After I got my balance back from the initial shutdown shock:
Taking 6-7 Zoom yoga classes a week now. My studio was an 8 minute walk where I did 4-5 week.
Taking 3 Zoom fitness classes/week now. Fitness center was a 4 minute walk and I took 6/week but 3 were spin and I had sold the bike....so walking more, alternating days of intensity & miles.
Reduced the food intake as things were getting out of control.
Still trying to establish regular bed and wake up times. Too many up past 1 or 2 events.
Indica only in the evening and reduced dose by half.
Case Western Reserve team studying ‘unprecedented’ levels of trauma caused by COVID-19 pandemic
“There are some valid concerns that this coronavirus pandemic could cause emotional trauma and PTSD at a level we’ve never seen before,” said Megan Holmes, an associate professor of social work and the founding director of the Center on Trauma and Adversity at the university’s Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.
Currently, the United States has the largest COVID-19 outbreak in the world. Testing for the virus has been slow to keep up with the spread, but the effort is at least underway. Little is known, however, of the pandemic’s impact on mental health of Americans.
Holmes assembled a team of a half-dozen researchers—from the Center on Trauma and Adversity, the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and the School of Medicine—to study the issue.
In just two weeks, researchers gathered nearly 600 participants for the pilot study. The idea, she said, is to collect and analyze survey responses about how the novel coronavirus may affect participants’ emotional well-being and the coping strategies they’re using to minimize emotional distress.
“Our pilot data showed that nearly 90% of the sample reported experiencing one or more post-traumatic stress symptom, a rate that is much higher than reported for other traumatic events,” Holmes said.
The preliminary results highlighted that 86% of respondents experienced at least one trauma symptom, while 94% reported some levels of grief.
Holmes noted that this pandemic is set apart from other traumatic events, such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks or World War II, because the psychological stress caused by those events was limited by geography.
“They also did not involve mandatory quarantines or isolation and did not have ongoing stressors of physical-health threats—all which independently have been documented by research to increase anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress symptoms,” she said.
So I forgot until late in the day, but I first started an ebay account to sell off a giant truck-sized spray booth that came with a building I bought to convert to 41 live/work units. The dumb thing is I didn't put any contact info in the posting, and I couldn't understand why the bidding was so low. Well AFTER I sold to some local guy for $500 ($50,000 new? I don't know) I saw that I had bunches of questions from interested buyers that I never answered. Ah well, at least we got it out of the way which was the main point.
.. and also answering the side benefit of being stuck at home
normally when i commute to NYC i end up eating out and it is invariably less healthy than eating leftovers or homemade lunches.
while i cant tell if it is a short term aberration or not, i seem to have lost a couple pounds. hopefully it is easy to keep off when (if ever) we return to normal
I have leftover coconut milk and need ideas on what to cook with it. Suggestions welcome.
Also, to confirm, the coconut milk in the carton is the same as the one that comes in a can, right? I know I can cook with the can, but wasn't sure if the carton was something different.
Just make sure you don't have coconut cream (different purpose) - but I have both canned and carton versions. I overbought when I came home from Thailand.
Things I use coconut milk for: Laksa, Penang/Yellow/red/massaman curries.
Tomorrow is grocery day so it's slim pickins: I had half an italian cold cuts sandwich and some mashed potatoes. You get some weird combinations when you scrape the bottom of the barrel...
Ooh. This reminds me that I wanted to try at home a skillet shallow-fried hot chicken sandwich w/ a cayenne-infused buttermilk breading now that my favorite hot chicken place is shut down.
I've also had my first bourbon of the day since I'm taking it easy today. 25% work. 50% puzzle time. 25% chores. 25% soft-focus staring at nothing in particular.
Watching the markets closely - but not too closely. I have a long time horizon. My bet is that tech will continue to be strong even after the epidemic begins to burn out.
I can return to setting up the DBDs. I estimate that there is a better than 50% chance that I won't abuse the admit rights to do something awful. On the other hand, coming up with new topics every weekday does take work.
Agreed. Same for me, though I've been absent from W4C lately because work has been getting busier (in addition to my regular job, i'm helping to cover for a couple people out on paternity leave).
I'm skeptical that things will look all that different a month from now (at least here in MD). Coronavirus cases in MD have been climbing at roughly a linear rate for most of the past month, so it seems like it will be a while before this is under sufficient control to enable any significant lifting of current restrictions.
