Beethoven"s 2 Symphonic Masterpieces 'Floored" Me

 Today I have listened through two diffrent, complete YouTub presentations to ludwig van Beethoven's 7th and 8th  Symphonies which he composed in 1811 and 1812..some 15 yearsbefore h prematurely succumbed to illness in 1827, only 5ee6 years old.  He had severe alcohol-induced liver disease and lea poisoning. when he died on March 17,1827.Whil not officially credited with being born on December 16rh,1770, hi birthday was faithfully celebrated through his lifetim onthat date.Hence little Schroeder ofPeanuts would make a point o wishing everyone a happy Beethiven's Birthday fo December 16th. KNown for rhhisshort temper andsocial awkwardness, hi music'squality fo me ...wespecially the nine symphonies...were by far his greatest creations.  The Seventh Symphony is one of my all-time favorite classical music pieces. At 41-plus minutes in length,whene I first heard it a couple of days ago, i was stunned myself by how deeply 2emotionally compelling it is: Ican't get enough of it!If you go out toYouTube, y can hear just about anything Beethoven did..or the works any other notable musical artists.  Of course, you'll probably have a nice picture or video to look at while listening...

Just Finished Reading Slow AF Run Club by Martinus Evans

 Back in 2023-24 my running and walking endurance and speed had increased to the level that I successfully completed a 26.2-mile Marathon and a number of half-marathons.  My eating habits had naturally changed to the point where I had abandoned the notion of binge dieting and instead found it easy to space, by hours, between meals.  I never stopped loving food and never was remotely in danger of having an eating disorder. During those two years my dear boy Will accidentally died and we had to deal with the grief of that loss, of which I am still going through.  I made a quick decision during summer, 2024, to retire from USPS and the process went smoothly.  By 2024's end, coinciding with my peak time of physical fitness, I was being scanned...and a biopsy removed...to diagnose a serious case of prostate cancer...it would be surgically removed on 3/6/25.Still, I was in good enough shape to run 5k's such as at the DepotParkruns.   My weight crept back up into the mid-100's.  Then on 10-21 I received a preliminary diagnosis of brain cancer, confirmed 3 days later during tumor removal surgery as being of the aggressive glioblastoma variety.  Since my recovery from Dr. Koch's surgery, I received radiation and chemotherapy both of which produced side effects that interfered with my level of physical fitness.  So far in 2026 I have experienced a drastically reduced ability to run or walk continuously  for moderate distances like 5K (3.1 miles). I have been training at home on my own with running in place.  Each Saturday morning I walk laps, one at a time (two lately), at Depot Park.  i am optimistically showing up for Saturday morning Parkruns with the hope of getting in four walking laps, covering enough course distance to be scanned and posted online.  Recently at our Millhopper Public Library I checked out a running guide by Martinus Evans titled Slow AF Run Club, published in 2023 by Penguin Random House.  Read in person by the author, I got it on my Libby app and just finished listening to the entire audiobook.  Evans has a compelling, helpful message as he reveals his experiences of returning to an activity he feels too many people avoid out of fear of being watched or ridiculed. I've recently weighed myself at 200 lbs...that seems fat.  Aside from properly hydrating before and during runs, Evans has parts in his book where he lists and describes different types of rest and recovery, something he thinks highly of. I say, get online on your library account,put a hold on Slow AF Run Club, and get down to reading it!  As for me, my training continues, and this coming Parkrun should reveal me covering the course to completion...  

I'm a Sick Billy-Boy, They Say

 Up until the October 21st ct-scan done on my head that determined a presumably cancerous, rapidly growing golfball-size tumor in my brain, my general state of health, medically speaking, was determined to be good.  But after the brain surgery done three days later, it was confirmed that I am afflicted with an aggressive variant of brain cancer called GBM, or Glioblastoma Multiforme.  It's an open question as to whether treatment strategies like chemotherapy or radiation will arrest the GBM development or reduce it, but I've been enthusiastic about going along with the prescribed program.  So far, my adverse reactions to treatment...mainly radiation...have been brain inflammation and headaches, partially remedied by steroid capsules and OTC capsules like extra-strength Tylenol.  But I'm still susceptible to getting tired over the course of a typically long day, and on weekdays I usually spend a substantial amount of time with Melissa meeting doctor and radiation therapy appointments at UF Health.  Doctors like my oncologist and the skillful surgeon who operated on my brain encourage me to be physically active while listening to my body in a cautionary way.  I've already scaled back my running training, avoid gym treadmills and show up consistently to Saturday morning Parkrun 5K events in which walking takes center stage, usually with Melissa and me.  Still, it can be a matter of testing my will power to cover the race's course from start to finish.  At home, I have been using my living room floor...with a lot of rug covering...to exercise while watching TV and dutifully record  my times spent in Zone One movement.  Today I covered (virtually) the equivalent of 4.4 miles before finally calling it a night.

