This weekend my daughter is supposed to be competing in the Destination Imagination Eastern NY Regional Tournament. So far the organizers are planning to go ahead as scheduled, but have let us know that one of the potential backup plans in case they have to cancel is simply to advance ALL competitive teams to the NY State tournament on April 4.

Now, according to my uncle's med school friend who's team more or less discovered coronaviruses in the 1970s, early April is when we should expect to see COVID-19 all the fuck over the place, instead of just in isolated pockets.

So is it just me, or is this backup plan of "let's have 5x as many students as usual from even more places meet up ALL AT ONCE during the most pandemic-y week of the pandemic" really REALLY fucking stupid???

(And since DI is mostly elementary and middle school teams, it may as well be the Doorknob Licking Conference, because as we all know children are disgusting little germ factories.)

Two concerts scheduled for the next week have been cancelled, and one doctor's appointment, for my residents.

I'm concerned about Tim's dad. I want to call the staff at his retirement community and ask what measures they have in place to prevent spread of Covid-19, but that seems a little pushy.

He's already sick with a UTI, and he's been skipping meals and staying in bed, which worries me. He goes back and forth between saying he's "ready to go" (to die, not to go back to his house) and telling Tim and his brothers that they need to have a meeting to "find out what's going on" (with his health, I think?). I'm not sure what he thinks a meeting would accomplish, but I imagine that he thinks it's the only way to feel like he has some control.

I don't like this aging stuff at all.

it may as well be the Doorknob Licking Conference

I feel like there's more of these happening than we know.

I'm sorry about Tim's dad, Steph. I don't care for this aging malarkey myself.

We got a text last night from the city saying that there's a confirmed case on the island, a woman in her 60s.

The age group most likely to move here over the last 10 years? 65 and over. I am worried for my neighbors - Jim and I are the youngest people in our building - and my landlady's mom, and for my friend H., who teaches dance and yoga at three different venues (including a daily class at the senior center) and bakes for the bistro at a fourth.

Aw, Tep, I'm sorry to hear Tim's dad's health is not great. I feel like calling someone at the community to hear what preventative steps they are taking would not be pushy (it could be, depending on how you go in, I guess, but it doesn't have to be) and might make you feel better.

Steph, I'm sorry. Aging sucks.

ltc did not want to get up today, but she did enjoy going out on her bike yesterday afternoon because it wasn't dark by 4. I dropped her off at school this morning and then went to the dollar store to get some cheap craft supplies so that she can make a hat for crazy hat day at school tomorrow.

Just a quick PSA - Costco has warned people not to use their Tito's vodka to make your own hand sanitizer ... it doesn't have enough alcohol in it to be effective.

You have raised so many more questions than answered, Toddson

Tito's Forced to Repeatedly Tell Customers They Can't Use Vodka as Hand Sanitizer

In other OUTBREAK news, we're now supposed to be bringing our computers home every night to be prepared to work from home. Nearly every case in Massachusetts can be linked to one meeting two weeks ago! This just all feels crazy.

But be assured that we're certainly not panicking...

We got the same kind notification at the schools where I teach in CT. I'm supposed to plan on having to teach from home. I already post lecture notes, tutorials, and quizzes on our online platform, so I just need to marry the lecture notes with a voice over, and there's an app for that, so I'm not too worried. Homework is an issue, since it involves drawing structures, and the online platform isn't good at that, but I'll manage if the ball drops. Another issue is what to do about labs, which is a more interesting (in the same way as "may you live in interesting times" interesting) problem. Next week is spring break, and some of us are betting that we won't be coming back to campus after that. Sheesh.