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COVID-19 Update

Posted on March 15, 2020March 15, 2020 By Tom No Comments on COVID-19 Update
Miscellaneous
St. Michael's Church and Cemetery

Scary times. Never can I remember schools being shut down world-wide for a contagion. Toss in a divided populace and you’ve got total chaos. I’m getting tired of the phrase, “…out of an abundance of caution…” but I understand the science behind social distancing and precautions. Others think it’s just some sort of political ploy. Really??

The idiots on the right think this is a global conspiracy by the Democrats to make tRump look bad, as if the Orange Menace needed any help. Discussing this over the weekend one person said in response to the amount of caution, “Cowards die a thousand deaths…” Really? You’re calling everyone who takes precautions a coward? Ugh.

The problem is, all of this isolation is design so that we DON’T get sick. If it works, the right-wing idiots will continue to scream, “See, it was a hoax!” while those who advocated for social distancing will say, “See, it worked!” This meme from Twitter kind of sums it up…

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I’ve been venturing out and I’ve witnessed the panic buying. Two weeks ago we stocked up with enough canned goods and supplies to last through a multi-week quarantine. (And, no, we didn’t buy a year’s worth of toilet paper.) Even so, we have to do our regular shopping, and it’s been shocking to see shelves emptied of chicken, hamburger, and other items.

It’s getting even scarier. Ohio has just shut down all restaurants and bars. South Carolina has closed all schools. With all the even closings, etc., the economic hit from this is going to be HUGE. I’m supposed to give two lectures in a couple of weeks, but I’m not sure that’s going to happen. Here’s a list of activities that have been canceled that have affected us…

  • Furman – spring break extended one week, classes taught online after that for an undetermined time. (Laura is trying to figure out how to teach a lab class online.
  • ACS National Convention in Philadelphia – Laura was going to this next week. It’s now canceled.
  • Greenville Chorale – rehearsals canceled for two weeks, with other rehearsals possibly in a new venue since Furman is closed.
  • Greenville County Library – I was supposed to give one of my Ghost Town lectures on March 26, but I don’t know if that will happen. GCLS has canceled activities for the next couple of weeks.
  • Myers Memorial Methodist Lecture – my friend Tony Sane had invited me to do a lecture on early American hymnody and shape-note singing for his church. I’ve just had to decline since it’s on a Monday, and since we’ve already missed two Monday rehearsals I think I should be at rehearsal if we have it. But…
  • Greenville Symphony Orchestra – canceled all all performances for the next couple of weeks. So far that doesn’t include our performance of Beethoven’s Ninth, but we’ll have to see how this plays out.
  • Pickens Flea Market – Who knows? They haven’t opened for the past couple of months because of extreme flood damage. I might head over there this Wednesday just to see what’s happening. That seems like a group that would defy any ban on gathering.
  • Quest Brewing Bluegrass – haven’t heard yet, but it’s not on Quest’s calendar for this week.
  • Celtic Jam – The new owners of Stomping Grounds only want us there once a month, if at all, anyway, regardless of any quarantine. We are still wondering what’s going to happen moving forward.

But, enough of COVID-19. You’re probably wondering where I’ve been over the past month. Well, that’s a story in and of itself. Several weeks ago I found that my website had been hacked. Someone had managed to create an account on the site and was posting random stuff. We were driving to Florida when it happened, so several hours passed before I could act.

I managed to wipe the offending posts, secure the site, and return things to normal…or so I thought. I found that when I tried to create or edit a post it wouldn’t let me. Something was still wrong. I had to do some jiggery-pokery with the database that houses the site, but I finally got it back so that I could post. In the meantime, we’ve been traveling and dealing with other issues, so I haven’t had the time to dedicate to this issue as I would like.

But, I’m back. I’ve got lots of catch-up writing to do. As I’m practicing “social distancing” I may have some time to do just that. I’ve got several posts in the hopper about our pre-lock-down trips and some other research bits I’ve been doing.

I also thought it would be fun to put together a post-apocalyptic movie playlist. More specifically, movies that feature viral outbreaks. Here’s my list so far…

  • The Andromeda Strain
  • Outbreak
  • Contagion
  • 28 Days Later
  • Dawn of the Dead
  • I Am Legend
  • 12 Monkeys
  • Invasion of the Body Snatchers
  • Shawn of the Dead

I watched “I Am Legend” this afternoon. I’ll slowly work my way through this list this week. Now if I can find some store that had toilet paper….

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