Day 38: Losing samples, losing minds
We're all doing our part
Hello beloved.
The number of new cases in Italy dropped to under 3,000 yesterday after a month. This also happened to coincide with the first day I ate less than 3,000 calories (mostly because I didn’t consume any alcohol - my body is a temple).
As the world is trying not to break, everyone tries to play their part in keeping it all together. Every company in the world is working on the pandemic (allegedly some employers also work on prolonging it by asking their staff to go in - 12 points to you!) At the individual level, some people bake bread, others do online workouts, others play music from their windows (thankfully my neighbour is still silent), and others get tested to make sure the spread within their communities is contained.
On the last point, a few weeks ago, in a place that shall not be named (hint: read yesterday’s post), a friend who was displaying symptoms of Covid-19 decided to pay out of pocket to get tested by a private lab. The private lab owner showed up at said friend’s house, did not bring any swabs with him, took a blood sample (!) and then went on to perform an antibody test, probably the only one of its kind that is not only above 50% accurate (the current estimated success rate) but that can also tell you if you have an active infection. Science-fiction largely has to do with imagining the future, so but when the fiction part is done by scientists, it’s slightly disconcerting.
The icing on the cake was that the same person managed to get tested by an actual scientist, got a positive result, and then did a mandatory follow-up test, only to find out that the second sample got lost. Hearing about lost samples makes me lose my mind. Eventually, they did find the sample, but remember it only takes one embarrassing drunk night to ruin your reputation forever. Or maybe this wasn’t a mistake, but just a genius idea. Maybe if all the samples just disappeared, then the pandemic never happened?
The highlight of yesterday was that, following three failed attempts and one heated disagreement in the queue, the hunter of the house managed to successfully enter Esselunga and do the big shop, which means we are now ready for Easter Sunday #2. I was also happy to discover that egg puns exist in multiple languages (uova = eggs, Buona Pasqua = Happy Easter).
We’re also currently enjoying Westworld season 3. I think what makes it so comforting is that none of it makes sense.
Lunch: Penne with pesto
Song of the day: Third Eye Blind - Semi-charmed life