Six Hours Of Sleep In Jan 2022

The middle of Jan I documented multiple six hours of sleep: Jan 12, Jan 14, Jan 15, Jan 17, and Jan 18. I slept seven and a half hours on Jan 22, Jan 23 and Jan 25. I slept eight and a half hours on Jan 24. I took a half-nap on Jan 19.

I remember sleeping six hours a night when I worked at a retail start-up. The two hours I traded sleeping was for job training and working out at the gym. It was terrible. Focus was weak; although, I worked in retail which required minimal brain thinking. I made mistakes. My attitude was immature. However, the short-term trade off was worth it because I found a better job after I quit. Similarly, the Jan six hours of sleep I got a lot done. I took fewer showers because the weather was cooler for which I avoided sweating. I wrote blogs. Obligations were satisfied. The seven and a half hours of sleep my focus, my mood, and my attitude were positive. Sleep is important for everything physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and financial. The general statement is crystal clear.

I don't believe in sleeping fewer hours for a few nights and sleeping additional hours in subsequent nights. There is research catching up on sleep in future nights don't work. I must sleep eight hours a night.

I don't drink Coke regularly. I don't drink coffee. I take care of my body to be focused daily which includes sleeping eight hours a night, minimizing eating processed foods, and physical work outs four days a week.

Update On A Past Blog

I wrote a blog Today I Want To Talk About Sleep on Aug 2, 2016. There is no change how I sleep on 2016. The room must be cool. I listen to music while I fall asleep. Sleep is a higher priority than watching television.

My Second Company I Worked Moved Closer To Downtown

I found out the second company I worked after I graduated at San Jose State University moved. I refer to the second company in the commercial real estate industry as "CPI." CPI moved closer to Downtown San Jose. Their new location is inside a high-rise office building occupying an entire floor. Their previous location was a two-story freestanding building. My guess is the move happened in 2018 according to my research. I blog my thoughts in no particular order.

*Corporate. My intuition tells me CPI became corporate after visiting their new website. CPI used to be independent.

*2,949 Days. I worked at CPI for eight years. I was a Research Analyst in the Research Department. The sales support staff consisted of Research, Graphics, and Administration departments.

*CPI is one of too many examples life is always changing. Life is always moving. It's rare a company is the same for decades. It's rare for people to be the same for decades. Life finds a way to change people if people don't want to change. Life finds a way to move people if people don't want to move.

*Brokers Got My Back. I realized the brokers got my back if I communicated my problems years later after I left the company. If I called out the problems, then management must solve the problems. It was like I wore the immunity idol from the TV series Survivor.

*A Cry For Help. My co-worker and I didn't get along in the department. The Research Department consisted of two people without a department manager for most of my employment days. The office manager was our closest manager. She did nothing.

My co-worker was an idiot. He was a middle-aged immature person. He had personal problems including family, health, and relationships. Work productivity was too slow. Brokers complained he completed their requests late. He took too many smoking breaks. He worked at home and worked on weekends to catch up. I think back to those years of his unprofessional behavior. Was he crying for help?

*The Building Freddy Wanted. I refer to the managing partner as "Freddy." Freddy wanted the previous location building because he had the best corner office in the two-story freestanding building. He analyzed the pros and cons of moving. His bias analysis convinced most brokers to accept the move. Objectively speaking, the company needed to move to a bigger building. The question was where in the city. Freddy wanted to move to the two-story freestanding building.

*50% of the sales support staff was divorced.

*The Dumbest Person I Ever Met. The previous office manager is the dumbest person I ever met as of today's blog post.

*I Ignored The Warning Signs. The warnings signs were clear and present. The company experienced growing pains, mismanagement, confusion, poor leadership, and, to paraphrase the late Steve Jobs, ". . . and they just didn't get it, even when they saw the map they couldn't even copy it well. How dumb do you have to be to not see it, once you see it." The company was positioned to be the number one commercial real estate company in the market by year consistently. The company had the best support staff, experienced brokers, top marketing, accurate research, and the latest technology. The company was number one for one year during my eight years. The number one was during the dot-com boom. Any half-ass company can make record profits in a good year.