We are kinda the same. One benefit of keeping it to a linear growth rate is that once you have enough testing to verify that you are catching the bulk of the cases you can switch back to the 'isolate-trace-quarantine cases' mode and let most everyone else get back to wasting time commuting.
I just wonder what the bottom is and how much that will drive a more mainstream narrative change along the lines of "yeah, 2% dead isn't too bad after all". Stimulus efforts from the government can't last forever
I know we’re not supposed to compare ourselves to anywhere else because American exceptionalism duh but I do wonder why Western European countries have done a better job of slowing unemployment spikes and it’s somehow beyond us. “Oh we have a shitload of money to save shareholder value and it didn’t work, I guess that’s it!”
At least in France, the government is covering the other 50% of salary for employers who cut their workers to half-time. Still employed, still making money, all's well.
(Plus, as a slight detour the point of a social safety net is to make dramatic events less dramatic—unemployment is less scary when health care is included in residency.)
Current events, and just how fast a lot of small (and some not so small) businesses lurched from apparently thriving to facing insolvency, and issuing mass layoffs (unemployment in my state went from a historic low to a historic high in ~2 days) made it glaringly clear that a lot of these operations that couldn't even make it through 1 down payroll cycle were dangerously overextended, and recklessly under-capitalized, just waiting for something to not just go wrong, but blow them out of the water. I don't know much about Western European economic and business practices, but I don't sense that they inherently live and do business way beyond their means to the degree many in the USA do.
Perhaps some on the board with more European experience can expand on that?
NBC sports showed the 2005 Bush Push game last night and I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the last 2 minutes of the 4th quarter. (I also watched a few minutes of the start of the game and holy moly both of those teams were good.)
I watched that as well. I had never seen it (other than a couple highlights) since it happened at about the same time as the game I was watching (OSU beat Cal by 3 that day).
Those were good teams, but Leinart missed a lot of what we now expect to be routine throws over the course of the game. And I gained a lot of perspective on why the problems that lost the Texas game happened; OLB/slot coverage play was on several times questionably configured as far as containment went, and that's what Texas capitalized on. Who was the USC DC at the time?
Also still surprised that Pete didn't kick the FG and play OT. That was a very high risk sequence at the end. Pete has subsequently proven to still be a gambler, with the mixed results you would expect.
I don’t remember who the DC was, to be honest, although in practice it was Carroll. The secondary in particular was a weak spot that season and I think they were constantly shuffling the proverbial Titanic deck chairs - Texas was the only team to make them pay for it, and tbh if they hadn’t kept Jarrett / Bush (can’t remember which one) off the field on 4th & 2 late in the 4th in that Texas game SC would have had a decent chance of holding on. Oh well.
As for going for the TD, if memory serves Carroll said afterwards the team was just done and he decided he didn’t want to risk OT.
FET: I'm enjoying that ESPN, Fox Sports, NBCSN, and the like have been airing tons of classic sports matches from the past several decades. But it's really annoying how often the description of the event (which automatically appears when you navigate to the channel on the guide) says something like "Chicago prevails in a double-overtime game against...," It defeats the purpose of watching a classic match if I already know the outcome (except when I'm a fan of the victor).
We unpacked a lot of things that had been ignored and have been able to get settled in our new place together which has been awesome. Starting on lots of little improvement projects and generally making things more comfortable.
I've gotten quite a few tasks around the house done that I regularly avoid. Yesterday I dusted all the baseboards while on a boring conference call. Probably the first time that had been done in 5 years. Place is looking good!
I've also really enjoyed the time and space to cook. Normally, when I get home from the office i'm hungry and impatient and just want something easy and fast. Now I can cook whatever I want, and I prep dinner in between things during the work day, so when 4:30 rolls around (LOL) I've already got veggies chopped and meat marinating and it's been quite fun.
I also enjoy not having the pressure to go out and do things, though I also miss going out and doing things. But for once, there's no shame in still being in my jammies at 3PM on a Saturday.
I am the cook of our household, even though my wife normally works from home. I have more time to prep and plan for slower and more complex meals, whereas I normally have to cook things that take less than an hour to make (ie, the time between when I get home and when the family freaks out from hunger). I can't remember which chef said it, but how good your meals come out is based upon the ingredient selection, prep, and mis-en-place steps. I also like that I have more time to organize future meals so that I can reduce waste (eg, what to do with an entire bunch of celery).
