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If you'll recall, I've booked a trip to London for the first half of September. The US is still on the UK's "amber list", as in traffic lights. I can go there, but I have to spend up to ten days* in a quarantine hotel. I need to get tested right before I leave, and again two and eight days (and possibly five days) after I arrive.
That's right, people: I gambled, and it's virtually certain that I'm going to lose. I'm not even sure what implications this has for the AirBnB that I booked, but I'm pretty sure I won't like them.
An unlikely but remotely possible scenario is that maybe the UK will let vaccinated Americans in, as Canada is planning to do on Aug. 9. Given that England** just yesterday eliminated its internal COVID-19 restrictions, this isn't entirely implausible. Epidemiologists in the UK are predicting an explosion of cases, and they need look no further than the US for evidence. Do I want to fly into that?
At the moment, anyway, I intend to.
I don't blame the Brits, not one bit. I blame my benighted, lie junkie, pee baby countrymen who so desperately crave having their asses kissed. I'd wish a pox on them, but something far worse is coming for them already. Yeah, it would sure be nice if the world changed for the drastically better in forty-one days, but I'm not betting a nickel on that.
Resolved: I won't start dealing with all the above until next month, but I do need to get out of Dodge, even if it involves going stir crazy in a hotel somewhere in greater London.
Fun fact: my maternal grandfather, known to us kids as Joe and born in 1905, was the son of immigrants from Wales***. His whole famn damily went back to Britain for a visit in about 1920. Joe got hit by a car in London; he probably wasn't accustomed to cars, much less cars driven on the left. He spent six weeks in a hospital, and did not remember his visit fondly. I wonder if Joe's ghost is laughing at me, or just shouting noiselessly at me to stay home.
Yeah, people are dying of COVID-19. Going anywhere on a plane is monstrous from a global warming perspective. But goddamn, I really wanted this.
*I could get out of quarantine in as few as seven days with a negative test. The UK government calls this "test to release", which makes me sound like wildlife, fittingly enough.
**Not to be confused with the entire UK; the Celtic parts of Britain are apparently saner.
***I found out during my most recent visit with Mom that they spoke Welsh to each other when they didn't want their kids to understand them.
That's right, people: I gambled, and it's virtually certain that I'm going to lose. I'm not even sure what implications this has for the AirBnB that I booked, but I'm pretty sure I won't like them.
An unlikely but remotely possible scenario is that maybe the UK will let vaccinated Americans in, as Canada is planning to do on Aug. 9. Given that England** just yesterday eliminated its internal COVID-19 restrictions, this isn't entirely implausible. Epidemiologists in the UK are predicting an explosion of cases, and they need look no further than the US for evidence. Do I want to fly into that?
At the moment, anyway, I intend to.
I don't blame the Brits, not one bit. I blame my benighted, lie junkie, pee baby countrymen who so desperately crave having their asses kissed. I'd wish a pox on them, but something far worse is coming for them already. Yeah, it would sure be nice if the world changed for the drastically better in forty-one days, but I'm not betting a nickel on that.
Resolved: I won't start dealing with all the above until next month, but I do need to get out of Dodge, even if it involves going stir crazy in a hotel somewhere in greater London.
Fun fact: my maternal grandfather, known to us kids as Joe and born in 1905, was the son of immigrants from Wales***. His whole famn damily went back to Britain for a visit in about 1920. Joe got hit by a car in London; he probably wasn't accustomed to cars, much less cars driven on the left. He spent six weeks in a hospital, and did not remember his visit fondly. I wonder if Joe's ghost is laughing at me, or just shouting noiselessly at me to stay home.
Yeah, people are dying of COVID-19. Going anywhere on a plane is monstrous from a global warming perspective. But goddamn, I really wanted this.
*I could get out of quarantine in as few as seven days with a negative test. The UK government calls this "test to release", which makes me sound like wildlife, fittingly enough.
**Not to be confused with the entire UK; the Celtic parts of Britain are apparently saner.
***I found out during my most recent visit with Mom that they spoke Welsh to each other when they didn't want their kids to understand them.
no subject
Date: 2021-07-21 04:20 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2021-07-21 10:09 pm (UTC)From:As best as I can understand the latest news articles I've read, they've pretty openly stated that they're not going to make any attempt to check up on amber entrants, and since they aren't being sent to high-security quarantine like the red-list people are, you can stay wherever, you're just not supposed to go out and mix. Except, again, that they will not AT ALL check that. (I'm not encouraging this, just flapping around trying to deal with my frustration and confusion about what the rules are. Did I mention it's been A YEAR AND A HALF since i've seen my boyfriends?)
The travel industry has been badgering the government to let vaccinated Americans in officially without quarantine and it is reasonably plausible that this might happen by September. On the other hand, as I understand it, the US has now moved the UK to 'Citizens are STRONGLY ADVISED not to go there for any reason, they all have the plague!'
no subject
Date: 2021-07-21 10:20 pm (UTC)From:I have to wonder if the UK is worse than Florida, which I just left seven weeks ago.
no subject
Date: 2021-07-21 10:56 pm (UTC)From: