoron, but some music is not as good as it sounds. I rejected one album yesterday that sounds great as background music but couldn’t hold my attention. It would be different in concert. It was also the case where the songs were not as interesting as the songwriters. I have already rejected some of the albums I was most looking forward to; some by big names that I’d expect to automatically make the list. I’m disappointed when that happens but happy that it makes the winnowing easier. Same thing happens when I listen to an album that’s so good on a deep dive that I know it belongs. I know many of the performers in person and it’s strange how my personal feelings interact with my choices. It’s not that I choose albums because I like the people that made them. It’s feeling bad about leaving off albums by people I love and discovering that some albums that I thought I might favor because of my feelings about the artists really are that good. I’ll be announcing them on the December 30th edition of Gord’s Gold. I won’t be able to listen live as I’ll be seeing Dar Williams and Crys Matthews that night, Omicron willing. They have albums that were in consideration for the list. You’ll have to listen to find out if they made it. Fine, you don’t as I’ll also post the list here, but you should listen.
Now to make breakfast. It’s only 10:34 AM, that’s good for me. This is the schedule I want to be on.
Wise Madness 