So far, I am loving the really good meals that I prepare.
Eh, for me it's no change, I've been working from my home office since the early 90's I think. Can't remember what exactly was the last job I had to travel to.
During the week not much has changed since I WFH (or WOHO for Twist) anyways. I do drive less since I go to the store less often. Fewer trips across the bridge since No 2 is back due to Vandy doing remote classes and he goes to his mother's to transport No 3 rather than me. But I am spending more money on groceries since I have to also feed him.
I'm with you on the workout train, I've been getting in a 2-2.5mi run and ~1mi walk every day plus a 45-60min Nike Training working on my phone. That combined with not drinking since mid March has resulted in a loss of 10lbs.
My commute is only about 20 minutes (25 if you include the time walking into and out of the parking garage) but I’m still appreciating not having to factor that into my days.
Definitely not racking up as many miles on my truck. The insurance company even said they are issuing a partial rebate on premiums due to the drop in claims due to reduced travel. They haven't actually done it yet, apparently taking their lead from the government on stimulus checks, but I'm hopeful.
Look like Liberty Mutual is supposed to credit 15% of two months of payment. So I guess about $60 for me. It's supposed to go to the last payment method so I'll have to check my CC.
Ironically, meeting new folks from the neighborhood. On the days when the weather has been nice lots of people come down to the park across the street to get some fresh air. There are some that I've seen often enough that we started saying hi and now talk regularly when we're both out. One family has a little girl of about four and she hollers out my name when she sees me.
Looking for variety I went to a county park a few blocks away yesterday afternoon. For the first hour I had the park to myself. A woman and her daughter came to use the sandbox and shortly after a county police officer came and ran us off. Arlington County is being more strict than the National Park Service that has jurisdiction of the park across the street.
Yes. We have that and an ancient Nordic track which only I use. We’ve cleared some space in the basement for the 15 year old to do “remote” fencing training, and if this shelter in place business continues into warmer weather that may get kitted out as an informal gym space.
He’s an old fashioned republican in the sense that he hates unions and public transport and wealthy liberals, and he somehow keeps profiting from the construction of the roads he approves. BUT he’s been pretty damn solid with this pandemic response. I don’t like his politics one bit but my opinion of him has improved a good bit.
Old-fashioned Republicans like public transit. (See Nixon's 1970 transit bills, which gave funding to BART and other systems.) Indeed, modern conservatives in other countries still support public transit because it is an efficient people-moving system that liberalizes access to jobs and opportunities. Old-fashioned conservatives are good with the government increasing access to (job, retail, education) markets.
The modern anti-transit agenda is a tragic by-product of the anti-government wing of the Republican party, as evident by Tea Party governors taking over Wisconsin and Florida in 2010 and *turning down* billions of dollars for high speed rail.
My thoughts exactly: I've disagreed with him on many issues in the past, but he's done a fantastic job with his proactive and thoughtful approach to managing this crisis. The country would be a much better place if more Republicans were as principled and reasonable as he is.
Oski no doubt, outside of his van. Just got an AC Alert from Berkeley that some non-essential businesses will be allowed re-open including florists and nurseries.
After I got my balance back from the initial shutdown shock:
Taking 6-7 Zoom yoga classes a week now. My studio was an 8 minute walk where I did 4-5 week.
Taking 3 Zoom fitness classes/week now. Fitness center was a 4 minute walk and I took 6/week but 3 were spin and I had sold the bike....so walking more, alternating days of intensity & miles.
Reduced the food intake as things were getting out of control.
Still trying to establish regular bed and wake up times. Too many up past 1 or 2 events.
Indica only in the evening and reduced dose by half.
https://www.newswise.com/coronavirus/case-western-reserve-team-studying-unprecedented-levels-of-trauma-caused-by-covid-19-pandemic/?article_id=730825&sc=sphp
Case Western Reserve team studying ‘unprecedented’ levels of trauma caused by COVID-19 pandemic
“There are some valid concerns that this coronavirus pandemic could cause emotional trauma and PTSD at a level we’ve never seen before,” said Megan Holmes, an associate professor of social work and the founding director of the Center on Trauma and Adversity at the university’s Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.
Currently, the United States has the largest COVID-19 outbreak in the world. Testing for the virus has been slow to keep up with the spread, but the effort is at least underway. Little is known, however, of the pandemic’s impact on mental health of Americans.
