Subj : Isolation Diary To : Nancy Backus From : Barry Martin Date : Sun May 10 2020 09:25:00 Hi Nancy! BM> Drizzling out this morning and 40ø; just three days ago it was 80 and BM> sunny! NB> Crazy weather... it was positively winter-like looking out the NB> window this morning... slate-gray skies, cold sun sorta NB> shining... and snow flakes... Still cold this afternoon, but at NB> least there's sun and fluffy white clouds again now... Bleah for the middle of May! We had a 29ø freeze yesterday morning but the sun was shining, hazy blue skies -- looked rather inviting! Some time early this morning heard a 'tink-tink-scratchy tink' on the window -- sounded like it was hailing a little! (This morning's weather did verify.) Currently overcast skies and 44ø. NB>>> So I'm now 10 days behind... and who knows when I'll catch up.... NB>>> but I'm still plodding along... BM>> Well someone has to be at the end of the line! NB>> I suppose... ;) I'm more like only a week behind now... but life NB>> is uncertain.... BM> You probably won't catch up until I take a few days off! NB> And that wouldn't help longterm, since as soon as you came back NB> you'd dump a pile of messages on me... Maybe I'd do the Five Per Day Rule! BM> ...Anything urgent I'd flag in the Subject. NB> Not that there's much urgent here... ;) I'm somewhat getting up NB> to date, though... The only thing I could think of as urgent would be a last-minute flight. Other examples I'm thinking of aren't urgent but either planned ("I'll be gone next week") or occurring without warning so wouldn't have time to send a message. BM> BM>> Right: with the weather-related delays it was just a longer weekend or BM>> days off than usual. Some anticipated time off is even built in to BM>> the school calendar so don't have to do a last-minute extension. Do BM>> regular schoolwork then? Nah! ...The only time I remember having BM>> school work at home was when I had the mumps. NB>> And that was so that you'd not fall way behind the rest of the class NB>> while you were gone for so long... :) When I took my son out of NB>> school for a couple of weeks to travel with me (a week of helping my NB>> sister with a newborn in MD, and then another week of driving south NB>> to visit my greataunts in NC, and the return), we brought schoolwork NB>> along with us, as part of the agreement... :) BM> I don't know anybody who had done that 'vacation travel schooling' but BM> makes sense: teachers have a lesson plan and the parent or whomever is BM> in charge needs to be given the texts and any special supplies and BM> hopefully figure it out. Geography and history: more or less follow BM> the text. Calculus -- uhhhh! NB> This was when he was only a first-grader, at least... ;) The First grade we can probably still handle! NB> previous year, when I stayed with Grandmother while the same NB> sister (who had been living with her) went on her honeymoon for a NB> week, I had kindergarten work for him to do... Both years, it NB> just seemed more important that he be with mom rather than having NB> to juggle his after-school care until Richard got home from NB> work... Two years later, when my sister had her next baby, and NB> the kid was in 3rd grade, he stayed home and went to school... :) Yes, age nine a child can usually take care of themselves for a while. A parent might want a close-by trusted neighbour as available but not necessarily watching. NB>> Meanwhile, our governor has officially declared that the schools NB>> will be closed for the rest of the academic year.... BM> To me makes sense: everyone has their on-line learning routine figured BM> out and then if sent back to school need to return to the in-a-real- BM> school-room routine (I have to wait another twenty minutes until the BM> end of the period to get a glass of water??). NB> And it's so close to the end of the school year, all the hoops to NB> get the building safe for occupancy and all just aren't worth NB> dealing with for just a few days back.... Right. Read where some sites (not just schools) might have problems because the water has sat in the pipes and a concentration of chemicals may have leeched, minimal air circulation so possibility of mold, etc. And just had a yucky thought: lunches and snacks left in the break room refrigerators! And desks: could have left a muffin in the drawer for the next day. BM>> I suppose one good thing about the timing of the COVID-19 is it didn't BM>> happen years ago: most people, schools, businesses, etc., are BM>> comfortable with going on-line and doing something, to one degree or BM>> another. Download files, upload pictures, etc. I and a lot of people BM>> have not done videochatting but probably could figure it out BM>> relatively easily. It seems the connectivity is more of a problem than BM>> the doing. (Poor or lack of ISP.) NB>> Or lack of all the proper software etc to make it work on one's own NB>> devices... But yes, especially the kids are much more tech-aware, so NB>> in most cases, the schooling can continue, if a little different from NB>> normal... and people that normally