I managed to make it two weeks in good health, but today my lucky streak ended. I woke up with a cold and a terrible sore throat and stayed in most of the day.
In other news, my cell phone got pickpocketed on the metro. I'm mad about this less because the phone itself was so valuable and more because I'm an idiot who failed to take even the most obvious precautions against theft.
And how are my eyes doing? I'm glad you asked. They definitely aren't getting better. In fact, they may even be getting worse, especially when I'm reading at night and they're tired.
Based on all this, you might think I'm having a lousy time. Not so! Colds are a routine hazard of travel, here today and gone tomorrow. This is why I planned a three-week trip, after all, so that a day or two with a cold wouldn't have a big impact. As for the phone, I miss having Google Maps while I'm roaming around, but I'm so old I still know how to read paper maps. Nor was there was anything sensitive on the phone—though I called T-Mobile anyway and had them brick it for me. And the state of my eyes is nothing surprising. I hoped for—but didn't really expect—improvement.
In fact, we're having a great time. Our apartment in the Madeleine neighborhood is great. The weather is spectacular. We've visited everything we wanted so far with no long lines and no problems. I've taken so many pictures I had to make room for them by clearing out space on my 500 GB tablet. Best vacation ever!
Awesome, glad to hear you're having a good time.
Might have lost your phone but your vacation is still going better than this guy's,
https://old.reddit.com/r/ThatsInsane/comments/v2v3zk/always_carry_bear_spray_when_youre_in_their/
I've heard that Covid still exists in Europe. 😛 May wanna take a test just to be safe, especially given that you have cancer and all. Antivirals are a "now or never" kinda thing.
Listen to Citizen!
Glad you're enjoying your trip, but yes, get a COVID test.
My wife and I were on a river cruise in the Netherlands and Belgium. We both took proctored COVID tests on an April Saturday, so they let us get on a plane on Sunday to return to the USA. Monday I felt like I had "just a cold"; my daughter suggested a COVID test, and it was positive. My wife took a test without any symptoms the next day, and hers was positive, too.
I assumed he took a rapid test but yes, sympthoms = covid test especially for a guy with conditions like his.
And where most people screw up now: Since Omicron you should expect 2 or 3 days of symptoms before our current rapid tests will turn positive.
Pretty sure KD is close enough to David Leonhardt on the COVIDenial spectrum that he is willing to chance it on China Flu exposure.
glad the vacation is going great, I think I might bring a spare phone later this month when in Barcelona.
too bad about the lenses, I told my brother in law about them and he was really interested.
Sorry to here about your phone. Pickpockets are a plague for Parisian but mostly for unsuspecting tourists. Often originating from Eastern Europe, these pickpockets are often minors enslaved by a few adults who force them to steal. Unfortunately the Metro police will never be able to get rid of them.
A few years ago, the wife and I were riding on a near empty metro train where it is elevated above ground. Suddenly two teenage girls were seriously intruding on our space. One of them asked my wife what time it is (raising your arm to read your watch provides a great opportunity to rip your purse away). We were both at "shields on full" at this point, and my wife gripped her purse while I got between them and the door. They sashayed out the rear door as if nothing had happened and I wondered if I had over-reacted. Then the door closed they flipped us the bird from the platform. F-you not letting us rip you off, I can live with that.
If you're going to be a racialist dingus, don't occlude your meaning saying "Eastern European". Just say "Albanian" (the Muslin is implied) or Gypsy.
It’s a difficult issue. The Romani suffer serious discrimination, but this is unlikely to change as long as they are identified with theft. I have never seen more “stink eyes” then when a couple of Romani teenagers passed through a metro car full of Parisians .
First, let me be _very_ clear: I am not blaming the victim. But: Kevin, where do you customarily carry your phone? An outside jacket pocket? Back pocket? I never carry essentials like ID, insurance card, phone, etc. in a backpack/knapsack/purse. For stuff like that I use a front-facing fanny pack or (in the case of cards) an inside pocket. I'm terrified of getting into some accident without proof of insurance on my unconscious body.
You know how you wanted a good explanation on why Russia is doing so poorly in Ukraine? Here's something to read up on, on your tablet: https://bityl.co/CV2j
I think they've got a really solid rundown of what happened and what assumptions westerners got wrong, and Michael Kofman and Rob Lee are often cited by military analysts and you might catch them in interviews on news media platforms.
According to Lee and Kofman, the actual force size and capabilities assembled at the Ukrainian border was much smaller than assumed and relied much more heavily on drafted conscripts with little training. Instead of pushing up personnel numbers, they instead chose to certify smaller battalions as combat ready based on lower number of personnel.
The lack of a layer of NCOs is somewhat a myth and at least overstated, according to them.
Have at it.
Kofman has been over estimating the Russians the entire war. He's talented but he seems to have an unconscious bias toward a more powerful Russia.
And I'm a little leery of people who say "explanative".
TBF, he's asking the question, "why did we all get it wrong about the invasion?"
I'm very impressed with your ability to handle all these setbacks and problems, and still manage to have a good time. I'm looking forward to seeing a few of your many vacation photos.
Old sailing friends are in Indonesia and commented that Bali needs tourists.
I could look like a tourist in the right circumstances.
God, we have been trying, but there have been no flights to Bali until very recently.
France is the most delightful place to have a vacation….
Yeah but not Paris for me! And I live in France. I love Paris, for a day or two, to stroll through Barbès where you don't even know what continent you're on, eat briyani near the Gare du Nord, see the popular markets outside the snobby districts. Otherwise give me Toulouse, Rennes or even Marseille any day.
The only good thing about living in the South is that I've been here long enough to use up all the local viruses.