Persistent Covid way too close; flu shot, bee stings

Two of our neighbors -- three and four houses away -- have Covid. One gentleman in his 90s is on a ventilator in the hospital. A woman in her late 30s remains at home. Both were vaccinated, so I'm not sure what's going on. Or what to believe, really. There's no official government notice, like yellow tape or a sign in front of the houses to let people know Covid is present. Information is shared through word of mouth among neighbors, which surprises me since rules and regulations seem vital here. Maybe officials are unaware or can't keep up, but some kind of signal to the neighbors that Covid is nearby would seem essential for everybody's well-being. Society has opened up and life and traffic are back to their usual chaotic flow. But with so many home deliveries of food and packages, it's no wonder officials are acknowledging that 0 Covid cases won't happen. Vietnam reports 8,000 to 10,000 new cases daily. On Tuesday, Vietnam added 38,000 new cases to its overall total of 1,137,923, which included 28,000 previously unreported cases in Binh Duong, a neighboring province of Ho Chi Minh City and Bien Hoa. I see online that the United States gets anywhere from 50,000 to 111,000 new cases daily, so this virus is far from finished. My wife and I received our two AstraZeneca shots but we still wear masks and wash our hands religiously. I'm assuming our 5-year-old will eventually get a vaccine and we'll need a booster. Bring it on.
* * *
Our son got an influenza vaccine on Wednesday and my daughter, wife and I were vaccinated for the flu. It's like needle park here, sometimes. Joanna is not a fan, vehemently protesting any injection, saying "No thanks, no thanks!"  The anticipation was worse than the injection for the flu, and she didn't cry after getting stuck, but she whined a bit before the fact. She cried more when she was stung by some weird bee  -- something like a yellowjacket I was told -- a few days ago. I got stung multiple times a while back by one of these guys and I cried a lot more than Joanna. I also swelled quite a bit at the site of the sting. Joanna's skin raised only slightly where she was stung. She was victimized while looking at the nest being built on tree trunk in the park. We went home, put on a band aid, and Joanna shook it off after a short while, returned to the park and continued her creature exploration and play.
* * *
Many schools in Dong Nai are doing online learning to combat Covid, so Joanna and I continue our learning at home. Her attitude improves all the time since I give her total leeway with her drawing and coloring, and she even did some math without any complaints. ... We had a power outage last week and my daughter was upset until I gave her my headlamp, prompting her to say, "I'm putting on my 'octogoggles,' " a funny reference to the Octonauts, an underwater adventure cartoon she watches sometimes. She's doing quite well, all things considered, and there are many things to consider ... We received a receipt and short note from the USCIS regarding our waiver application for my wife to get a visa to come to the United States. Our nonrefundable payment of $930 has been received and they're now reviewing our case. The note also states that if  biometrics are required, they'll let us know. That's pretty much it, so we'll just wait for a decision: Either my wife and our family leaves for the U.S. relatively soon, hopefully, or we have some serious thinking to do, especially about our daughter's education and future. ...  T-Rex Coffee and Tea, the nearby dinosaur coffee house, is our new hangout. Joanna and I go daily (except Sundays) for an hour or so. Joanna even has a T-Rex Coffee and Tea t-shirt. ... I'm deep into the book Conquistador, which has shaken my faith in mankind with its portrayal of massacres and human sacrifices. On that awkward note, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Electric E; dinosaur coffee; more Covid, no waiver news

