12/25/2020
It's Christmas day. I'm here with my husband and cats. The gifts for our family have been mailed out or dropped off. Like many families this year we are not having a large gathering. We are having no gathering at all. It's for a good cause and worth it but it makes it hard to feel the spirit of the season. I'd rather lose Christmas than a loved one though, so here we are.
I want to be thinking about happy things but my mind keeps drifting back to all the families missing a member this year due to covid19. All the doctors and nurses who are working double shifts to keep people alive. And my heart especially goes out to those living in southern California. They had over 34K new cases yesterday alone. It's shocking and horrifying.
I'm also angry about the coronavirus aid bill. First of all it took them far too long to agree between the parties to pass the one that they did. It only had 11 weeks of extended UI and just $600 in direct payments. But as measly as that is it was better than nothing and all we are going to get. And what does Trump do? He refuses to sign it! He says it's because he wants $2000 in direct payments but it's a scam and we all know it. He knows full well that the GOP will NEVER pass a bill with that much in it. They won't even give us $1200. And he knows that his supporters will call him a saint for "trying to get us more money" when in fact he is just blocking coronavirus aid and passing the blame onto other people. I have to wonder if this isn't some scheme cooked up between him and the senate GOP to avoid giving aid entirely.
The democrats were enthusiastic about the idea of $2000 payments but the GOP made sure it didn't pass. People keep bitching about all the "pork" in the "coronavirus relief bill" forgetting that it's not a coronavirus relief bill! It's coronavirus relief tacked onto a general funding bill. I'm not a fan of politics but even I can understand that. People are stupid. What can I say. Lord knows I'm not a fan of any of the democrats either but right now they are advocating my interests which is more than I can say for the GOP. This is pretty much the extent of my knowledge or interest in politics.
There are several new strains of coronavirus that have come out but the most recent one in the UK is cause for concern. It's broken the record for most changes in a single jump. Some suspect it's escaped from experiments on mice as one of the markers in it is the same as the mouse variant. Most of the fuss is over it being "up to 70% more contagious" and the fact that it has mutations in the protein spike. This causes worry that the vaccine will be less effective against this strain. I'm sure I don't need to explain why it's bad that it's more contagious. Countries are placing bans on travelers from the UK but it's too little, too late. We all know that it's already out and spreading. This variant has been around since September.
The house buying process goes slowly and is complicated. Right now we are getting the appraisal done knowing full well it won't pass the bank's expectations. The key is going to be in getting the bank to let us put money in escrow to fix the issues with the house so it passes the strict standards of FHA mortgages. Meanwhile My UI is running out and this place is cold, rotten and the pipes keep freezing. All in all it's a miserable Christmas.
Except for my husband. He is making me a Christmas breakfast this year, bless his heart. He can't cook but I am overjoyed with his attempts. Christmas isn't about gifts or where you are, it's about love and the people you are with. If you are alone this Christmas my heart goes out to you. It's not an easy time to be a person alone. Not this year. So whoever you are and wherever you are, Merry Christmas. Lets all stop hoping that next year is better and work to MAKE it better.