The Weekend Starts Here....

The Weekend Starts Here....

Image by Дарья Яковлева from Pixabay

Life continues to creep back towards ‘normal’.  Mike and Audrey ventured back into the office this week (although they are avoiding public transport for now) and seem very happy to be back.  They report that our building is still very empty, as is the surrounding area, so it seems much of the City continues to work from home.

Emma also came back from maternity leave this week – it is lovely to have her back, although as she has a reasonable commute into the office, she’ll be working from home for now, so it may be a while before we see her IRL*.

One definite winner from the pandemic – Amazon, now the world’s biggest retailer (and its founder the world’s richest man) [Infographic]

“Telling people to spend less and save more doesn’t work without addressing the multitude of variables that accompany lousy decision making.” What’s The Biggest Threat To Your Retirement Plans?  [ Tony Isola 3 min read]

The number of organ transplant recipients with livers that are over 100 years old is steadily growing.  Why your organs might reach 100 even if you don’t  [6 min read]

“For years researchers have been showing through the science of happiness that experiences give you a bigger bang for your buck than material purchases.” How’s that working out for you in 2020?  The Bear Market in Happiness  [ Ben Carlson 3 min read]

Do Americans Understand How Badly They’re Doing? No, and I for one don’t understand how the US, in the space of a few short months, has become a complete basket case. It’s sad to watch. 

For those diligent mask wearers: How To Deal With ‘Mask Acne’    (You’re welcome 😉) [3 min read]

“It’s hard to imagine work-related travel bouncing back to 2019 levels in the near future. Not just because people are worried about getting infected, but because the pandemic period has shone a light on a line-item expense that is probably unjustifiable.” Space Jam  [ Josh Brown 3 min read]

“In 1932, US Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis wrote: “A single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.””  What countries can – and can’t – learn from each other  [ Tim Harford 4 min read]

I’ve ‘ummed and ahhed’ about including this next one, because I found it upsetting to watch but I decided to include it because I feel that whilst it’s chilling, it is also an important historical record of this pandemic which we can only hope might inform future world leaders.  I would say, if you do decide to watch it, you certainly don’t need to watch the full 13 minutes.  A Time Lapse World Map of Every Covid-19 Death [13:06 video]

If U.S. states were countries, they would be 13 of the world’s 20 worst Covid outbreaks (per capita) [2 min read]

And finally.  Bernese Mountain Dog Puppy vs Lemon [0:56 video]

Whatever you’re up to this weekend, I hope it’s a good one.

Carolyn

IRL* – In Real Life, for those of you who don’t spend your lives on social media