He can be the Big E, Little E, Easy E, but he's always E, as in Electric. My son Elijah, who's getting tall as well as big, jacks up the microwave to full heat and maximum time whenever he passes by. If I heat up coffee, he turns the dials to their limits so coffee will boil all over the place if I'm not there. But I've always been there because I know my son's behavior. I worry about his height and size now because he can reach the stove dials and every outlet in the house. Coffee is a special problem, and not just because of the microwave dials. He goes ballistic if I don't let him drink it, and he's oblivious to how hot things are or could be. My after-dinner coffee is a scream-fest and he has to be diverted. Electric is the big lure and we have to use it to get him off the coffee, letting him turn off the ceiling fan. If we're not focused on him, he'll move chairs to reach light switches, creating concert-like effects in every room, especially the bedrooms and bathrooms.  We got him a sensory board with switches, plugs, locks and shapes, and he's starting to get into it. My daughter did everything on the board a couple of times and the thrill is gone. Elijah smashed the bell on the board, laughed and applauded himself. He's a fun guy with a ready smile.
* * *
Joanna and I spotted a T-Rex Coffee and Tea on Vo Thi Sau during our afternoon walk. It was easy to spot because it's next to the ATM  I use. Oh no. Joanna loves the place (the T-Rex coffee shop) and she was fascinated by the large and scary anatomical T-Rex inside, along with plastic and relatively realistic triceratops, parasaurolophus, and velociraptors. It took her a little while, but she now she touches the moving, roaring T-Rex. She'll eventually get bored with the place, but it will take a while since she's enamored with dinosaurs, sea creatures and all animals, really. We went on a Sunday and the crowd of kids was a little rough; one kid kept hitting the styrofoam dinosaur with his fist and anything else he could grab, another kid about 6 or 7 was flipping off the T-Rex while his parents sat nearby and laughed, and another kid grabbed the T-Rex tongue and ripped the tip off. Adults were nearby but preoccupied on their cell phones ... or laughing at their kids' unsavory behavior. Joanna started getting a little wound up, pulling up some flowers to feed T-Rex. I didn't laugh, explained the problem to her and we left in a veil of tears. I tried to explain so she would understand and not get too upset, but my daughter is very sensitive to criticism. I really just wanted her to know that other kids can be fun and good friends, but we have to make our own decisions and do the right thing. Thank goodness my daughter is very bright and seems to understand what I'm telling her most of the time.
* * *
Covid keeps hanging around here, averaging more than 8,000 new cases a day in Vietnam in the past week, but life is returning to normal. More and more noisy vendors are walking the streets, more bikes are appearing and more speeders on bikes and in cars are making their presence felt on our street. Food produced locally is still relatively cheap, but imported goods are getting costlier all the time. Joanna and I end up in the park sometime each day, often to meet my wife and Electric E, who loves kicking the ball and chasing it down.
* * *
We're still waiting for any word regarding our waiver application for my wife to get a visa to enter the United States. It was sent mid-September. My daughter isn't in school but should be (she's 5 years old), and probably will refuse to go to school in Vietnam. The only school she could do here would be online kindergarten, which I nixed. So we're hoping for good news on the waiver and we're hoping for it soon. Homeschool continues, but my computer broke down, the internet can be problematic, and Joanna needs peers and she needs to be challenged more. We're on a break at the moment waiting for a new laptop to arrive. In the meantime, she draws and colors while humming the entire time, reads on occasion, and walks in the heat with her dad. We watch British Council kids videos and she'll answer the accompanying questions.
* * *
I've surpassed 100 weeks and 700 days in a row of reading, having recently finished the riveting Labyrinth of Ice by Buddy Levy, which was about the Greely polar expedition.  Now I'm reading Conquistador, his book about the conquest of the Aztecs by Cortes. ... I'm a month away from two years without a drink of alcohol. I might share a beer with my wife if we get the visa. ... Rainy season continues here, with a daily downpour usually starting late afternoon. The Coffee House always lends Joanna and I an umbrella if we happen to be out walking in the rain. Nice folk work there. 

