Super-Spreader-Event

 

Let's face it.  ANY time you're around Trump, it's a Super Spreader Event since he doesn't know how or when to shut up and sucks all of the oxygen out of the air.

 

Quaranteaming

It sounds cute, sort of.  But, hold up a minute here.  It started as a way to self-isolate, but, with another person, thus “teaming”.  The thought behind it being, ‘if we both have to stay home and quarantine ourselves, why not do it together’?

Again, almost sounds like a good idea… however, consider this.  That means the two of you can never go out alone, must stay together 24/7 (just like a married couple), pretty much do everything together.  The second you separate, and don’t do things together, but rather apart, that’s when you set yourself up to come in contact with an outside party.

Is that so bad?  Y-E-S!!  Why? (Because I know you’re thinking that.)  Think of it like another very well known virus, HIV.  Sounds extreme, and it IS.  HIV is transmitted by unprotected sexual contact in the semen.  We know that using condoms dramatically reduces the chances of contracting it. In the same way that HIV changes with each new infected person, the coronavirus adapts to new "hosts" (people) as well.  An antibody test is a very good start.  Many, many more coronavirus tests are likewise a good start, but ultimately, a vaccine is what we need and that is still 12 to 18 months away, putting us well into 2021, closing in on 2022.

Guess what?  The protection, or condom, in this case in regards to the coronavirus, is that face mask.  So, where are we going with this?  I’m glad you asked.

In the same way that condoms and fewer sexual partners reduce that chances of one contracting HIV, that face mask is your protection against potentially contracting the coronavirus, and further, limiting people with whom you spend time quaranteaming, if that’s your choice, you lower your risks of getting it.

And to be clear, no, I wouldn’t start calling your mask a face condom.  That just sounds wrong, and not a pretty image you want floating around in your noodle.

I guess if you are someone that easily feels isolated/alone, then maybe that’s a good choice, but, keep in mind, it IS a commitment, potentially for several months.  It sounds great, and I get that you don’t like being alone at home.  That’s a tough one, for sure.  Maybe getting tested for the coronavirus first, to make sure you’re both negative?

My only concern would be what it does to your friendship during the quarantine.  Could potentially be a friendship killer, and I don’t know that ground rules would help much, if at all.

Since you have to be at home anyway, what about:

• Catching up on reading
• Binge watching those TV shows you’ve missed because you don’t own a DVR
• Journal writing
• Learning a new musical instrument (Guitars are a great one to start with)
• Jigsaw puzzles
• Word Search puzzles, crossword puzzles
• Sewing
• Meditation
• Yoga

… and on and on, ad infinitum.

Coronavirus, Chapter 2

The contrast between Trump and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was stark, wrote Gil Eyal, who has studied the nature of expertise. At a few recent briefings, he noted, "It became clear that the President and the nation's foremost public health expert were battling, however politely, over who the American people should trust. While the scales may be tipping in Fauci's favor at the moment, the battle is far from won." 

Michael D'Antonio noted that "somehow Fauci seems to have won President Trump's confidence even as he has corrected him in real time. In this way the doctor has served both the President and the country while maintaining his own credibility. Neither a toady nor an attention-seeker, he has put himself in the position to tell everyone the truth, even when it's hard to hear." 

This is a frightening time for our country, and the entire planet.  This virus, which seemingly started in Wuhan, China, is a silent, invisible killer; a virus which could potentially wipeout up to 30% of the global population.  Maybe, but maybe not. 

(Side note: The actual virus that causes Covid-19 is known as "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 or SARS-CoV-2. "This name was chosen because the virus is genetically related to the coronavirus responsible for the SARS outbreak of 2003," explains the World Health Organization. "While related, the two viruses are different.")

It’s simply too soon to tell.  Personally, I know my days are already numbered, as are those of some family members.  But having to go we ahead of my time, and it such an excruciating manner, kept away from family and friends at the very end… that’s horrible dying all alone.

Think about that for just a moment.  You’re in isolation in the ICU unit of your local hospital, likely on a respirator, clinging to life, and only 1, maybe 2 heavily covered nurses or nursing assistants or doctors are there doing your final countdown, watching the minutes, seconds ticking away.  Your family and friends are likely in the Waiting Room, or pacing around the parking lot outside, awaiting word on your prognosis, some sort of outcome where you can leave this life more on your terms and in your time.

We’ve known for years now, but it’s become painfully obvious more recently, that Donald Trump was born with not only a few screws loose upstairs, but without the vital empathy and compassion genes.  He lacks the moral, human ability to feel genuinely bad or even sad for his fellow human beings.  Not possible for him to shed a tear, feel genuine, real remorse or other human feelings.  He sees those things as a sign of weakness, rather than what they really are:           Strength.

He takes zero responsibility for his actions and behaviors and rather, blames his predecessor, President Barack Obama, for the shortage of medical supplies, the global pandemic, and basically everything else that’s “wrong with our great country.”   

Yup, pass the buck, because well, I’m just that great. 

Beware of leaders who speak only in superlatives. 

YES, I’m talking about Donald Trump.  

My only error was calling him a leader.