Holmes assembled a team of a half-dozen researchers—from the Center on Trauma and Adversity, the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and the School of Medicine—to study the issue.
In just two weeks, researchers gathered nearly 600 participants for the pilot study. The idea, she said, is to collect and analyze survey responses about how the novel coronavirus may affect participants’ emotional well-being and the coping strategies they’re using to minimize emotional distress.
“Our pilot data showed that nearly 90% of the sample reported experiencing one or more post-traumatic stress symptom, a rate that is much higher than reported for other traumatic events,” Holmes said.
The preliminary results highlighted that 86% of respondents experienced at least one trauma symptom, while 94% reported some levels of grief.
Holmes noted that this pandemic is set apart from other traumatic events, such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks or World War II, because the psychological stress caused by those events was limited by geography.
“They also did not involve mandatory quarantines or isolation and did not have ongoing stressors of physical-health threats—all which independently have been documented by research to increase anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress symptoms,” she said.
https://twitter.com/lnachman32/status/1255741010535047168?s=20
Number of days since Taiwan has had a new domestically spread coronavirus case: [image of 18-day Taiwan Beer]
Early internet follies:
So I forgot until late in the day, but I first started an ebay account to sell off a giant truck-sized spray booth that came with a building I bought to convert to 41 live/work units. The dumb thing is I didn't put any contact info in the posting, and I couldn't understand why the bidding was so low. Well AFTER I sold to some local guy for $500 ($50,000 new? I don't know) I saw that I had bunches of questions from interested buyers that I never answered. Ah well, at least we got it out of the way which was the main point.
An unintended consquence of sheltering at home?
either more babies because, you know, sheltering in place. Or fewer babies because kids aren't going to school during the day.
What's for lunch?
I have my mise-en-place set up for carbonara, but I also have marinating chicken. I don't know what i'll do for lunch and what for dinner.
leftover shakshuka
.. and also answering the side benefit of being stuck at home
normally when i commute to NYC i end up eating out and it is invariably less healthy than eating leftovers or homemade lunches.
while i cant tell if it is a short term aberration or not, i seem to have lost a couple pounds. hopefully it is easy to keep off when (if ever) we return to normal
Shrimp alfredo pasta
leftover fish chowder and fresh sourdough bread.
this is the last of the halibut that we caught in AK, packed and froze, and brought home.
Grilled Swiss on whole wheat
Thai lentil curry with rice, banana, apple.
I was going to have Thai for dinner but alas no coconut milk at Safeway
I have leftover coconut milk and need ideas on what to cook with it. Suggestions welcome.
Also, to confirm, the coconut milk in the carton is the same as the one that comes in a can, right? I know I can cook with the can, but wasn't sure if the carton was something different.
Just make sure you don't have coconut cream (different purpose) - but I have both canned and carton versions. I overbought when I came home from Thailand.
Things I use coconut milk for: Laksa, Penang/Yellow/red/massaman curries.
I get the stuff in the can. Thai brand. That's all I know.
our hippie co-op had two brands of coconut milk last weekend. Both had light, regular, and organic.
i made pad thai last night and am having leftovers today
Tomorrow is grocery day so it's slim pickins: I had half an italian cold cuts sandwich and some mashed potatoes. You get some weird combinations when you scrape the bottom of the barrel...
Glass half full = scarcity encourages experimentation
Rye crispbread, salami, Gouda, a small quesadilla, and some kind of Salvadoran cookie. Not healthy but quick and satisfying
Chicken parm sandwich on mushroom focaccia. I made chicken schnitzel last night and had leftovers, so lunch is going to be glorious.
Ooh. This reminds me that I wanted to try at home a skillet shallow-fried hot chicken sandwich w/ a cayenne-infused buttermilk breading now that my favorite hot chicken place is shut down.
leftover tacos
That's our dinner tonight. I'm taking the boys to Taco El Gordo taco truck for dinner tonight.
but not leftovers ..
no we won't have any leftovers when we're done
Dal Makhani & 2 onion paratha crisped up in a cast iron skillet.
I've also had my first bourbon of the day since I'm taking it easy today. 25% work. 50% puzzle time. 25% chores. 25% soft-focus staring at nothing in particular.
What sort of puzzle?
i am mostly goofing around today too. worked late till midnight last night.
going to get my bike to the bike shop, play chess w/ my nephew on Zoom and maybe install a pull up bar in the basement.