Line up for 2nd jab; creatures; safer park; Joanna bee cool

When we got our second AstraZeneca vaccine shot at a converted gym, the line cutters were out in full force. Three people stepped in line in front of us, but my wife called out one guy, and a watchful government official sent the trio to the back of the line, and basically taught them the process of queuing in an orderly fashion. The cutters nodded in approval, like this was the first time they had been instructed how to line up, which may have been the case. There seems to be a panic in some countries -- actually most countries I've been to -- of being left out when a group of people gather to do something, whether it's paying for groceries or getting a needle stuck in your arm. That leads to people simply muscling their way to the front of the line to get what they've no doubt been denied countless times in the past. By the way, my wife and I both felt sick after the shots -- headaches and stomach issues that lasted a couple of days. Not horrible but a little uncomfortable. Since the lockdown has been lifted, coronavirus cases have been slowly rising in Vietnam, from a low of about 3,000 new cases daily to nearly 6,000 a day. Our province, Dong Nai, has been the area recording the most new cases – over 800 a day. Among the infected is a 90-year-old man on our street and a pregnant lady around the corner, who both had been vaccinated twice. 
• • •
Maybe this is another teaching moment here: Officials have installed metal bars and chains to keep motorbikes out of the pedestrian park we go to. Signs and gestures didn't work. Motorbikes were cruising the park; walking was becoming dangerous, especially for children like my son and daughter. Delivery drivers would sit around, smoke and litter next to their bikes in the park. A security guard being paid the equivalent of $150 USD a month did little or nothing to intervene. It's probably cheaper to put up barriers than hire more, or more involved, guards. The improvements (I'll call them that) took place during the lockdown along with lots of other construction projects in town, including new sidewalks, which were desperately needed. 
• • •
Joanna and I have resumed our afternoon walks with masks on. The creature hunts are back, and my daughter is amazing. She is in a class by herself at spotting critters. She saw a lizard between two stones that form the barrier to the park's stinky canal, two lizards on a utility pole, and a beehive being built on a tree. The only thing I've spotted recently is another giant spider in the bathroom next to our kitchen. We've all spotted ants, but not very many lately. My wife cleaned some snails (ugh!) that I won't eat, and missed a spot when cleaning up the counter, so the ants came out to finish the job. Other than that one incident, no ants. I've turned my addiction issues to cleaning, in addition to reading, and the ants don't have a chance. Also on our walk, we saw two guys walking through the mucky canal with boots on (thankfully for them) and carrying large wooden poles with little nets on the end. The water was low, and these guys walked down the canal scooping up fish and putting them in a bag. I have no idea what kind of fish they were "catching," but there were a lot of them.
• • •
We had a small Halloween gathering for Joanna.  She made her own costume -- a color-and-cut bee mask and black and yellow T-shirts from my drawer. She refused to wear a witch costume my wife got out for her and insisted on being a bee. We colored a few Halloween pictures – good witch, bad witch, pumpkin – and hung them on the bedroom doors. She knocked on the doors, and entered dark rooms where spooky dad gave her treats with a spooky, kid-appropriate video playing. I think she loved it, especially the candy. I know my daughter should be in school now, but she's rallied a little with the lessons I've given her. She still hates math, but we're having "testing" week, and of course she aced the sea animals section. I contacted some international schools here regarding Joanna. One never picked up the phone (during school hours) and I got disconnected, and another called back and sent an email that started with We are appreciated for your interest ... At least they responded and were nice, and I'll assume a teacher didn't write the email, but looking at their class schedule and seeing the email, I expect more for $17,000 to $20,000 a year. The waiver from the USCIS is so crucial for our family, especially for our children and their education. We filed the waiver in the middle of September, but still no acknowledgement of any kind from the USCIS.
• • •
I'm about to join the 700 club, if such a thing exists on Kindle, since I've read 697 days and 101 weeks in a row. Currently reading Labyrinth of Ice, a story of the Greely polar expedition ... I tried to buy a Birds of Paradise comforter for Joanna for $123 and $68 shipping and handling, but Fed-ex wouldn't release it to me from HCMC unless I produced the receipt, photo of item, and bank record of purchase. So I slogged though this process with my wife, sent the requested documentation, and got an email back saying I must also pay at least $50 more duty and taxes, and possibly more, or they'll return the comforter. Principle rules ... return the comforter to Redbubble, who's good to work with by the way, and let them keep the $191. Update: My wife overruled my decision and said pay the duty and taxes so Joanna gets the comforter after Redbubble wrote me to say they would cover the extra expenses if I send them the receipts from the duty and taxes. A complicated world we live in these days ...  a big shout-out to a wonderful high school classmate of mine who sent Joanna a couple of truly cool coloring books. And I didn't have to pay duty and tax. Thank you Estera!

