Tag: quarantine

Spreadsheets

When I first went back to college in 1997 one of the first classes I took was a course in using office software.  I don’t know why.  It was called Intro to Computing and I was a Computer Science major.  I barely used any of it again over the course of the last 23 years.

Until today.

I am keeping two Google spreadsheets.  One tracks COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts by date, the other does the same for the United States.  One of the columns tracks the daily change in total cases.  Today’s total minus yesterday’s total.  Another column tracks the death rate.  Just a few minutes ago I figured out how to take a math function from one cell and fill it down to the entire column below it.  I knew how to do that back in 1997 but I didn’t know how to do it in Google Sheets.  I am ignorant no longer (well…).

Oh, and did I mention that I have line graphs on both sheets too?  I’m tracking the curves and hoping it is flatter than it would have been without us all staying at home.  I hope so, but based on my little graphs it sure doesn’t look it.  Those curves are steep.

The Stir Crazy Files – Episode 13

Over the last two days I have had this weird compulsion to do an impression of Jimmy from South Park.  I mean, come on.  Is there anything funnier than that?

 

This might be the first true sign that I am losing it a little.  I mean, come on.  It’s the stir crazy madness.

The Stir Crazy Files – Episode 12

I was just watching TV and some commercials came on.  One was for some diaper brand and the background music was a song that Lizardfish covers.  I tried to play along but it was only 30 seconds long and I didn’t get my guitar case open in time.

I think I need a band practice.

The next commercial used a David Bowie song.  I don’t know if it was the original version or a cover/sound alike deal but if it was the original it means I just heard Robert Fripp in a television commercial.  It made me kinda throw up in my mouth a little bit.    There was a lawsuit recently where the Bowie estate tried to remove Fripp’s name from the rights to the song.  I wonder if this is the reason, or just a result.

One last thing about TV commercials.  I am getting a little sick (furious) over companies trying to market to the quarantine.  Burger King… really?  A tax prep company that made their add look like it was shot on a web cam?  They are so the same as us, right?  I guess all that federal bailout money gives them all the money they’ll ever need to use people dying as a marketing plan, am I right or am I right?

The Stir Crazy Files – Episode 11

I’ve been holding this one back for a while but it’s been an issue since day one.

I’m looking at the calendar trying to remember which day this started.  I think it was the first day that Jen’s company sent everyone home.  March 11th?  I think?  It might have been the 13th but I’m not sure.  Let’s go with that, Friday the 13th.  It has a nice ring to it.

Everything was still open but the signs were showing that everything was about to shut down.  Before I left for work I told Jen I was planning on making a couple of stops on the way home.  As it turned out I didn’t make any of them.  Everyone was worried, everyone was starting to react.  I decided I would not add any extraneous contact with the outside world and instead of running my errands I went straight home to be with my family.

One of the errands on my list that night was a haircut.  I was already a few weeks past needing one.  It was getting shaggy and it was starting to bug me a little.  Just a little.  I was actually trying to be proactive and get it done a little earlier than I usually do.  I didn’t go through with it though.

Now it’s April 2nd.  Sweet Christmas, does Roberto need to get himself a haircut.  Two words: Cousin Effing It.  It’s long enough in the front that when I get out of the shower I can’t see.  I’m not kidding about the Cousin It.  I don’t just feel like him, I look like him.  It’s beyond rigoddammeddiculous at this point.

I can honestly say that I spent a couple of minutes on ebay searching for Flowbees in a non-ironic fashion.

Worse

What’s worse than dealing with a global pandemic?

Having some piece of dog shit steal your credit card while you’re social distancing.

Jen found a few charges on our account that definitely didn’t come from us.  Hooray.  They were placed on my card, not hers.  She called the bank and cancelled.  I went to the bank for a new card.  The fraud department called back and let us know what was going on.

Oh, happy quarantine.

I’m King Paranoid

My wife and I went for a walk at lunch time.  We picked a random neighborhood side street and walked down it.  About halfway along we turned around, crossed the street, and started back.  The sun was out, the air was clean.  It was nice.

Until…

As we were slowly making our way back up to the main street a car pulled out of a driveway behind us and drove past.  Oh well.  It’s not like we were going to have the whole neighborhood to ourselves, right?

Then two cars pulled into the road from the main street at the same time.  One drove past us.  The other stopped in front of us!  What?  They were one house further up the road.  We crossed the street again.  Then the driver and the passenger got out of the car.  The passenger got back in to the drivers seat but the former driver just stood there.  The car drove away and still she didn’t go inside.  She checked her mailbox, she popped the trunk on another car that was in the driveway.  Come on, lady!  We’re trying to social distance here and you’re making us super duper paranoid!  Was she screwing with our head (probably not)?  Was she just evil (no)?  (was it totally harmless and innocent? yes)

It’s a crazy world we’re living in these days.  Now join us in washing our hands… twice.

The Stir Crazy Files – Episode 10

Tuesday is trash day.  This morning when I was getting ready for work* I had to ask my wife what day it was, and I had to make sure yesterday wasn’t some weird holiday too.  I needed to double check that it actually was Tuesday.

