Life in the Age of Corona

A Daily Diary

Monday, June 22nd, 2020

Bliss

Happy! After spending most of the day tied up in calls (in my garden) EM and I headed to the “Y” late in the afternoon and got to swim for a full 30 minutes, what bliss to finally be in the water again. This has replaced today's walk, even though we have not yet foudn all 60 yard signs in the Hood.

Booked lanes through Thursday and plan to do so every day from now on. I was most impressed with the sanitary regime. You enter through the normal entrance, where the temperature is checked. Then they scan your badge give your name and indicate which pool your lane is booked in. They allow people to the pools (they have three) five minutes before the appointed time. When the thirty minutes are up, you need to leave via the outdoor pool deck and the lifeguards sanitize everything you could have touched (mainly the railings on the stairs). Chlorine levels I think are higher than normal as breathing was a bit of a pain, but hey, I can do that. I just fear my new swim suit will soon be pink rather than neon magenta. However, if that is the price to pay for a thirty minute swim, I will happily do so.

With schools out and social distancing on the high school kids in the neighborhood are getting super creative offering various forms of “summer camps” via the fabulous Listserv. EM and Anna did look into offering their own art camp but were ultimately deterred by the need for liability insurance and permits. I think most of the kids offering “communal kids entertainment” do not do so as official summer camps, even if they are announced as camps on the Listserv. I must applaud those kids for their entrepreneurship though. In the hood there is now a hockey camp, a basketball camp and the latest venture movie nights with friends. For the latter two teens will show up and set up project door and screen in the garden and kids can socially distanced watch a movie together. How cool is that?

EM, like a number of other students, has a job four days a week for four hours entertaining two boys at their home so parents can work from home. She has researched into various activities and is working on a daily schedule with different activities for them. I am very impressed. Generation Z is getting a handle on this shitshow and moving into an adjusted life. EM is starting to hang out with friends on balconies, decks or lawns to maintain the appropriate distance, conscious that she is now responsible for keeping her charges safe also. I think these kids will have a very different sense of responsible behavior then their elders, so maybe, despite the disruption the virus has brought to their lives, something good is coming of all of this.

Certainly in the USA the Virus is continuing its spread unabated. Today saw an increase of 28k in reported infections up from yesterday, but it seems to be less deadly these days as “only” 285 death were reported versus the daily 1k a few weeks ago. The total global tally stands at 9 million now, 2.35 million of which are on these shores. One thing is clear: The Virus is not doing the administration the favor of just disappearing. Meanwhile, wearing or not wearing a mask continues to be a political statement rather than a health concern in this country. Seriously people, if you want the freedom not to wear a mask, the owners of shops have the freedom to deny you access to the premises, that’s how it works. afterall, this is the land of the free - remember? So, I guess mask boycotters will need to find retail alternatives. I also think not wearing a mask in shops or other public spaces is just utterly selfish rather than a political statement as it put those working in the shops or offices in danger, far more so than the visitor. Seriousyl, how hard can it be?

Meanwhile innovators are designing systems to make travel safer; the latest being a personalized air supply on flights. Somehow a neat idea.

The collaboration in the Corona fight continous. Firstly, a fundraiser where politicians and musicians join forces to help ensure everyone who needs to, can have access to a vaccine if and when it exists.  Secondly, scientists across three continents have been collaborating on research and make it open source, most recently the full length “S” Protein, which will make critical data for vaccine development available to everyone, so the world of science can continue to learn.

All this makes me hopeful as there is some good going on in the world, even if it does not always appear to be.