The buyer who worked for three months who talked bad behind the CFO's back, the graphic artists who worked for one year and quit, the CEO who resigned, the human resources director who was fired, the Vice President of IT who was forced to resign, the helpdesk manager who was forced to resign, and the multiple projects to build the new database failed. The Vice President of IT before he resigned assigned the network administrator to build the new database out of desperation. Also, the research department manager who hired me warned me the commercial real estate statistics were calculated incorrectly before he moved out of the country. The signs were clear and present. I was a twentysomething year old naive employee.

*The Nothing Wisdom. The one wisdom I most remembered is don't be a nobody. The last research manager was a nobody. Don't be nothing. The brokers didn't like her. Management ignored her nothingness until the company cut the budget. My co-worker and I didn't like her; moreover, it was our only commonality. The last Research Department manger worked for two years. Management told the Research Department manager to find another job because she's going to be fired. The official reason she left was she found another job. The unofficial reason she left was the company terminated her.

Lesson learned: have nothing, do nothing, get nothing, be nothing, and people treat you like nothing. Never be a nobody.

*The Late Steve Jobs Ignore Problems Hoping They Went Our Way Didn't Work. The company played the Steve Jobs ignoring problems hoping they go away. Some did, some didn't. The problems they ignored became bigger problems. The company is still in business in contrast to Steve Jobs ignoring his health problems resulting in Jobs passing way due to pancreatic cancer. Perhaps, going corporate was good for the company.

*Keep Your Job By Keeping Quiet. Another example of ignoring problems. Brokers who spoke up their contracts were terminated. Sales support staff who spoke up were terminated.

*The Job Skills Were All Wrong. I was taught incorrectly. I was trained incorrectly. Everything I learned was wrong. Databases, statistics, Excel, and reports were wrong. I applied the incorrect job knowledge to my future jobs. I was ineffective. Fortunately, I corrected myself years later by self-training.

*Guinea Pig Continued. I experienced bad luck and bad timing being a guinea pig multiple times at San Jose State University; for example, a professor teaching a class for the first time, the department starting a new class series, and the university system changing the graduation requirements for new students. I was a guinea pig at the second company. Company growing pains, a new research manager, numerous failed experiments, and a new office manager with no previous experience. I was a twentysomething year old who survived without a mentor. I distrusted management.

*Winning Disguised The Problems. The company earned record profits after the dot-com recession. Management didn't break the flow or if it wasn't broken, then don't fix it. The two-man Research Department did our jobs quietly literally. I was responsible for the operations. My co-worker was responsible for the database administration. The managing partner wrote the quarterly reports. The system worked. The other sales support departments Administration and Graphics did their jobs without complaints. The end of the year the sales support staff got our yearly reviews and our merit raises. The exception was the staff who talked to management about the problems resulting in termination. Nevertheless, the company never reached number one in the commercial real estate market after the dot-com recession.

Give it time. I'm confident many of the disguised problems were exposed causing trouble which could have been prevented or minimized after I left the company.

*Cursed Freestanding Building. One could say the building cursed the company. Obviously, there were problems in a newly constructed building such as plumbing and electrical. It seemed there was a time period a broker, a staff, or the building itself a problem arisen.

*By The Numbers. The managing partner managed by the numbers. The decisions were based off sales numbers and financial numbers. Brokers were rewarded doing well. Brokers were punished doing poorly.

Update On A Past Blog

I wrote about my co-worker in Did The Dumb Ass Co-Worker Wanted To Change? on Jul 15, 2009. If you click on the link, you find out the name of the CPI company.

