When last we left off, we had just come off of the Easter weekend with a renewed sense of hope. Unfortunately, the weeks since then have been relatively unremarkable outside of the viral curve still not flattening. Most everyone has settled into a familiar routine of staying at home, engaging in multiple Zoom meetings and only venturing out for essential goods. I apologize that it has been a while since the last update of the Coronapocalypse but I got busy taking on a massive new stay-at-home project which requires me to paint the entire exterior of our house
Day 31 – Monday, April 13th
For the middle of April, today was brutally cold, like almost a wintery type feel to it. Still no sports to be found anywhere and sadly Devon Dotson made his departure from Kansas basketball official by announcing that he is going pro. According to US health officials, the country is “nearing the peak right now” but in New York, which has been the epicenter of this virus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is saying the worst is over – but only if we continue to be smart going forward, so that has to be some good news, right? Worldwide countries like Spain are relaxing its restrictions with some people returning to work, but in places like India, the coronavirus numbers spiked just hours before it had planned to lift its lockdown. I can also tell you that my children are starting to get pretty cagey around the house but I have no clue how long this lockdown will last.
Day 32 – Tuesday, April 14th
Despite the nationwide shutdown of the economy, the political show must go on. There will be an election in November and today, Obama gave his full endorsement to Joe Biden. Based on all of the top economists, the US economy will bear scars all the way through 2021 so the election will be critical and will become even more interesting once Joe Biden leaves his basement and can start engaging the public. Covid-19 has infected more than 1.9 million people and killed at least 119,000 worldwide, and according to top infectious disease doctors when asked about reopening the country, the US is “not there yet.”
Day 33 – Wednesday, April 15th
Although the country is not yet ready to reopen, the current plan to end the Kansas stay-at-home order is still set to expire on May 3rd on midnight. That means my birthday, May 4th, might signify the beginning of some return to normalcy in Kansas. Virus checks have started to be distributed but I haven’t seen one yet for this family but I would love to see one show up in the mail. The president says US financing for the World Health Organization will stop while a review into its handling of coronavirus is conducted. Interesting political move to say the least when you stop funding a health organization during a pandemic.
Day 34 – Thursday, April 16th
I went to the store today and was able to find everything on my list with the exception of chicken. I can’t think of the last time I went to a store and there was no chicken! The word is that packing plants are being hit hard by the virus and is having a major effect on supply lines for beef and chicken. That is a little disconcerting since I love chicken, especially chicken wings. If restaurants open back up and I can’t get any chicken wings then thats just cruel! I really do not watch much of the news anymore but I do watch the stats and Covid-19 has infected more than 2.1 million people and killed at least 143,000 worldwide and over 22 million people in the US have filed for unemployment.
Day 35 – Friday, April 17th
National discussions on reopening the country have begun and President Trump unveiled new guidelines to help states loosen restrictions. He has basically told governors it’s their decision on when and how to reopen. As of now, we are still set to reopen after midnight on May 3rd. I spent a good portion of today painting the exterior of the house and then unwound in the sunroom, which has become pretty common routine for Friday nights.
Day 36 – Saturday, April 18th
I went to Menard’s on Saturday to pick up some more supplies for the house but also to purchase some coffee in bulk. I drink a lot more coffee now that both Amy and I are home all day and Menards (we don’t have a CostCo) sells boxes of 80 pods for 15 bucks. Long story short, I would guess that half of Lawrence was at Menards today and maybe only 20% were wearing masks. The threat of contracting the virus remains very real but it would appear that the majority of this town is over it.
Day 37 – Sunday, April 19th
Another quiet Sunday around the house with everyone stuck at home. Because we live in America, we of course now have protesters gathering in several US states to oppose stay-at-home orders and are marching up to capital buildings. Just a strange scene. People are wanting to get back to work but they can’t. People are losing jobs and businesses are permanently closing down but relief money keeps finding its way into the coffers of businesses and entities that are doing just fine. Very frustrating times.
Day 38 – Monday, April 20th
At the start of a new week, the Covid-19 virus has infected more than 2.4 million people and killed at least 165,000 worldwide with more than 40,000 people having died in the US alone. Globally, the concern is about a potential second wave of coronavirus if restrictions are eased. So the number of cases and deaths continue to climb as I am stuck in another routine Monday schedule.
