#156 COVID & Bulgaria

I’m writing from Varna, Bulgaria. It’s been a while I know. I presented with COVID the day I flew out of Colombia. It didn’t feel like it and I had tested negative less than 18 hours previously. So I genuinely thought it was just a cold. Sore throat … mild on the flight … felt like a bad cold by Monday. Tested positive on Monday night in Vegas. My roommate left the house and I stayed isolated in the double wide. I was of course worried that she might have caught it in the few hours between picking me up at the airport and me taking the test at home. But it did not come to pass. So, Monday I tested positive and by Friday it was basically gone, with the last vestiges of a sore throat gone by Saturday morning. Never noticed a fever or achy joints. 80% smell loss - 60% taste. By 10 days after I’m noticing that smell and taste are starting to come back. But the after affects are still there. Fatigue, dizziness, the cough that is still there … I’m not worrying because that won’t do any good, but still. On the bright side I have been triple vaccinated and I got a mild version of it. I think that is as good of a protection as you can get.

So I ended up extending my stay in Vegas by 5 days and ended up getting a much better route to Varna. My worst worry was coughing on the trip. A couple of days before the trip, the cough improved markedly. The day of the trip … really more or less ok.

Okay, time for a rant about TSA and their global entry/pre-check program. In the fog of my recovery from Covid I did not bother to check that my trusted traveler information had been entered with Air Canada for my boarding pass. But honestly, I had always thought that this was a nice to have thing, but I had no idea it was necessary. So, when I get to TSA pre-check in the Las Vegas airport, even though I have my ID, and the global entry/pre-check identification on me, because it is not in some form or fashion reflected in the boarding pass, they don’t honor it. What freaking idiotic type of procedure is that?!

Putin attacked Ukraine. What a micro-cephalic, mentally ill, degenerate. Why can’t he just use Russia’s vast resources for GOOD?! And yes, they need to accept that nobody is going to trust them for a while. They can blame that on that evil goat fornicator Stalin and his obviously genetically related descendant Putin. I really do apologize for the language but this is really bothering me.

I wish I was young enough to insert myself into Ukraine to help fight those bastards. Now … have to keep in mind that the Russian soldiers probably don’t want to be there either, but my memories (historical reading) of the Russian army rings with the tale of rapine and atrocities that they spread in the wake of the attack against Germany while driving back the Nazis and the atrocities left right and center during the war in Afghanistan. I anticipate the same for this incursion. And why isn’t the West backing up Ukraine (after they got them to give up all their nuclear weapons)?!

I’m corresponding with some people in Ukraine and it breaks my heart to hear what they are going through. And there is nothing I can do to help them.

As it is, I am looking for the best way to donate $ to any organization helping the civilians fleeing Ukraine.

I had anxiety flying to Bulgaria. Well. There is a lot behind that. My isolation in the house in Las Vegas consisted mainly of packing everything that I had to send back to the Philippines. It wasn’t that much stuff actually. It worked out to a little under 1m3, but a lot of that was the hardware I bought at the last minute for a flight simulator, plus some stuff for the hotels. Really for 2 years and 3 months based in the States, it was a pretty slim pickings …

Why pack it all up? At the drop of a hat, a few days before coming back, the Philippines turned around and said they were going to let people in as tourists again without quarantines. So … I guess, after what will be 2 years and 3 months of exile, I will be able to go home. For a given value of home. So, part of my anxiety was leaving my base there in the US (I can no longer be in the states more than 35 days out of the year for at least 2022 and 2023 - Idiotic IRS rules). And another part was that I was again launching myself into the unknown again [Varna, Bulgaria]. Although, this time I had in fact spent for five hours studying Bulgarian with the tutor online. And that I think has really helped me.

However, interestingly enough, as I sit here on an Austrian Airlines flight from Montreal to Vienna, not only has my cough gotten better even on the flight, but I seem to be getting some optimism back. I think the jet lag will be bad but oh well. Austrian is nice. Very decent Business Class.

You may have read what I said about a possible job with a global environmental firm. I’ve really back tracked on that. Not because of anything they have done, but simply because I’m tired. I just can’t see going back to a corporate work regime any more. And part of this is COVID. As mild a case as it was, it knocked me on my ass and 3 weeks after, I’m still badly affected. In addition, I am not really sure that my thyroid stuff is really keeping me on an even keel, regardless of what the test results show. And … the kicker is that I’m doing a lot. I want to get my pilot’s license this year and I’m actively searching for a companion, a permanent one. I’ve not mentioned this before, but I am in the process, online. Yeah, yeah, I know. But I figured it was worth a shot. If I take a corporate job, all that stuff will basically go up in smoke. And … I just don’t know if on my death bed I will say … “Gee I’m glad I spent 2 - 3 years of my life back in the corporate grind.” After a long time silent, the president of the company wants to have a call all of a sudden. I’m not sure what is going to go on.

Anyway … so rainy and 3°C here in Varna. But I definitely brought the right clothes for it.

I’m going to get this posted. I’m glad to be back online. To my busy friend in Sweden (That is you Heather). I’d love to hear from you. 😊

#157 Varna then Home

#155 Update on Travels