Items

• 
  2021-04-22

  Passing the Time

  Staying inside all day has given me the want to greatly improve my entertainment center. This includes getting a nicer TV that was on sale and dusting off old video game consoles from long ago.
• 2021-04-21T18

  Dinner and Hearts

  As of yesterday, my two weeks was up and I am now "fully vaccinated" per the CDC guidelines. My wife got there Friday, and my mother has been fully vaccinated since February. Per the CDC, since we are all fully vaccinated, we can visit each other and not have to wear masks. We had Mom over for dinner for the first time since before the pandemic. After dinner we played a few rounds of hearts. I had to reacquaint myself with something that used to be "normal" before COVID-19. I was a bit rusty at playing cards, but I soon got back into it. It does not seem like that big a deal, but it was good for Mom to get out of her house for a while. It was good for all of us, and I am looking forward to more such evenings.
• 2021-04-21

  Things I have Lost Because of Covid

  I started graduate school in August 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic. Since that point, I have only met one of my classmates in person, when I purchased some girl scout cookies from her daughter. I do all of my coursework from my computer, something I am not personally bothered by but it certainly changes the dynamics of school. My opportunities for socialization and networking have been limited, which may define my future job prospects. These are all things I never really thought about until I had a discussion with my mother recently, after I exclaimed to her that very little about my life has changed because of Covid. In fact, while my daily schedule may be broadly similar to pre-pandemic and I enjoy the isolation, the ways in which it will affect my future career seem manifold as I think about them.
• 
  2021-04-15

  Victory Garden

  A photo of the garden I have started - the pandemic has given me more time at home to tend to something like a garden.
• 
  2021-03-06

  Spring Reading II

  Warm weather = reading outside and getting fresh air! Not being cooped up in the apartment is wonderful for my mental health and to finally get some sun.
• 
  2021-03-06

  Spring Reading

  It's finally warm enough to sit outside and do homework, which really helps me not be cooped up in the house all day and night. It's not much, but just being outside for a few hours really helps my mental health.
• 2021-04-15

  A Little Crypto Called Dogecoin

  Similar to my GameStop stories on here, I will try to narrate the DogeCoin experience as it goes on during the pandemic. DogeCoin, a crypto currency modeled after the popular internet meme involving a shiba inu dog in a funny pose, has been soaring the past week or so. Doge first entered my radar probably four-five years ago, when the original meme was popular. Supporters of the coin, which was not very valuable, used it to donate clean water to a village in Africa, as well as paying to sponsor a Nascar team with it for a short time. It largely fell off the radar, but somehow during the early part of this year it returned. Spurred on by meme-stock movements like GameStop, Doge rallied and returned to being worth around 4-5 cents per Doge, much higher than previously. It dipped initially after reaching 8 cents and the people with tens of millions of it selling for a hefty profit. Now, it is to above 12 cents, far more than it has ever been worth. Dogecoin is accepted by more and more websites every day, and famous personalities like Elon Musk and Snoop Dog have rallied behind it. Supporters have even taken out ads in New York's Times Square to promote the currency. While I have long had doubts about crypto currency, I didn't want to miss out on this like I did Bitcoin. I knew about Bitcoin when it was worth less than a dollar, and now it is worth over $60,000 per coin. Doge will never reach that level, but even my meager amount has nearly doubled in the past week. The wave of amateur investors spurred on by the pandemic has produced odd results, and perhaps the weirdest one is the coin based on a stale internet meme.
• 2021-04-15

  Thoughts about going back to in-person classes

  Most institutions seem to be assuming at this point that the pandemic is wrapping up, and by Fall of this year we will be able to go back to in-person classes. I am unsure how I feel about that. On one hand, I am happy for the people who want in-person classes, especially those undergrads looking for the college experience. On the other, I have actually liked my online classes. I have no need to leave my apartment, and I only need to properly dress half my body for class. Now, for the first time, I will have to make my way to class in person at this university. I don't know yet how I will make that happen, as I have no car and it is around a 30 minute walk. The walk is actually no problem, I would walk most of the NDSU campus every day during undergrad. The problem will be the heat, as Arizona will get above 100 degrees nearly every day at the beginning of the semester. So for purely selfish reasons, I would actually prefer to stay online. As people with office jobs and such also go back, we will see if there is a push in society for online job options, or if things will truly go back to normal.
• 2021-04-15

