Holding Down the Fort
31/03/20 07:06
I've been debating with myself over whether or not to wear a mask when I'm out and about. It's not a vanity thing really but rather getting used to the idea is where it all falls apart. In theory, I'm protecting myself against people who are coughing, sneezing, and hacking upwind from me where the particulates hang in the air just long enough so that I take them in with every breath I take. Is that even possible? Can I get the coronavirus that way? I think they just don't know.
I feel infinitely more vulnerable when I'm on my bike passing runners, bikers, etc where an infected person might pass along that infectious agent with every breath they expel. Is it windy enough that the germs might be carried away from me with a gust here or there? Or, will the wind suddenly change direction and put me in the direct path of the pathogen? I often hold my breath for untenable periods before and after I encounter others on the road and that carries its own dangers.
I'm wanting to go into the local Walmart today to buy a razor since I gave my razor, or should I say trimmer, to Evan the other day. He had a scruffy bit of hair growing on his chin and on his upper lip which I think he wasn't quite sure on how to rid himself of so I recommended using the trimmer I had on hand and it worked like a charm. I need to replace that now that I've given him my trimmer and Walmart carries them in stock.
Now that more and more people are staying at home due to the viral bullshit going round and round, I have to wonder if they might be out of stock. If everyone is home including the kids, and the barbers and hairstylists are offline until this thing blows over, then their stock of these trimmers might well be depleted. Do I go in early to avoid the crowds? Is it more crowded early on because everyone has the same idea as I do? Do I risk getting the virus because I want to be well shaven or trimmed up in all the obvious places?
I've been adjusting slowly but surely to having Nancy be home day in and day out and I think I'm slowly but surely getting around to doing what I always did before she spent two days of her week at work and away from home. Normalcy is good. You can take comfort in normalcy. But it's not the same, is it?
We do different things at different times and doing things for the benefit of each other when you haven't had to do that over time can be challenging. Not that you don't want to, mind you, but the laws of normal give and take have to be recalibrated and that's just the way it is. And none of us were prepared for this pandemic one way or another. We didn't have time to plan and we had even less time to think about what was coming. Now that it's here and knowing what we know about the pandemic getting worse before it gets better we're taking it day by day.
I think there are around 300 cases or so of people suffering from the coronavirus here in New Hampshire as of today. Three people have died and roughly 15% of the people testing positive end up being hospitalized. I'm guessing the hospitializations have a lot to do with the elderly and to a lesser extent certain underlying conditions. We hear nothing about the health or age profiles of those hospitalized and that is a failing in my mind. How are we supposed to take comfort in anything unless we have the facts about this dreadful disease?
This sort of thing always happens to the other guy. Right? Is there anyone in our household with an underlying condition that might qualify as a candidate for this virus? I don't think we want to know. If there was a home test I would likely take it so we could adjust this or that in what we do day in and day out. If positive, I would try to shake off and power through the aches and pains and I would only go to the hospital if my breathing became too labored. At some point I suppose you get a bit panicky so there's that.
My affairs are in order so I'm not concerned about my body sitting around in a refrigerated truck until I'm either interred or cremated. That's plan B just so you know. Nancy heard through the grapevine that the attorney's hereabouts were all busy these days and asked if knew why that might be the case. Doctors on the front lines in this battle are keeping them busy updating their wills and that is just a little frightening to say the least. Is that really necessary when we have a reported mortality rate around one percent for this disease?
President Trump spoke in no uncertain terms in yesterdays press conference. He made certain references to refrigerated trailer trucks backing up to Elmhurst hospital in New York City in order to accommodate the bodies of those who had died that day. If it was his intent to scare the hell out of everyone and to see to it that the populace stay inside and take the necessary precautions when out-of-doors he certainly did that in spades.
His people had the graphs and charts out showing that if the appropriate mitigation techniques were employed we might see between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths here in the United States. They hoped it didn't reach those levels but those numbers were in the realm of possibility.
I'm taking some comfort in the fact that we don't live in an urban jungle the likes of NYC and that our chances for survival are better here than there wherever that is. You have to start somewhere, right? You just can't wake up every day wondering if today is the day you are going to contract the virus and face a certain death when all is said and done.
