Leading lines

This is the smallest rat snake picture I’ve ever shared with you. 

Paxlovid! I got Paxlovid! Karen began making calls for Paxlovid while I guess I was still stunned wondering how I got Covid. I have very minor symptoms so Paxlovid isn’t necessary but it may reduce the chance of long covid and it sounds like it will make me less contagious, just in case Karen didn’t get it yesterday. 

Ugh. I’m taking my next Paxlovid right before I go to sleep. 

Karen tested negative again today and thought she messed up the test but I told her it is still too early for her to test positive. 

My last vaccine was Oct 2023 which might be why my symptoms are mild. 

I appreciate greatly the sympathy. I understand life is unfair and Covid has been far more unfair than just infecting me despite my Taffix and masks, but I appreciate the sympathy anyway.  

I put out a shoe that looks a lot like the original along with some fun stuff in it. My neighbor got to hear them finding it. Four boys explained to two girls what the story of the shoe was and then discussed what to write in response. “Thanks for the gifts again. Have a blessed day.” 

Putin went to China and didn’t get what he wanted. He wanted China to help with a pipeline so he could send gas to China to offset the loss of European markets. This is not a great idea, because being dependent on one buyer makes you really vulnerable. Didn’t matter, Putin left without a contract. He also tried in March when Xi was in Moscow so this is 0 for 2. 

China pays $257 per 1,000 cubic meters, compared to the $320 by Europe. Next year the discount will be 28%. China is supposedly holding out for Russia to pay all the costs of the pipeline. 

Ukraine said it took out a Russian minesweeper in the Black Sea this weekend. 

Oksana Trefanenko is a Ukrainian student at Ellesmere College. She got a scholarship that allows Central and Eastern European students to study for two years in British independent schools. She just got an invitation to Harvard.