The medical authorities say I'm sick with an aggressive variety of brain cancer and the prognosis for a reasonable number of years ahead to live is limited and subject to how my brain responds to the prescribed treatment regimen.  Yet, by all acounts, I do well with blood tests and vital signs.  I have a good appetite and food gets easily digested and passes though my body without trouble.  I don't know how much time I have remaining on Earth before my body dies...or the Earth around me from my own subjective point of view.  That far-reaching video by the alternative rock band My Chemical Romance titled Welcome to the Black Parade vividly presents this notion, and I recommend it if only to broaden your perspectives.  Just copy and paste the title, once you're on YouTube, into the site's search engine.  It is , in my opinion, that band's crowning achievement and can really bring on the tears for how the singer deeply honors his father.  As for my own life, I'll just carry on, although at this stage it seems like I'm in a decaying orbit, destined to burn up and crash.  Let sustained life and quality of life be my true destination, both short and long term...

Continuing with Medical Treatments, Working on Attitude

 So on this Friday, November 21st, I find myself with noontime approaching and a slight headache, although my cold symptoms have lightened a bit.  I took my fourth straight early-morning doses of TMZ capsules for brain cancer chemotherapy and am scheduled for yet another zapping by UF Health's radiiation-therapy brain-zapping machines.  As anticipated, Buffalo did lose last night's game, which is fine with me. At 6:30, the network evening news shows conveyed more and more political outrage as our so-called "leaders" want to execute their critics and even call political allies "traitors" for occasionally disagreeing with them.  For myself, all I want is to just get through this day with a better overall attitude and good prospects for a meaningful Saturday morning Depot Parkrun.  

Stumbling with Routines During Multiple-Holiday Season

 I've been working on getting through this annoying head cold I've been suffering from during the last few days.  With the sinus congestion working on overdrive along with sneeze-triggering irritation in my sinuses and throat, life has not been very enjoyable...especially during the late-night, early-morning hours when I am accustomed to be asleep.  Now we're entering the highly-hyped holiday season, so naturally I feel that the expectations are for me to abandon all of the routines I have established, because Thanksgiving and Christmas, after all, are  "special events" and I'm presumably guilty of something if I want to do things regularly and responsibly, albeit on my own. Tonight on Thursday Night Football, the Buffalo Bills are at Houston to play the Texans.  I don't feel anything approaching the confidence I had in this team to win games as in years before, so I won't be surprised if Houston prevails.  Maybe I'll do some "rock-running" exercises while watching a NYC Marathon virtual YouTube video, or maybe I'll take a break from it all.  It sure would be nice for me to be in "reset" mode whereby the future is open for me to make responsible progress in distance running.  Let's see if that can't happen in the next few weeks of "holiday wonderland":guilty as charged...

Cancer Therapies Continue, Signs (So Far) Show a Little Promise Despite Head Cold

 I've been battling an upper respiratory head cold for the past few days...hopefully, it will abate before long.  But having some sinus congestion and some headaches shouldn't render me completely sedentary.  I began my daily chemotherapy/radiation rounds this past Monday morning, and the whole process...if things go well with it...should last for six weeks (42 days).  I've yet to notice any nausea or fatigue, and the blood draw performed on Monday did not reveal anything disturbing.  So the plan is to continue as before, taking the prescribed morning TMZ capsules and showing up for my radiation appointments.  I'm getting awfully tired of hearing bad news from my health care provider, but I'm not yet even remotely inclined to demean the message or the messengers.  Life is good, but it can get to be a bit of a struggle...