Anticipating vaccine jab No. 2; Why oh Why?

My wife Phuong and I were supposed to get our second vaccine shots next Sunday, which I believe might be a prerequisite for us to travel to the United States if the waiver for my wife's visa is approved. We'd be getting AstraZeneca shot No. 2 nine weeks after the first jab. I guess that's fine since we'll probably need a booster eventually, especially the senior citizen in our family. I'd rather be a human pin cushion than fighting to breathe on a ventilator. Update (Wednesday morning): We ended up getting the shots in a hurry-up scramble Tuesday. We're very pleased. New coronavirus cases here in Vietnam have dipped, from about 12,000 a day a few weeks ago to 3,000 to 5,000 a day in the past week. You can credit the lockdown, which was recently lifted, and the vaccines, which I believe are the only way to truly control and ultimately eradicate the virus. My view is that along with vaccines, maintaining a mask mandate for the foreseeable future will help reduce the spread of any possible variants, and add to the public's confidence. Again, that's my view ... maybe not yours, his or hers. One problem I see here – and I suspect in many other countries – is that once the number of new cases drops, some people act like there's no more Covid; they discard their masks, gather in groups, and ignore social distancing, just like in the days when the virus really took off. The virus is still soaring in some places, like the UK, and the U.S., unfortunately ... maybe not like before but enough to be worrisome, which should make simple, relatively easy precautions become simple, relatively easy procedures.

• • •
My daughter Joanna has discovered a new word: "Why?" She applies it to everything she really wants to know – Why do giraffes have ossicones? They use ossicones as weapons when they fight, like smaller antlers ...  as well as to every situation and circumstance – Why do I have to wash my hair?  Because it's dirty. Why is it dirty? Because you were outside and it's hot and dirty outside? Why is it hot and dirty outside? It's hot because we live near the equator and it's dirty because of all the motorbikes, cars and factories. Why do we live near .... At this point, I'll cut her off, change the subject and tell her we'll see about washing her hair ... and ossicones. Our son Elijah seems a little delayed in his speaking. He'll make sounds and point, but only occasionally makes attempts at words.  Like Joanna, he's dealing with two languages. Joanna made a choice to speak English, and now she's interested in Vietnamese. We'll see about Elijah, of course. I just want everything to be OK for these guys.

• • •
Joanna has become less enthusiastic about some of our homeschooling work. I'm challenged to get her started on anything academic and she seems to genuinely dislike math. I figure that we've been at this since last November with no extended time off, and we sometimes have school on Saturdays. Probably time for a break for both of us. She'll draw and color with no prompting, she'll read books she likes, but doesn't like to write words or do basic math, even with jelly beans. Yep, sounds like a 5-year-old to me. I'm not concerned because in addition to a break from school I believe she needs peers and a teacher who isn't her dad.
• • •
The initial results are positive indeed. The massive cleaning effort and subsequent chemical warfare on the ants that invaded our house have put the little pests on the run for the time being. I haven't seen more than three ants in three days. I've seen a few more flying roaches and giant spiders in our house, possibly on reconnaissance missions, but they're easily removed and not nearly as unnerving as swarms and swarms of ants. Adequate living conditions through toxic chemistry!

