Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Staying the Course



People are feeling stressed and worried about what is happening, what will happen, what life will be like once the pandemic has swept through.

I would like to thank everyone who is helping, in whatever way they are helping.

If you have the means, stay home.  Do not go to the mall to hang out.  Do not go to the grocery store to 'browse'.  Go in, get what you came for, go home.  Do not go for group walks in the park.  Stay isolated physically.  Yes, go outside, get some needed fresh air, but don't stroll along with three neighbours chatting while you do so.  Canadians are using the length of a hockey stick as their gauge for how far to stay away from each other.

If you have friends or neighbours at risk, find out if they are ok.  Some communities are handing out coloured cards - green for 'ok', red for 'need some help' to post in their window.  Groups are forming to deliver essential items to people who cannot get out themselves.

Friends and family are calling everyone to make sure things are alright and provide a little social interaction.  Sometimes quite a lot of social interaction - Facetime and Skype chats are possible.

People staying home, not using masks that are needed by medical people are doing a service by not using up personal protection equipment.  People saying that they can go out if they wear masks are not helping.  Medical personnel change their masks/gowns after each patient.  If someone goes out on the town, confident their home made cloth mask or bandana will protect them?  Not so much.

Stay home.  If you need to go out, go do your essential errand, go home, wash your hands - with soap, wipe your packages off with a wipe.  If you have any symptoms, STAY HOME.

People wondering why this has gotten so bad so quickly?  It is spreading just like a virus does.

There is a reason we say a FB or Twitter post has gone viral.  It grows exponentially.  And if you don't know what that means, look at what is happening in the US.  For the people who think this is a hoax, that hospitals are empty?  Think again.  There are no visiting hours, regular health care has been shut down, while the medical professionals throw everything, all their resources, at trying to help those people who are sick enough to need hospital stays - including intubation.  There is a reason the hospital parking lots might be empty and it isn't because the pandemic is a hoax.  Do not be going into a hospital to 'prove' there is no crisis.  And frankly I am amazed anyone has to actually say this.  And yet, here we are.  (Yes, it's a thing - if you want to check out the hashtag filmyourhospital on Twitter.)

Chatting with friends (through messenger and emails) we are all agreed - the first order of priority is for us all to survive this.  Therefore, stay home.  Stay away from people as much as possible.  We have had one stealth delivery to the house with a care package.  A little gesture, but a reminder that we are a community.  We need to look out and care for each other.

We need to stay the course, self-isolating.  We are not 'stuck' at home.  We are SAFE at home.  Let's keep it that way.

I may be preaching to the choir.  If so, I apologize.  But it is so very important right now to recognize that this virus shows no mercy to the vulnerable amongst us and does not discriminate based on your political leanings.  Yes, people are beginning to recover.  But others have not.

Stay the course.  First we survive.  Then we figure out how to make it better for the next time.  If history teaches us anything, there will be a next time.  #flattenthecurve