Six Weeks Now After Surgery

With today it is six weeks since I was operated on (six hours duration) to remove my cancerous prostate.  In spite of that and staying overnight in the hospital, I was never officially admitted there and was released the following day around noon as an outpatient.  That I didn't stay longer, though, was okay with me as I don't entirely relish hospital stays...my guess is that you probably don't, either. My progress after the surgery, beginning with an 11-day cathetorization of my bladder and a degree of pain and difficulty with sleep, has continued to the present day, with the predicted incontinence gradually lightening up...although I always had a substantial degree of control over my bladder from the moment the despised catheter was finally removed.  Aside from another "predicted" issue that may or may not be resolved during the next few months of healing, the only thing now concerning me with this unwanted medical episode in my life is next month's PSA (protein-specific antigen) blood test to determine the probability (or improbability) that the cancer had remained on a microscopic level in my body.  My urologist/surgeon expressed to me his confidence that there is a 65% chance that I was cleared of it, but I still have a month before I find out.  Regardless, my provider seems to have it all worked out with future treatment (or lack thereof), whatever the test results reveal.  In the meantime, life goes on and I intend to live it to the fullest...

Blog is Back, Vacation Good But Not as Planned

As my two-week vacation winds down...initially planned as an ambitious out-of-state (and country) excursion...Melissa and I find ourselves content with staying here in Gainesville.  We both experienced very untimely illness at its onset and had to cancel those plans, which we intend to follow through with at some future date.  Yet recovery has been good for both of us, and I am looking forward to resuming my active lifestyle at its previous level.  And yes, the blog is back after a two-week break from it...

More (Ugh) Commentary About COVID-19

A few weeks ago I mentioned what New York's governor Cuomo flatly stated himself: the social distancing and shutdowns were for one aim: to ensure the availability of ventilators...along with the necessary hospitalization beds and staffing...when the virus outbreak spikes.  We were "flattening the curve" to give the health care professionals the capacity to treat anyone with serious complications from COVID-19.  But now it is no longer spiking at its former exponential rate and NY is lending its own ventilators to other states.  Dr. Fauci, also a few weeks ago, had predicted that most Americans would eventually be exposed to the coronavirus and reflected what Cuomo had said about the need to ensure enough ventilators during the ongoing spike...hence the restrictive measures.  The coronavirus is already all around us...like the Matrix in that movie series where everything breaks down to microscopic zeros and ones, it is unseen to the unaided eye.  It hides within as many as half of those afflicted with it without any symptoms but is still extremely contagious for anyone unfortunate to come in contact with its carriers...or breathe the air they just exhaled.  Reopening the society will in all likelihood ramp up the infection rate...it's not going away anytime soon, maybe never.  But hopefully...and the news media has stopped reporting on it as if it is no longer a priority...they are still working hard on producing more life-sustaining-and saving ventilators should their need sadly sharply rise again.  I've stated before that reopening the economy will be a divisive subject, and it seems as if the two political parties...along with their followers among the populace...are regrettably dividing down their respective reds and blues on which strategies to take.  I'm still trying to follow the various distancing, mask-wearing and hygiene protocols and will continue along this line into the indefinite future: I don't have a personal "deadline" for ending this like some others apparently do...

Another observation about the pandemic: if you watch TV or go on one of the updated tally Internet sites, they emphasize total infections in different places along with the deaths.  Although the online charts usually mention the totals of those who are listed as "recovered" in some places, it looks as if other places aren't reporting this statistic that I think is crucial.  And CNN totally ignores recovered figures, making me wonder what the follow-up protocol is with all those who have tested positive...do they just let them go home and self-quarantine and then forget them unless they show up at the hospital with serious symptoms, or do they perform tests on them later on to see whether they recovered?  The death totals will always increase...when the dead start returning to life on Earth let me know.  And the total infected will likewise always increase...that is, unless you subtract from them the number of recovered cases.  And aren't the net totals of those currently afflicted what people want to know?

Does intensity of initial exposure affect the degree of severity of illness?  While acknowledging that every virus is different, armies in the past used to infect their own soldiers with small amounts of smallpox in order for them to achieve immunity from a possible future full attack...most became slightly ill for a few days and recovered, although a few did die.  Does getting repeatedly blasted with COVID-19 in large concentrations...as opposed to picking it up once in a setting where the virus isn't in numerous amounts...make the progression of the disease in the body more harmful?  And as far as immunity after you've had it is concerned...or the notion that a future vaccine is even possible...scientists are unwilling to be affirmative in either regard. But people shouldn't automatically take this negatively since if something hasn't been shown scientifically to be true, then scientists will, by the nature of their craft, refuse to categorically confirm it. One ominous sign, though, is that this particular strain seems to have already mutated into two different forms...

