Coronavirus - Several Months On

To be honest, the only thing that has changed for me is occasional working from home days! I've still been going to work throughout when I'm in teaching or doing courseware/exam design and review work, a works laptop has given me more flexibility but I've only really had about 5 days home working over the last month.

Class sizes have shrunk to maintain safe occupancy levels, and training within the simulator is now split over either 2 shifts or between 2 instructors.

Got some leave coming up soon and by the 5th of August I'll be able to be near my wife again for the first time since the middle of April! - I guess that is actually the largest change after all!

Oh yeah, and I'm 52 on Thursday! YAY!

Since I am in the high risk group, we have stopped going out as much as we did before, but since all of our favorite restaurants deliver, we can still enjoy good meals.

Biggest down side is that we cannot go to the Senior Center, where all of the exercise equipment was available.

I could still do some things at home, but we have broken our routine and that is hard to get re-established.

They have postponed my 50th High School reunion for a year, which if they get an effective vaccine we might be able to hold.

We are still working on the books, volume 16 should make it out in August and volume 17 might be available by the Christmas season.

I try to check in at element 14 every day, but I have been out the last two days with a bad migraine.

Next week I turn 68.

DAB

I am still tweaking protective measures - tonight I will be 3D printing some clips to permit easy adjustment of mask strap lengths. Masks are a new reality - might as well optimize the experience. Maybe I will make some that are a fashion statement.

I am thinking about doing an experiment to see how mask use affects our CO2 intake. I suspect it is not a positive aspect of masks

Things are supposedly "opening up" around here (phase III) but it is not like going back to normal, it is more like the new reality is just evolving as everything is done differently.

I played hockey last night for the first time in months - that was a very hard workout given the state of my body. And there were lots of new rules. In softball we have to play in a bubble of a 4 team division etc.

I have been going to work every day (deemed an essential service) with no outbreaks in the staff.

I caught covid on a business trip back in Feb before I knew what it was, and had a tough time with it. Still have significant residual organ damage. I just did my normal flu isolation and nobody else caught it.

The changes in operating procedures at work, and everywhere else, will be the new norm for a long time.

It looks like I have to take another business trip to the USA next month and will have go into quarantine in a hotel when I return. Guess how keen I am on all that - risk of exposure, risk of becoming a carrier, no e14 project work in quarantine, no sports, no interaction with family and can't do normal chores to support everyone.

I started the isolation period here, printing facemask frames (for replaceable cloth inserts) and various strap options (as my ears do not need help in sticking out).  But after that, I took advantage of my stay at home time by doing home improvement projects (storage/drawer units for my shop, rebuilding my deck and add new garden areas).

The change in 'normal' has been an adjustment in some areas, but I have been social distancing for most of my life (read introvert). We plan to keep our circle small and avoid the rush to reopen (huge spikes here in Texas as things opened up way to fast). After months of separation from our Grandchildren, we were able to increase our bubble to include my them again, only to lose that opportunity as my son developed some flu-like symptoms causing them to re-isolate.  Testing proved negative and after a couple safe period of time, we will be increasing our bubble again to include them starting this weekend (Yeah!).

Be safe out there folks!

Nice work.

You have some very creative planters there.

Thanks Doug.  I came up with the concept and my wife did all of the mosaics and plantings. I used cinder blocks, stacked like stairs, the holes in the blocks are filled with concrete with the exception of the upper level block in each stack.  There is a PVC drain pipe in each hole that connect to a manifold that exits in the front of the footings.  The next step is to use stepping stones (concrete blocks) and gravel to create a dry landing at the the bottom of the stairs.

It's not easy to cope here - we're sort of in a limbo. Restrictions have slightly lifted, but the virus is making its resurgence known, and people are encouraged to be responsible but this doesn't seem to be enough. Even going out for the essentials, it's clear to see people flaunting the rules and putting everyone in danger, all for their own convenience/perception of freedom/rebellious nature/belief that COVID-19 is not a thing. We can only do the best that we can, as responsible members of the public, and stay home as much as we can but this is leading to a bit of social isolation in the end. Not that I particularly mind, but there are some people you'd really want to meet every so often and to know that they're in the high-risk category means that we often have to make do with other means or continually postpone (but who knows, for how long).

Working from home is a blessing of sorts - I've always had a little bit of that going on, but it's now become much more of a part of the routine. Downside is that I end up often being a bit more stressed and attending to things outside of the regular work hours, but there are also things that cannot be done from home and getting the approvals can take time. Going into the workplace entails risk to myself and the organization - and whether it actually solves the issue also depends on whether the people I'm working with are also happy to come in. It's been a bit of a co-ordination nightmare.

I've not been involved in many projects to help with the pandemic, but at our institution, it seems we are still working on it as some have receiving funding to do so. Personally, I'm back to the normal research projects, trying to push them along despite the disruptions. At home, things have not really changed - I'm still doing things on the weekend for my own fun and education and continue to do so. Saving on commute time definitely has helped me get a little more from my weekday evenings as well.

- Gough

Hi Gene,

That's really sophisticated! Very clever. Your home looks really nice with that too.  If you could solve foot-level lighting coming sideways out of the blocks too then thats the icing on the cake : )

I too have been faithfully isolating and I must have a little hermit blood as it seems to come quite naturally. My wife is doing her best to stick it out with me but she misses her friends and social activities. Since I am part of the "at risk population" she has decided, at least for the time being that there is more value in keeping me alive than coffee with the girls. I feel very fortunate to be at the stage of life where I am retired and don't have to worry about a job. All of our children are taking the virus serious and are taking good care of themselves and the grand children. With my lab and my friends on the forum there is always something to learn and do. I have settled into a routine and frankly the days are all the same with only the names changing from one to the next.

I do get out and walk to the downtown twice a day. It is a 3 mile round trip. The first time I walk is at 10AM with my wife and the second time is by myself at 10PM. Each time it takes about an hour. While walking I do not wear a mask (though I carry one with me)  but I keep my distance from others and I will often cross the street or take a different route to avoid being near others. It is 10PM right now and as soon as I am done writing this I will be off with my ipod, flashlight, and stick.

I do not expect this current situation to change drastically. I believe that it has changed the individual natures of enough of the population in permanent ways so that going back to pre-covid life will not be completely possible. I am very sad at all the little businesses that were the dreams of people that are struggling and failing. All we can do is be patient and be kind with one another. Despite how unfortunate this pandemic is at least we can be thankful that we do have the technology to weather it and actually beat it in the long run. The last time humanity experienced a pandemic the Spanish Flu had no technological counters and we had to wait for herd immunity to slow it.

I hope you all stay safe and I want to thank everyone on the forum for adding learning and interesting ideas to my day.

John

Shabaz,

Thanks for you kind words about the project!

That is a very interesting idea about the foot-level lighting.  I am currently working on a solar power, battery backed lighting project for the stairs.  My current idea is to embedded lights (illuminating the deck and the stairs) on either side of the stairs, in the narrow space (6 1/4") between the posts on both sides of the staircase.  I want to mount small solar cells on the upper railing, above the twp post pairs.  Then between the post pairs, install a pair of 'art glass' panels (in frames).  Between the two panels of glass will be LED lights, battery/charger, real-time clock and wireless transceivers.  I plan to start a series of blogs on the lighting system as I go.  I will have to re-think some of this, if if gives me and opportunity to add the foot-level lighting that you mentioned.

Thanks again,

Gene