I'm following the news more closely these days than I otherwise would not because I have a fascination with death but rather because it's like watching a train wreck. You can't take your eyes off it for a minute. Nancy wants no part of it. It's all music all the time for Nancy. Don't you want to hear Cuomo's press conference so you know what's going on in the epicenter of this raging disease? Don't you want to hear Dr Fauci's soothing message to the country? What are we to make of this wonder drug, Hydroxychloroquine? Don't you want to hear about how clinical trials are going? Nope, nope, and nope.
In Nancy's nightly conversation with her mom last evening Mrs G mentioned that she received a card from someone in the last day or two and it really helped to lift her spirits. The minute I heard her speak those words I knew precisely what she meant and I thought to myself that sending along cards here and there might be a nice idea in addition to the phone calls we're already making.
I'm not a big card guy but desperate times call for desperate measures. I also told Nancy we need to get on the stick and finish the e-mail to our pathologist friend that we've started but have yet to finish. There's not a moment to waste in the midst of this pandemic when she is in the thick of it all. Let's git er done.
Evan left the house here yesterday morning and told us that he would likely be back later in the day. He thought he might stop at his home in Exeter for a while just for a change of scenery and that was fine. As day turned into night and there was no sign or word from him Nancy began to fret. She doesn't like it when she doesn't hear from him especially when he knows we're wanting to hear from him and that is what we all discussed ahead of time. Where could he be at this late hour? Why hasn't he texted us? Should I call him? Should I text him?
"He's not 12 years-old anymore for chrissakes", I reminded her. So I was content to go to sleep without knowing where he was or what he might otherwise be up to. Not that it would give me any comfort to know that he was in close quarters with people who might be infected and that he might bring that on home to us the next time he visits.
But he texted me a little after 1am and woke me from a sound sleep and said he was coming home. I responded with an "ok" and I figured he was on his way. I imagined that the streets were silent at that hour of the morning and I hoped that he wasn't attracting the wrong kind of attention between there and here. Please god, don't let him get pulled over and detained for one reason or another. I stayed awake with one eye open until I heard the door in the kitchen closing and I heard his bed creak when he laid down for the night. Parents take comfort in sounds.
And this morning he tells me that he missed an appointment yesterday so there's that. He was quick to add that this is a day of celebration for him with it being one year since he moved into his own place and all. Not that we didn't think he wouldn't make it this far but we didn't think he would make in this far. Well, maybe a small part of us didn't think that way. Nonetheless, he's feeling good about it so we're feeling good about it. As to how precisely we'll celebrate I don't know. One thing I do know for sure. We should have bought him a card.
I feel infinitely more vulnerable when I'm on my bike passing runners, bikers, etc where an infected person might pass along that infectious agent with every breath they expel. Is it windy enough that the germs might be carried away from me with a gust here or there? Or, will the wind suddenly change direction and put me in the direct path of the pathogen? I often hold my breath for untenable periods before and after I encounter others on the road and that carries its own dangers.
I'm wanting to go into the local Walmart today to buy a razor since I gave my razor, or should I say trimmer, to Evan the other day. He had a scruffy bit of hair growing on his chin and on his upper lip which I think he wasn't quite sure on how to rid himself of so I recommended using the trimmer I had on hand and it worked like a charm. I need to replace that now that I've given him my trimmer and Walmart carries them in stock.
Now that more and more people are staying at home due to the viral bullshit going round and round, I have to wonder if they might be out of stock. If everyone is home including the kids, and the barbers and hairstylists are offline until this thing blows over, then their stock of these trimmers might well be depleted. Do I go in early to avoid the crowds? Is it more crowded early on because everyone has the same idea as I do? Do I risk getting the virus because I want to be well shaven or trimmed up in all the obvious places?
I've been adjusting slowly but surely to having Nancy be home day in and day out and I think I'm slowly but surely getting around to doing what I always did before she spent two days of her week at work and away from home. Normalcy is good. You can take comfort in normalcy. But it's not the same, is it?
We do different things at different times and doing things for the benefit of each other when you haven't had to do that over time can be challenging. Not that you don't want to, mind you, but the laws of normal give and take have to be recalibrated and that's just the way it is. And none of us were prepared for this pandemic one way or another. We didn't have time to plan and we had even less time to think about what was coming. Now that it's here and knowing what we know about the pandemic getting worse before it gets better we're taking it day by day.
