Another COVID-19 Self-Test

I did a COVID-19 self-test this morning. It was negative! Hulō! I will test again on Monday morning since I am having lunch with friends later that day. This is a different type of test than I have been using before. It says it is "fast" but also says you have to wait 20 minutes for the results to appear. Which is twice as long as the previous test I have used; I guess it is all relative since other tests such as the PCR can take up to 24 hours.

The parts for one test kit.

The test substrate.

Collection swab inserted in test substrate.

The reagent & biologicals start to migrate across test substrate.

The results after 20 minutes. (The angle of the photo is a little misleading. It's negative.)

FYI Just because the test result is "negative" does not mean I do not have COVID-19 at all. It just means, at this time, statistically, I do not have COVID-19. Originally, they found that it could take up to 30 days for SARS-CoV-2 to incubate to the point that a person was infectious. But since about 95% of people showed symptoms within 14 days the original guidance was to isolate for 14 days. But humans have a difficult time doing that, so the guidance was amended to 10 days which is when about 90% of people would show symptoms. So the CDC had to gamble because humans are stupid. They knew they could not have people isolate for 30 days, so they tried for 14 but found many people still could not follow that so they reduced it further. The guidance is now similarly moderated for those who are fully vaccinated. Now you have the information, you can adjust your behavior as you choose.

Since the test result was negative, I went to give the neighbors across the street some calamansi marmalade; I always stay in their open air garage. I met their daughter-in-law Nikki who is visiting from California; everyone in the household has COVID-19 so I just set the jars down on the table in the garage & talked to her from there while she had an N95 mask on & stayed in the house a couple steps back from the door. I hope Mr. & Mrs. Loi pull through with no long term effects; I think they're in their early 90's like Mom & Dad were.

I also dropped off a couple jars with Donna & Gerald next door; I also stay in their open air garage. They're doing fine. One of the jars is for Mrs. Vea; she is also doing fine, she just doesn't go out much in order to minimize her chances of being exposed to COVID-19.

While I was outside the house, I walked around & checked out the plants that The Potential Most Favorite Roommate has on the back patio. He has expanded his plant collection quite a bit! And he is training many of them for bonsai, including some native Hawaiian species. The ʻohiʻa ʻai seeds that he sprouted are doing really well!

Looking southeasterly.

Looking northeasterly.

Some plants on the northerly wall.

More plants on the northerly wall.

The northeasterly corner.

Water feature below plants in northeasterly corner. Note guppies to control mosquitos.

Native hibiscus (L) & gardenia (R) in training as bonsai.

The ʻohiʻa ʻai seedlings waiting to begin bonsai training.

For Kai's breakfast this morning I made Quaker Oats Maple & Brown Sugar instant oatmeal. It's been a while since I have made any instant oatmeal; since when have they had the 2/3 cup mark on the bag? Is this so you can easily make it at work & not have to go looking for a measuring cup? 

For lunch I heated up a can of Campbell's Chicken & Rice Soup for Kai. It is now a single serving can with a pop top! When did that change? I guess more things have gone the route of being more convenient for single servings & opening without additional tools. Which makes these useful for emergency supplies.

For Kai's dinner I heated up a can of Chef Boyardee Lasagna ... in a can; this is the one I had been wondering about back in January this year. Now I have the answer! They use the frilly noodle edges in a meat sauce & call it lasagna, in a can. I suppose that is what the picture on the front of the can is attempting to show. (It is also in a pop top can.)

I think S'mores is a little annoyed with Kai. The guest room that he is in is where she usually spends her days & evenings. Since he has the door closed except for when he pops out to use the bathroom or to pick up his meals, she does not have a chance to hide under the bed. This evening, while I prepared Kai's dinner, she was hiding in the family room & giving me the evil eye.

I only worked on 1 box of books today. These books came from Mom's desk that she had in the bedroom. Most of the books looked interesting so I am shipping the whole box.

I did not hear of another plea from Hawaiʻi Island to reduce electricity use during the evening. So the 2 generating stations that had technical problems must be back on line. Or the 2 that were down for routine maintenance must be completed. Either way, it would not really have affected me since my solar panels provide much more power than I need & the Tesla battery can power the house through the night (except when I need to fully charge the car up after dark, which is a rare occurrence).

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Roblin!