That sounds like a good plan.
Not sure yet.
probably pesto pasta with spinach and feta chicken sausage.
Hmmm...Alturas (in the extreme northeast of California) is opening up...
Here's an article on it. Makes sense -- they've had no cases thus far, they are reopening with lots of guidelines. We should let places like that open back up if they want to. https://krcrtv.com/news/coronavirus/modoc-county-plans-to-reopen-may-1st
Can’t see any harm in it
it's hard not to keep social distancing during normal times up in that neck of the state.
Watching the markets closely - but not too closely. I have a long time horizon. My bet is that tech will continue to be strong even after the epidemic begins to burn out.
Tragedy of the commons
Work kitchens
Bathrooms in businesses
Pottery Barn bathrooms are the best public bathrooms in the US. FACT.
All public bathrooms are gross
I've always thought Nordstroms, but then again I haven't been inside Pottery Barn.
Neglecting a communal job (i.e. social loafing)
I can return to setting up the DBDs. I estimate that there is a better than 50% chance that I won't abuse the admit rights to do something awful. On the other hand, coming up with new topics every weekday does take work.
I mentioned it to the overlords. We'll see what they say.
This overlord is for it, fwiw.
I'm also up early enough I can help out as well.
I should probably put together some DBDs, since I tend to be more active in them relative to other W4C writers...
Agreed. Same for me, though I've been absent from W4C lately because work has been getting busier (in addition to my regular job, i'm helping to cover for a couple people out on paternity leave).
May
the Force be with You
, Sir Brian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnKbre06VVA#t=2m14s
PhD in Astrophysics
I'm skeptical that things will look all that different a month from now (at least here in MD). Coronavirus cases in MD have been climbing at roughly a linear rate for most of the past month, so it seems like it will be a while before this is under sufficient control to enable any significant lifting of current restrictions.
We are kinda the same. One benefit of keeping it to a linear growth rate is that once you have enough testing to verify that you are catching the bulk of the cases you can switch back to the 'isolate-trace-quarantine cases' mode and let most everyone else get back to wasting time commuting.
I think you’re right about that.
Interesting Things
Spinosaurus! https://twitter.com/michaelgreshko/status/1255512413035692035?s=21
AI meme generator!!!
https://imgflip.com/ai-meme?fbclid=lwAR2Z87afCl_yG2HsTyRgoa1yp5MytCPW2OB-X_TkttmJegoHnYp9BGolTg0
The crumbling economy
The Blue Angels and Thunderbirds did a flyby in NYC and, of course, New Yorkers went out to watch. In groups.
This is fascinating in terms of the lags but it makes for grim reading: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/30/jobless-claims-industry/
I just wonder what the bottom is and how much that will drive a more mainstream narrative change along the lines of "yeah, 2% dead isn't too bad after all". Stimulus efforts from the government can't last forever
I know we’re not supposed to compare ourselves to anywhere else because American exceptionalism duh but I do wonder why Western European countries have done a better job of slowing unemployment spikes and it’s somehow beyond us. “Oh we have a shitload of money to save shareholder value and it didn’t work, I guess that’s it!”
At least in France, the government is covering the other 50% of salary for employers who cut their workers to half-time. Still employed, still making money, all's well.
(Plus, as a slight detour the point of a social safety net is to make dramatic events less dramatic—unemployment is less scary when health care is included in residency.)
Because we're getting our information from the skidmark on the world's underpants in comparison
Current events, and just how fast a lot of small (and some not so small) businesses lurched from apparently thriving to facing insolvency, and issuing mass layoffs (unemployment in my state went from a historic low to a historic high in ~2 days) made it glaringly clear that a lot of these operations that couldn't even make it through 1 down payroll cycle were dangerously overextended, and recklessly under-capitalized, just waiting for something to not just go wrong, but blow them out of the water. I don't know much about Western European economic and business practices, but I don't sense that they inherently live and do business way beyond their means to the degree many in the USA do.
Perhaps some on the board with more European experience can expand on that?
I don’t see why that money machine can’t go “brrrr” more is what I’m saying
Sporting spite
NBC sports showed the 2005 Bush Push game last night and I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the last 2 minutes of the 4th quarter. (I also watched a few minutes of the start of the game and holy moly both of those teams were good.)
