QUARANTINE BLOG # 294

January 18, 2021

On Saturday, Georgia health officials reported 154 deaths from COVID-19.  On Friday, 159 new deaths were reported across the state.  It’s the fifth day in a row that Georgia has seen over 100 deaths reported per day.  The moving 7-day average for new deaths is 107 per day.  At least 751 people have died since Monday.

At least 346,880 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in South Carolina since March, and 5,577 have died, according to state health officials.

A White House report on the coronavirus in South Carolina shows that the spread and number of cases have not slowed down.  South Carolina’s rate of infection makes it the 12th highest rate in the country.  “South Carolina has seen an increase in new cases and test positivity, as well as rapidly rising hospitalizations, which is consistent with full pandemic resurgence,” according to the report.

Across the United States 24,457,653 cases of coronavirus have been reported, and 407,047 of us have died.  The country is reporting 220,675 new infections on average each day.  Officials keep repeating that the best way to stop the spread is frequent hand washing, social distancing and wearing a mask.  Sadly many continue to resist.

👉  In other news, an all-virtual pared-down Consumer Electronic Show for 2021 offers gadgets you really need, but didn’t know existed.  The Quarantine Blog is here to help.

First on the list is the Level Touch a smart deadbolt with phone-sensing near-field communications (NFC) technology.  As long as your phone is on your person, a simple touch of your finger unlocks or locks the door.  Alternatively, you can tap your phone or a registered keycard – like the kind you get at hotels – to the deadbolt.  The system is $329, but for another $70 you can get a matching door handle.  Or you can get a key made for your old lock at Walmart – top price $6.00.

If you are tired of searching for a charger for your mobile device Kew Labs’ 30-watt UTS-1 may be your solution.  It can be mounted to the underside of a nonmetallic surface using the included tape.  Plug it into the wall, and you’ve just added wireless charging to your furniture.  It keeps your desk tidy and prevents your housemates from stealing your charger.  Kew Labs claims the 30-watt charger can beam power through tables and nightstands up to an inch thick, for $105.

Kohler’s Innate toilet similarly provides touchless functionality by way of a proximity sensor that automatically opens the lid as you approach, and auto-flushes when you walk away.  Critically, the toilet self-closes when you’re done.  The company’s“entry-level” offering, starts at $3,100, but you’ll still have to lift the seat manually.  Or you can wait for the deluxe model that will open the seat when a laser senses you are close – $7,000.  

👉  Attention baseball card collectors.  What is the highest price ever paid for a baseball card?  If you answered the T206 Honus Wagner at $3.25 million (sold October  2020) you picked the third most expensive card (second place goes to a 2009 Mike Trout rookie, sold in August last year).  The T206 is the most ever paid for a vintage card, but a card for 1952 has topped it.

The 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle PSA 9 (PSA is a grading system that ranges from 1-10) sold this past Thursday for $5.2 million.  And it’s not even Mickey’s rookie card – rookie cards usually command more money.  Rob Gough, the actor who acquired streetwear brand Dope in 2017, purchased the ‘52 Mantle.  The last time it sold, it went for $2.88 million.  What makes this card so valuable?  The 1952 cards are Topps’ first annual set and they were dumped, by the thousands, into the Hudson River in 1960 after overproduction.

And the cry of collectors everywhere?  “I was a multi-millionaire, and then my Mom gave away my baseball cards!”

👉  Puns are looked down upon by some people as being a low form of humor.  I say it takes real intelligence to be able to manipulate the English language to come up with a good pun.  Here are a couple of good ones.

👉  Today’s sermon from the Crawfordville Pulpit is “Remember Who You Are.”  If you would like to save any of these Monday Messages, simply click on the three dots at the far right of the player when it opens, and select “download.”

👉  Today’s close is from Praying with the Psalms, by Eugene H. Peterson.

“I lie down and sleep; I awake again, for the Lord sustains me ... Rise up, O Lord!  Deliver me, O my God!  For you strike all my enemies on the cheek, you break the teeth of the wicked” (Psalm 3:5, 7).

We do not acquire security by eliminating enemies.  Opposition – and sometimes it is intense – is a continuing reality in this world.  We get security (“I lie down and sleep ... I am not afraid”) by putting our trust in God.  They are his foes and he will do battle: “Deliverance belongs to the Lord.”

Prayer: O God, I feel the rising menace of sin: degeneracy in society, disorder in lives around me, sickness, death.  None of the precautions I take seems adequate.  Deliver me from my fears and lift up my head!  Amen.

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