  Differing Vaccine Outcomes by Country

  For the past few months, vaccines for Covid have been rolling out to Americans despite some setbacks. As of right now, a huge chunk of America has or is in the process of getting vaccinated, hopefully putting an end to this once and for all. Unfortunately, other countries without the same industrial capacity to produce the vaccine have been struggling. My sister, who lives in the Netherlands, won't be able to get a vaccine until May, and even that is tenuous at best. It is even worse for many countries in the global South, which will have to wait until well after richer capitalist countries finish vaccinating their people. The dirty secret here is that each company who developed the vaccine is not sharing for free how they made this life-saving material, forcing almost the entire world to be beholden to companies like Moderna. There will not be an equitable distribution of the vaccine, that is clear already. When countries like the US and the Netherlands do finish vaccinations by at least the end of this year, the world will still be forced to reckon with Covid still spreading in places like Sub-Saharan Africa and potentially back to the global North. If the world wants to truly deal with Covid and any future disease of a similar nature, it needs to figure out how to get vaccines quickly without a profit motive, something that is nearly impossible within a capitalist structure.
• 
  2021-04-15

  Video Games to Pass Time, Pt. 2

  As time has gone on, video games have continued to be my primary outlet for entertainment. The one that has captured my attention the most ever since GameStop paid for my new computer is Total War: Warhammer 2, or TWW2 going forward. TWW2 is set in the venerable Warhammer Fantasy universe, first created in 1983 as a way for the British company Games Workshop to independently sell Dungeons and Dragons miniatures, has evolved into a vast setting including the original tabletop strategy game, over a hundred books, and various video game tie ins. Perhaps the most successful of the tie-ins is the Total War: Warhammer games, developed and published by Creative Assembly out of their own historical Total War franchise. These games are divided into two parts. First is the turn-based world map, where you can see beautifully rendered fantasy landscapes in ways fans of the setting never could until now. In this mode you do diplomacy, order around armies, and develop cities. The second part is the real time battles, which the included screenshot is taken from. In this you zoom down to see your armies directly, and command them in battle using strategy to gain the upperhand. This screenshot is of my current campaign, where I am playing the High Elves of Ulthuan. Warhammer and its science-fantasy counterpart Warhammer 40,000 are renowned for their 'grimdark' setting (a genre name that is taken verbatim from the opening scrawl of every WH40k book), so while the High Elves are definitely considered good guys by the broader narrative, they are still pretty mean and arrogant by ours. While I defend the shores of the magical island paradise of Ulthuan from invasion by the evil cousins of the High Elves, the Dark Elves, I am in real life distracted from the fact that I am stuck in my apartment because of the pandemic. This game allows me to both play by myself for entertainment, but also to share my stories with friends playing their own games. We are all a bunch of nerds, so segueing into in-depth discussions of Warhammer lore is also a good way to pass the time.
• 2021-04-15

  V is for...

  V is for… Lest you think being fully vaccinated allows you to return to a "normal" life, it does not. It has been over a month since my husband and I got our second dose of Moderna. But life still feels erratic. we still have not eaten in a restaurant. Family gatherings are even more complicated because some folks ARE vaccinated but others are not. Who can we hug? Who should we avoid? Pregnant women and newborn babies are especially problematic. There is no-post-COVID etiquette for resuming a fear-free life.  A friend suggested that we flash the V sign when greeting people we have not seen in a while. V for victory and also V for Vaccine as proof that we are 95% not-toxic.  I love this idea... but there will still be periods of purgatory. Can I hug my granddaughter or will her skittish parents still stay 10 feet away? Many of us ARE "safe” but we are not perceived of as safe. And so COVID continues to rewrite social etiquette as it drags on into its second year. As a result, for now, my V for Vaccine will be a lower case v.
• 2021-04-15

  Missing Out and Silver Linings

  On Tuesday, my nine-year-old daughter had to return to school in-person for one day to take a state standardized test. She has been online all year attending school remotely through Zoom. Last week in my journal entry, I discussed how our school district gave parents three options for school this year: in-person, flex, and digital academy (online all year). The flex option allowed for parents to decide if their child(ren) would return to in-person schooling at a later date, and children could only return at the beginning of each quarter. We have had our kids home all year. We had to choose about the fourth quarter really early back at the beginning of March. Covid cases were starting to creep up so we decided to keep both our kids home. A major reason for our difficult decision was that my son who is in kindergarten would lose his current teacher and would have to have a new teacher for just the last quarter. We decided he should stay with his current teacher, whom he likes, and who also knows him very well at this point. My daughter, who is in fourth grade would keep her teacher no matter what, so it made our decision easy. It was easy until yesterday, the day after the test when my daughter woke up and realized that she would not get to go to school in-person that day and would have to log onto Zoom as usual. She got a taste of what life was like in-person for fourth grade, and she felt she was missing out on the experience. So, my daughter unfortunately was feeling sad yesterday morning. And this is another thing that has made this year so hard for parents. We must make decisions about our kids and their lives that no generation of parents has really had to make before. And sometimes it is hard and sometimes we second-guess those decisions. But honestly, my husband and I are doing our best. We chose their health over their emotions and socialization. We chose their health because we fear the unknown long-term effects of covid. I do not want to regret my kid getting covid and having lifelong health problems because I decided to send them back to school so they could be with their friends. Now, I say all of this in recognition that we have a tremendous amount of privilege in that my husband and I even have the choice of whether we can send our kids back to in-person school or not. So many families cannot do this or do not have a choice—I am aware of this and grateful for the privilege to have choices regarding their schooling. All I am saying is that parenting right now is hard regardless. So, yesterday morning, both my husband and I sat down and talked with my daughter about her feelings and gave her a hug. We acknowledged that what she was feeling was totally okay and validated it. I also reminded her of two positives from all of this. Since my daughter was loaned a laptop from her school, she started Zooming with a friend after school every day. The two have become very close spending time talking to each other every day for hours at a time. I told my daughter that if it were not for this experience that perhaps she would not have developed such a close friendship with this other girl. I also reminded her that all this time at home has made her and her little brother also very close. They have spent so many hours playing together—an opportunity that might not have happened had they not gone through this experience. So, there were a couple of silver-linings during these hard times for our family. And not to forget, my kids’ computer skills are outstanding now!
• 2021-04-14