Accuse Slackers Accurately Because You Also Waste Time

People waste time. It's not their fault. You waste time. It's not your fault. Today's Information Age living everyone gets distracted. The best disciplined people waste time. The 40 hour-plus workers waste time. The 60 hour-plus workers waste time. Your smart phone takes seconds for an escape. Watch a video. Listen to music. Read social media. Check text messages. Be careful when you think other people, co-workers, management, family members, friends, and neighbors waste time while you're working on something. You're working on a work assignment, cooking, cleaning, planning an event, completing a contract deadline, and doing errands while others are distracted. Chances are other people are completing their responsibilities while you're distracted. The other people may accuse you of being distracted. Equal opportunity for working. Equal opportunity for leisure distraction. It's obvious when you or someone else neglect priorities. It's obvious like watching a one star rated movie. Be careful when you call out to someone, "get off your phone." Somebody else calls you out, "get off your phone."

Are You Being You Character Check

"Bud, I like you. Just remember something. Man looks in the abyss. There's nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character, and that is what keeps him out of the abyss." --Lou Mannheim, Wall Street

I thought of the quote above from one of my all-time favorite movies when I thought about character. People's character change. Your character changes. My character changes. If you don't want your character to change, then life finds a way to change your character. Acting new. Behaving differently. Feeling strange. The moment is uncomfortable. Discovering a new personality. Your character may be changing.

New experiences. New moments. New feelings. They can change character. Make new friends with a changed character. Make new enemies with a changed character. Relationships can be closer. Relationships can be stronger. Relationships can be broken.

It's you. Out with the old. In with the new. Grow up. Time to be mature. Welcome the new you. Close a chapter. Open a new chapter. It's life. Be honest. Take responsibility for your own actions. Own up to your faults. Credit people who assist you.

Here are three of my favorite quotes from Top Ten Favorite Quotes written on Dec 30, 2015:

9. You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. --Winston Churchill

8. You can choose comfort or you can choose courage, but you cannot have both. --Theodore Roosevelt

7a. My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure. --Abraham Lincoln

Here are two of my favorite quotes from Top Ten Favorite Quotes 2 written on Mar 9, 2017:

5. A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. --Albert Einstein

1. Being honest may not get you a lot of friends it'll get you the right ones. --John Lennon

Update On A Past Blog

I dreamed last night my sister and her boyfriend no longer in a relationship are engaged to be married. The ex-boyfriend was an idiot, a loser, and a nobody. My sister cried when she told the family of the engagement. I questioned the engagement because she was crying. I asked the reason why marriage. No answer.

Why does a somebody marry a nobody? The somebody marrying a nobody to prevent being lonely is a bad reason to marry. The nobody reminded me of my 40th moment in Top 40 Most Memorable Moments written on Sep 27, 2016. Here is the exact wording: 40. My Boss Was Fired (Sep 2002). Officially, she found another job. Unofficially, she was fired. The reasons were incompetence and doing nothing. Lesson learned: have nothing, do nothing, get nothing, be nothing, and people treat you like nothing. Never be a nobody.

Moreover, a nobody can marry a nobody. However, if one of the nobodies become a somebody, then the marriage is in question.

Life Is Good Because It's Predictable And Certain

Predictability is good when you know with 99.9999...% accuracy it happens. Certainty is good when you know the person, the place, or the thing is present. There is relaxation. There is comfortability. We know what we have. We expect we have it. Reliable transportation. Nearby hospitals. Retail stores stock with goods. Plumbers ready to service. Utilities running. Phones communicating. Schools teaching. Chances are closest to 100% there is a tomorrow. Chances are closest to 100% the world didn't come to an end. Assurances. Paradise. Predictability. Routines. Life is good. It's too easy to take them all for granted. It's too hard to be reminded don't take them all for granted.

The bombshell can drop anytime. How big is the explosion? Life is bad when the boom happens. The security blanket is burned. No assurances. No paradise. No predictability. On the other hand, life is potentially good because the bombshell creates new opportunities. A new security blanket is created. New assurances. New paradises. New predictabilities. The bombshell drops test strength, courage, knowledge, motivation, and resilience. Prepare for future bombshells.

Update On A Past Blog

I thought about going back to school to earn a B.A. in Accounting at a nearby private university in 2009. My contract at Cisco was terminated in Nov 2008. I earned an A.A. in Accounting at De Anza College in 2011. I thought about taking a beginning class in Salesforce in 2015 or 2016. My contract at Palo Alto Networks was satisfied in May 2015. The one-week class cost $3,000 at the time.

