Some thoughts on the novel coronavirus AKA COVID-19.
- What happened to versions 1 through 18 of COVID? Is this like WD-40 where the first 39 versions didn’t work?
- Why is everyone stockpiling toilet paper for a respiratory disease? I’ll try to stay ahead of the game for the next disease outbreak, and if it has gastrointestinal symptoms then I’m going to stockpile Kleenex and Puffs Plus.
- I saw a news story on how restaurants are being affected because people with whatever symptoms were not being allowed to work. That should have been the case already. It seems that COVID-19 is making people behave (regarding personal health at least) the way they should have been anyway. I don’t want someone with a fever handling my food whether it’s coronavirus or the plain old flu.
- Restricting travel to control the spread of coronavirus is like inching your way into a cold pool. You know you’re eventually going to get wet, and all you’re doing is prolonging the inevitable. Ok, bad analogy – stop going into the pool instead.
- All the explanations about how much travel affects one’s carbon footprint were not really being heeded. A couple months of coronavirus has impacted people’s travel plans a lot more than years’ worth of global-warming policies and recommendations.
- I got a COVID-19 email from my bank. I thought the privacy notices were a waste, but if every company I do business with is going to send me not only privacy policies but also personal hygiene tips to avoid viruses, that will be an even bigger waste.
- Dear Politician, if you are going to enact a ban on public gatherings, you must also provide an exit strategy for the ban. Otherwise, I must conclude you are just making a power grab and taking advantage of fear and uncertainty. By “exit strategy” I mean how will we know when things are good again? You can’t ban public gathering and sporting events forever. So what is the indication? When you say so? I want an objective measurement instead.
My opinion, in case you’re wondering, is that our current reaction to the coronavirus is not sustainable. Business and travel must get back to normal eventually (although this has furthered my resolve never to go on a large cruise ship). The virus will spread and won’t be contained, and it will end up either being something everyone has to live with (like the existing cold and flu season) or enough people will get immunity and it will taper off.
My worry is that if this is how the country reacts to an easily-preventable and relatively mild disease, how bad is going to be if there’s something really bad? I can’t imagine the social and political disorder that something with worse symptoms or a higher mortality rate would bring.
And yes, I know the 19 from COVID-19 refers to the year 2019.
Also, I was going to make a image that showed 19 different crows and jays and ravens with the caption of Corvid-19, but several people have already done that so I skipped it.
He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you.
Deuteronomy 28:60
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that no one really likes to go to the SOS (or the DMV for those of you who are not Michiganders – it’s the Secretary of State). And for many years that was true.
Then in our previous administration we got someone in charge of the SOS who actually made an improvement. She brought the SOS up to modern times by allowing people to get in line via their phones, and to get updates via phones.
No more waiting at the government building! Check in online, and you only needed to head over to the SOS when they sent you a text. I could spend those 3 hours in line at work doing something rather than sitting in a hard plastic chair doing nothing. It was the best thing the SOS office had done in my lifetime.
But what about the internet? Surely being able to renew things online was a much larger accomplishment? Nope, and here’s why: they let you do things online that you could already do by mail. So it’s just a faster way of doing things remotely, but those things were already available to do remotely. The internet didn’t really change the things for which you had to go to the branch office. The online check-in changes the branch office experience.
They’re trying to help by adding more self-serve kiosks in more places like local stores. But those kiosks also don’t do things that you can’t already do online or by mail. Having SOS kiosks in every store across Michigan won’t put a dent in the wait times at the SOS office.
What they need to do, in addition to being able to use one’s cell number to wait in line of course, is to expand the things that can be done online. Every so many years, your license plate becomes invalid and you need to go in to get a new plate, instead of renewing online. Why? No one knows. And there must be other things that can be added to the online services.
What happened to the MI-Timeline? Why can’t I check in online anymore for the SOS? Why does it take so long to get an appointment? Good questions, and I can’t answer them. But you can help change the answer by going to the change.org petition to bring back the check in line online option.
What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should endure?
Job 6:11
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Since today is New Year’s Day, I won’t take much of my time to write anything lengthy here.
I am posting this public service reminder that new decades start with years ending in 1, so the 203rd decade starts next year. 2020 is the last year of the 202nd decade.
But most people don’t want to think too much about what things should be and just go along with the crowds, because they also misunderstand the meaning of the phrase “wisdom of crowds”. But I already posted about that earlier, so you can go read about the wisdom of crowds if you want.
So most people just think that when the tens place changes in the year it must be a new decade. And if most people think that, then that becomes the new definition of the decade, just like if enough people use a word to mean something that it doesn’t mean, it magically gains that meaning and becomes correct, like “momentarily”. I think I’m done fighting the decade thing though. And “momentarily”. Not that I won’t bring it up occasionally, and especially if asked – but I’ll try not to make a big deal of it.
And while we’re dealing with word definitions, “ain’t” is the right word to use in certain places. It’s correct following “I” but not “it” or “they”. People just hear it used and try to use it without thinking about it or knowing what it means or how it got here. And no, I’m not telling you.
It came about after these things that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being one hundred and ten years old.
Joshua 24:29
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Remember the reason for the season: one Mediator between God and man, which is Christ Jesus.
So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds.” ‘
Luke 5:9
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This post is a repeat – I’m phoning it in today because I’m getting ready to enjoy the holiday.
Happy Birthday
A M E R I C AA M E R I C AA M E R I C A!
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.
Psalm 33:12
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Now that no one is talking about the Knuckleball font anymore, it’s time to announce that Font Grill has released a new font.
Introducing: Brontosaurus
Go download Brontosaurus.
This was patterned after the Behemoth italic font, with the fancy swashes. I wanted to name this font Leviathan since that is what naturally pairs with Behemoth, but that was taken. So I went with Brontosaurus, which is supposed to be the modern name for the biblical behemoth.
“Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox.
Job 40:15
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Here is a tour of what May can look like in Michigan.
We’ll start with my favorite group of the bunch: firespray tulips
(more…)
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This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
