Good morning. I hope this post finds you well. We are all fine still here in Tacoma, though I have to admit I think we are heading – as a nation – toward “herd immunity”.
When we first started talking about COVID here I will admit that I was concerned about the death rates reaching incredibly high percentages. Those numbers (THANKFULLY) never came true because the disease is (so far) less deadly than the initial numbers indicated.
We also have some incredibly good news about simple, cheap, and effective methods available to prevent the spread of this virus: wearing a mask. That’s it. No miracle cures needed, no vaccines needed, you don’t even need to have medical grade PPE; just a simple cloth mask and social distancing. However, to be effective, most people have to wear masks (some folks cannot) and adhere to social distancing regs.
Somewhat predictably, wearing a mask has become politicized. If you wear a mask you’ve “drank the kool aid libtard”; if you don’t wear a mask, you’re “an asshole”.
This whole thing with COVID-19 is draining on a level I’ve never experienced. Between people actively trying to get the virus – “because it’s just a cold” – and people actually fighting with each other over wearing a mask in public – and the inevitability of my returning to work where I will have to deal with hundreds of people every day in a closed environment I’ve almost been drained of my will to even write this sentence. I’m not going to stop wearing a mask but looking at the sheer numbers of new infections and the culture of this country I see catching COVID as a high probability before the vaccine is made available.
The concern I have expressed about overwhelmed hospitals and for the elderly is only heightened. Between the police violence, the protests, the counter protests, the virus, the political decay, the economic inequality, the education gap, and the reality gap; this country feels like an asteroid hurtling toward a planet; breakup seems imminent.
It’s funny because Avie and I have been watching an old TV reality show called Alone. It’s a competition show based on the Survivorman series: contestants are sent into various wilderness areas alone with only 10 items. They are given a satellite phone and can tap out whenever they want. The last one who survives wins $500k.
I won’t spoil any of the seasons (there are 6) but what this show hammers home in a relentlessly sappy way is that human beings are not meant to live alone. These are expert survivalists, given advice about local animals, and most of them can last just a few days – some make it a few weeks before they break down emotionally and physically – and an exceptional few make it for a few months. But those last few are basically wasted away. They would be unlikely able to sustain that life.
It can be done, of course, some folks have survived for years alone in the wilderness. But humans need each other; no only are we social animals but the success of our species has been because of cooperation. Once that cooperation dries up – or when two cooperative groups decide to attack each other – then the social order breaks down.
While I wait for us to either collapse from disease or disunity I have discovered a few new routines. The first is that I realized my brain operates best before 10am. So, every morning I read. I have several books I’m reading now and will post some “reviews” when I’m done.
Next is that I find a good nature walk helps lower my anxiety, lowers my blood pressure, and reduces my stress. I also have started looking for birds on these walks. It’s fun. Here’s a Barred Owl from my local park – unlike many birds he’s got stereo vision, so instead of looking at you with one eye, he stares at you with two inky-black eyes.
My old football friend (back when I was able to play football) took Avie and me out to the local Army base yesterday and we saw literally hundreds of birds. My favorite was the Swainson’s Thrush:
I am working on an Arsenal-related project but it’s going pretty slow. Statsbomb released a dataset for the 2003/04 Invincibles team and I have been learning R (and R Studio) to build up some stats posts on that squad. I have zero experience using R and I have run through some tutorials but they seem to leave me with more questions than answers.
I don’t want to drop any data yet but I will say that some of these numbers (for example, Henry’s output, how the team worked offensively and defensively, etc) are incredible. Very exciting stuff. So, if you know R and would be willing to help… I would be eternally grateful. I’m willing to even donate to your favorite cause (which can be you if you need it) for some help getting me sorted out. You can send me an email to 7amkickoff at gmail and let’s see what we can work out.
Oh yeah, Arsenal return on Wednesday. Cool.
Anyway, stay safe out there.
Are you saying the numbers are incredible relative to what you’ve seen in Barcelona’s and/or City’s numbers?
