Day 1-BA2.12.1 is the current variant

The K Bar S Lodge…

Our room…

The BA2.12.1 variant is on the rise - Santa Clara County and the Bay Area are officially out of control. Today, we learn that BA2.12.1 is 25% MORE transmissible than the original BA2 variant, which was 100% more transmissible than OG-Omicron, which was 100% more transmissible than Delta, which was 100% more transmissible than Covid-19… As a result, I did some Covid math calculations and, using the above formula as a guide, I’ve determined that the BA2.12.1 variant is approximately 1000 times more contagious than…anything. If you are within 30 yards of a Covid carrier, around the corner, outdoors, and in a monsoon, you will still contract Covid…UNLESS you’re vaccinated and double-boosted. If that’s the case…you will still contract Covid. Paxlovid to the rescue!

5/12/22. Thursday

5:00-6:30 - I’m up so I go downstairs to say good morning to the animal. It’s very early so she’s still asleep. I start my coffee and she stumbles over to say hello. Outside and I stand around, waiting for her to go potty. Return inside and cheese for her; coffee for me. I go upstairs.

I sit in the shower, ice my eyes, and drink my coffee. Lotion. Athletic housewife attire, full make-up, and I curl my hair. I finish packing my toiletries and bring my suitcase downstairs.

6:30-9:00 - B. arrives and we drive to the Burbank airport. Our flight (United Airlines) leaves at 9:08 am. He drops me off with the luggage at the double doors then leaves to park the car in the law enforcement section. A Metro cop brings him back.

A big banner hangs above the entrance to the airport and reads, “Be a Hero, Wear a Mask” while numerous travelers walk under it, unmasked. Nobody knows what to do anymore. The 12-year-old, Trump-appointed female, federal judge, recently ruled that the CDC does not have the authority to issue a national mask mandate. TSA is a federal agency so, per the CDC, masks are required for that agency and their employees.

LA County Dept. of Public Health (DPH) still has the following mask mandate in play: “In Los Angeles County, wearing a mask over your nose and mouth is required in some settings, including on all public transportation (including on trains, subways, buses and other forms of public transit) and in all indoor transportation hubs (including airport and terminals and train and subway stations), and strongly recommended in others.” BUT, LAC-DPH can’t enforce it. If the airlines are no longer enforcing mask mandates, why would we wear masks in the airport, only to remove them as we board the airplane? It doesn’t make sense.

As of May 11, 2022, the LA County DPH reports 3407 new Covid cases and 9 new deaths…in ONE day. I was just boosted so I feel incredibly protected, but as I noted in an earlier post, I find out much later that it actually takes 10 days to 2 weeks for the booster to take effect. Ironically, I’m not protected at all, BUT I won’t know that for another month. Suffice it to say, I do, in fact, mask in the airport. because hashtag (#)airportsaregross. All those people milling about, breathing on me? Disgusting. B. doesn’t mask and he’s okay with it.

-I’m a nervous flier, so B. and I hit the bar and I unmask just enough to drink two glasses of champagne. Almost nobody is masking at this airport.

9:08-12:33 - The flight is uneventful and we land in Denver for our 2-hour layover. I mask on the plane. This is the tiniest plane I’ve ever been on. Picture this: as you walk down the aisle of the plane, there are two seats to your right, and one seat to your left. It’s very odd. Also, even though I’m allowed a carry-on, flight staff say there is no room in the overhead bins and make most of the customers stash our bags in this weird space near the door of the plane. They are not stored in an orderly fashion, just shoved/thrown on top of each other. B. avoids all of this because he always checks his bag. Looks like I should have checked my bag, too.

12:30-2:30 - We hang out at the Denver Airport and I’m too tired to go to another bar for my “2-drink minimum” which I typically need before boarding a plane. It’s about a 1-hour flight to South Dakota - how bad can it be? Still masking.

2:30-3:55 - We board the second plane and, uh, my anxiety’s pretty bad. I have a minor panic attack and ask the flight attendant for a drink, but they’re unable to serve us because neither B. nor I have the United Airline App on our phone which is required to purchase anything on this plane. B. tries to upload it but he can’t because we’re in flight. Just when I think I’m going to lose my shit, a kind man across the aisle pays for my drink with his app. When we offer to pay him, he says don’t worry about it: “I’ve always relied on the kindness of strangers.” [Happy Hour Trivia Time - Who said that quote?]

4:00-6:00 - We land without incident and go to baggage claim to get B.’s suitcase. Then, it’s onto…Hertz?? I think it’s Hertz. B. gets an SUV and we drive to the K Bar S Lodge [Keystone, SD], where we’ll be staying. It’s about a 30-minute drive and I instantly like South Dakota. It’s very green here - lots of space. We pass several housing tracts and residential areas…the houses are strangely unadorned, with no trim or ornamentation. I guess I would compare them to a “Shaker” home??? It’s not bad, just different.

6:00-7:30 - The K Bar Lodge is beautiful (check out the picture at the top of the blog) and I love our room. We’re surrounded by pine trees and it feels like I’m in the middle of a forest. We unpack and talk to the hotel employee about where to eat.

7:30-9:00 - We learn that this town shuts down at 9:00 pm. so we quickly run to the Powder House Restaurant, which does, in fact, close at 9:00. The food is…okay. The saving grace is the baked potato that I order on the side. This is just an observation and a descriptor, but everyone in the restaurant - staff and customers - are fat. Also, nobody masks, even though the restaurant is crowded. I feel uncomfortable masking because I know everyone will stare at me so I don’t. I mean I was just boosted, right? (wrong). We finish dinner and return to the hotel.

9:00-10:30 - Long travel day but everything went according to plan. Nighttime routine. Bed.