The two thoughts reentered my mind. What if I went back to school to earn a B.A instead of a A.A. by attending a private university instead of a junior college during the Great Recession? What if I enrolled in a Salesforce class? Am I employed today? Maybe. Maybe not. The private university was an expensive gamble or bet. I intentionally choose the words "gamble" or "bet." $3,000 for a one-week official Salesforce class was an expensive gamble or bet.

The two thoughts reminded me the blog A Lesson Learned Tonight on Feb 2, 2010. Conan O'Brien hosted The Tonight Show on NBC for less than a year in 2009-2010. NBC brought back Jay Leno. The ratings for The Jay Leno Show and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien were low. I learned the lesson there are no guarantees in life. Having two college degrees is no guarantee a successful life. Taking a beginning class in Salesforce is no guarantee I'm an expert at Salesforce or enough experience to earn a job interview for a job opening requiring Salesforce.

Walmart Is Good At Being Walmart

I shopped at a Walmart Neighborhood Market store for the first time earlier today. I shopped at Wal-Mart Supercenters at least five times given my memory. The first time was Dec 2000. The only purchased I remember was an air toy rifle for which you cock the rifle and pull the trigger the rifle gives off a shot fired sound with vibration. The second time was an unknown month and year I purchased supplies for wet shaving. Jun 2006 was the third time I drove a friend who needed supplies when we attended an anime convention in Orange County. I purchased metal color duct tape on Jun 2009 for which I returned the tape in Jul 2009. The fifth time was in late 2011 I purchased nothing.

It has been at least a decade since I entered a Walmart. Walmart is still Walmart regardless of Supercenter or Neighborhood Market. I felt the past Walmart feelings today. There is no other retail store with the Walmart feeling. There were big crowds for a Thursday noon hour. The inventory was a mix of brand names and off brand names. Some inventory items I didn't see at a Costco or a Safeway. The center aisle included inventory for which some were on pallets. All cosmetic makeups, high-end over the counter nasal drugs, razor blades for shaving, and Tide detergent were glass secured locked. Most of the in-store music were 1980s. The employees were diverse ages young and old; all races including whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians; all body sizes tall, short, thin, and fat; likewise, all the customers. All the employees did an honest job. It's retail. On the one hand, there's no purpose slacking off. On the other hand, there's no purpose going above and beyond their responsibilities.

The Walmart prices are Walmart prices. Items can be cheaper elsewhere if they are on sale. I figure some customers primarily shop at Walmart Neighborhood Market because they don't want to pay for the Costco annual membership, don't want to shop at Costco or Trader Joe's due to selected inventory brands, and/or don't want to spend time looking at retail ads to buy groceries on sale. I purchased no name brand one gallon of white vinegar and one bottle of Kinder's mild barbeque sauce. I shop at any Walmart if I'm desperate.

Boring Can Save Your Ass

The other day I went to a tire service center to get my car's tires rotated and balanced. A fat middle aged man drove a Chrysler 300 caught my attention. He looked like he got up from bed. He wore lose fitting shirts and sweatpants. He might have the day off from work. Or he might have been laid off. The global pandemic continues. I asked myself, "Did he prepare for health problems? Does he have a family? If yes, then did he prepare if a tragedy happened? Is his family taken care financially? Is shelter provided? Are support services available?" The one question summary is, "Did he complete all the boring preparation?"

Some children tell their parents they're boring. The children tell other family members. The children tell their friends and classmates. The children's faces frown when they want to do something exciting with mom and dad. Mom and dad neither have the desire nor the time. Chances are the parents are doing the boring grown up responsibilities. The parents work to earn an income. The parents nurture you; although, nurturing should be fun for the children. The residence must be maintained such as cleaning, cooking, and laundry. Finances must be checked. Bills and taxes must be paid. Job training must be completed if necessary. Adults still go to school even if they don't learn in a classroom. Unfortunately, physical fitness is a luxury for some parents.