  I Thought It Was Safe

  It's been over a year since my daughter has gone to a birthday party. She got invited to one at an indoor kid's place and I had plans on taking her. She's gone to school online and only had playdates with one child ever since the pandemic began. She is not more likely to catch the virus than any other child, but, if she were to contract it, her symptoms would likely be severe and it would be very difficult for her to recover from it. My family has been very worried and take tons of precautions to protect her. We got an invitation to a private 2 hour party at an indoor amusement facility for kids. I got a text two hours before the party was set to begin saying that the party was cancelled because the family had just been notified by the school that there was an exposure to COVID-19 in the birthday boy's classroom. I am so glad the family was notified before the start of the party, but it just really hit me how dangerous it is to go to a simple kid birthday party. I immediately began to beat myself up... I had a thousand "what-ifs" go through my mind. I don't know when we will be able to go to indoor play facilities and I don't know when we will get to go to another birthday party. It's still just too scary and risky.
• 
  2021-04-09

  Mask Collection

  My personal collection of masks that I have gained over the course of the plague year.
• 2021-04-09

  Small Sense of Normalcy

  My daughter often has medical procedures and my husband and I have a system of working together to care for her during hospital stays and surgeries. Since the pandemic, there have been tons of restrictions and we are not able to physically support each other. Only one parent can go inside for appointments and procedures. Only one parent can stay in an inpatient room at a time. We had the appointment scheduled for over a month, but did not get the news that some restrictions had been lifted until the day before the procedure. My schedule is more flexible than my husband's so the original plan was for me to take our daughter and FaceTime him for the doctor consult. Luckily, my husband was able to get off work on short notice and we both were able to be there at the hospital! The only restriction was that only one parent could go back into recovery room and parents could not switch out. We did not receive good news, so it was good my husband and I were able to be together.
• 
  2021-04-08

  Covid19 and the Occult

  The occult experience of Covid19, from my perspective as an adept occultist.
• 2021-04-07

  Vaccine Passports

  I just wanted to make a brief comment on the new controversy over “vaccine passports.” This phrase refers broadly to the idea of a sort of digital certificate to verify that a person has received one of the COVID-19 vaccines. The idea is that certain businesses, schools, etc., could use this digital certificate to instantly verify who has and has not received the vaccine. I think this is a fantastic idea and I wholeheartedly support it. As for those claiming that this is the latest sign of big government tyranny, a recent editorial about this issue in the Washington Post articulated a fantastic response: “Vaccination is voluntary, and the principle of voluntariness goes both ways. The government is not going to make anyone get a vaccine; every civilian has a right to abstain. By the same token, every restaurant should have the right to know whether a customer is immune before opening its doors: no shot, no shoes, no service.” Exactly -- voluntariness does indeed go both ways. If you make the decision not to get vaccinated, you should be willing to deal with the consequences of that decision, which may include contracting COVID-19 and/or being excluded from certain public places like restaurants, sporting events, or even schools or universities. If a person understands and accepts the risks and limitations they are putting on themselves and still insists on abstaining from the vaccine, I respect that. However, people insisting that they have the right to abstain from the vaccine while opposing the rights of businesses and other institutions to create a safer and more comfortable environment for their customers strikes me as a classic example of having your cake and eating too.
• 
  2021-04-07

  Little Gifts

  My dad is a paramedic currently working three jobs within the EMS field. He's basically only home one day out of the week. I take care of the house and my little sister while he's gone but I know the job is hard right now, especially with Covid-19. When I can, I buy him little gifts I think he would appreciate, like this Hawkeye Funko Pop. I honestly just wish they would pay paramedics and other EMS related first responders more than what they get now, especially since this pandemic has shown how necessary and essential their job is.
• 2021-03-26

