TO MASK OR NOT TO MASK

 There has been a lot of controversy about the wearing of masks in the USA. I wear one when required by the business I am in but not otherwise. I have found through personal experience that masks are not very effective.

Case in point - a month ago I had an HVAC technician come to the house to check out my system. He wore a KN95 mask and I wore a two-ply cloth mask the entire time he was here. My wife stayed in our home office and had zero contact with him. Three days later, I got a call from the HVAC business to inform us that the technician had tested positive for COVID-19 and we should get tested. We chose to have the two-day version of the test rather than the rapid test which proven to be inaccurate quite often. End of the week, we got a call informing us that my wife had tested positive for the virus while I had tested negative. Problem was I was already showing symptoms so I guess I either gave it to my wife or she gave it to me even though she had zero contact with the technician. Our cases of COVID-19 was like the majority of folks that contract it - very mild, more like a bad cold or the usual H1N1 coronavirus.

From the beginning, I have not seen the SARS-CoV-2 virus as a "pandemic". In my opinion it has not satisfied both requirements of a pandemic. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary a pandemic is "occurring over a wide geographic area (such as multiple countries or continents) and typically affecting a significant proportion of the population." While this virus has spread around the world, the confirmed cases have been less than two percent worldwide. Even in the US, the number of confirmed cases has been less than 10%. So we have satisfied only one of the requirements by the definition.

What it comes down to is do you want to live your life in fear or enjoy what little time you have on this earth. Right now, my wife and I are waiting for the cruise line industry to be given the "green light" to start up again in the US. Since our last cruise in February 2020, we have had NINE cruises cancelled. But not to worry, folks we have just pushed the monies already spent to NINE future cruises with the first ones in December 2021. If cruising gets back underway before then, I will look for a short 5-day cruise to celebrate our 53rd wedding anniversary in October.

SO, LET'S GET BACK TO LIVING!