Oh the joys of social distancing!

The organic grocery I shop at installed big sneeze guard cages around the checkout counters. They're well constructed, with metal frames around plexiglass panels. Still, it's surreal. The store has a notice on their deli section floor instructing customers to remain outside the taped zone. Today was the first day I wore a mask. I didn't enjoy it much, but I will try to get used to it. My social life, which was already in decline, is nonexistent.

There came a point, not that long ago, when Covid-19 became more than just a subject of mockery, and was termed a pandemic. In the beginning, not quite two months ago, very few people took it seriously. Then they did. Literally, it was a matter of days when the virus dominated the news. Toilet paper disappeared from grocery stores. People fought over it. Why toilet paper? Why did shoppers leave entire aisles of water, juice, and citrus fruits untouched?

There were many rumors flying around the Census office. A woman said she thought it was a deliberate act of terrorism by the Chinese. Then the lockdowns began. Italy was the first country. Others followed. International flights were cancelled. San Francisco was locked down, and then all of California. Schools, libraries, restaurants, a host of various businesses were closed. Boeing temporarily closed, with no date set for a reopening. On the news last night, it was reported 30,000 Boeing employees are now laid off.

I have worked at a Census office since the first of the year. As the weeks progressed I noticed more of my coworkers coughing and sneezing. At least four Census field supervisors, and several enumerators resigned. Every Friday we had a group meeting, and the head honcho at first said the Coronavirus was nothing to worry about. In two weeks he said the opposite. We began wiping down everything: phones, keyboards, headsets, doorknobs. The handwriting on the wall; I knew it was a matter of a week or two and we'd all be sent home. My conversations with people I was hiring as enumerators followed a certain thread. People were progressively getting less interested in working for the 2020 Census, in any capacity. Staff were resigning. The places I'd booked for training enumerators began bowing out. Finally, three weeks ago, we were all sent home. Our weekly pay continues.

The post office by me has a long "shower curtain" between postal workers and customers. One of the clerks, who knows me by name, gave me a mask today. I just tried it out. I don't like it much, but maybe it will keep me safe. There is a lot of pollen in the air, so perhaps that's a reason to wear it. The Coronavirus is most likely going to be with us until June, maybe longer. Some suggest the onset of summer may stop the virus, or at least slow it down, because the virus doesn't do well in warm, humid conditions. Here's an article about the Coronavirus/Covid-19 with virologist David Ho:
https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/tip-iceberg-virologist-david-ho-bs-74-speaks-about-covid-19

There is good news amidst all the bad news. Once a person recovers from Covid-19 they are unlikely to be reinfected. Studies have shown that a vaccine for Covid-19 might happen sooner than later. The aforementioned article mentions a fifteen minute test was developed for the HIV-AIDS test. According to the latest news, a test for Covid-19 might provide results in five minutes. An actual vaccine probably won't be approved until next year.

During the plague (and there were at least four that hit Europe), two thirds of the people were immune and survived. Ninety-five percent of the people exposed to the Coronavirus recover. But that still amounts to an estimated 2.2 million people in the United States dying from the virus.

I've bought a bottle of organic merlot wine to celebrate the end of the Covid-19 this year. I may have to drink it alone. A friend in Australia, which is about to experience the troubles of the northern hemisphere, as they enter the winter months (and we the summer months), suggested we toast in a Skype conversation. It's still too early to celebrate. That celebration might not even happen this year. It's a gloomy, but realistic thought.


I'd planned on going to do some work on my land in southwest Utah, and felt bad I'd put it off last summer. I have to get out of this city. Living on my land is about the safest place I can be right now. It's off the grid, and six miles from a small store.

I've put off buying solar panels and materials for a small shack on my land. I don't like being cautious, but everyone says now is the time for caution. Many people in the Pacific Northwest have wanted a zombie apocalypse. Well, now we may have one, and the aliens will probably not show up to save us.

We're on our own in this part of the Milky Way. I'm going to try to get plenty of sleep, eat lots of chicken soup, and keep enough supplies handy to make it through this. In the grocery today I saw a woman whose cart was packed to the gills. She had ten cartons of eggs. Maybe she's going to bake a lot of cakes. Maybe she's an optimist, and expects this thing to blow over pretty soon. I hope she's right. If not, please keep six feet away from me. I need my space.