Lockdown lifted; ants launch massive counterattack

The lockdown was lifted in Vietnam last weekend; the country has chosen to try to live with the coronavirus rather than aim for 0 cases. The biggest plus now is you don't get hassled if you take a walk. Masks are still required, which is good news to me, and most restaurants and coffee shops are takeout only. Some businesses are opening up gradually, while others just threw open the doors. I believe there are limits on gatherings, but I don't know for sure. There is no taxi service that I'm aware of, so for the most part life as I know it hasn't changed a whole lot. I did buy Indian food (takeout, of course) and pizza (also takeout) with Joanna in tow; we're slowly returning to our routine of a late afternoon walk. I still shop at the little market around the corner and cook whatever they have to offer, which seems to be a lot of Australian and Canadian beef and Da Lat potatoes.  Since the strict lockdown ended, the market shelves are better stocked and there's more variety. The country had to end the strict lockdown, in my opinion, because the economy was starting to struggle. Some surefire signs things are starting to return to normal: a car came ripping out of an alleyway and almost hit Joanna and I during only our second walk since the lockdown was lifted; another car came up on the sidewalk very close to us while trying to park; a girl on a motorbike roared down our street and swerved between Joanna, Phuong (holding Elijah) and I rather than slow down while we crossed the street; and two women and a man cut in a long line at the market to get served quicker instead of waiting in line like the rest of us lesser humans. I don't actually miss the lockdown, but I miss the reduced traffic, etiquette, gentile manners and slower pace of life it seemed to create.
• • •
I was battling ants, as I had mentioned in a previous blog, and thought I had the upper hand until the little rascals launched a major counterattack. This was an attack the likes of which I've never seen from the insect world. It looked like our dining room and kitchen floors were moving. Elijah spotted it, baby-babbling and pointing in disgust at the sea of ants. The ants were filling the spaces between nearly all of our dining room tiles, which probably could have been a lot cleaner. So I bought some acid-type tile cleaner often used in toilets and bathrooms and poured it between the tiles on the grimey grout. This stuff bubbles up a little when you pour, so you know the toxins are doing their dirty work. The stuff was so nasty, it made the dining room and kitchen cloudy, and actually hurt my lungs and burned my fingers (gloves and masks for solo cleaning are for sissies), but it made the tiles and spaces in-between look like new. I spent seven hours over three days pouring poison cleaner, scrubbing, rinsing, rubbing, rinsing again, and drying. I'll be curious to see how the ants react. If they come back in any significant number, I'll try to negotiate a settlement. I won't let then know I'd be willing to surrender ...  and let the geckos fight my battles for me.
• • •
Joanna got her passport, but she didn't receive her old passport. Unless the situation is dire, phone calls to the U.S. Embassy in HCMC don't get a response so I had to email my complaint on Saturday about the missing passport. There's been no email response yet, but the passport came Monday morning via courier. We're trying to get everything in order in preparation for the waiver response, which could come at any time, We're hoping to get our second vaccine shots next week. Elijah will get vaccinated for chicken pox, flu and some Japanese brain flu next week in spite of the wisdom of Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. If the waiver is approved, we'll pack a couple of suitcases and be on our way. If rejected, well, we've got a wonderfully clean dining room and kitchen where we can sit and stew over more than six years of rejections and thousands of dollars spent in vain.  Boo hoo.
• • •
Finishing up Big Fella, a book about Babe Ruth. It's one of the few non-science fiction books I've read in the past two years -- 99 weeks and 680 days in a row of reading on Kindle. As noted before, only a few of the days were forced to keep the streak alive. Living in a tropical climate with heavy monsoon rains daily hasn't hurt the streak, but staying up late reading and the dealing with two active, engaging young children each day, and cooking and cleaning, presents special challenges of their own. ... Joanna has been spending more time with mom these days and is so much better for it.  Still homeschooling Joanna but I'd be happy to let true professionals do the job right, and also get her around other kids who have similar interests and speak her language. ... I use an extension cord with multiple outlets for our toaster over, refrigerator and microwave. I changed the quality extension cord with outlets I was using for a cheaper, longer version. Almost burnt down the damn house using the toaster oven. I went to the store, Phuong heard poppping noises and smelled plastic. She arrived just in time to put out the fire with minimal wall scorching. Thanks, dear.

