Plague Diary Season 3 Week 5

Day 14+7+8, September 15. 14 new, all Auckland; 983 in the cluster; 530 active, 456 recovered. (Yeah... SO not my math.) We're now getting used to early spring days; I miss winter already but it sure is pretty and cheerful. I had a housework day, cooking, laundry, even cleaning a bit. Also sampled the rethreaded warp. This experiment is turning out to be far more valuable than I expected, except... yeah... another threading mistake. I knew I should have turned another light on while I rethreaded, instead of going by feel. Righto, more Battlestar Galactica binging.

Day 14+7+9, September 16. 13 new, all Auckland; 966 in the cluster; 460 recovered. RNZ did not list active case numbers; I suppose that's better than hard-to-explain math. 

 

Tomorrow at 8.30AM, we end our eight-year hate/hate relationship with our stove. 

In 2013, Dad died, so I spent one of the hottest summers living with Mom for five months. (Jury is still out on whether that was the right thing to do, but that's another story.) Ben and I skyped every night, and at the very end of my time away, he said our 1987 oven was acting up. We had been warned parts for the oven were no longer available, so when Ben said something alarming, we decided to replace it. And we did the first weekend after I came back. 

I was home alone when a young chap came to install it. He seemed nice, but he had a mouth; he couldn't shut up about the floor not being level, (it is, Ben checked,) and I couldn't wait for him to leave. It turned out the guy bent the right oven door hinge badly. Normally I'd ring the store and get it set right ASAP, but I just couldn't not face the mouth, so I didn't complain. A few years later the thermostat on one hob, and then another, broke so they were either all the way up, or off. We lived with two hobs and an oven door that wouldn't shut, (I got in the habit of putting a chair in front to keep it shut,) for some years, while I asked around for a trustworthy repair person, to no avail. 

Earlier this year Ben thought the hinge is probably beyond repair, so we bit the bullet and bought a new one after eight years. As I cleaned the floor and walls behind it this morning, I found a big ding in a unlikely place, so the initial install was worse than we thought. Tomorrow, our own electrician is going to install it. Phew.

And then we'll get our second jab in the afternoon.

Day 14+7+10, September 17. 11 new, all Auckland; 1007 in the cluster; 457 active, 550 recovered. (Hey, look at the math!! Look at the math today!!) 

 

I don't. I look horrible in greens, especially lighter ones. But thanks, Library, nice idea. (And I returned my compliment into the pile so someone else can love it. I now wished I cheated and read others; they seemed all unique.) 

Day 14+7+11, September 18. 20 new, all Auckland; 1027 in the cluster; 641 active, 386 recovered. Ben felt a little woozy, so I pretended I did, too. Also, we both felt clairvoyant; I see cleaning the oven door glass in my near future. 

Day 14+7+12, September 19. 24 new, all Auckland; 1050 in the cluster, all in Auckland now; 688 active, 361 recovered. Oops, math slip. We did stuff, cooked and ate stuff, and watched stuff.

Day 14+7+13, September 20. 22 new, all Auckland; 1071 in the cluster; 376 active, 790 recovered. (Math is not RNZ's strong suit.) On Wednesday Auckland will move to Level 3, (for two weeks?) while, Ben tells me, the rest of the country moves to normal, (not Delta) Level 2. Parts of northern Waikato adjacent to Auckland is under special provision, because a parolee released from Auckland went home, and with three family members, tested positive. I'm a little confused about this case as it sounded to me like someone who picked up said person might have been positive, and was not allowed to exit Auckland. Not sure if this person was tested, etc. 

Day 14+7+14, September 21. 14 new, Auckland and northern Waikato; 1085 in the cluster; 294 active, 790 recovered. I've been fed up with myself unable, or unwilling, to get back to "normal" life, but I might have finally broken that pattern today. Or not. I'll know tomorrow.