Wednesday.

A very full day with an early start. No time for breakfast (delivered late), as I settled in for an all-dayer on Zoom, starting at 8.30am.

Highlights

• Nothing to do with MIQ, but rediscovering the joy of being part of Kiwinet, helping to accelerate smart science out into making a difference in the world. New Zealand’s great talent never fails to make my heart sing. The long day on Zoom passed in a flash.

• A thoughtful hotel staffer who, on delivering our daily ration of 2 bottles of wine to the room, lurked in the corridor (yes, more than 2m away from our door) to enquire, when I opened it, whether we needed a corkscrew, having noticed that the bottles did not have screwcaps. Such a tiny thing to show he cares.

• The arrival of our departure instructions along with the breakfast delivery. It did make me ponder how people less literate than we are navigate their MIQ experience – there are a LOT of instructions, all in very wordy documents. This one key point is highlighted – “Your Departure Time is confirmed” HURRAY! Note the capital letters… Departure Time is definitely worthy of capitalisation!

• A late afternoon exercise slot on the (still-covered) rooftop terrace, with views of the setting sun over the harbour. Breathe out!

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Lowlights

• Missing out on being at my Kiwinet meeting in person, especially given the amazing venue in the Legislative Chamber at the Beehive! Damn!

• Closer to home, my toe!
  The curse of the tiny hotel room is that the more stuff you put in it, the more things there are to trip over, and the rearranged furniture didn’t help. In my haste to head for the bathroom in between Zoom presentations, I kicked my toe not once, but twice (I know, slow learner) on Peter’s bike setup, and I’m pretty sure it’s broken. Oh dear. Only the little one, mind you… but not happy! Peter was unsympathetic, though he did encourage me to strap it up last night, which helped. Don’t even think about asking why we always have strapping tape in our luggage!

• An a somewhat lesser disaster – tossing my bowl of muesli onto my lap and the carpet in the middle of my meeting! Which led to the hilarious, undocumented sight of Peter crawling around the floor under my meeting table picking up flakes of Light & Tasty, one at a time! Well, it gave him something to do.

Things that are bothering me as the end of our incarceration looms…

• What if our Day 12 tests are positive? I mean, technically, I know what will happen next, but I really, really don’t want to think about that?

• What if the one of the other 4 people who are exercising on the roof with us today tests positive – will we be classified as close contacts? At least when we’re on the ramp, we’re on our own.

• Why has no one at any stage recorded the fact that we are fully vaccinated – surely that’s a key data point if they’re trying to learn from what’s happening in MIQ?

• What if Koki doesn’t recognise us when we get home? Or doesn’t want to know us because we abandoned her?

• Given how little of my planned activities I’ve actually completed while locked up with technically nothing to do, will I ever be productive again?

And given that I’m not usually a huge worrier, how do people who are worriers cope with MIQ? Because there really is a LOT to worry about in here!

And so, with a furrowed brow, and a resolve to worry less (and maybe try to DO more) tomorrow, I put my foot up on a pillow and fell asleep.

Postscript!

In case anyone is wondering, food is still excellent – even if today was a bit of a “fast food” day, with chilli con carne nachos for lunch, and great burger and chips for dinner.