I watched that as well. I had never seen it (other than a couple highlights) since it happened at about the same time as the game I was watching (OSU beat Cal by 3 that day).
Those were good teams, but Leinart missed a lot of what we now expect to be routine throws over the course of the game. And I gained a lot of perspective on why the problems that lost the Texas game happened; OLB/slot coverage play was on several times questionably configured as far as containment went, and that's what Texas capitalized on. Who was the USC DC at the time?
Also still surprised that Pete didn't kick the FG and play OT. That was a very high risk sequence at the end. Pete has subsequently proven to still be a gambler, with the mixed results you would expect.
I don’t remember who the DC was, to be honest, although in practice it was Carroll. The secondary in particular was a weak spot that season and I think they were constantly shuffling the proverbial Titanic deck chairs - Texas was the only team to make them pay for it, and tbh if they hadn’t kept Jarrett / Bush (can’t remember which one) off the field on 4th & 2 late in the 4th in that Texas game SC would have had a decent chance of holding on. Oh well.
As for going for the TD, if memory serves Carroll said afterwards the team was just done and he decided he didn’t want to risk OT.
Looked it up, and Pete was the listed DC.
FET: I'm enjoying that ESPN, Fox Sports, NBCSN, and the like have been airing tons of classic sports matches from the past several decades. But it's really annoying how often the description of the event (which automatically appears when you navigate to the channel on the guide) says something like "Chicago prevails in a double-overtime game against...," It defeats the purpose of watching a classic match if I already know the outcome (except when I'm a fan of the victor).
Yeah I don’t need the rolling cliff notes and context for games I saw - and in any case I had my 17 year old next to me googling the dramatis personae
An upside of sheltering at home
We unpacked a lot of things that had been ignored and have been able to get settled in our new place together which has been awesome. Starting on lots of little improvement projects and generally making things more comfortable.
I learned how to make sour cream and onion biscuits. I've improved my carbonara game.
I've been trying to make fluffy biscuits. I think the recipes that have more baking soda are fluffier.
Then I either eat them with butter for breakfast or with a breakfast sausage, eggs, and cheese for lunch.
Between no aftercare for the Kindergartner and no house cleaning, we're saving $1k/month.
$1k/month for someone else to pay attention to my kids and clean up after them seems cheap at that price, tbh.
I'm finally getting around to doing the things around my apartment that I haven't previously had the time to do.
Examples include:
- doing an inventory of my libraries (physical and digital books, DVDs, board games, teas, etc.)
- sorting misc papers/mail/old job stuff
- cleaning out my closet
- putting BookCrossing bookplates in books
- listing spare books on PaperbackSwap
- dusting EVERYTHING
- scrubbing my kitchen floor
I've gotten quite a few tasks around the house done that I regularly avoid. Yesterday I dusted all the baseboards while on a boring conference call. Probably the first time that had been done in 5 years. Place is looking good!
I've also really enjoyed the time and space to cook. Normally, when I get home from the office i'm hungry and impatient and just want something easy and fast. Now I can cook whatever I want, and I prep dinner in between things during the work day, so when 4:30 rolls around (LOL) I've already got veggies chopped and meat marinating and it's been quite fun.
I also enjoy not having the pressure to go out and do things, though I also miss going out and doing things. But for once, there's no shame in still being in my jammies at 3PM on a Saturday.
Better food.
I am the cook of our household, even though my wife normally works from home. I have more time to prep and plan for slower and more complex meals, whereas I normally have to cook things that take less than an hour to make (ie, the time between when I get home and when the family freaks out from hunger). I can't remember which chef said it, but how good your meals come out is based upon the ingredient selection, prep, and mis-en-place steps. I also like that I have more time to organize future meals so that I can reduce waste (eg, what to do with an entire bunch of celery).
So far, I am loving the really good meals that I prepare.
Eh, for me it's no change, I've been working from my home office since the early 90's I think. Can't remember what exactly was the last job I had to travel to.
now you're just making it way to easy...
"delivery boy"
Actually, I'm sure it was some construction job, but I don't remember which one.
... something, something... pyramids
pltm
we are saving some money on pizza, and gas (as mrs and youngest no longer drive anywhere, and I mostly bike to work).
During the week not much has changed since I WFH (or WOHO for Twist) anyways. I do drive less since I go to the store less often. Fewer trips across the bridge since No 2 is back due to Vandy doing remote classes and he goes to his mother's to transport No 3 rather than me. But I am spending more money on groceries since I have to also feed him.