And finally, as I have stated before, I believe that the raw figures of confirmed coronavirus cases are misleading and should be replaced by updated results of randomized statistical testing covering different states and regions...the latter would in all likelihood demonstrate both a much larger prevalence of COVID-19 among the general population while at the same time point out hot spots where the illness seems to have a much higher presence...

Missing Being Able to Haunt Local Coffee Shops

I'm sitting here at my desktop in the living room with the TV on CNN in the background and a view out the front window at a sunny, breezy day.  I miss not being able to go out and sit in an Internet-friendly business like Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts, drinking a flavored iced coffee while conjuring up within my mind something to write on this blog...home is wonderful, don't get me wrong, but even good old Bilbo Baggins had to get away from his hobbit hole every now and then.  There's a new Dunkin' Donuts within walking distance of my house...they supposedly opened starting March 24th but haven't yet been able to seat anyone because of the coronavirus outbreak, which we're apparently now supposed to call "novel" coronavirus because it's so novel, you see.  It's funny, but since I stopped frequenting these places for coffee and writing I haven't had a single iced coffee...once I drove up to order one through the drive-through at the new Dunkin' (after voting on March 17th), but when I got to the window they informed me that it hadn't opened yet and that it was training employees...

One of my friends who recently retired and has a condo on the Atlantic shoreline had bemoaned the closing of most of Florida's beaches (although some are still open and the governor won't mandate their closure), which happened primarily because of the pictures of young spring breakers pretty much thumbing their collective noses at social distancing guidelines and congregating there en masse.  The problem with reopening them now is that due to school closures these people are in a sense still on "spring break"...I agree with my friend that beaches could work for people who use them in a proper distancing setting, much like within a neighborhood where people still go out walking their dogs or jogging.  But I'm afraid the same elements that caused their closing would return were they to reopen...yes, the selfish spring breakers ruined beaches for us all...

Eventually the infection curve will flatten and both the beaches and coffee shops...along with libraries, schools and so-called "nonessential" businesses...will reopen and do so doubtlessly amid others' outcries that they are placing dollars over lives.  But as I have mentioned before on this blog, this divisive debate is inevitable.  I'm guessing that when these places finally do reopen, they will be invoking similar distancing guidelines to what we see in groceries, limiting the number of customers and keeping them apart.  I don't know what they're going to do with the schools, though...

The COVID-19 Pandemic: Two Important Points

Two important facts about the COVID-19 pandemic that everyone should know and base their behavior on in the next few days and weeks:

1) As New York governor Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly stressed during his press briefings the last few days, all of this social distancing and shutdown is being done for one overriding purpose: to ensure that anyone who enters a hospital in need of a ventilator to keep them alive will have that ventilator available for them.  Period.  For this to happen and supplies of ventilators to meet the demand, the infection rate curve must flatten enough so that a spike of infections does not result in desperately ill patients finding themselves without the means for survival...

2) I've heard that as many as half of those infected with this coronavirus at any given time are asymptotic, that is they feel and display no symptoms of the disease, either because it will run its course through their bodies over the span of two or three weeks without causing any noticeable effects or because it is incubating within them, the symptoms of fever, dry cough and shortness of breath beginning to appear a few days later.  I don't know if "half" is an accurate estimate, but I'm confident that a large segment of the infected population feels fine.  The potentially tragic mistake is to equate having no symptoms of COVID-19 with not being infected with it...unfortunately, I see people who seem to buy into this notion and who not only won't practice safe social distancing but who also shoot off at the mouth against those who take the pandemic seriously.  Please don't be like these fools. By the way, wearing a mask is an effective way to prevent droplets containing the virus from being breathed in by others if you happen to be one of those without symptoms, but infected...breathing in these droplets is the most common means of coronavirus transmission.  When I'm at my "essential" workplace I presume, rightly or not, that none of my colleagues are feeling or displaying symptoms...if they are, they shouldn't be there in the first place.  Again, just because you feel fine and normal that doesn't mean that you aren't a dangerous carrier of this very contagious disease that has killed, and will continue to kill, those susceptible to its effects...