  Open Questioning of Authority

  On Wednesday, March 24, 2021 Governor of Arizona Doug Ducey decided to lift all COVID restrictions on businesses. The governor's action contradicted CDC guidance. On Friday morning, I vented my frustration about the governor's action. A young man came to our house on the morning of Friday, March 26 to fix an appliance. I met him at the door wearing a face mask. The young man was not wearing a mask, but pulled one out of his pocket and said he would wear it if I preferred. I indicated that I did want him to wear the mask, and without thinking I blurted out that "the governor is an idiot." The young man expressed understanding and put on his mask. Actually, I don't really think the governor is an idiot. I think he knows better but does not have the courage to do the right thing in the face of pressure from constituencies that have made public health a political issue. Unfortunately, these people endanger us all.
• 
  2021-03-31

  In the Market for Thermometers

  Didn't realize there was such a wide market of thermometers until I needed to purchase one during this pandemic. Picked this one up at my local Fry's for forty dollars.
• 2021-03-25

  Is This the End?

  Personally, I feel that we are not near the end of the pandemic. However, it really seems like things are beginning to open back up. Some states have already lifted mask mandates and others have set dates for current mask mandates to expire. Businesses here in Arizona have opened back up to full capacity. I just think it's weird for a state to lift the mandate, but still say that "Masks are highly encouraged." They also still require masks to be work in government offices and COVID testing and immunization sites. If it's highly encouraged, and need to be worn in government buildings, why not out in other public spaces? It's all just because of the economy and business. That truly trumps human welfare and common sense and decency in the United States. It really is business interests and capitalism above all and it's disgusting.
• 
  2021-03-22

  Vaccines Now Widely Available

  COVID-19 vaccine distribution seems to be hitting a critical mass. My son, a third-year student at the University of Arizona, got his first dose on Monday, March 22 at the mass vaccination site on the U of A mall.
• 
  2021-03-24

  Mask Mandate

  My personal feelings expressed through a meme about how the U.S. Government must have felt about a national mask mandate.
• 
  2021-03-23

  Pandemic TikTok

  With talk of everything going back to "normal" with vaccinations and whatnot, mass shootings are coming back.
• 2021-03-23

  Vaccine eligiblity

  So apparently the State of Arizona is expanding access to the vaccine so that everyone 16+ is now eligible to receive it. I saw a news story about this, and they mentioned an interesting side effect of this otherwise positive news development. Thus far, the mass vaccination sites have had very little trouble finding volunteers to help run things, in large part because volunteers are usually offered the chance to receive the shot in exchange for their service. However, now that eligibility has opened up to all adults and some teenagers, there is less of a personal incentive to help out at the mass vaccination sites. This means that sites are now having more trouble finding volunteers. My first response to this is that they should come up with at least some money to pay people for their time, if for no other reason than to attract enough people to keep the sites running. Secondly, this has made me consider becoming a volunteer myself. I feel extremely fortunate to have gotten access to the vaccine so early in the process and want to make sure everyone else gets access to it as soon as possible. Of course, this is just talk at this point...we'll see if I actually put my words into action :)
• 
  2021-03-16

  Finally got my shot

  I'd been trying to get a COVID vaccination appointment on the State of Arizona's website since late January. Finally, on the evening of Monday, March 15, I found a couple of slots open on the following evening at the State mass vaccination site at the Arizona Cardinals Stadium. It was about a 35-mile trip, and my wife drove me out there. Once we got to the site, everything went really smoothly and the staff were very pleasant. I got my first Pfizer dose and an appointment for April 6 for the second. It was nice to see the ASU banner at the site. Altogether, the travel time and the process on site took about an hour and forty-five minutes. I feel immensely relieved.
• 2021-03-17

  tension in the US-Russian relationship

  depiction of the international relationship in the covid world
• 2021-03-17

  First hug in a long time

  A lot of people probably have this same kind of story, but I'll go ahead and tell my version of it. My wife's 93-year-old grandmother lives in an assisted care facility nearby and, of course, has been forced to be very isolated throughout most of the pandemic. However, because all of us have now been fully vaccinated, we were able to go and see her in person a couple of days ago. The most heartwarming moment was when my wife and kids were able to give her a hug for the first time in a long time. I'm sure as more people get vaccinated, they will have more of these kinds of stories to tell.
• 
  2021-03-17

  Opening Early Meme

  As more and more vaccines are being given, it seems that soon we may be able to slowly begin returning back to normal. However, with mask mandates and restrictions falling off early across the United States, I remain fearful that we may experience another wave/peak. This meme demonstrates that anxiety.
• 2021-03-11

  AM I REALLY SAFE?

