SELF-ISOLATION, DAY 3

It is raining again! Yippee!

See how easy it is to maintain a good mood? Well, I do work at it. I meditated, drove with my dog around in the rain, came back home. Oh, saw something new. Stopped at a chain pharmacy for some cold medicine just in case. They have blue tape on the floor, about 6 feet apart, where they ask customers to stand while waiting for the cashier. This is NOT guaranteed to stop the spread of COVID-19, but it is an attempt to maintain some social distancing while people do something they need to, ie pharmacy shopping. It could be used in grocery stores. If the epidemic gets much worse the government may have to step in to enforce some kind of distancing while allowing the population to shop for necessities.

We Americans are used to our many freedoms. But the country has been through many hard times, and select population groups, like Florida, New Orleans, and others, have experienced natural disasters which the majority of us have not suffered. We can do this. WE CAN DO THIS. We need to all pull together. China evidently is doing better after extreme social distancing/isolation measures. By the way, to repeat, the COVID-19 virus is the name being used by all public health folks. Corona virus is ok too. For those with no microbiology background, Corona virus is the name of the larger virus group, which includes other types of epidemics like SARS, and even many so-called common cold viruses. Like Rinaldi is my family name, and it includes lots of near and distant relatives. So, let us all call it COVID-19 or Corona and not after some country. I recently read about the so-called Spanish Flu virus of 1918-19. One or two Rinaldi’s died during that epidemic. Anyway, was not caused by the Spanish. It began in Europe during WW1. It devastated many civilian populations as well as many military personnel. The war was still being fought so allied war correspondents were not allowed to report on it in order to not detract from the war effort. The Spanish were not held to these standards, so, they reported that a major flu epidemic was raging. Therefore it came to be called Spanish Flu. And when our troops returned home, we were not ready for it and it spread like wildfire. We are medically better prepared now although that is not to diminish the severity of our situation.

Speaking of not diminishing the severity, I need to apologize to the wife of a very good friend of mine. My buddy and I drink coffee every month with another friend. Well, that will be suspended also I guess. His wife is a very nice and intelligent woman and last week maybe, she remarked on FB that things were getting more serious in the western suburbs, with the virus. I replied that according to the Center for Disease Control, CDC, the fatality rate is lower than say, for the H1N1. Well, I believe I seemed to diminish the severity and gravity of our present epidemic/pandemic. I was wrong in diminishing it. Still not sure about the fatality rate, but I am not the CDC. My basic feeling is that we should not panic, so that is the feeling lurking beneath what I write.

Speaking of writing this thing, blog or blurb. OMG my writing is getting longer and longer. I spend time and mental energy deciding what to write. I write kind of like I think, which is a little disorganized and chaotic at times. It is a kind of fine line. I find humor in many things, like the toilet paper deal. Btw, a friend of mine bought too much toilet paper a month or two ago, before it was an issue, and gave me a bunch. Like several rolls so I am ok, thanks for asking. I did stock up on peanut butter, I have 4 jars. God forbid I run out. So, this is what I mean; I think in a humorous way even though I fully realize that some friends and relatives are in the high risk group. I am as well, nearing my 73^rd birthday. I do not feel risky. I quit risky behavior years ago. Grew out of it or got tired. My son made me quit smoking years ago. Be grateful to any children you have, or other’s children as they come up with great ideas and we want our society to continue on so they can take over and do a better job than we sometimes do.

All right, call each other, check on friends and relatives as well as possible. Last night I did ZOOM videoconferencing with a community group to which I belong, DuPage United. Great group of people. Anyway it took me half an hour to figure out how to turn on the video on my PC but I managed. So, many ways we can continue our togetherness. It is a bad situation, but, not hopeless. Like many disasters in the past, this will go by, but we DO need to cooperate and try to keep our distance. I am a little concerned about the weekend work. I work the Friday evening in a large grocery store and all day Saturday and Sunday. I have not heard of any changes in the schedule. It can be crowded. But the job needs to be done and if I call in sick, I do not get paid. And someone else has more work to do. I think adjustments could be made and I will suggest it. But likely, no one will listen to me. I will not make any further comments on how business works.

So, I need to cook. I will try to continue this on a daily basis. I hope I do not hear groans, but no one has to read it. It is just me, one guy in Illinois commenting on how this pandemic looks from my perspective. I will try to stay healthy and not become a statistic. I wish the same for us all, especially for my relatives and friends, who I love.

Stay safe and well out there. Stay together and believe in the higher powers.

March 19, 2020