Starting to Enjoy Sports Reruns on TV

Seeing how I'm something of a weekend TV sports junkie, this canceling/postponement of just about all regular sports events during the COVID-19 pandemic has irked me to no end.  I had staunchly resisted watching the many replays of games in years in gone by, but yesterday ESPN was showing some National Basketball Association championship final games from the past and I found myself immensely enjoying watching the old stars.  I caught two games: the 2003 finale between the San Antonio Spurs and New Jersey Nets and that of 2010 between the Los Angeles Lakes and Boston Celtics.  Over the years I've come to root for the Spurs, but back in '03 they were a team I'd always pull against...it was interesting to see a game from that time in which my allegiances had completely flipped: there they were, perennially blunt head coach Gregg Popovich along with the stars David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili...all looking very young (except Robinson, who was finishing his playing career).  Although Parker would eventually become my favorite NBA player, in this game his play was off and he was benched after the Nets had racked up an early lead.  But Speedy Claxton came in and had a great effort, helping along with others...especially Duncan...to spearhead the Spurs' comeback.  It was also interesting to see a younger Steve Kerr...currently the coach of the Golden State Warriors...as an enthusiastic benchwarmer for the Spurs.  This game also showed Nets guard Jason Kidd at his best. In the later game, Kobe Bryant, Pao Gasol, Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom and Ron Artest pulled off a great team effort to come from behind against the Celtics, who were led by Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and  Rajon Rondo.  I noticed that in both games...and especially this one...the defense they played was much more aggressive than what we've seen in recent years, with resulting very low scores.  It's tough watching a game, the result of which you already know will go against you...still, I enjoyed it while knowing that "my" Celtics would bow at the end...

I looked at the TV schedule for today and saw that ESPN will show several hours of WWE "wrestling"...hardly a legitimate sport.  Guess I'll have to look for something else...yesterday I ran 10 miles, but right now it's raining: maybe I'll read a book instead...

Quote of the Week...from Thornton Wilder

When you're safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you're having an adventure you wish you were safe at home.                          ---Thorton Wilder

Thornton Wilder (1897-1975) was an American playwright whose play Our Town was a common English class assignment in high school...we got saddled with it, too.  Maybe some day as a "free" adult I'll voluntarily reread it or watch it performed on YouTube.  For now, though, I've found the above quote of his and thought it pertained very well to the "stay at home" mantra sweeping the country...and much of the rest of the world, for that matter...

When I had free time in elementary school I'd often visit the library and read old stories and fables...I was especially entranced with the adventures of Sinbad, a wealthy citizen of Baghdad during the Caliphate era who would become restless at home in spite of his prosperity and set sail for adventure.  Inevitably he would find himself in dire peril and bemoan his decision to travel, longing to be back home and safe...but he always managed to escape and return home.  And there he'd be happy for a while and then, bored, continue the cycle with another adventure.  I think many of us are like Sinbad, but with a much more limited attention span largely caused by our modern-day expectations of instant gratification.  The introverts among us can find inner peace in solitude and companionship with loved ones: extroverts seem to be in a constant itch to go out and hobnob with others, though...I see a big problem with these open house parties and spontaneous street basketball games I see springing up within my neighborhood during this time of supposed social distancing...

I would have preferred to be one of those employees who could work from home instead of being someone "essential" who had to work in a crowded facility with others while the infection rate here from the COVID-19 virus is climbing exponentially.  Unfortunately, some of my colleagues either do not understand what "exponentially" means or because they can't actually see the virus they deny its existence or that their decisions to forgo physical distancing in the workplace are their own business and nobody else's...but it all comes out looking like foolish bravado.  I think bravery is commendable, but only if it serves a worthwhile purpose...

This pandemic will eventually run its course and we'll all be able then to have our adventures and social life as we see fit...in the meantime can we please just show a little forbearance and maturity in order to save lives, save our economy and give the health care sector the time it needs to staff and equip itself to deal with this crisis?