Trying to eradicate a small but persistent pest

I feel like Bill Murray in Caddyshack as I try to rid our house of an incredible ant invasion. Ants have found their way into everything from laundry soap to clean dishes to the silverware to the microwave oven and toaster oven. In the morning, I'd see an ant on my spoon as I was about to scoop up some cereal and milk, and ants on the plate during any meal.  Ants crawled on our tubes of toothpaste and played in the soap dish. Our kids carry food all over the house, and both Joanna and Elijah have contributed to the problem. My wife and I have done our share as well.  Also, ants appear in bigger numbers after a rain, and since we're still in monsoon season with nightly rain, we were seeing bigger numbers daily. And this is the tropics, so ant season is year-round.  We're not big on sprays like Raid. My wife resists using sprays and was more tolerant of the ant situation than I was, but last week when I came downstairs and had ants on my forearm, glasses and behind my ear while preparing my daughter's breakfast, I decided enough was enough. The itch alone will drive you crazy. So first, I cleaned the heck out of the living room. I washed the walls, toys, the floor, the couch cover and pillows, and finished with a "healthy" dose of Raid everywhere. Then the kitchen was next, where everything was rearranged so all the walls are now exposed. Again, scrubbing followed the rearranging and Raid concluded the day's events. Food very rarely makes it way upstairs in our house so ants aren't a super huge issue in the bedrooms, but they make their presence felt in the bathrooms. Again, Raid to the rescue. Since my neat freakout, the ants have been dramatically reduced. I rely on Joanna's powers of observation and good eyesight to spot any colonies or gatherings of ants, and she's picked out a couple. (So I got that going for me, which is nice.) The kids and wife are then forced to go elsewhere while I clean and spray again. It's been a real learning experience and lesson in patience – and cleanliness.
• • •,
Covid cases are dropping in Vietnam – roughly 5,000 new cases a day are being recorded, down from 12,000 a day – most likely because of vaccines and the strict lockdown. I was walking to the pharmacy to get eyedrops and wet towels on Sunday when two guys on a motorbike rode up to me and said I shouldn't be out and to go home. They weren't cops, but most likely cop-wannabe volunteers of some sort, but I didn't squawk. I turned around and went to the market near our house and then home. On the way home I noticed lots of folks out in the streets, most without masks, playing with their kids and such. I always wear a mask and shield when I have to go out. I have one vaccine shot and I'm waiting to hear about the second. I don't understand folks here and everywhere who won't wear a mask. I understand even less the folks who won't get a vaccine, especially in the United States where I see anywhere from 70,000 to 140,000 new Covid cases a day. Screw politics; vaccines are available and this is about the well-being of family, friends, co-workers, and everybody around us.
• • •
My two children are getting increasingly fed up with being home all the time. My daughter Joanna and I used to take long walks daily, risking life and limb amongst the motorbikes and cars on the streets and sidewalks. Now we would risk life and lungs if we walked too much, although we went around the block the other day -- wearing our masks and shields -- to photograph some dragonflies. Our son Elijah would run and play soccer for long stretches in the heat and park, which meant at naptime and night he slept like... well, like a baby. With the park closed and walks prohibited, we have two frustrated children on our hands. I'm sure we're not alone.
• • •
I talked to my friend in the U.S. on Skype the other day, the friend who was at death's door with heart issues, lung issues, kidney issues and major back surgery. He didn't go through death's door and he was driving to an auto parts store to get a new battery, presumably for his car, not his heart. We joked about the joys of aging and had a nice little chat for 15 minutes.
• • •
I changed the picture at the top of this blog. Joanna saw the previous photo and asked a simple question: "Where's Elijah?"  That prompted an immediate change. The blog most likely will end when we find out about the waiver. If approved, we'll head to the U.S. If the waiver is rejected, I'll try to get more sleep and work on improving homeschooling lessons for Joanna.