use computers at work can fairly NB>> easily accomodate to working on them at home for work.... BM> Yes: the kids were probably setting up the parents' office-at-home and BM> video-conferencing, etc. ...If this had happened when I was in high BM> school -- the closest I had to a computer was an electronic calculator BM> and that would only do addition, subtraction, multiplication and BM> division. (I did sort of know how to use a slide rule.) NB> Had it happened back then... it would be a pile of paperwork to NB> mail in to the teacher... ;) Correspondence courses! NB> And I also knew how to use a slide NB> rule... actually was using it in college, since the electronic NB> calculators were still pretty primitive then... and bulky and NB> expensive... I had gone through two TI-55 calculators while I was in Admissions -- not rough on them, I think the first one the power supply cord broke. Didn't need the fancy math portion but the memories were handy. Don't recall the cost -- seemed like it wasn't too bad otherwise the purchase wouldn't have been approved or I would have had to prove a need. And now there's a virtual calculator built in which does all the TI-55 did and more for free! BM>> It seems sunlight, heat and a third item destroys the coronaviruses, BM>> which is one reason for the anticipated decline in summer and the BM>> potential for it to return in the Fall. NB>> I'm not sure how scientific that presumption is in the case of this NB>> particular coronavirus... and people do get summer colds as well NB>> (another, less virulent coronavirus).... BM> Yes, that statement phrasing probably should have been modified to not BM> imply 100% destruction. At this point (early Spring) I'm thinking BM> I'll probably continue a swipe of the shopping cart handle with hand BM> sanitizer before use, probably for the rest of the year. NB> Probably wouldn't hurt... whether or not it really is NB> necessary... :) I'm thinking for the price and effort it's a worthwhile layer of safety. LIS, that's my current consideration and subject to change. :) OTOH I have not been wearing a mask though bringing one with me, more so if one is required to enter the store, etc., and they don't have one to give out I'm not inconvenienced by being turned away. BM>>> ...Not coming up with the word right now but a short stay of the fruit BM>>> in boiling water is used to make removal of the outer layer easier. NB>>> I think you are referring to blanching the fruits/vegetables... NB>>> also useful for a quick partial cooking prior to freezing,,, BM>> That was it! Again, heat involved. ...And so heat has been used for BM>> a long time as a 'cleanser' and preservative. NB>> Blanching is more a way of preserving quality in the produce before NB>> freezing... freezing can be more destructive to the cell walls of the NB>> plant if they aren't partially cooked first... BM> OK, thanks! I vaguely recalled the information, just never used BM> directly as no canning/preserving done here nor my parents'. Have BM> known people who have and they've either moved away or stopped. NB> As I implied in a previous message, I've done blanching as part NB> of preserving fruits and vegetables in the past.... :) It's more NB> of an operation than I'm really up for any more... ;) And simply rinsing of the fruit or vegetable seems to be sufficient. BM> And I'm not sure but I think I BM> heard the mist being sprayed sanitize vehicles, rooms, etc., is BM> hydrogen peroxide. Sort of makes sense as is better at killing BM> (household) mold than bleach, plus won't discolour fabrics, etc., with BM> a short-term contact. NB> That's more misting than steaming, though... Probably true: just seen on the news. BM>> I was looking at the variety packs for tea at Hy-Vee a couple weeks BM>> back. Didn't like the price that much -- was also the national BM>> brands; I didn't see a Hy-Vee offering. Don't recall seeing a pack of BM>> Ginger Tea. NB>> I'd look for it in the Natural Foods section, with the herbal teas... NB>> You can also get it as Ginger Drink that comes in little foil packets NB>> of powdered ginger and sugar that you mix with hot water to produce NB>> the drink... :) Or you could just buy some ginger root in the produce NB>> department and grate it (or just use chunks, but the grated ginger NB>> probably would brew better) and steep that in hot water... Add sugar NB>> or honey as desired.... :) BM> At this point I'll start with the commercially packaged ginger tea to BM> see how I like it. Plus easier, though the fresh ginger would BM> probably be better than the dried tea packet. NB> I just use the packets myself... ;) I get a box of them at the NB> Asian food market, actually... There's one in downtown Davenport.... Might be easier to try a natural foods store. Or pick up some ginger root and scrape it on to lunch and use regular tea! ¯ ® ¯ Barry_Martin_3@ ® ¯ @Q.COM ® ¯ ® .... Sanitized for your protection. --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.47 þ wcECHO 4.2 ÷ ILink: The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com | 856-933-7096 (454:1/1) .