  Well, my COVID card has now been stamped twice. In one more week, I should be at full immunity. SO…am I going to rush out to a restaurant, rip off my mask, and eat my first restaurant meal that was not delivered, cold, after 20 minutes in the back of a Postmate’s car? It’s tricky! The bottom line is this: I am not there yet. There is still a lingering sense of dread. My children have not yet been vaccinated so they still live with their fear. My daughter has an infant and my son, has a toddler and a pregnant wife. Tonight, President Biden will give a speech about the return to normalcy, and I applaud his efforts to mend a broken nation. But the old normal may never return. Just as a bad fall leaves a scar, we will all be left with a mark, even those of us who emerged relatively unscathed. No one in my family died. Just a few were ill. We are so fortunate. But when I think of hopping on the New York subway this summer, sans mask, I cannot see it happening. I hope time proves me wrong. Truly, I hope.
• 2021-03-11

  pandemic reflections

  I wonder if I am being overly optimistic thinking about the end of the pandemic. On one hand, more and more people around the world are receiving vaccines, more and more countries renewed flights in-between them; ASU claimed that instructions will be in-person during the next fall; Moscow authorities lifted the restrictions for the seniors. On the other hand, only a small percentage of people have received the vaccine; new strains of the virus emerge. Some European countries renew lockdowns. Only the time will tell, I guess.
• 2021-02-26

  Quarantine and Dementia

  One of the most challenging aspects of having to quarantine due to Covid is explaining to a parent who has dementia why they cannot be taken places and why they have to wear a mask whenever out in public. My mom has vestibular dementia which comes and goes. On a good day, my mom doesn't show any signs of dementia but on a bad day, dementia can be a big challenge - even when everything in the world was normal. On days that my mom wants to go to the grocery store or Target and she is having an episode of dementia explaining to her why she has to wear a mask is like explaining to a toddler why they cannot have candy for dinner. Sometimes the battles are tiring. Just recently she has had both of her vaccines for Covid and on her "good and bad days" she doesn't think she needs a mask since she has had her vaccines. Somedays quarantining is more than an inconvenience - it makes life even more challenging!
• 
  2020-03-10

  Disneyland March 2020

  One year ago today my daughter and I went to Disneyland for spring break and little did we realize we would be lucky enough to be there right before it closed down due to the pandemic. We had four awesome days for our "girl getaway" and three days after we came home Disneyland was closed. We are waiting with anticipation to return to Disneyland when it reopens.
• 
  2021-03-10

  A Lot More Time at Home

  An interesting consequence from being locked inside day in and day out for almost a year. My collection of books has grown considerably, to the point of needing yet another bookshelf.
• 
  2021-03-05

  Vaccinations at the University

  This photo shows people lined up to get COVID-19 vaccinations outside the Sun Devil Fitness Complex at Arizona State University in Tempe. My wife received an email from an ASU official sent about 8:00 PM Thursday, March 4 offering university employees access to a distribution of Moderna vaccines at clinics on March 5 and 9. My wife signed up right away and got an appointment for early afternoon on Friday, March 5. I have not been able to get my own appointment through other channels, so I went along with my wife to see if I might be able to get the vaccine. I was turned away, but fortunately my wife now has her first shot and an appointment for the second. It's a start.
• 2021-03-03

  March Madness

  It is March and everyone is talking about how it has been an entire year since the pandemic began. For me, honestly this time has gone by very quickly. However, I am not surprised at all that it is not over. I knew in March 2020 this was going to last at least a couple of years and the effects would last for decades to come. It affected the entire world and people within the same government can't even agree on how to handle things. People are so divided on what needs to be done I don't see an end to this anytime soon.
• 
  2021-02-27

  Pandemic Fashion

  Since the beginning of the pandemic, I wore a mask. I think I went one place without one on Friday, March 13, as the world fell apart and I was driving home to Phoenix from my mother’s house in San Diego County. But since then, I have been collecting masks the way I would collect graphic and band tees as a teenager and young adult. I have developed “criteria” for what I like, prefer, and even need in a mask. I think about it when I pick one each day. If I am wearing patterns, I grab a solid mask in a complementary color. Solid outfits open up the gates to lots of options. Very quickly, I realized I needed a way to manage these masks. The two hooks that hang near our front door for stocking at Christmas promptly became something else. A bin of clean masks hangs on one hook and a lingerie bag on another. The routine is simple, grab a mask from the container as you leave, come home and drop it in the bag. When the bag is full, zip it up and drop it in the wash. Done! So here are some of my favorites: • Baby Yoda • Disneyland Spirit Jersey style • Old Navy, Old Navy, Old Navy – they come in five packs, available for every season and holiday, prints and solids, easy to grab, cannot say enough • And, of course – the true hero of the pandemic, masks made with love. My coworkers and I have chosen the raccoon for our library mascot. My boss’ mom had this beaver fabric just sitting around, so she made one for each of us (bonus points, this one has a nose wire), and finally, the same wonderful ex-co-worker of our department who made us all the raccoon masks made school-themed ones for us, the Desert Vista Thunder, one with lightning bolts and one with the school colors in the plaid. • Our other library theme is rainbows and all things equality – down to the matching rainbow Apple Watch bands we have to pair perfectly with this rainbow hearts mask from the Human Rights Campaign. I am not ready to give up wearing masks. I have both doses of Pfizer, and it has been two weeks, but I still think masks are a good idea and something that I will for sure be wearing when I feel any kind of sick post-pandemic if that ever happens. It’s the responsible thing to do, and frankly, I have too much invested into my masks and management system to say goodbye to it anytime soon.
• 
  2021-02-25