Confusing Signals from Authorities About Testing for COVID-19 and Masks

The American people need better and clearer instruction from authorities as we try to navigate ourselves, our loved ones and colleagues through this coronavirus pandemic.  Two particularly frustrating and confusing areas are testing for the disease and wearing protective face masks.  South Korea, which seems to have totally "flattened" their curve and sent the illness into decline there, keeps getting praise for mass-testing the population in order to (1) accurately assess the COVID-19 presence among the population and (2) enable those actually infected to be isolated from the others to prevent the spread.  In the USA the authorities first rejected the WHO test and then hit snags during their own development of it, losing precious time in the process.  Still, the rules are the same now as they were in South Korea...yet Fed disease expert Dr. Fauci has discouraged people-at-large getting themselves tested, stating that they were "consuming" scarce protective resources on the part of the medical professionals performing them. And with protective masks, the Surgeon General has taken a similar stance, claiming at the same time that they are ineffective in preventing users from getting coronavirus while stressing that health care workers desperately need them...to protect themselves from the virus!  Personally, I don't know how well they protect us from this scourge, but it is widely acknowledged that masks do protect the wearers from transmitting this very contagious disease through the air to others if they're already infected with it.  Since it's already been firmly established that many carrying COVID-19 show no symptoms, and with many others the symptoms don't begin to appear until several days after they've caught it, it seems to me that universal testing and masks should have been high priorities from the start...assuming that they are serious about bringing the exponentially-increasing infection rate down and avoiding an "Italy" situation where the demand for care far outstrips our capacity to provide it.  Now that both the tests and masks are finally...after weeks...beginning to become more commonplace (but nowhere near the necessary level), more authorities are starting to promote their use among the populace. But where I work there is an even bigger problem: I see some operations and situations where there is NO physical distancing whatsoever...

My March 2020 Running Report

In March my running activity markedly increased from the previous month, with me running on all but two days and amassing 132 total miles for the month.  My longest single run was on Friday the 20th when I covered 9.3 miles. I had earlier scheduled that day off from work in anticipation of running a half-marathon in Ormond Beach the following Saturday morning...and then why not make it all a sweet, pleasant beach weekend with Melissa?  But sadly, this damnable disease scratched all that and all other upcoming races...and beach trips...are off for the foreseeable future...we all have more urgent priorities to deal with now.  In the meantime I, and hopefully you, will continue to practice Google's recommendations for preventing the spread of the coronavirus: (1) HANDS: wash them often, (2) ELBOW: cough into it, (3) FACE: don't touch it, (4) SPACE: stay more than 3 ft. apart, and (5) FEEL: sick? Stay home.  My job is officially deemed to be "essential" so my work schedule is unchanged...two in my family are working from home and two go out to work.  At least that's the situation at this moment... but you never know in these interesting and disturbing times what will be mandated the next moment.  So far, though, getting outdoors on one's own while practicing safe distancing and going for walks or runs is considered an acceptable part of the "stay at home" paradigm currently being put forth.  And as long as my health holds up, I suppose I'll keep running, either inside or outside...

Canceled Races and Some Coronavirus Views

Well, due to this coronavirus outbreak and the calls for social distancing, the springtime running race season I've been regularly participating in over the past few years has been canceled.  I'm still getting Facebook reminders about a coming event...seems they forgot to notify Zuckerberg that it's off.  Instead, I'm continuing my running but on my own, not around others.  Last Friday I slowly ran 9.3 miles on my extended course through my subdivision and the adjacent one...a good run but not the half-marathon distance I had been planning to run that weekend in Ormond Beach in their race, which had it not been canceled due to the virus would have taken place in Tomoka State Park north of town on the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway.  Oh well, maybe next year, and in the meantime I can still run around my neighborhood as much as I want...

As for the coronavirus response, I'm a bit confused about something I'm hearing from Dr. Fauci (of the coronavirus task force) and New York governor Cuomo. Fauci has said that we shouldn't get ourselves tested for coronavirus unless the symptoms stand out, the reason being that we "consume" health care professionals' protective gear with each test, gear that will be needed for future treatment of the disease.  Cuomo, on the other hand, has been pushing widespread testing in his state with the aim of isolating those with positive outcomes...even those with no discernible symptoms...to help curtail the disease's rapid spread and "flatten the curve".  His rationale is that coronavirus is destined to eventually spread throughout the general population and that the social distancing efforts are not accomplishing enough to provide time for increasing our protective gear, hospital beds and most importantly, ventilators, to meet the upcoming demand for them.  Of course, neither you nor I make the decision whether to administer the tests, so this debate on how often they are used needs to be reconciled at a higher level...

