Us, May 10, 2020: Roy, John, Leo, Shadow, Ondine
Us, May 10, 2020: Roy, John, Leo, Shadow, Ondine
Possible rainshowers were predicted for today, but it doesn't look like they'll happen. The possible showers yesterday didn't come either, although the cool May Gray has been lovely if a bit muggy at times. There's a nice cool breeze and sunny days.
Hey, here's a photo of the Class of 2020 yard sign in front of our house! Leo let us put it up. If you missed the shots of Leo holding the sign,
they're hanging on our virtual refrigerator door.
So much for the front yard. In the back yard, a hummingbird made a nest on a shell mobile beneath the patio rafter! It's nice because it's visible from
the back room. It's a good spot for a tiny nest, very sheltered and, except for the occasional accidental knock from anyone moving around on the patio, very
stable.
That stability got tested Saturday afternoon, when we were all sitting on the patio playing a card game called, appropriately, Unstable Unicorns. The humminghen would buzz off on impact, then return a minute or two later.
In other wildlife news, Sparky has been killing squirrels and bringing them into Barbara's house as presents. He's such a tiny round fellow, you wouldn't think he'd be able to catch and kill a squirrel. But he gets the job done, and so far the squirrel tally puts Sparky ahead of Shadow 2 to 1.
Coronavirus update: The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracker shows that COVID-19 has been confirmed in over 4.8 million people worldwide, and has claimed over 321,500 lives. That's over 272,300 more cases and over 11,000 more deaths since Saturday. The U.S. remains on an upward trend with over 1,520,000 confirmed cases and over 91,500 deaths, up over 56,700 cases and another 3,100 deaths since Saturday. In San Diego, our local toll rose to 5,946 cases with 211 deaths.
Despite all this, many gathering places are opening up, against medical advice. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is poised to accelerate opening up businesses and public spaces. Many Indian casinos have opened up, over strenuous but futile objections from the science community and state authorities. Lake Murray opened last weekend with parking limited to 50% of capacity. Cowles Mountain, though, remains closed. Over the weekend we heard the rangers, who must've been stationed near the peak, on their loudspeakers telling people to go back to their cars. On our side of the mountain they yelled at at least one group of hikers and a pair of mountain bikers. And, The Old Globe canceled their summer season for the first time since WWII.
A hopeful sign: a vaccine is being tested that shows positive results so far, and several more are in the pipeline.
Leo looked into classes through the San Diego Community College District, to see if there was a music production class that could occupy him over the summer break. He found one at Mesa College, and thinks he applied as a student and registered for the class. If so, then online classes will start in June.
Roy is finished with this school year and he thinks he did pretty well. He's still thinking of taking a non-credit management course over the summer break, but it can start any time. Saturday evening he went out to shoot some hoops at the park with his friends. And this afternoon he went to lunch with Danielle, then sat in the front yard with her building a Lego set.
Ondine finished knitting herself a sweater/wrap. Thankfully, she continues to work from home, and is shopping for a physical backdrop to use for video calls.
John finished his course on forensic archaeology, and has a few more days to think about paying to upgrade the course so he can take the final assessment test and get a certificate from the ICRC, which in turn would go some way toward qualifying him to look for bodies along the border. He's not interested in that, but he is interested in archaeology. Speaking of which, he registered at City College for an online class on Biological Anthropology over summer. He's also waitlisted for a class in Cultural Anthropology, so if he gets that one too he'll have a busy summer! He's thinking about going for a certificate in Archaeology, which could lead to opportunities in the field of cultural resource management. That sounds interesting, and also easier and potentially more productive than pursuing a Master's in Shakespeare!
In oddball related news, when John registered for the class his student dashboard showed a bill for $19. He ignored it, because (a) he thought the actual tuition would be higher (it's $43 per unit, and he's taking a 3-unit course), and (b) he figured he'd get an email with a final billing statement. The next day he logged on and found out that his enrollment was on hold until he paid up! It looks like $19 was the actual total owed, because he apparently qualified for a fee waiver! Weird, that hasn't happened before. But then, his FAFSA for 2020-21 indicates two children in college for upcoming year, so that probably made the difference.
Neighborhood gas prices rose to about $3.09 per gallon, and the stock market is about 24,500 right now.
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