It’s difficult and probably wrong to compare Henry from 17 years ago to any player today but… Henry was taking over 5 shots per game, completing nearly 4 dribbles per game, 39 carries per game, etc.
It’s been a long time since i come here. I stop because of the inevitability of the downwarda trends of Arsenal from Emery and Raul and co. I’m optimistic about Arteta saga, not least because i envisioned him becoming Arsenal manager even when he still play for us, albeit i romanticized him winning the CL and tributed it to Arsene after he died before finishing the season.
Although I were not following Tim’s blog for some time, i still read his twitter account because I increasingly interested in his view on US debacle more than Arsenal itself. So, after a while not visiting this blog and reading it now. I become more appreciative towards Tim blogging about unArsenal related thing. So, looking forwards to your book review and your view on the world, Tim. May Arsenal strengthened your life and no longer entwined you with their problem, which probably might still be a lot as long as Raul is here and the puppet figure Edu.
“Wearing a mask is politicised?” Like you say, painfully predictable. One half of the country can’t agree with the other half on just about everything, on point of principle. How are you meant to get anything meaningful done?
Not only has the mask been politicized but the WHO’s messaging on this issue has been all over the map from the very beginning, and not just from lack of scientific data I believe.
Like you needed to be an infectious disease expert to be able to predict that wearing any kind of mask might help keeping infections down.
Outside of politics I think even a bigger factor in whether one wears a mask voluntarily or not is how healthy that person feels they are, and how much contact, if any , they have with the elderly.
On the subject of bird watching, an overgrown Mulberry tree in my back yard needed to be trimmed because it just got too big for the place. Not to mention all the fruit falling to the ground over the summer( they don’t call it “ everbearing “ for no reason) creating mess and attracting all kinds of bugs.
In the process of cutting down branches a birds nest hidden in the canopy fell to ground with three small, blue eggs in it.
Two medium size birds looked down on it confused from the rooftop.
It made me feel sad and guilty.
As awful as the global pandemic has been, I’ve been less affected than most. Yes, I work at a hospital, so have to do some things differently at work. But I got to keep my daily routine, my job was never under threat, and thus my life more or less continued unchanged. What’s more I happen to practice at a center that for whatever reason has a very low burden of Covid patients. I can say without any reasonable doubt that I have a lot to be grateful for. Covid has even had other unexpected benefits:
A) Telehealth visits. Can and should be the way forward for a majority of ambulatory encounters.
B) My hair. Turns out a lack of access to a barber has led to a more desirable look, according to my wife. This was a shocking revelation.
C) Disconnecting from sports. A major time sink and addiction was minimized for a while, to the benefit of other things.
D) Gardening spree. I see more people gardening and walking outside than I can ever recall, including myself.
E) Telecommuting. Working from home is a win for all involved, isn’t it? If there are two things the world could use less of, it’s parking lots, office spaces and internal combustion engines. Ok that’s three but you get my point.
F) Box store closures. I ought not celebrate companies going under because it means the people who worked there are now unemployed and that sucks. But I won’t miss JC Penny one bit. I view this as the natural evolution of retail, and JC Penny was a large flightless bird on the verge of a population crash before Covid delivered the coup de grace.
G) Plague awareness. Covid isn’t the only virus capable of causing a global pandemic. This was the kick in the rear admiral we needed to make governments take this issue seriously. Maybe we will be better prepared for the next one.
H) Teacher appreciation. My wife is a teacher. It drives her mad when people casually assume her job is easy. Covid has shown parents across the world how important teachers are.
I) We are all in this together. I’ve been more fortunate than most and some groups are a lot less fortunate than others. But from a 10,000 foot view, we are all humans dealing with a truly global crisis. We will always argue and bicker but I feel overall that this disease has made us more compassionate and sensitive towards our fellow humans.
Now before anyone gets it twisted, I’m not posting this to say that Covid is actually a good thing. Far from it. I’m simply expressing gratitude for the ways it has shaped things around me, unexpectedly for the better. It’s a bit like finding a little flower after a massive hailstorm. We all have to find something to hold on to and believe in.