I'm also noticing an even higher ratcheting up of the nastiness I'm hearing on TV and radio, even within the U.S. Senate chamber where informal rules of comity have been generally observed.  Everybody seems to have their own theory on how to deal with this crisis and what merits top priority and what should be pushed to the back. It may seem like a long time already, but it's only been going on for a few weeks and this disease will be with us for much, much longer.  The point of all this inconvenience and economic displacement right now is to reduce the early incidents of serious and critical cases while buying time to increase the needed stockpiles of medical equipment. And on that latter issue, the different states should not be competing with one another on the open market for them, which only drives up the price.  The federal government, led by the President, needs to step up to the plate and coordinate these efforts...

Coronavirus Distancing Prompts Me to Increase Social Media Presence

As this coronavirus pandemic begins to make itself felt more acutely with the numbers of those testing positive for it continuing to double nationally every two or three days, eventually its pervasiveness among the general population is making social distancing much more of a reasonable proposition, even among my extroverted friends who seem to have the notion deeply embedded within themselves that only through regular, close contact with groups of people can they enjoy any meaning in life.  I'm the opposite, pretty much on the extreme-introvert end of the scale, but still try to maintain some interaction with others...this blog's a major example.  I post links to its articles daily on Facebook and Twitter and maintain Facebook friendships with some 200+ people.  In light of the increasing physical isolation in our country, mandated either by the government, businesses or the disease itself, I've decided to send out many more friend requests in the next day or two...focusing on those people I know, although sometimes admittedly not very well with the possibility that some of them may not know me at all.  Also, I intend to be more active on both Facebook and Twitter about interacting on these sites in an appropriate and respectful way with friends and those I follow by commenting on their posts.  I think it's important for folks to keep connected and social media can serve well to alleviate some of the social disorientation which this season of mandated isolation could bring about...

The Cruise Week and the Coronavirus Era

Without consciously having intended to do so, I noticed that I had been cooling it lately on articles about our recent February cruise from the 9th to the 16th...the coronavirus outbreak and presidential politics seem to have replaced them.  But my memories of the excursion are still very fresh...it was only a month ago, and it seems as if I were living in a completely different universe then, what with all the social distancing and restrictions going on now.  Melissa and I were on a ship for a week along with more than five thousand other people...many of them belonging to vulnerable groups for the virus...and oftentimes found ourselves in pretty crowded conditions, including daily sessions of presentations promoting marriage enrichment, concerts, restaurants, crowded hot tubs, and a balloon-release event toward the end that packed more than a thousand together for a prolonged period like sardines in a can.  And to top it off we were crowded and jostled along in long lines at Port Everglades as we disembarked...and then rode on a crowded shuttle bus back to our car.  I kept waiting for days...and then weeks...for some news about someone testing positive from that cruise, but nothing came of it: we figuratively dodged the bullet, the last coach out of Dodge City, so to speak...

Now, of course, we exist in a world of social distancing...six feet between people and incremental restrictions from day to day.  I expect the intensity of this all to only worsen as the numbers of infected and resulting hospitalizations and deaths rise, along with reports close to home of people testing positive for the coronavirus.  So in light of that, please forgive me when you get to this blog some days and discover an article about our cruise, which happened so recently but seems like from an completely different era...yes, in those days gone by folks really did have large assemblies and hung out together, if you can believe it...