I think there are around 300 cases or so of people suffering from the coronavirus here in New Hampshire as of today. Three people have died and roughly 15% of the people testing positive end up being hospitalized. I'm guessing the hospitializations have a lot to do with the elderly and to a lesser extent certain underlying conditions. We hear nothing about the health or age profiles of those hospitalized and that is a failing in my mind. How are we supposed to take comfort in anything unless we have the facts about this dreadful disease?
This sort of thing always happens to the other guy. Right? Is there anyone in our household with an underlying condition that might qualify as a candidate for this virus? I don't think we want to know. If there was a home test I would likely take it so we could adjust this or that in what we do day in and day out. If positive, I would try to shake off and power through the aches and pains and I would only go to the hospital if my breathing became too labored. At some point I suppose you get a bit panicky so there's that.
My affairs are in order so I'm not concerned about my body sitting around in a refrigerated truck until I'm either interred or cremated. That's plan B just so you know. Nancy heard through the grapevine that the attorney's hereabouts were all busy these days and asked if knew why that might be the case. Doctors on the front lines in this battle are keeping them busy updating their wills and that is just a little frightening to say the least. Is that really necessary when we have a reported mortality rate around one percent for this disease?
President Trump spoke in no uncertain terms in yesterdays press conference. He made certain references to refrigerated trailer trucks backing up to Elmhurst hospital in New York City in order to accommodate the bodies of those who had died that day. If it was his intent to scare the hell out of everyone and to see to it that the populace stay inside and take the necessary precautions when out-of-doors he certainly did that in spades.
His people had the graphs and charts out showing that if the appropriate mitigation techniques were employed we might see between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths here in the United States. They hoped it didn't reach those levels but those numbers were in the realm of possibility.
I'm taking some comfort in the fact that we don't live in an urban jungle the likes of NYC and that our chances for survival are better here than there wherever that is. You have to start somewhere, right? You just can't wake up every day wondering if today is the day you are going to contract the virus and face a certain death when all is said and done.
I'm following the news more closely these days than I otherwise would not because I have a fascination with death but rather because it's like watching a train wreck. You can't take your eyes off it for a minute. Nancy wants no part of it. It's all music all the time for Nancy. Don't you want to hear Cuomo's press conference so you know what's going on in the epicenter of this raging disease? Don't you want to hear Dr Fauci's soothing message to the country? What are we to make of this wonder drug, Hydroxychloroquine? Don't you want to hear about how clinical trials are going? Nope, nope, and nope.
In Nancy's nightly conversation with her mom last evening Mrs G mentioned that she received a card from someone in the last day or two and it really helped to lift her spirits. The minute I heard her speak those words I knew precisely what she meant and I thought to myself that sending along cards here and there might be a nice idea in addition to the phone calls we're already making.
I'm not a big card guy but desperate times call for desperate measures. I also told Nancy we need to get on the stick and finish the e-mail to our pathologist friend that we've started but have yet to finish. There's not a moment to waste in the midst of this pandemic when she is in the thick of it all. Let's git er done.
Evan left the house here yesterday morning and told us that he would likely be back later in the day. He thought he might stop at his home in Exeter for a while just for a change of scenery and that was fine. As day turned into night and there was no sign or word from him Nancy began to fret. She doesn't like it when she doesn't hear from him especially when he knows we're wanting to hear from him and that is what we all discussed ahead of time. Where could he be at this late hour? Why hasn't he texted us? Should I call him? Should I text him?
"He's not 12 years-old anymore for chrissakes", I reminded her. So I was content to go to sleep without knowing where he was or what he might otherwise be up to. Not that it would give me any comfort to know that he was in close quarters with people who might be infected and that he might bring that on home to us the next time he visits.
But he texted me a little after 1am and woke me from a sound sleep and said he was coming home. I responded with an "ok" and I figured he was on his way. I imagined that the streets were silent at that hour of the morning and I hoped that he wasn't attracting the wrong kind of attention between there and here. Please god, don't let him get pulled over and detained for one reason or another. I stayed awake with one eye open until I heard the door in the kitchen closing and I heard his bed creak when he laid down for the night. Parents take comfort in sounds.
And this morning he tells me that he missed an appointment yesterday so there's that. He was quick to add that this is a day of celebration for him with it being one year since he moved into his own place and all. Not that we didn't think he wouldn't make it this far but we didn't think he would make in this far. Well, maybe a small part of us didn't think that way. Nonetheless, he's feeling good about it so we're feeling good about it. As to how precisely we'll celebrate I don't know. One thing I do know for sure. We should have bought him a card.