Life in the Age of Corona

A Daily Diary

Thursday, October 8th, 2020

Photo Shoot

A mostly normal day, sunny 20C but the wind made it feel more like 15C so no working from the outdoor office today, but I did venture to the pool for the daily swim and in the sun it was lovely. Workwise it was a quiet day and no early morning calls for a change. Only annoying thing, a note from my GP that he will not renew my prescription unless I show up at his office. To me that is an unnecessary risk, but I guess the man has to make his money too.

What was really unexpected fun though and turned out to be the highlight of the day was the senior photo shoot at school. Parents were allowed to accompany their students. I had thought of it as a twenty minute affair and prepared myself to have to wait in the car, but far from it!

We entered the school via side entrance with signs stating “do no enter”, “building closed”, “wear a mask”, “wash hands often” and “maintain social distance” all over the place. Once inside all water fountains were covered up. The shooting was set up in the cafeteria and what a production it was! First a check-in desk, then we found a spot to keep the clothes (yes there were changes involved for which they had even unlocked the bathrooms!).

Theasigned first photographer suggested to do one of the “informal” shoots outside and do them first as the light was still good. For this EM had specifically bought a homecoming dress. Of course she was wearing the casual outfit thinking those pictures would be taken first and changing into formal wear was less of a hazzle than from formal wear into jeans. So, of she went to change. I traipsed along to the outside shoot and started taking pictures of the actual photo shoot. EM, the photographer and I had a lot of fun doing that.

Next up was the cap and gown shoot, which required a change of shoes from heels to sneakers. Then a change of clothes for the informal shoot. Last up the yearbook pictures and the student ID pic.

Apparently, the girls have to wear a shirt (black) covering the shoulders and while the gowns were provided by the school, the appropriate cover shirt had been pulled, so we scrambled to get one. Luckily, EM found out about the change of process as we were driving to school and Anna, the bestie, lives very close to school so she came to the rescue with two options. I am not sure why it is safe to share gowns, but no shoulder covers, then again there is no logic to the virus madness, so better not to question.

EM was thrilled to visit the school and she even ran into two friends who were also going to the routine. All in all everyone wore masks throughout and took them off only for the picture taking. Students had to book their slots and there were never more than four students and their respective guardian in the room at any given point in time. It was probably safer than going to the grocery store.

Looking at the pictures I took I cannot help but wonder when my baby became such an attractive young woman! It was an excursion into normalcy, to a life we had once known. Which brings me back to reality.

Cases worldwide have reached 36.3 million and the USA is adding to this number, even more than after July 4th weekend. Daily increases are at 52k to bring the reported total in the USA to 7.8 million today. Turns out the nations hotspot is the WH and the Moron in chief is possibly responsible for thousands of infections as he was probably already infectious during the presidential debate and of course the rallies he held after which thousands attended (unmasked of course). The WH is refusing to accept support from CDC on contact tracing and it is reported that GoP senators are avoiding testing to ensure they can nominate their SCOTUS judge by avoiding quarantining.

Scientists have modeled likelihood of a vaccine to market on a timeline.  This suggests that a vaccine will definitely be on the market by mid 2022. There is a 20% chance one may be available as early as January 2021. All in all not a very pleasant prospect.

Lastly, what is discussed as an extraordinary move by Southwest is the norm Germany. Corporations and unions agree on measures to retain employment and all the benefits that come with it in return for negotiated, temporary pay cuts. In fact most of Germany’s stimulus money went towards supporting such deals.

But then that is pure communism if one were to believe people in this country.