  Longing to go Outside

  Like people, my dog seems to miss going out to public spaces (like an out door mall, hiking, the patio of a restaurant, even the Pima Air and Space Museum) and getting attention from all the humans that pass by. He too is missing out on the social experiences that he used to enjoy before the pandemic.
• 2021-02-25

  A Strange Way to Grieve

  My father-in-law had an accident last April and passed away about ten days later. He was brought to the hospital in the middle of the pandemic. Nobody was allowed to visit and be with him. My husband was able to speak to him over the speaker phone. He missed seeing him in person. The doctors only would allow visitors in the last moments near death. My husband did not make it in time. Later, he had to retrieve his cremated remains from the car in a sort of curbside pick-up fashion. It was very awkward for him. The usual quiet moments in this situation did not happen. We wanted to hold a memorial for my father-in-law, but because of covid19, we kept pushing it back saying to ourselves, “Well, maybe in October…Maybe in December…” Now we have decided to forgo a traditional memorial for an online one. Soon in March we will have a Zoom memorial with a slideshow of pictures, video, and music, and it will be on his birthday. We hope people will make some remarks. It is stressful getting this together, and I hope it goes well on Zoom. None of us are experts with any of this technology. Handling the affairs of a loved one’s life when they have died is hard enough in normal times. It is even harder during a pandemic. As I write this journal entry I think about my husband and the hardship he and his side of the family has gone through during this time. Knowing them, they would not want to share anything like this on a public archive. I am involved in this grief, but it is different for me. My role is mainly to support. For an archive like this, its collection is all decided on what the public wants to share. Emotionally difficult stories like this may not be shared firsthand as often. My story is also not in depth as it could be if I were the person centrally involved in this grief. I hope that future historians read stories like mine and realize how strange and difficult this time was for grieving people. Nothing is normal. Having a memorial where people get together and support each other through grief with kind words, pats on the back, and long hugs is totally out of the question. We just have to do the next best thing and move on with our lives as we cope with an uncertain future and wonder when life will go back to the way it was before the pandemic or if we have truly lost this aspect of our culture, customs, and traditions.
• 2021-03-01

  restrictions lifted

  It is an article that tells the story about lifted travel bans between Russia and Georgia.
• 
  2021-02-24

  Federal Reserve Glitches

  Because covid19 has had an extremely detrimental impact on many people's financial wellbeing, a momentary hiccup of the Federal Reserve has a lot more potential to do damage than in the pre-covid19 world.
• 
  2021-02-24

  MY MOOD. MY MASK

  Will we miss them when we no longer need them? What will become of these scrappy, sometimes brightly-colored statement pieces? In many ways, a mask has become the sartorial equivalent of a tie. Men still wear ties, but really…why? They serve no purpose. Will we do the same without masks? A mask can reveal who the wearer is in a way that a bare face cannot. Study the mudroom collection in this photo reveals and you will know that someone loves Star Wars and the other is a feminist who adores penguins. After the Texas deep-freeze, and Ted Cruz’s air cruise to Mexico to escape the failure of the power grid, he returned to the U.S. hiding behind an enormous Lone-Star state face mask—as if donning it would make everyone forget his Marie-Antoinette moment. For future generations reading this: Cruz abandoned his constituents who were without power and water for days and flew to a Cancun resort with his family because they were cold. Did the mask hide his shame when he returned home after being caught? If so, maybe we should keep the mask in our wardrobes in our post-COVID futures. Perhaps the year of plague has given us a new fashion choice as well as a place to hide when necessary.
• 2021-02-11

  Oral Histories and Archiving

  Looking through the oral history section of JOTPY, I noticed a few recordings of interviews. This got me thinking about oral history and its similarities to journalism and the work journalists do. I then started thinking about how journalists and historical societies could work together to keep oral histories and newspapers. Could there be a way for journalists to get the correct permission from their interviewees to have their recorded interviews be put into the historical society of the area where they’re working? I was thinking of my time at a small-town newspaper in a rural area. What if my interviews with the local people and the local government officials who aren’t necessarily big-names were put into the archive to help fill the space? Could these interviews help provide a bigger picture of the town and the way it worked during this timeframe? Could they fill a “silence” these historical societies and their archives have? I also recorded town hall meetings and school board meetings almost every week. These meetings are recorded, but often in written form by a secretary. I was recording these events via phone/recording device (actual audio). The work I was doing (the work a journalist does) offers another medium for the archive. I think this would be an interesting interdisciplinary project, especially within rural areas. And what about now? The move towards online meetings and discussion due to the pandemic allows more accessibility to these board meetings or interviews. But are they being archived at the local level? Private meetings are a bit iffy on permissions and accessibilities, but what about those meetings open to the public? Are they being recorded and then placed where others can access it, and then is the local town historian or historical society archiving it as well? If they are, how are they doing it?
• 
  2020-10-29