Nevertheless, the boring work must be done. The boring preparation must be completed. All the boring increase the chances for survival. Problems are minimized. Any negative effects, pain, suffering, and struggles are endured.

Can I Be Overqualified?

Today's blog is counterintuitive. I'm long-term unemployed. I job search six days a week. I job train five days a week. My job training includes learning new skills in Python, Linux, and Power BI. My job training includes reviewing existing skills in Excel, SQL, and data analysis. I also know dashboards, reports, sales support, and ETL. I have a B.S. in Economics, A.A in Accounting, and a variety of job skills for analysis and programming. I know some web development. I worked in commercial real estate, a retail start-up, and telecommunications. Can I be overqualified?

Hiring managers and recruiters ignore me almost all the time because I'm long-term unemployed. Job candidates are given precedence with relevant job experience, currently employed, and/or short-term unemployed. Most job descriptions are inaccurate. Most job positions filled the job candidate hired is rarely a perfect match. What if a hiring manager or a recruiter wants someone fresh? What if a hiring manager or a recruiter wants someone with little experience to train the job candidate hired his or her way? Can I be a catch-22 overqualified either way? I have seen analyst positions requiring programming skills. I'm not paying $5,000 for a course on Salesforce. There's no guarantee I'm hired with a beginning Salesforce course completion.

All of my past jobs I never did all the work in the job description. I matched half of the job description at the highest. I apply to jobs I qualify as low as a 50% match. I speak from experience. I speak from my friends sharing their experiences with me. Recruiters and job counselors are correct giving advice to job candidates apply to job openings matching 50% of the job description.

Interstate 95 Virginia Blizzard Shutdown Cautionary Event

Multiple accidents happened on Interstate 95 in Virginia on Mon Jan 3 at 5:20pm. A tractor-trailer jackknifed causing multiple big-rigs to collide. The collision caused a chain reaction of delays and backing-up cars. Nearby roads were backed up due to congestion, downed trees, or wintry conditions. Total time the 50-mile stretch shutdown was 27 hours. One of the busiest East Coast highways connecting Virginia and Washington D.C. and the US Capitol and the Pentagon reopened northbound and southbound on Tue Jan 4 at 8:40pm.

A main reason why it took 27 hours to reopen Interstate 95 from Maine to Florida was clearing the road one car and one truck at a time. Tow trucks dragged disabled cars out of the ice. Some cars ran out of gas after exhausting gas to warm up their cars and power up devices. Some cars broke down.

The weather forecast was rain and up to two inches of snow. 12 inches of snow fell. Salt trucks and plows couldn't get on the highway to clear the snow. The rain forecast prevented pretreatment because rain washes away any salt mixture. Here is the Virginia Department Of Transportation bulletin Interstate 95 Closed Through Fredericksburg.

It was nobody's fault. No person intentionally caused people stranded in their vehicles during a snowstorm overnight. Blame dumb luck and bad timing. The forecast was incorrect. One event led to another event. It was a chain reaction of bad events. A rational person say two hours of minor inconvenience happens. Delays happens. Traffic jams happens daily. A 27-hour traffic jam was one in a million.

My Car's Emergency Equipment

My car is equipped with emergency equipment which includes blankets, tarps, bags, toilet paper, jumper cables, two flashlights, emergency tool kit, two portable chairs, fire extinguisher, matches, paper, change, shovel, sewing kit, hand sanitizer, jackets, shirts, garbage bags, rope, and utensils. I admit some of my emergency equipment are removed due to the pandemic because I limit my driving within the Northern California Bay Area since Mar 2020. There is no need for the equipment in street driving.

Snow is a one in a billion event in the Bay Area. Most of the Bay Area is urban. There are nearby facilities and emergency services. I bring food and water the next time I travel out of the Bay Area. I'm consciously aware of the weather report from my home to my long-distance destination for which I bring necessarily supplies to prepare in case of emergency.