About Social Distancing and the Coronavirus

As businesses, schools, churches, libraries, sporting and entertainment events, theme parks and other public places marked by gatherings of people shut down for the remainder of March...and possibly beyond...I am taking my own steps to flatten the exponential curve of coronavirus (specifically COVID-19) transmission in this country, staying at home when it isn't necessary to go out and avoiding my usual haunts at Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts.  We've been shopping for reserve items that could help tide us over for a few days should we find ourselves quarantined or the stores themselves completely close their doors...either a distinct possibility.  The irony of this is that yesterday at Publix there were so many people packed into that small space that the shopping carts were nearly depleted and they had run out of the sanitizer wipes they provided at the entrance.  Well, I'm done with all that and, as far as being with other people for the next few days is concerned, other than voting this Tuesday I am quite content with either staying at home with my family or going back and forth to work.  Speaking of work, Friday they gathered us all together in a little room to watch our Postmaster General advise us on TV to avoid large gatherings...this social distancing concept is very counterintuitive to many of us who have come to believe that bringing people together in community is a crucial step for making the world a better place.  The epidemiologists, however, are more concerned about the growth rate of the disease among the general population and our nation's capacity to care for those many cases that will require hospitalization should that exponential curve continue, especially those more severely affected who will need ventilators to breathe.  Italy, just a few days ahead of us, is already deciding which patients are beyond saving.  And Spain and France have completely locked themselves down as well...

I'm not sure about the Florida Primary on this coming Tuesday.  They had early voting all last week at my nearby Millhopper Library, and that is a place where people get in close proximity to one another.  Voting is the one brief outing I intend to do...my polling place is the Senior Recreation Center just down the road in northern Gainesville: if they keep it there for Tuesday's voting I hope they're wise enough to have the Center closed for seniors normally using the facility and who would be hardest hit from infection as the general public traipses on through its doors to cast their ballots.  Yes, the measures taken to create social distancing and reduce the coronavirus infection rate to a more manageable level are draconian, as I mentioned in Friday's article here.  But so far we have not seen the heavy hand of governmental decrees...as has been the case in other countries earlier affected...to force the general population into complying with what they deem necessary to limit the disease's spread: this might be on the way as well.  I'm wondering what the criteria for social distancing will be in a few weeks...the numbers of those afflicted and deaths are certain to continue rising even if this season of shutdown "flattens the curve"...sooner or later places will begin to open again while the virus is still an active presence: what then?  I also mentioned before that I felt that the coronavirus is already freely circulating among us...we're going to encounter it on a mass scale eventually, let's not let the current social distancing delude us about that...

Quote of the Week...from Robert Heinlein

Don't ever become a pessimist...a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun, and neither can stop the march of events.                 ---Robert Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein (1907-88) was one of the greatest science fiction writers of the past century...in recognition of this fact I am reading (sometimes rereading) and reviewing some of his earlier short stories and novels.  I was going through one of those "quotes" websites when I came across a few of his...they're just as true today as when he coined them decades ago, if not more so.  Here are a couple more: "The United States has become a place where entertainers and athletes are mistaken for people of importance" and "Democracy is four wolves and a sheep voting on dinner".  His above quote about pessimism and optimism is especially true in today's environment of fear...if not panic...about the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, which has just been classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization.  With such a disease it is important to be able to test people for it and isolate them so as to help protect the most vulnerable people, i.e. the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, from exposure...the only problem I see with this approach is that we may be closing the barn door after the chickens have all escaped: this disease appears to me to be freely circulating among us already.  Wednesday night the National Basketball Association suspended the rest of its 2019-20 season after a Utah Jazz player tested positive and the NCAA yesterday canceled its popular March Madness tournament, theme parks and schools are closing indefinitely...Washington's governor just banned meetings exceeding 250 people: the word "draconian" seems to fit this trend of actions.  We have had viral invasions periodically over the last few years, some dwarfing the effect that coronavirus has had: the swine flu epidemic a decade ago saw several tens of thousands of deaths in the USA and over 300,000 hospitalizations...but no stock market panic, no major closures or disruptions or travel bans then. And I think people are letting themselves get freaked out by the totally out-of-scale depictions of the virus as a large red spherical alienlike creature with nasty-looking spikes coming out of it...last night's local news show had a mural background of this spectacle. So I can see how it would be realistic for me to be pessimistic about this situation we are currently confronting, but being that way won't help me or anyone else. I see a light at the end of this gloomy tunnel and look forward to getting there. In the meantime, we should all exercise our own caution for the next few weeks as well...keep your hands from your face especially when in public, wash hands often, avoid hand-shaking and similar types of contact, stay away from large gatherings, stock up on some necessities in case of a quarantine (which is never expected until it suddenly happens), etcetera.  As a pessimist might say, things will most likely get worse before they improve.  But as an optimist I am looking forward to getting beyond this terrible period and returning to normality...and that includes health and prosperity!