Virus Blog

8/9/20

The Bet. Early in the pandemic I concluded that this was going to be worse than many were saying on TV. At the dinner table I bet Kevin that we wouldn't see any college football in the year 2020. I reasoned that the pros had the resources to bubble and test and might be able to pull it off. There is so much money in professional football that I suspected that the money would influence risk taking. But when it comes to "student athletes", I reasoned, there was no ability to bubble effectively and the risk to the players' health for zero compensation. I didn't think it was possible. On the other hand, Kevin reasoned that there is just too much money in NCAA football. He reasoned that there would be at least one division one game in 2020. We bet $10. We proceeded to discuss this bet on almost a nightly basis. We challenged each other back and forth but no one wanted the other person's position. What was interesting that we each remained steadfastly confident in our own opinion. As the summer wore on and we got closer, some players and some schools dropped out but the bet was just that one game would happen in 2020. As we saw glimmers of weakness someone through down the "double the bet challenge" and it was accepted. There was no $20 at stake. Yesterday I got a twitter message forwarded by Kevin where someone predicted we were a week away from all NCAA games being shut down. I asked Kevin if he wanted to double up on the bet. I saw weakness for the first time. The bet stands at $20.

Putting on a !@#$% Mask! I was shopping in the super market yesterday when I saw this big fat guy with long rock and roll hair and a Harley Davidson picture. He was the only person I've seen in a store without a mask. With visions of the Hell's Angels and at the risk of bodily harm, I yelled across the store at him to put on a mask. I waited for the anger and entitlement that we've seen on TV. I hoped that others appreciated the personal risk I was taking. But, the minute he realized I was talking to him instead of rage he quickly covered his face with his hands and gave me an "oops" look of embarrassment and ran out of the store wimpering apologies at anyone who would listen.

8/10/20

Game Play. Scott was here for the weekend but without a full 14 day quarantine and no testing, we couldn't be sure he was virus free. We mostly kept our distance but when it was time to play a board game on Sunday afternoon we opened up all the windows, brought a fan down to blow the disease away and proceeded to wear masks while we played. The masks didn't stay in place too well. Masks are the answer but there continues to be nothing fun about masks.

Jojo Rabbit. I watched this movie for the first time (farce about nazi germany) and was struck that there was a character that lived in the wall. We heard someone on the news saying, "at some point you have to live your life" as to why she joined 250,000 people in South Dakota for a motorcycle rally without a mask. The contrast of the two story lines seemed striking. My conclusion: There is a lot more suffering we are capable of if it means saving lives.

Target. I popped into a store for a few things. I bought hydrogen peroxide. We didn't need it. Felt like a good emergency supply. The PPE of the future that's better to buy now? I'm ready.

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