Listening To Anime Music On CDs

I'm going back in time. I listen to my anime music CDs on a CD player. An old school anime fan. There was no YouTube in the 1990s and earlier where anyone listen to anime music from the video.

Shelter In-Place COVID-19 Blog December 2021

California issued shelter in-place orders on Tue Mar 17, 2020. I have been logging the highlights and lowlights. Christmas arrived in a blink of an eye; however, the Christmas holiday slowed down. Case numbers increased worldwide. The winter surge is real. Family was cautious celebrating Christmas.

Wed Dec 1. I got my booster shot at the county fairgrounds. There were two lines. The first line was for adults 12 years old or order. The second line was for children ages 5-11. I picked up my Black Friday purchases at Macy's. My sister tested positive for COVID-19.

The first US omicron case was identified in San Francisco. The person flew back from South Africa. Mild symptoms. Person was fully vaccinated with Moderna. He was not due for a booster shot.

Fri Dec 3. Google postponed workers returning to the office on Jan 10, 2022. Googles prohibits hybrid employees.

Mon Dec 6. New travel testing procedures. International travelers must be tested 24 hours instead of 72 hours before flying to the US. All non US citizens must be fully vaccinated.

Mask mandate for all public transportation extended from mid Jan to Mar 8, 2022.

Tested for COVID-19 at a testing site in Cupertino, CA. The junior college across the street was dead. I witnessed no people walking on campus. No cars drove in, out, and around the parking lots and roads.

New York City mandated all city workers must be vaccinated was expanded to the private sector starting on Mon Dec 27. Two doses required for adults and one dose required for children ages 5-11 for indoor dining, entertainment, and fitness centers. The requirement started on Sat Dec 11.

Tue Dec 7. My test came back negative.

A district court halted President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate for federal contractors.

Thur Dec 9. Book shopping at used book stores. Filled up my car with gas.

The Center For Disease Control (CDC) and the Food And Drug Administration (FDA) approved Pfizer boosters for people age 16-17. Six month minimum wait to receive booster shots.

The FDA approved Astra Zeneca COVID-19 antibody drug Evusheld for people age 12 or over with serious health problems or allergies. These people included organ transplant recipients and taking immunosuppressing drugs.

Fri Dec 10. Repaired laundry dryer. Replaced defective residence phone.

Sat Dec 11. Watched the Golden State Warriors at Philadelphia 76ers basketball game.

Sun Dec 12. Second storm of the rainy season.

800,000 US people died. Omicron was detected in 27 states.

The United Kingdom predicted omicron virus becomes the dominate strain in the country.

Mon Dec 13. Early research from multiple countries concluded mild symptoms for the omicron strain. Omicron was more contagious than delta.

All Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) employees must have at least one shot or may be fired by being placed on administrative leave to begin the termination process. Valid medical or religious exemptions exclude having at least one shot.

State Of California restored indoor mask mandate due to increasing cases from Wed Dec 15 to Jan 15, 2022 regardless of vaccination status. Cases increased 47% since Thanksgiving. Unvaccinated people attending events greater than or equal to 1,000 must be tested negative 24 hours with the rapid antigen test or 48 hours with the PCR test before the event.

The CDC reported omicron cases increased six-fold in one week. 73% of new infections were omicron in the last week.

The first US death from the omicron variant was in Texas. Person was unvaccinated and was infected twice.

The NHL postponed games from Wed Dec 22 to Sun Dec 26. All games between US and Canada were postponed because no US and Canada border travel.

Tue Dec 14. Total global cases 270,031,622. Total global deaths 5,310,502. Total vaccines administrated 8,200,642,671.

Wed Dec 15. Mailed package at my local post office. Returned most of my The Gap Factory Cyber Monday purchase.

3% of US cases were omicron variant. 13% of New York and New Jersey area cases were omicron variant. 75 countries reported omicron variant. 36 US states reported omicron variant.

The NBA began postponing games.

Thur Dec 16. The Ontario government reinstated capacity limits for large sports and entertainment venues which included the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, Ottawa Senators hockey team, and Toronto Raptors basketball team. Quebec reinstated zero attendance for their large sports and entertainment venues which included the Montreal Canadiens hockey team.