  Video Games to Pass Time

  2020 was a good time for video games, particularly those that I am interested in. Releasing in the middle of the year, games such as the highly anticipated Mount and Blade: Bannerlord and Crusader Kings III managed to provide time-wasting opportunities to many people. The latter, abbreviated CK3, is pictured here. CK3 is essentially a feudalism-simulator with role playing game mechanics, famous in the PC gaming sphere for both its complexity but also its ability to organically allow stories to form in the most Game of Thrones way possible. This was one of my earlier games, after I was more familiar with how the game differed from CK2. Starting as the Raja of the real-life Northern Indian dynasty of the Imperial Gurjara-Pratihara in 867 CE, through many generations of rulers I managed to consolidate the entire subcontinent through diplomacy, intrigue, and warfare. Around 1000 CE one of my rulers who had a more intellectual education rather than the usual military one, consolidated all imperially sanctioned Hindu beliefs into the Charvaka school, a real-life ancient Hindu belief based on materialism and empiricism. As this new consolidated Hinduism united the subcontinent at a more local level, regional governors along the Indus River took advantage of political fragmentation around the Indian Ocean and pushed west, taking over not just Persia and Central Asia but also establishing Hindu-Somali outposts in Africa and Yemen. By the 1300s the empire spread from Burma in the east all the way to modern day Libya and Greece, with Rome itself falling to a Pratihara expedition. Peace was maintained within the empire's vassals by a robust series of alliances, as well as the use of the "dread" mechanic to scare any more unruly subjects into submission via planned executions and threats. The most serious threats the Pratihara Empire faced was a series of crusades launched from Western Europe, and the Mongol Conquests which were ended by assassinating a few generations of Mongol Khans leading to political infighting and collapse. Beyond the fake history being made in game, this single play through gave me enjoyment for dozens of hours. While psychical entertainment was shut down, travel impossible, and the shadow of the pandemic hung over everything, games like CK3 allow people like me to immerse ourselves in what begins as real history and ends with an alternate history that we ourselves designed. Many people who don't usually play video games became engrossed in them, particularly early on in the likewise open-ended game Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The need to develop new hobbies as a way to cope with isolation was a boon for the video game industry, which despite its massive market was seen by many people as quaint at best, or worthless at worst. There is value in video games, especially during the pandemic.
• 2021-02-18

  Vaccinated

  I received my second vaccination earlier this week. I had minor symptoms (some fatigue and body aches), but otherwise it went well. I had some friends, both in exceptional shape, who experienced high fevers and other flu like symptoms, so I guess I lucked out on that front. The peace of mind is incredible. I plan to still take precautions, especially because even with the vaccine, it is believed you can still carry the virus, but it is wonderful to not have to worry about getting sick with COVID anymore.
• 2020-08-27

