47 thoughts on “March 13, 2020: Should Be Fine”

  1. The fish fry is going on as planned today, but I have a feeling this will be the last one this Lent.

    One of my friends has been talking up (for many weeks) going to spring training in Jupiter, where four guys have rented out a house, and were going to attend at least four games in just under a week. I expect to see him at the fish fry, and I know he's going to be crushed.

    Also bad news on my front: looks like Runner daughter is going to put the other desk in my home office to use for her work-from-home location, too.

      1. The first year we did it, we found that it is such a relaxing decompression after a long work week to enjoy some good food and visit with people we know (and don't know). Also, I lend a voice to the gospel/folk quartet in the lobby.

        Years ago my parents were visiting and we took them to the fish fry. We sat with a couple older couples, and after some chatting discovered that one gentleman and my mom attended HS together in Grand Forks.

  2. Today, we were supposed to go to the first day of practice for the season-opening IndyCar race in St. Pete in the morning/afternoon and then head over to Bradenton to watch the Twins play at the Pirates facility.

    I'm thankful that both organizations made the decision to close them off to fans (IndyCar is planning to run the event with no one in attendance, at least as of now) because my head knew that not going somewhere with a crowd was the right thing to do. But it is really hard giving up the activities that were a big part of the decision-making progress for planning the trip.

    1. Iā€™m trying to gently suggest we not go to the library opening at all. It probably doesnā€™t matter ā€” we take mass transit to work, work at a large university, have a kid in daycare, etc. ā€” but it seems like the right thing to do. On the other hand, we had a dozen people at our house for bunko last night, so maybe it doesnā€™t make a difference at this point.

      1. "It probably doesn't matter" is what I'm really struggling with--I honestly don't even know what is open/closed in the greater Tampa/St. Pete area but usual back-up plans for outings with a child like zoos and aquariums don't seem particularly appealing. There is a manatee viewing spot closing to the public as of 5p today, but what's that say about the idea of going there?

        1. One of the things Iā€™m struggling to reconcile is differing perspectives in the house about how much it does matter. (Iā€™m an ā€œounce of preventionā€ kind of guy in this particular respect.)

  3. I'm going to a book launch tomorrow afternoon at a favorite bookstore that in all likelihood won't be especially well attended. I figure we'll buy a few books for spring break (and beyond) and support a local business.

        1. Iā€™ve been pretty active in my current MMOG chat room lately, but the bar needs restocked, weā€™re down to vodka, tequila, and Baileyā€™s. Cub Liquors has a good St. Patā€™s sale going so weā€™ll be hitting that tonight.

    2. Bookstore event canceled. But if they're open, I'll probably still swing by and make some purchases.

  4. Last night was the end of the curling season because of COVIID-19. I don't think anyone was particularly upset about it, it was definitely the right thing to do. I'm a little surprised the decision wasn't made before we actually played last night, though.

    1. The boy's school is cancelled next week. The week after is spring break, and I'm just waiting for them to cancel the day camp they have set up for that. No word from our works yet...

      1. Working from home is all well and good, but working at home with young children seems a lot more iffy.

        Do you know if there will be resources available for any sort of online learning?

          1. Schools should just give every kid a handful of classics (age appropriate... so, Dr. Seuss for some?) and tell them to read them over the next week+.

            1. Jane works for an after school education company whose worksheets we constantly torture Pete with (according to him). We at least have plenty of resources to keep him busy. I think we'll have to make clear to him that he's on no vacation.

            2. Here's how one school librarian handled it:

              1. Our library district extended the due dates for book returns. Unfortunately they did not ask for us to immediately return the Ad Astra DVD before we had a chance to watch it.

    1. What about the various caucii and game meet-ups?

      I've probably come into contact with two dozen people I would not have otherwise because of him.

      1. I've probably come into contact with two dozen people I would not have otherwise because of him if I knew then what I know today.

        FTFY šŸ˜›

        I'm not saying 100%, just in everyday practice

  6. I'm teaching the first-year writing course at the SBG College of Law, so I have until Wednesday to figure out how to do so remotely.

    1. Heh. I was gonna maybe do that one year until they decided it probably couldn't be done remotely. So have fun with that.

  11. Waiting to hear if the wife will be working from home soon. If so Iā€™ll have to give her my laptop and use one of the backups.

    1. No chicken, ground beef, or toilet paper at Walbaums. I got ground Wagyu beef.

      1. Glanced down the aisle in Walmart Neighborhood Market marked with paper towels and not sure what all else -- shelves were bare.

        Mrs. Runner talked earlier about grabbing some more toilet paper (I just bought some last week because we actually needed it) and all I could do was make a loud groaning sound. And no, we did not get more.

  13. Some good news. When we rebook our cruise, we're being given 125% of our payment so far to use towards the next booking. That should help if we decide to book in December when it's more expensive. Or some free excursions.

  15. Ok, this makes no sense, but...blame Canada.

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