The United Kingdom reached a record daily cases 88,376 since the pandemic began.

The Premier League postponed games. Nine games were postponed as of today.

Mailed another package at my local post office.

Apple delayed employees returning the work indefinitely. The date employees return to the offices was Feb 1, 2022.

Stanford University Winter 2022 Quarter classes are taught online.

CDC recommended Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and not recommended Johnson & Johnson vaccine because Johnson & Johnson can cause rare blood clots. Pfizer and Moderna are more effective than Johnson & Johnson.

US hospitals admissions up 8% and deaths up 5% in the last seven days.

Fri Dec 17. The NFL postponed three games. Las Vegas at Cleveland moved from Sat Dec 18 to Mon Dec 20. Washington at Philadelphia and Seattle at Los Angeles moved from Sun Dec 19 to Tue Dec 21.

A federal appeals court reinstated President Biden's vaccination requirement for businesses at least 1,000 workers. Workers must be fully vaccinated or subject to weekly COVID-19 testing. Unvaccinated workers must wear masks. Citations are issued beginning on Jan 10, 2022.

Sat Dec 18. Slept with six blankets last night.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported 89 countries has the omicron variant. Case numbers are doubling every 1.5 to 3 days in some locations.

The Netherlands announced lockdowns. Schools, universities, non-essential stores, bars, and restaurants were closed. France, Cyprus, and Austria tightened travel restrictions. Denmark closed theaters, concert halls, amusement parks, and museums. Ireland instituted an 8pm curfew for pubs and bars. Limited attendance at major events.

Prince George's County in Maryland was the first US school district to return to online learning. The New York City Department Of Education closed 859 classrooms and partially closed 2,500 classrooms.

Tue Dec 21. Drove my dad for a doctor's appointment in Redwood City, CA. The day was the slowest day in months.

President Biden announced 500 million at-home COVID testing kids available by mail starting Jan 2022. People can sign up at a website. The federal government set up 20,000 testing sites nationwide. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) deploys ambulances and paramedic teams to transport patients from full capacity hospitals to other hospitals.

The NHL withdraws from the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Wed Dec 22. California Governor Gavin Newsom requires all health care workers must be a booster shot before Feb 1, 2022 or risk losing their jobs.

The FDA emergency approved the Pfizer antiviral pill Paxlovid to treat COVID-19. The pill reduces combined hospitalization and deaths by 89% after initial COVID-19 symptoms.

Israel plans to administer a fourth vaccine dose. The first group are people age 60 or over, immunocompromised people, and medical workers. The group must wait a minimum of four months from their third dosage.

California State University and University Of California colleges announced students, faculty, and staff must receive a booster shot for the upcoming school session.

Thur Dec 23. The FDA approved Merck's pill Molnupiravir against COVID-19.

The CDC shorten quarantine for health care workers tested positive from ten days to seven days if tested negative and don't have symptoms. The seven days can be reduced to five days if staffing shortages are severe.

Fri Dec 24. Airlines cancelled flights because of staff shortages. Some airline staff were tested positive for COVID-19.

Mon Dec 27. The CDC reduced isolation restrictions from ten days to five days. There was evidence people with COVID-19 are most infectious two days before and three days after symptoms developed. Isolation begins the day a test returns positive.

Tue Dec 28. San Francisco cancelled the New Year's Eve fireworks event.

Wed Dec 29. California was the first state with five million cases. 4.4 million cases in Texas. 3.9 million cases in Florida.

The average cases in the US was 265,000 per day. It was the highest since Jan 2021 at 250,000.

A Michigan schoolteacher tested positive on a flight to Iceland. She felt sick. She brought rapid test kits. She tested herself in the airplane bathroom. She isolated herself in the bathroom.

Fri Dec 31. Shopped at Smart & Final first thing in the morning to avoid potential larger crowds.

At-home rapid tests were difficult to find in stores. People requesting one day to three days COVID-19 tests were waiting days for an appointment.