Monday, March 30, 2020

Trying

try·ing
/ˈtrīiNG/
See definitions in:
All
Law
Carpentry
Cooking
adjective
adjective: trying
  1. difficult or annoying; hard to endure.
    "it had been a very trying day"
    Similar:
    stressful
    difficult
    taxing
    demanding
    tough
    hard
    heavy
    pressured
    testing
    frustrating
    fraught
    traumatic
    arduous
    grueling
    tiring
    fatiguing
    exhausting
    wearing
    hellish
    a bitch of a
    a stinker of a
    annoying
    irritating
    exasperating
    maddening
    infuriating
    tiresome
    irksome
    troublesome
    bothersome
    vexatious
    aggravating
    Opposite:
    easy
    painless
    accommodating
try
/trī/
verb
gerund or present participle: trying
  1. 1.
    make an attempt or effort to do something.
    "he tried to regain his breath"
    Similar:
    attempt
    endeavor
    make an effort
    exert oneself
    seek
    strive
    struggle
    do one's best
    do one's utmost
    do all one can
    undertake
    aim
    set out
    take it on oneself
    try one's hand at
    have a go/shot/crack/stab/bash
    give it one's best shot
    bend/lean over backwards
    bust a gut
    do one's damnedest
    pull out all the stops
    go all out
    go for broke
    knock oneself out
    break one's neck
    move heaven and earth
    give it a burl
    give it a fly
    essay
    assay
    • use, test, or do (something new or different) in order to see if it is suitable, effective, or pleasant.
      "everyone wanted to know if I'd tried jellied eel"
      Similar:
      test
      try out
      check out
      put to the test
      experiment with
      sample
      taste
      have a taste of
      inspect
      investigate
      examine
      appraise
      evaluate
      assess
      try something on for size
      give something a whirl
      trial
      pilot
      put through its paces
      put into practice
    • attempt to achieve or attain.
      "they decided to try for another baby"
    • NORTH AMERICAN
      compete or audition in order to join (a team) or be given (a position).
      "she tried out for the team"
    • go to (a place) or attempt to contact (someone), typically in order to obtain something.
      "I've tried the apartment, but the number is busy"
    • push or pull (a door or window) to determine whether it is locked.
      "I tried the doors, but they were locked"
    • make severe demands on (a person or a quality, typically patience).
      "Mary tried everyone's patience to the limit"
      Similar:
      tax
      make severe demands on
      strain
      put a strain on
      test
      stretch
      sap
      drain
      exhaust
      wear out
      tire out
      weary
  2. 2.
    subject (someone) to trial.
    "he was arrested and tried for the murder"
    • investigate and decide (a case or issue) in a formal trial.
      "such cases must be tried by a jury"
      Similar:
      adjudicate
      consider
      hear
      pass judgment on
      adjudge
      examine
  3. 3.
    smooth (roughly planed wood) with a plane to give an accurately flat surface.
  4. 4.
    extract (oil or fat) by heating.
    "some of the fat may be tried out and used"


The lovely English language.  Too many words and not enough so we keep using the sames ones to mean multiple things.

We are living in trying times.  In every sense of the word.

We are trying to flatten the curve of the pandemic growth.  We are trying to maintain a positive attitude.  We are trying to protect ourselves and our loved ones from catching the disease.  We are trying to stay at home.  We are trying to survive,.

Some people are trying to minimize what is happening while others are trying to not panic.

People are trying to help the vulnerable amongst us while others seem to be not even trying to understand the importance of physical distancing.  Politicians are trying to blame anyone and everyone but themselves for what is happening.  And trying to shift blame to others - especially others from other countries or political parties.

It is all very trying.

I have been having conversations (here and elsewhere) with friends and we are all agreed.  The number one priority right now is to survive.  

So I urge all my friends and acquaintances - try to stay home if you have the means.  Try to practice physical distancing from each other.  Try to remember to not touch your face when you are out, and when you get home wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water - a minimum of 20 seconds.  Longer is better.

Some people are immune compromised or by dint of age or other health considerations, are particularly vulnerable to this virus.  Everyone needs to get on board the isolation train.  Some countries are in actual lockdown, not the voluntary compliance that we are currently living with in my province.  The better we follow the isolation guidelines, the sooner the curve of growth will slow and the sooner the virus will have blown through.

If you don't go out, you don't need to fuss about whether or not you need to wear a mask.

If you stay in, you won't pick up the virus and you will not spread it.

Having lived through several periods of self-isolation for various reasons, I am well versed in not focusing on what I cannot, but on what I can.  This particular isolation is a piece of cake for me.  I do not have a broken anything.  I am not dealing with chemotherapy and trashing my immune system entirely.  I can weave, I can move around freely in my house.  I can even, when the weather improves, go for walks - maintaining safe physical distancing from anyone I encounter on said walk.

Spring is coming, in spite of the fresh snow yesterday.  This too shall pass.  At the end?  I would sincerely like all of you to still be here.

In the meantime, I will be weaving.  Because I can.

"Do, or do not.  There is no 'try'."

Currently reading The King's Justice by Susan Elia MacNeal