So today is day eighty of my Coronavirus pandemic stay-at-home adventures. It’s been an amazing time of watching the world from my at-home window while trying to make sense of everything. Along with my need to understand what was happening came my dual need to feel gainfully occupied. From my vantage, it looks like things are opening up but in a new and very different way.
Here is my current iteration of a COVID-19 Timeline project, capturing all key events of our rapidly developing pandemic. The actual timeline is embedded into this post, so please click the lower headline to access it.
More information below the fold.
Note: This post will remain at top of my blog for the foreseeable future.
There’s been any number of articles lately about essential workers. This pandemic, with the related nearly-global lock-down of “non-essential personnel” should cause us to rethink our assumptions on labor.
So today is my day fifty-four of being shut-at-home trying to avoid catching the pandemic coronavirus. It has been an interesting time. I have to admit, if just a few months ago someone had told me I’d soon be staying inside my house for nearly two months with no end in sight, I would have thought they were crazy.
I discovered this lovely bit of music yesterday when Winnie sent it to me via her WeChat app. This music video “We Are One” has been making it’s way around the world for a while already, but I just now heard it. I think this music and accompanying video is a perfect metaphor for everything happening in our world today, in more ways than one.
It’s no secret, to anybody that knows me, the low opinion I have of the current occupant of our White House. But considering what’s been going on these past several days, I’m wondering if I haven’t misunderstood Trump?
Is it possible he really isn’t what he appears? Maybe he’s not an incompetent demagogue stirring up radical right-wing fanatics? Is it possible that he’s really working a secret master plan that’s about to launch a one-thousand year Liberal utopia in America?
I’m so old I remember watching the classic TV sit-com “M*A*S*H” back when the shows were airing for the first time. The show was a classic in too many ways to count, but part of the draw was the iconic theme song. That song, “Suicide is Painless,” has been running through my head these past few days as I watch the amazing spectacle of right-wing protesters demanding they be allowed to get the coronavirus.
I’ve witnessed a lot of stupid from the right-wing branch of American politics over the past years, but I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite approaching this level.
So today is day 30 since I’ve been staying at home due to this coronavirus pandemic. While I’m not missing my weekday commuting up to Washington, D.C. I am getting restless. I’m not used to being restricted to staying inside my house for days on end. Especially now as we’re coming into spring weather and the best time to be getting outside for some kayaking, hiking, or just hanging out enjoying the fresh air.
It seems that right now, we have to suspect even fresh air as not being a good thing.
Forced isolation in my house for 21 days and counting has given me a lot of time to think about things. Like; how in the hell was the entire world forced into quarantine literally in a matter of days? How we did get here? How in the hell did a microscopic blob of genome popularly called “coronavirus” manage to take over the entire world so quickly? I decided I needed to build a timeline and map it out.
I took a shot at a timeline a couple of weeks ago in an earlier post, for just five days worth of events. Since then I spent some time researching and working with new web building tools, and finally put it together. What I offer below the fold is over 200 coronavirus-related events, most of which have occurred since December.
A Very Small Man
I haven’t wanted to blog about the riots sweeping across America simply because it’s too painful. But, after yesterday I feel a need to write. Not so much about the protesters or the out-of-control cops, but about leadership. Actually, about the lack of leadership at all levels of government. And in particular about the lack of leadership from a very small man in particular.
This very small man would be the person occupying our White House, a man expected to provide leadership during difficult times.
Opinions & Commentary
bullies cowards protests trump