I didn’t do the dishes after I made dinner last night (chicken breasts, instant mashed potatoes, and canned green beans.  Jen told me I did good).  I was going to sneak them into the dishwasher while Jen was eating breakfast.  A few minutes ago I heard some noise from the kitchen.  She was putting the dishes in the dishwasher.  I went out and helped, but I missed my chance to surprise her.  Curses!  Foiled again.

*I still get up at the same time I get up when I have to drive 15 hours to get to work.  I still shower and get dressed every day and I am all put together as if I had to leave home at 7:15.  We’re also still making the bed every day.  There aren’t many things we can control, but we can still do that.

April 2020 RPM

You thought this was over for a while.  No way, dude.  No way.

The RPM Challenge has a website and a Facebook group.  There’s a subreddit and a discord chat too but I don’t use those too often.  Every February the 300 or so of us pop over to the website and sign up for the year.  Lots of people post on the forums and some people write blogs.  On Facebook people usually just post links to their music including links to live streams and gigs and things.  Normally both places are nice and busy from late-January through mid-March.  Outside of that little time frame both are pretty dead.

A couple of weeks ago there was a post to the Facebook group suggesting doing a second RPM Challenge in April.  If we’re all going to be stuck at home anyway, why not write some music.  I responded by saying I was already planning on it so I was in.  I then went over to the website and checked the forum.  There was something about doing a mini-challenge but nothing much.

This weekend, as March was winding down, I went to both places to see if anything was going to come of that little discussion.  There was nothing on Facebook.  The forum had one little mention stating that something was in the works.  Cool.  Yesterday I took another look at the website.  There it was.

The whole front page had been redesigned.  That usually happens in January.  This time there was a link to a Google Form where you could sign up for April.  This time there are more options for goals.  Instead of just 10 songs or 35 minutes, you can alternately sign up to make a sing, one song or five minutes, an EP, five songs or 20 minutes, and a box set, 30 songs or 100 minutes.  I signed up for the usual 10 songs or 35 minutes.

There were a couple of posts on Facebook from the admins announcing that sign ups were open again.  I haven’t seen much from actual participants.  There are a couple of little comments.  My favorite being someone who was happy that he got a second opportunity to ask himself why he’s putting himself through it.

Like I said, I was going to do this anyway.  It still feels nice to think that at least some of us who are regular participants are going to use it as a motivator for social distance.  That’s a good thing.  We’re all going to stay at home anyway, so why not make some music while we’re stuck.

Now the question is, how many April 2020 RPM Challenge albums are going to have titles that include Social Distance, or Shelter in Place, or Quarantine, or COVID-19, or Coronavirus?  All of them?

On to Week Three

Happy Monday.  Welcome to work from home week three.  It seems like yesterday we still had a morning commute.  Ah, the good old days.

We’re dealing with it.  We got some groceries via Instacart this morning, only to find out that instacart’s workers are going to strike today.  I guess we snuck it in under the wire?  Those folks deserve hazard pay.  Give them what ever they want.

We are all still here and we are all still healthy.  I feel like I’m having a bad allergy day today.  My eyes are itchy and watery.  No fever.  I’m still COVID-19 symptom free and I’m hoping to keep it that way.  Social distance is working in our house, even if it’s not working nationwide.  Let me clarify, nationwide the social distance thing is likely helping things.  It’s just not eliminating things, the way those of us who view the world through rose colored glasses hoped.  Dig it?

I spent most of last week having terrible, terrible nights sleep.  It got a little better late in the week and then I had a couple of good nights over the weekend.  Last night was terrible again.  Do you think I’m stressing about something?

The kids are here today but they are going to their dad’s this afternoon and staying there for the next couple of days.  They both woke up at reasonably decent times, but I am pretty sure they both went back to sleep again.  I’m curious if their respective schools are going to implement standard class schedule times to stop students from flaking like that.  It’s not a school vacation, even if it is a disaster of global pandemic proportions.

I talked to my father over the weekend.  He and my mother are doing all right.  My sister threatened them with violence if they left the house but I don’t believe he’s exactly following that plan.  He’s been sneaking out to a drive up mailbox.  I can’t get upset for that.  Hell, I drove to a mall parking lot to sing some shitty songs this weekend.

We learned two card games this week in our attempt to entertain ourselves through the quarantinishness.  Whist, which is a game my father used to play every Monday and Friday night, and Spades.  I had played Spades back in the distant past but I don’t think I ever got it.  I was terrible but I’m much better now after two games this weekend.  I get it now.  Both games are variations on the same thing.  I can’t decide which one I preferred.  Maybe Whist because Jen and I are undefeated as a team (two wins, zero losses).

I’m tired.

I’m not hungry but I want to eat junk food.

My 12:00 meeting was cancelled.

We’re on to week three with no end in site.  I wanna go on vacation.  Some place where I can bitch about the big crowds of people.  Thanks for listening to my ted talk.

Live Music

I just went to my first ever Richard Thompson concert.  It was a Facebook Live stream and it was great.  The traffic getting to the show was clear and my seats were fantastic.

He did play “Keep Your Distance” in case you are a fan and were wondering.