Upside: more time to Write for California
Downside: no more to say than before
I don't know that not having any more to say has held any of us back much?
more exercise (I'm on the bike about 4 times per week, and I usually get a quick bit of weightlifting in on days when I don't ride)
many, many fewer miles on the car
more free time (thanks to not spending a total of ~80 minutes commuting)
laundry is way down since I'm not wearing my work attire
I'm with you on the workout train, I've been getting in a 2-2.5mi run and ~1mi walk every day plus a 45-60min Nike Training working on my phone. That combined with not drinking since mid March has resulted in a loss of 10lbs.
My commute is only about 20 minutes (25 if you include the time walking into and out of the parking garage) but I’m still appreciating not having to factor that into my days.
Definitely not racking up as many miles on my truck. The insurance company even said they are issuing a partial rebate on premiums due to the drop in claims due to reduced travel. They haven't actually done it yet, apparently taking their lead from the government on stimulus checks, but I'm hopeful.
Look like Liberty Mutual is supposed to credit 15% of two months of payment. So I guess about $60 for me. It's supposed to go to the last payment method so I'll have to check my CC.
Each way that is
Ironically, meeting new folks from the neighborhood. On the days when the weather has been nice lots of people come down to the park across the street to get some fresh air. There are some that I've seen often enough that we started saying hi and now talk regularly when we're both out. One family has a little girl of about four and she hollers out my name when she sees me.
Looking for variety I went to a county park a few blocks away yesterday afternoon. For the first hour I had the park to myself. A woman and her daughter came to use the sandbox and shortly after a county police officer came and ran us off. Arlington County is being more strict than the National Park Service that has jurisdiction of the park across the street.
Have you and DC Trojan ever met?
When I used to live there, I did find Arlington government to be more strict overall.
We have not. I think I have to renew my passport to cross the Potomac now.
The dishes have never been so clean!
I get a walk in every day!
I’ve started using the rowing machine again! (Ow)
Concept 2?
Yes. We have that and an ancient Nordic track which only I use. We’ve cleared some space in the basement for the 15 year old to do “remote” fencing training, and if this shelter in place business continues into warmer weather that may get kitted out as an informal gym space.
Our collapsing democracy
BK97, I just saw the Maryland Governor on The Daily Show from last night. He seems very reasonable. Is that just his Daily Show persona?
Speaking of him, his purchase of Korean tests hasn't actually worked out all that great, (but it's really Trump's fault)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/hogan-south-korea-coronavirus-tests/2020/04/29/978ca8d6-8572-11ea-878a-86477a724bdb_story.html
He’s an old fashioned republican in the sense that he hates unions and public transport and wealthy liberals, and he somehow keeps profiting from the construction of the roads he approves. BUT he’s been pretty damn solid with this pandemic response. I don’t like his politics one bit but my opinion of him has improved a good bit.
Old-fashioned Republicans like public transit. (See Nixon's 1970 transit bills, which gave funding to BART and other systems.) Indeed, modern conservatives in other countries still support public transit because it is an efficient people-moving system that liberalizes access to jobs and opportunities. Old-fashioned conservatives are good with the government increasing access to (job, retail, education) markets.
The modern anti-transit agenda is a tragic by-product of the anti-government wing of the Republican party, as evident by Tea Party governors taking over Wisconsin and Florida in 2010 and *turning down* billions of dollars for high speed rail.
Like 50-60's Republicans? sure.
My thoughts exactly: I've disagreed with him on many issues in the past, but he's done a fantastic job with his proactive and thoughtful approach to managing this crisis. The country would be a much better place if more Republicans were as principled and reasonable as he is.
I hadn't heard of him but based on his Daily Show interview at least he seems to be saying and doing the right things to combat the virus.
Pro
Cal
Go Bears.
We got an emergency alert yesterday about a bear spotted in the middle of town.
Oski no doubt, outside of his van. Just got an AC Alert from Berkeley that some non-essential businesses will be allowed re-open including florists and nurseries.
Go Bears!
Time to start up the Bear Patrol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkV_ztynYDM
Last week the surgeon general posted a pic of a bear near his home in Tyson's Corner, Virginia, which is a pretty developed area.
An omen of our future victory over the Cavs.
I had to restrain my self from replying to the alert with a 'go bears'
🐻