Us, January 19, 2020: John, Leo, Shadow, Roy, Ondine
Us, January 19, 2020: John, Leo, Shadow, Roy, Ondine
Coronavirus (COVID-19) is now a global pandemic, something that hasn't been seen since the "Spanish flu" pandemic of 1918. More countries are basically shutting down, and everyone who can do so is working from home.
The weirdness of the retail toilet paper shortage continues feeding on itself because of the scarcity principle, something marketing people have known for eons. As in, I was only going to buy one but if you say "limit two," imma buy two, right? The harm is that actual consumption of toilet paper is fixed and will remain so, which puts a lot of paper mill workers out of work when the supply chain returns to normal and people don't buy toilet paper for the rest of the year.
Congress is on the verge of passing a $2 trillion relief/stimulus package, the largest federal spending package in history by a factor of two, although the help seems to be aimed more at big corporations than individuals. However, many large companies are eating the cost of paying their employees and employee benefits through their shut-downs (and touting the fact in ads). Most smaller companies, though, are quietly having to lay off workers. Not much in it for sole proprietors (like John), except for a promised one-time payment of up to $1,200 to almost every adult.
San Diego county saw its first death from coronavirus over the weekend and its second this week, sad milestones. And, conservative Kentucky senator Rand Paul was the first U.S. senator to test positive for coronavirus. Paul, who is a physician, opted to not self-quarantine while awaiting test results, possibly infecting many others as he attended meetings, lunches, and worked out at the gym. Ayup. Personal freedom for the loss there.
Speaking of which, beaches, parks, open spaces, and trails are now closed, so except for walking the dog around the neighborhood and going out for groceries we're pretty much in lock-down mode. Many restaurants are offering steep discounts on take-out and delivery, but so far we've just cooked at home. We do still take Shadow out for walks in the evening, which is good for us and him. It's nice, though, as more walkers actively try to avoid each other. Social distancing for the win!
"Social distancing" by the way, is on the short list for Word of the Year. Along with "covidiot," someone acting stupidly in ways related to the crisis, like stockpiling toilet paper or going out to parties. And, COVID seems to have quickly standardized as an all-caps thing despite the "O" and the "I" not representing anything by themselves; it showed up in earlier reports as CoViD-19 for coronavirus disease 2019.
Roy and Leo continue to enjoy an extended spring break, although according to emails both UCCS and Patrick Henry are planning to start online classes by April. In the meantime, they're mostly playing computer games and hanging out with friends through various social media and social gaming channels.
We did get them to start a couple yard projects over the weekend, but just the first phase filled our greenery can so it'll be a couple weeks before they can move on. Still, looks like they'll both be home for several months.
John judged the EVVY Awards, a student advertising competition for Emerson College. As in years past, all the judging was online. He enjoys seeing student work. He's now reading Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier for the book club, which also moved online. He wasn't sure the book he ordered would arrive in time, though, so he watched the Hitchcock movie version, which du Maurier liked. The book did make it (Amazon to the rescue), though, and he's now thoroughly engrossed in it. And, he registered for an archaeology MOOC focusing on human remains starting in April. He thought about registering for another online for-credit class at City College, but decided there are real students who need the units so he didn't.
Shadow is now used to having his whole pack home all day, albeit in different parts of the house. Sometimes he goes for a visit in someone's room though.
Neighborhood gas prices are still around $3.39 per gallon, although we haven't needed gas in a couple weeks. What might be more a more volatile measure, as well as a sign of the times, is that the stock market, which had been flirting with 30,000 just a little over a month ago, dropped below 19,000 this week then rebounded on news of the stimulus package to over 21,000.
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