Day 39 – Tuesday, April 21st
President Donald Trump said he will sign an executive order temporarily suspending immigration to the US, as coronavirus battle continues. Sadly, Germany has canceled Oktoberfest so now we know this damn pandemic is super-serious!. Pro sporting leagues are having discussions about what seasons will look like if they are able to start playing again in June or July and KSHSAA is developing plans for high school sports in the summer and fall. This gives me some hope that the girls will have a cross country season and that the older two girls will have an opportunity to go back to college campuses.
Day 40 – Wednesday, April 22nd
The coronavirus is having disastrous effects beyond just the economy. Looking worldwide, The United Nation’s food relief agency uses the words “biblical proportions” when describing the famine levels that developing nations will face in 2020-2021. Decline in aid and a massive drop in oil prices will lead to vast food shortages that could affect 1 billion people. Speaking of oil prices, gasoline is $1.52 but it doesn’t matter since I filled my car weeks ago and it still has well over half a tank of gas. I don’t usually give a lot of praise to Missouri. Outside of the Ozarks and parts of Kansas City, the state doesn’t bring me much value but I will tip my hat to them for their attempt at suing China and claiming Chinese authorities caused a pandemic that was preventable. Quite an interesting strategy by our neighbors to the east.
Day 41 – Thursday, April 23rd
As of today, the virus has infected more than 2.7 million people and killed at least 190,000 worldwide and 49,000 people have died in the United States. The United States curve is still not flattening so my bottle of champagne I bought five weeks ago will stay intact for right now. The House approved a $480 billion package to help small businesses and hospitals and expand Covid-19 testing as 4.4 million more Americans filed for unemployment this week, bringing the total to 26.5 million unemployed.
Day 42 – Friday, April 24th
Friday was spent painting the house and then that evening, we discovered an App called “Houseparty” and used it to get online with my brother and his wife and my sister who all live in different towns. It was fun way to interact and something we would be able to do even if we were not in a pandemic as a fun way to communicate over distances. Still it is no replacement for getting everyone together in one place and hopefully we will be able to do that soon once non-essential travel restrictions are lifted.
Day 43 – Saturday, April 25th
Due to the festivities of the “Houseparty” the night before, we got a late start to our Saturday, so it was nearly noon before I starting painting the house again. I did have to make another run to Menards for more supplies and once again, Menards was PACKED – probably even more so than last week. I commented last week that the crowd at Menards seemed to indicate that the city of Lawrence is over this virus. I can admit my guilt of buying paint during the stay-at-home order, but I also bought a larger dog kennel for our ever-growing, now 60-pound puppy so I would consider that an essential purchase, but I can tell you that there were plenty of people there shopping without a purpose. Entire families were showing up and fortunately many of the family members were turned away because the store is still not allowing children under 16 to enter the store. Come on people! It is still not time to bring the whole crew to Menards! This evening, a nice Kansas thunderstorm rolled through town and we had a quiet night watching it from our new, freshly painted porch.
Day 44 – Sunday, April 26th
The weather cooperated today so I took advantage of the sunshine and continued painting the house. I probably need to explain why it seems like I am constantly painting the house. For one, the house is two stories with some high peaks so I have go up and down ladders quite a but and get creative with some angles and for two, we are changing a dark blue trim over to white. You cannot change dark blue trim over to white with one coat of paint – or two. It takes three coats of paint (even with a primer) to do the job and we have a lot of trim. This painting project will take a lot of time but unfortunately, I have a lot of time because there are no track meets, no graduations, no graduation parties, no nothing. My goal is to finish by the end of May so we will see what the house project is like a month from now. The night ended with a Zoom meeting of our small adult group from St. John’s so it was good to spend some time with our friends. However, Monday brings another week of the same old routine since the stay-at-home order is still in effect.
Current Mood:
The curve hasn’t fully flattened but there is talk of opening up the state again and the May 3rd deadline is now only one week away. As excited as I am that we can return to some form of normalcy soon, I am also anxious about opening back up and people not following the guidelines. It reminds of this Metallica song that describes coming close to solving a problem or finding a solution, but then all you get is more problems:
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel, was just a freight train coming your way.
#ucandewitt 