Shuffling towards Armageddon...

Okay, I hyped that title a bit, but it should trigger the memory if I review this post in the years ahead. We’re just on the edge of the cliff here in America, coronavirus wise. Each day seems to bring an incrementally more serious development and today I woke up to the news that Trump had suspended most European travel, the NBA had apparently canceled the season (which really seems crazy to me), and Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson had both announced they had tested positive for the virus.

At present, the CDC is reporting 938 cases in the US and 29 deaths. I think this number has to be way below the actual total, seeing that very few people can even get tested. Reading around the net, it seems private interests and individual citizens are taking the lead in getting information disseminated and trying to mitigate the rapidity of the spread. The earliest moves by the government (Trump) were trying to downplay the severity and prevalence of the disease, likely for financial and political reasons. This may prove to have grave consequences as things play out in the coming weeks and months. It’s vivid evidence (on top of the mountain that preceded it) of how incompetent and capable he is as any sort of leader, especially the country.

We’re fortunate in that we’re already sort of living the lifestyle that limits exposure since I typically only work 2-3 days per week and we only go out for groceries about once weekly. The only other recurring social interaction is concerts, and we’ve cut back on those quite a bit. Seeing the number of live events and tours that have been canceled, it feels inevitable that the upcoming shows in April and May (Who, Stones, Primus) are likely to get canceled or postponed. At work, there hasn’t been any forced stoppages or reductions in hours, but I feel it’s inevitable at some point. It will probably apply moreso to non-essential admin jobs since the healthcare workers will be needed to care for patients, but I’m curious how this will impact the FWOPC since they don’t have any inpatient capability.

I imagine my job as C&P examiner is going to take a further hit since we depend on exam requests from the regional office, which is all admin type jobs. We’re already planning to scale back our expenditures for the foreseeable future since we don’t know how long this might take to play out. As long as I can work and they get me patients, I will plan on going in and just following protocols. I assume we’re all likely to be exposed before this is over.

My hope is that this pandemic (per WHO as of two days ago) will serve as a wake-up call for disease and disaster preparedness as well as an example for the electorate of just how incapable Trump is at doing his job.

Going out with a bang

This may be overstating it a bit, but considering the Opeth show was going to be my penultimate alcohol consumption for a while, I may have overindulged a bit. Four beers doesn’t necessarily sound crazy compared to some people you hear about, but it’s more than my typical and these were sixteen ounces, so it ended up being more than five typical beers. I paid for it yesterday, which was another example of how alcohol not only can diminish your life while you’re drinking it, but it also has a negative effect in its aftermath.

Feeling too hungover to accomplish anything of substance, I ended up just cooking some flatbread and later pizza, reading a bit of Dracula, and later just watching television while nodding off. I ended up not touching the three remaining beers in the fridge, my body was telling me to give it a rest. After a reasonably decent night of sleep, I’m feeling back to my old self but still feeling the bloat so I’m ready to start getting my act together. For the indefinite future, my only planned consumption will be the upcoming concerts, otherwise I’m giving it as long as I need to make some of those desired health changes I talked about.

The Opeth show was good, an okay sized crowd, although the venue was only half utilized and it wasn’t exactly packed in the pit, even though it seemed to be sold out online. The band and crowd were energetic and Mikael even commented that he was feeling good. Their stage show has grown a bit more elaborate, and this time they had a large video screen behind the band as well as one that was incorporated into the drum riser. Maybe I should say band riser because Joakim and Martin were also up on the higher section behind Mikael and Fredrik. They had mostly atmospheric video accompaniment to the songs, not unlike some of the typical Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson shows. Mikael had even name-dropped them during some of the banter but I can’t recall the context.

I initially had a good spot about ten people back in the middle, but I was right on the perimeter of the bouncy castle (mosh pit) and kept getting hit, occasionally pretty hard. When it came time for a bathroom break, I just picked an open spot a bit more on Fredrik’s side and a little further back. That side eventually developed its own mosh pit as well, but I was back far enough not to be affected. I left about halfway through the last song, “Deliverance” (I know, sacrilege) which I heard them perform last time in full. I’ve grown accustomed to not having schedule disruptions and my body was telling me it was bedtime. All in all a good show and experience. I’d say I had a better time at the Gas Monkey show for Sorceress, mainly because I was against the rail right in front of Mikael and I prefer that venue over most in D/FW.

Today I plan to resume my regular schedule and I’ll need to hit the store later for my two-day workweek resupply.