Lisa n Tom (n James n Joseph)

My job is currently about 50% Zoom web conferencing training for faculty and staff. Now that everybody is suddenly working from home -- and ALL COLLEGE COURSES are being taught remotely [many of them by very ancient professors who swore they'd die before turn on a computer, heaven help us] -- my workshops are the hottest ticket in town. Quarantine humor. Took a walk around the neighborhood and saw these at both entrances to the park: Dogwoods are flowering, though. Zoomies. Not the digital kind; the analog kind.

Lisa writes: Last December or January, a new virus surfaced in Wuhan, China. It's a type of corona virus dubbed COVID-19. On March 12, twelve days ago, Virginia schools closed for the rest of the year. The idea is that by social isolating ourselves from one another, we can slow the spread of this respiratory virus that has a 1% to 3% mortality rate. Here's the chart that we've all been shown many times now. That dotted line is the approximately 1 million beds in the entire U.S. healthcare system. The idea behind social isolation is simply to not let more than 1 million people get sick all at once. The good news is, it doesn't seem to affect small children as severely as older people. The bad news is that it's about twice as contagious as the regular flu and socially isolating ourselves won't stop it, only slow it. One estimate I read was that about 80% of Americans will eventually contract the virus. It will be a year to 18 months until a vaccine may be avai...

Working from home is going juuuust fine. Tom has the bedroom. I've commandeered the dining room table. Our daycare, Miss Sandy, is still open with only two other kids from one other family. So we've established our "quarantine" group with them and next door neighbor boy, William. This ... irritated me a little. Not the guidelines. The guidelines are good. The campaigning is not. Anywho... By Thursday, we reached Boredom Level: Bioré. We squeezed juice and James made his fancy with a sliced orange.

Lisa writes: On Tuesday, March 10, the FCPS Superintendent sent this: Dear FCPS Community, Thank you for your patience and support as we continue to address the multi-faceted challenges related to planning for Coronavirus (COVID-19). We have two important updates to share. First,  Monday, March 16, will be designated a student holiday . This student holiday will provide an opportunity for our staff to prepare for the possibility of distance learning in the event of a school(s) closure.  We will use this day as a staff training day and all staff will report to work.  ... [long list of cancelled activities] ...  Any trips scheduled to New York state are also canceled, including day trips.  All other day trips will proceed as scheduled.  We recognize that the decision to cancel overnight field trips may be disappointing; however, the decision is made in an abundance of caution for our students and staff.     This situation wi...