Nothing brutal yet, but lockdown is getting old

   No need to be dramatic, but things are a little difficult here. We're approaching three months of living under lockdown due to Covid. It's not easy or fun, but it's not brutal yet. Characterizing life as brutal here is going a little too far. Life may be brutal in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Haiti or probably the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Vietnam, we still have internet, TV, and a market around the corner where we buy what's available. The variety of food is limited, and that's inconvenient, but no one is going hungry or wanting for food to the best of my knowledge. At least not in our area. So while life is a little bit boring, or challenging, or inconvenient, or a hassle, it's not brutal yet. I don't want to go there -- ever.
   I've no doubt mentioned before that certain foods are not considered essential by the government during the lockdown and are nearly impossible to get. Things such as butter, raisins, peanut butter, and, oh my God, now coffee, are getting extremely difficult to find. Deliveries have ground to a halt, so to speak, which has made the delicious coffee I've been buying from my mother-in-law the past seven or eight years impossible to get, so I battle for what may be available at the market. I guess there's still instant coffee, but regardless of what anyone says, ground coffee is an essential for me. With deliveries halted in our area, our bottled water could be the next casualty. That means there's a possibility we'll be boiling tap water for drinking -- at least that's what I would do since I'm reluctant to drink straight from the tap. I wasn't born here so my body probably isn't ready for the tap.
   There was talk the lockdown would be lifted Sept. 15, but the cases continue to cluster around Ho Chi Minh City, and we're close to Ho Chi Minh City. Our province, Dong, Nai, has been reporting close to 1,000 new cases a day. The lockdown has been extended at least until the end of the month and is expected to last even longer. One of our neighbors lost his eldest daughter to Covid. She caught it from her husband and died only a week after getting ill. I was told she had no pre-existing conditions.  A couple of items were gossiped to me: 1) The rent-by-the-hour motel behind us reported yet another Covid case, and apparently (and finally) has been shut. 2)  Police came and told our mask-less, outdoor-badminton-playing neighbor to either go inside or go to the police station to pay a substantial fine. He chose inside. I think a lot of people in our area, like me and my wife, are sitting on one shot waiting for the next jab to come. I also heard the Army may be sent to our area to enforce social distancing and curfews, and assist with food distribution.
 We shall see.
   The goodwill of people has become more evident here the longer the lockdown continues. People share food like pomelo and other fruit, coffee jello, and assorted vegetables. Neighbors have purchased stuff for us and have refused to take money. Tough times can bring out the best in people.
  The lockdown is starting to get to our kids a little. Some parents defy the rules and let their kids outside sans masks to ride bikes and such. Our daughter Joanna sees this and wants to play outside. Our son Elijah really seems to miss kicking the ball around outside, so he'll play soccer with anything that's loose on the floor in our house -- stuffed animals and even Legos are fair game. Joanna is a little impatient and bored with our classes, even the drawing and coloring, so we're playing more games and doing stuff like scavenger hunts. It isn't brutal, but it's certainly difficult and challenging to keep the kids entertained.
• • •
   I continue to read a lot, which is more difficult than it sounds even with the lockdown given the rigors of child care, cooking and cleaning. I'm at 95 weeks and 657 days in a row. I finished Jack Vance's Night Lamp, which is 384 pages, in three days. Now I'm reading Big Fella, a biography of Babe Ruth. ... Joanna helps a little with my cooking, but mostly grabs and eats food I've just cooked, or pleads her case for candy. ... Elijah constantly goes up our dangerous stairs, and I slipped and fell while carrying him back down. I sacrificed my left knee to make sure he wasn't banged around and now there's a little clicking sound in my knee when I go down the stairs. It's not a big deal because Elijah didn't get hurt and hardly noticed the fall, and I'm still walking.