Well, the mask mandate on base is gone again. This time it was here for quite a stretch, and to walk about the building in which I work without a mask — to go into the BX without a mask (!) — just didn’t feel right today. I felt like I was naked without having it at least pulled down around my chin while walking outside, and then walking into a building without having to pull it up!
But it’s about time. I certainly don’t plan on getting careless, but I’m sure that after a few days of this — barring any super-spreader events that spike us dramatically — things’ll almost feel normal again. We still have to wear masks off base as required by the Korean government, but even that will will be changing soon. In any case, I’ll always have a mask at the ready, even when I travel to the states later this year. It doesn’t hurt to be cautious.
In another sign of normalcy (perhaps only temporary), it’s been two years since they covered the buttons on our apartment’s elevator with a sheet of plastic. And the same sheet stayed there for so long that the buttons became pretty much unreadable. Until this morning. I got in the elevator and could suddenly see what I was pressing. They had removed the plastic. Of course when you live somewhere long enough, you know the buttons well enough to not need to read them to push the right ones; but still, it was quite refreshing.
This all brings to mind something that’s happening just next door to us here in Korea. The Chinese government apparently doesn’t realize that their “zero-COVID” policy is turning out to be a greater failure than anyone could have imagined. These days, while the rest of the world is slowly coming out of COVID, one of the world’s biggest economies and manufacturers is still locking millions of people down because of it. This certainly won’t be good for the world economy, but I wonder how it’s going to affect China even more. The world can’t wait for them to snap out of it and get back to the business of real-life. They’re going to have to turn to other sources for materials and goods. China is irreplaceable in many respects, but their authoritarian foolishness — something they were trying to tout as the next great thing after what they claimed were the failures of democratic systems in handling the pandemic — has scared away investors and must have people gearing up in other places to fill the void. One thing is for sure: you can’t lock up millions of people in major financial centers and think it won’t hurt you. Hopefully, equilibrium will return. Between China and Russia both messing up so badly on the world stage, it could be that the US could once again solidify its position as a world leader. Just as long as we don’t elect (or re-elect) another idiot to flush any advantage down the toilet.
In other news, I’m working on the seventh book of the Expanse series — Persepolis Rising. It’s pretty good for a couple of reasons, primary of which is that it all feels like bonus material to the series that has already closed out one huge story line just to open another about 30 years later in its timeline. I’m not too far into it, but I’m liking it. They’ve kept the same characters, but naturally, they’re much older. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.
And of course, any “random” would not be complete without a picture of the puppy, who turns 10 next month; and who, after a little nervousness every time, settles in for a nice ride home quite nicely in one of my grocery baskets…
And finally…the random’s haiku:
COVID hurt our minds Beat them down with all its rules Time for normal lives
❤️ Sommie!