Hawaiian pork stew

I've been meaning to try this one for a while.

3 Tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
Sprinkling of ground pepper
~1.5 lbs pork chops, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 Tbsp oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
Smallest green bell pepper I could find (the recipe calls for half of one, but I wasn't going to find a use for the other half)
1 14.5 oz can chopped tomatoes, with juice
2 cups no-salt-added chicken broth
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp cloves
~1.5-cup can of pineapple chunks (recipe calls for 1 cup fresh, could not find that small an amount)
1/4 cup parsley

That is a lot of different flavors, but it works! I made this last Sunday and there's still a faint whiff of cinnamon around the stove when it's on.

The upswing, week 6

Gray and damp most of this week, but the daffodils are popping up everywhere, and some kind of flowering cherry or apple tree is starting to open up down on the corner.

This week's adventure in pandemic logistics is that I needed to get some cash. There are no ATMs in easy walking distance, but there used to be a bank branch inside the store where we go for the weekly shopping trip. Even after the branch closed, the ATM just outside it was still there, only now it isn't. Instead we had to go to the drive-up ATM out at the edge of the parking lot.

Much more exciting things are happening on the state and national front. The same day the FDA advisory committee was meeting to form its recommendation on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the state of Oregon was due to release a new schedule for who gets vaccinated when all through the point where anyone can get it.

I read the news story about it as soon as it was up, and it was pretty much what I expected. The SO qualifies to be in the first group of under-65s, who become eligible no later than March 29, and I was in a later group, eligible no later than June 1. With shipments of vaccine doses steadily increasing, and a third vaccine coming into play, the state expects that these dates will move forward.

A few hours later, there was a correction to the announcement. And it turns out I just barely qualify for the March 29 group.

So, it's time to take the advice I've been repeating: don't get hung up on trying to evaluate exactly how much you deserve to get the vaccine or not a particular time, the important thing is to go and get it, keep the line moving, and do your part to build the safety net for everyone. I'll start doing the rounds of the local pharmacy sign-up sites in a few weeks. Although if I locate an appointment for just one person, it's definitely going to the SO, who is still at significantly higher risk than I am.

Also I will take whichever vaccine happens to be available. Despite the nitpicking over effectiveness percentages, all of them reduce your risk of hospitalization and death by approximately 100%. That's good enough for me for now.

I need to scale back my plans for what I'm going to do once I'm fully immunized (vaccinated plus 2-4 weeks for immunity to build up, depending on the vaccine) since I won't be emerging into a world where most everyone else has been vaccinated before me. But I do think that at that point I could start, say, taking the bus to the farmers' market, or getting regular haircuts again.