  Online Learning Zoom Failures

  Online Learning Zoom Failures One of the problems with online learning on Zoom is that eventually and sometimes often, there are going to be issues and failures. Both my kids recently missed an “assembly” because they their links did not work. They were not the only ones. About one third of the children missed the online assembly. One time many months ago at the beginning of online learning, my daughter’s fourth grade teacher lost access to the Zoom call. She was kicked out of the meeting and one of her student’s was made the host. To make matters worse, my daughter’s teacher had just muted all the kids, so they were unable to hear each other. The teacher called me because she had my cell phone number already. At the beginning of the year, her teacher gave out her personal cell number to the parents in case there were issues with Zoom etc. I had texted her a couple times already because my daughter’s link would not work, or her computer battery died so the teacher and I had already established a text/call connection. So, her teacher calls me and tells me she got kicked out of Zoom because her internet connection went bad. She wanted me to try to get the kids to leave the Zoom call or have the host end the meeting. Meanwhile, the teacher is frantically driving to school to set up a new Zoom meeting from her classroom where she knew she would have a good internet connection. So, I rush over to my daughter’s desk and sure enough there are twenty-five kids silently just sitting there on the screen. You can see they are all excited and laughing. The chat is going crazy with your typical fourth-grade antics. I try to send a message to tell the kids what is going on and to log off the meeting, but no one listens to me, because why would they? I am not their teacher. I keep trying. I am now targeting the kid who was made host to end the meeting and keep explaining what is going on. He is not responding and clearly does not want to get in trouble so keeps the meeting going. By this point I am now writing messages on a dry-erase board to get the kids to end the call. Some have peeled away and left, but still a good chunk of the class is there. I am about to give up when the librarian gets on—she had a link and ends the meeting. My daughter’s teacher was able to get to school and start a new meeting within several minutes and class went on as normal. For me, it was quite the experience. Something to laugh about later. My son’s kindergarten class had a similar situation. His teacher, too, got dropped from the Zoom call, because there was an internet outage at the school. The kindergarteners were by themselves in class and not on mute, so they were just giggling and talking with each other. Some parents, including myself, realized what was going on and some cool parent decided to lead the kids in a song and dance of hokey pokey. After a couple songs, the parents got an email that class was cancelled for the rest of the day. This was fine because there was only about forty-five minutes left in class. In this situation, we made lemonade out of lemons. This happened again more recently, but the teacher was able to get back into the Zoom call. The only problem was that neither the teacher nor the teaching assistant were the hosts so they could not control the meeting. One darling girl was made the host. She did not know what to do. She called her grandma over and the teacher and the teaching assistant desperately tried to explain to the grandma who apparently did not speak English very well and is not very computer literate to do what they wanted her to do. She tried but seemed so confused. Finally, the child logged off which then made my son the host. My son was thrilled to have so much power and wanted to mute and unmute his friends. I took charge immediately, knowing what they needed me to do, so it got settled, but wow was that another comical situation with the class. Something you would never dream of happening before the pandemic.
• 2021-02-18

  One-time covid vaccine

  It is an article about an innovative vaccine from COVID that is not two-phased, but one-phased.
• 
  2021-02-16

  Recreation During Covid

  This is the creative project I've been working on in Minecraft to handle the stress of attending grad school during the Covid19 pandemic. Minecraft and other video games have been sources of stress release and social interaction since forced isolation/quarantine and restrictions on social gathering has resulted in more people playing games and joining online communities for the needed social interaction for the maintenance of their mental health.
• 2021-02-11

  Vaccinated!

  Relief was what I felt when I received my covid vaccine. I felt even more relief when my 21-year-old daughter was able to receive her vaccine since she would not have been able to have gotten vaccinated until early summer. My first vaccine appointment was at 12:30 in the morning, and my daughter rode along with me to keep me company since I had to drive to State Farm Stadium. As we exited the freeway to go to the stadium, the parking lot where the vaccines were being administered could be seen, and I was surprised that it looked relatively vacant of vehicles. When we reached the parking lot, we were directed to follow the signs and pull up to the first checkpoint, where a person verified I had an appointment. At the second checkpoint, a person scanned in my appointment and asked if my passenger had an appointment as well. I told the person “no,” and they said, “we have had a lot of people not show up tonight for their vaccination, so if your passenger would like to get vaccinated, they are welcome to do so.” I immediately accepted the offer for my daughter to get her vaccination, and we were directed to another spot where she could fill out her paperwork for getting a shot. Once my daughter completed her paperwork, we were sent to wait in a line where the vaccines were administered, and after a five-minute wait, we had our first vaccine. After we had our shots, we were directed to wait in a line of cars for fifteen minutes to ensure we did not have any adverse reactions to the vaccination. While waiting for the fifteen minutes, an individual came to our vehicle and scheduled our second vaccination appointment, which was a huge relief since going through the computer system the state had established was cumbersome. What was surprising to my daughter and me was that while we waited during that fifteen-minute time frame, a nurse came by to ask us how we were feeling. We both said we were okay and stated we were surprised that we could get through the vaccine process so quickly and how there were so few cars. The nurse told us that many people were skipping out of their appointsments out of fear of rumored side effects from the vaccine, which was why there was extra serum for individuals like my daughter, who had ridden along. So I had the right schedule for the right night for my daughter to ride along. And now my whole household has been inoculated, which is a relief after three times of being in quarantine. Whew!
• 2021-02-11

  Thoughts on vaccine hesitancy

  It feels like we are entering a new phase of the pandemic, one in which getting as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible in now the most important -- though not the only -- public health priority. Perhaps the biggest problem in getting people vaccinated is the on-going issue of vaccine hesitancy. One issue is that a significant portion of people in certain non-white communities seem hesitant to get the vaccine. On the one hand, this is understandable given the ugly history of scientific experiments being conducted on people of color. On the other hand, many of these communities have been hit disproportionately hard by the pandemic, and gaining herd immunity via vaccine is really the only viable way out. So I think it's imperative that a great effort is made to get these communities vaccinated. This should start with President Biden -- who won the presidency in large part because of support from the Black community -- and Vice-President Harris -- the first African American vice-president. Because both of them have a significant amount of credibility in this community, they really should prioritize a public campaign to convince people that the vaccine is both safe and absolutely necessary, and also that time is of the essence.