Report of 30 Aug 2020

 Good evening!

I have been in a bad mood much of the day.  Little under the weather, which does not help.  Yesterday, we were at a hitherto-untried-by-me branch of our favorite restaurant and the service was slow + the food sub-par and that did not help.  This restaurant, Writer's Cafe, employs burn victims and the food is ordinarily first-rate.  Not yesterday.  The service was not, either, though we knew the manager who had come from a different branch.

Then I spoke to my father this evening and had some giggles, so that helped the mood.  I also used up leftover overripe bananas in a microwaveable banana bread recipe conjured up by me, and that also helped the mood: I abhor waste.  I could not understand weight loss strategies in the U.S. that suggested we leave some food behind on our plates - chee chee, just take less in the first place.  

We are otherwise okay.  Scott is talking to his mother and we like these once-weekly family conversations.  

The Banyan is great, of course.  A bit of a scare a couple of weeks ago when an employee who had attended a social gathering outside the B tested positive.  14 close contacts were tested and all have tested negative.  Thank you, God.  Scott guessed the negative result: he said we do a very good job with hygiene, handwashing and mask use.  I have to agree: our staff are superlative in following orders.

The Banyan model has been replicated in Sri Lanka, in the Northern Province, and training the personnel has started.  Ostensibly, it has gone well and the Government of SL is mulling over expanding this facility.  My portion of the training - on vital signs - comes in 2 weeks.  

We talked to the children and they are well.  Both are taking the pandemic very seriously and any talk of our getting there as soon as international flights fly is met with caution.  Probably just as well.

Netflix is quite a boon to humanity.  Last weekend, we watched some concerts online and quite enjoyed it.  I hope that even when live concerts resume, a streaming option is offered.  

My goal for the pandemic is a push-up - a full blown one and not the on-the-knees version.  I hope to get there - slowly but steadily.

We hope all of you stay well and safe.

Unw -

R