We will begin with levity because this is all just a self-serving opportunity for me to demonstrate how clever I was at the beginning of the week.
Spanish Andy: I'm working from home today. A colleague who just got back from Italy decided not to self-quarantine even though that is company policy.
Me: It would be ironic if patient zero for DFW came from your office since you work at McAfee, a company known for it's anti-virus solutions.
Deep bow
It is really rare that I'm that clever in the moment so I've been dining out on that a LOT this week.
I'm not going to get super heavy or anything. I live in Dallas, Texas; not even Dallas proper but a northern suburb area that is a little sliver of Dallas tucked between two other suburbs that I don't think a lot of people are familiar with. Last week, my stores were fine though I had friends telling me that their grocery stores were bare. Last night, however, I went to Walmart and there was no toilet paper, only a few rolls of paper towels left, no rice, and no water. I'm sure there were other things missing as well but I was there for coffee creamer and decided to just grab it and deal with the rest of my shopping at lunch the next day. But it was quite odd to see the shelves bare of basic necessities when I'm used to things like milk and bread being stripped from shelves during times building up to storms.
My company's CEO sent out a company-wide message today stating that employees can work from home through the end of the month. I think the main reason is really less to do with fear of the virus than it is with the fact that a lot of schools are shutting down (in fear of the virus) and so Company is trying to accommodate the working parents. Last I heard, there were still less than fifty confirmed cases in the states of Texas so I'm not in a Seattle, WA situation by any means. I'm not really sure why toilet paper is such a hot commodity right now but I think I'm well stocked. I also plan on going into the office my usual three days a week if only to use their toilet paper and hang on to my precious, precious treasure. It's all very interesting because I don't feel any sense of panic but, at the same time, I did take out $100 cash at Walmart last night and put it in an envelope under my bed just in case. In case of what, I don't know, but the panic seeps in where it can I guess.
This sounds like a terrible sickness and it has killed thousands. However, so does flu every year and I've never been afraid of that. I am not equating the two and this is obviously an incredibly serious problem, but I guess because I am a privileged person in a privileged world I just can't wrap my head around the idea of panicking about it. I am not making crass or insensitive jokes about it or dismissing it, and not just because I have a close relative who lives in China. After all, he is impacted by it but, thus far, no one in his family has gotten the virus itself. I just don't understand why people clearing out grocery stores as if they'll never have access to rice or toilet paper again. And, quite frankly, I don't get why people are stocking up on bottled water, which I think is a scam in and of itself (unless you live in places like Flint, MI where it is necessary). As I walked to my car after getting my creamer last night, I thought to myself "bet da club will be empty this weekend" because clearly everyone is planning on staying home, right? Events are being canceled after all. But, like, are you planning on doing a lot of pooping whilst staying home? Is that the need for the water to hydrate and the tp to wipe?
If you live in the US, you've seen this administration's response to the pandemic, regardless of which side of the aisle you align with. I'm not going to go into that because this is not a political blog but I think everyone realizes that the admin ignored and dismissed this pandemic until their hand was forced. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next weeks and months, not from a place of laying blame but of seeing if the delay in reaction affects the quality of treatment and preparedness. It is still the first quarter of 2020 so I think there is a lot of room for things to occur that will define this year. I certainly hope so. Who wants to just see 2020 as the year people learned how to wash their hands properly?
With that, I will leave you with this You Tube video that was just a perfect ending to my day yesterday. I spent M, W, and R in all-day sessions at work and I spoke with two gentlemen about World of Warcraft as it came up when we had to introduce ourselves. So WoW and COVID19 were topics of the week and then, on my way home from Walmart last night, NPR was talking about the story I've linked to. Happy weekend everyone!
Spanish Andy: I'm working from home today. A colleague who just got back from Italy decided not to self-quarantine even though that is company policy.
Me: It would be ironic if patient zero for DFW came from your office since you work at McAfee, a company known for it's anti-virus solutions.
Deep bow
It is really rare that I'm that clever in the moment so I've been dining out on that a LOT this week.
I'm not going to get super heavy or anything. I live in Dallas, Texas; not even Dallas proper but a northern suburb area that is a little sliver of Dallas tucked between two other suburbs that I don't think a lot of people are familiar with. Last week, my stores were fine though I had friends telling me that their grocery stores were bare. Last night, however, I went to Walmart and there was no toilet paper, only a few rolls of paper towels left, no rice, and no water. I'm sure there were other things missing as well but I was there for coffee creamer and decided to just grab it and deal with the rest of my shopping at lunch the next day. But it was quite odd to see the shelves bare of basic necessities when I'm used to things like milk and bread being stripped from shelves during times building up to storms.
My company's CEO sent out a company-wide message today stating that employees can work from home through the end of the month. I think the main reason is really less to do with fear of the virus than it is with the fact that a lot of schools are shutting down (in fear of the virus) and so Company is trying to accommodate the working parents. Last I heard, there were still less than fifty confirmed cases in the states of Texas so I'm not in a Seattle, WA situation by any means. I'm not really sure why toilet paper is such a hot commodity right now but I think I'm well stocked. I also plan on going into the office my usual three days a week if only to use their toilet paper and hang on to my precious, precious treasure. It's all very interesting because I don't feel any sense of panic but, at the same time, I did take out $100 cash at Walmart last night and put it in an envelope under my bed just in case. In case of what, I don't know, but the panic seeps in where it can I guess.
This sounds like a terrible sickness and it has killed thousands. However, so does flu every year and I've never been afraid of that. I am not equating the two and this is obviously an incredibly serious problem, but I guess because I am a privileged person in a privileged world I just can't wrap my head around the idea of panicking about it. I am not making crass or insensitive jokes about it or dismissing it, and not just because I have a close relative who lives in China. After all, he is impacted by it but, thus far, no one in his family has gotten the virus itself. I just don't understand why people clearing out grocery stores as if they'll never have access to rice or toilet paper again. And, quite frankly, I don't get why people are stocking up on bottled water, which I think is a scam in and of itself (unless you live in places like Flint, MI where it is necessary). As I walked to my car after getting my creamer last night, I thought to myself "bet da club will be empty this weekend" because clearly everyone is planning on staying home, right? Events are being canceled after all. But, like, are you planning on doing a lot of pooping whilst staying home? Is that the need for the water to hydrate and the tp to wipe?
If you live in the US, you've seen this administration's response to the pandemic, regardless of which side of the aisle you align with. I'm not going to go into that because this is not a political blog but I think everyone realizes that the admin ignored and dismissed this pandemic until their hand was forced. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next weeks and months, not from a place of laying blame but of seeing if the delay in reaction affects the quality of treatment and preparedness. It is still the first quarter of 2020 so I think there is a lot of room for things to occur that will define this year. I certainly hope so. Who wants to just see 2020 as the year people learned how to wash their hands properly?
With that, I will leave you with this You Tube video that was just a perfect ending to my day yesterday. I spent M, W, and R in all-day sessions at work and I spoke with two gentlemen about World of Warcraft as it came up when we had to introduce ourselves. So WoW and COVID19 were topics of the week and then, on my way home from Walmart last night, NPR was talking about the story I've linked to. Happy weekend everyone!
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