Like everyone, I hope, I’ve been staying at home except for the odd trip for groceries and walking the dog. Now that the grass is starting to take on a brighter shade of green, …
Over the course of this time at home and watching the news, I was reflecting on the different things that I’ve learned. What a great excuse for a blog post.
PPE – if you had asked me what this was a couple of weeks ago, I might have guessed that it was a code for a secondary school Health and Physical Education course. I’m not a real fan of acronyms particularly when they’re made up to make someone sound intelligence. Would it hurt to call it Personal Protective Equipment?
Isolation – a line I remember from an episode of Law & Order is “I can do 10 years standing on my head”. That person must be a lot stronger than me. There’s a punishing feeling when you know you could go outside but you shouldn’t. With all the stories about virus issues in prisons and just living in isolation these past weeks, it makes me think twice about incarceration.
Homeschooling – I had a preconceived notion about what and who did homeschooling. As a worker in a public school system, I always challenged the rigour of that schooling against what we provided. Now, many more are finding out reality
Planking the curve – this is a combination of two terms. Planking was always an exercise in my mind. As a student of Mathematics, I understand the concept of the histogram. I understand an equation to get the best fit. I never thought that I’d see them both used in the same expression
Social distancing – from all of this, comes another new expression for me. I’d prefer just some background music
M*A*S*H – one of my favourite television shows of all time hits 2020 when I see reports of tent hospitals appearing in New York City’s Central Park. Hopefully, we don’t have to return to the old medical techniques of cloth masks and gowns, operating tables within arm’s reach and Radar rushing in with an urgent phone call. We do know that there are many modern day Hawkeyes doing amazing work
People scare easy and yet not enough – watching the news and society just makes me scratch my head. We’re supposed to be only making essential trips but some are using it to buy every roll of toilet paper in sight. Then, you turn around and people are gathering in large groups on beaches, etc. You can’t have it both ways
Toilet paper – speaking of toilet paper, file this under things I really should have known. Around here, toilet paper magically appears in the bathrooms. I felt a bit of panic when we ran out in one bathroom and I couldn’t find a replacement. My wonderful magical wife explained where we keep the supplies. In my defence, it was stored where I thought it was at one time
N95 masks – I had no idea of the importance of these to the medical community. Anytime I’ve had contact with a doctor or nurse, they’ve just used a paper mask. I thought that the N95 was reserved for spray painting or sanding. After all, they sell them at Home Depot
10 000 steps – when you live on a country road, it’s easy to get steps in while being in isolation. The dog walks with me and our only concern about social distancing is hitting the gravel at the side of the road when a car comes. 10 000 is easy to do in these times. Our typical count is up to 15 000 and neither of us is complaining
It is indeed strange times and there are things changing all over the place. I’m sure that I could keep going but I’m going to stop here and challenge you to add to this list via comment below or, better, write a blog post of your own and let me know about it.
Are you up for the challenge? What have you learned?
doug --- off the record 