Items

• 2021-02-24

  How COVID destroyed Thailand's sex industry

  The story that I submitted is just a small part in the grand scheme of things. COVID 19 has affected every part of how we live our lives. In countries like Thailand, tourism is crucial to their survival. Since the beginning of this virus, over 70% of businesses in Phuket, Thailand have shut down. More specifically though, the industry that has suffered the most throughout all of this is the sex industry. Whether you work at a massage spot, or walk the street at night, COVID and its restrictions set in place by the government have had detrimental effects.
• 
  2021-01-24

  Container Crisis

  Container Crisis Brought About By COVID The US imports 3 containers of Chinese goods whilst exporting only 1 container of goods
• 
  2020-06-01

  IMF COVID Image

  Covid finance options by IMF
• 
  2020-11-10

  Sustainable Finance Addresses Social Justice As COVID-19 Raises The Stakes

  From the article: Economic shocks from the pandemic have widened existing inequities around the world, leading to calls for greater social justice in dealing with this health threat. Poorer people, minorities, and women are suffering disproportionately from growing health, housing, income, and education gaps under measures to contain COVID-19 that could set them back for years to come. To fund programs to address the problem, governments, supranationals, and corporations, among others, have accelerated issuance of sustainable instruments--including social bonds, where issuance jumped nearly four times so far this year to US$71.9 billion from the 2019 level. We think the sustainable debt market, partly because of the rapid rise in social bond issuance, could exceed $500 billion this year.
• 
  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

  A Multi-Million Dollar Fake Vaccine Scam

  Hundreds, an estimated 600, of fake vaccines were shipped to Hong Kong and internationally by a group led by "Kong". These vaccines consisted of nothing but saline solution or mineral water. They were being sold to medical facilities and other places at inflated prices. Officials in China have made at least 70 arrests in relation to this case with more suspected. It's reported that the group made an estimated profit of 18 million yuan or nearly 3 million U.S. dollars in this scam.
• 
  2021-02-03

  Funeral homes overwhelmed by surge of COVID-19 deaths in Fresno

  COVID-19 has caused a surge in deaths worldwide. Funeral homes in the United States are feeling the effect, with many workers sometimes working more than 12 hour days 7 days a week. There has also been a shortage of caskets and urns as well as a strain on the supply of creation boxes.
• 
  2021-02-04

  US Rep. Yvette Harrell seeks to spare NM from Biden's ban on oil and gas leases

  This article from Carlsbad Current Argus reporter Adrian Hedden explains NM District 2 Congressional Representative Harrell's efforts to preserve the oil-and-gas driven economy in New Mexico. The oil and gas lease referenced here applies to federal lands, and the ban of new lease issuance impacts existing operations. Much of southeastern New Mexico is federally owned, while nearby Texas is predominantly private land. The effect of this ban, if successful, would merely drive operations a few miles across the state line without largely impacting production from within the Permian Basin; it will, however, destroy the New Mexico economy, approximately 40% of which depends on oil and gas operations within the state. This article and topic are important to me because of my familial ties to New Mexico, but also because it demonstrates the unintended and myopic objectives set forth in this particular executive order. The economic impact of this ban would further exacerbate community and statewide problems related to COVID-19 as homeless has recently spiked in that region, and the disappearing tax base has further inhibited county and state programs and operations.
• 
  2021-02-07

  Jo Ann Richey Oral History, 2021/02/07

  This is an interview with Jo Ann Richey about her COVID-19 vaccination experience in January of 2021. She talks about how pandemic restrictions have affected her work and social life. She also speaks about where and how her vaccine was conducted. She includes personal insight into how she hopes the vaccines may change her life and society as whole in the future. Contributed by Clinton P. Roberts, HSE, for Arizona State University for the #RuralVoices and #VaccineStories collections
• 
  2021-01-16

  An Eco-Socialist model for fixing the COVID-19 crisis

  Rob Wallace, an evolutionary epidemiologist with the Agroecology and Rural Economics Research Corps, reflects on the state of the US's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He lists a set of demands, per se, that outline how focusing on an environmental ethic based on the principle of meeting the needs of each person can provide a way out of the pandemic.
• 
  2021-02-05

  The Inhumanity of Zoom

  With the increase in teleworking due to the pandemic has come an increase in Zoom meetings. These meetings have proven to be almost inhumane in my mind, as it's very difficult to communicate with others without nonverbal cues and people use the impersonal nature of communicating over a screen rather than in person to be pushy, rude, and self-absorbed. Although the pandemic will end one day, Zoom meetings will probably still be prevalent and lessons must be learned about how to make these meetings polite, uplifting, and productive.
• 
  2021-02-05

  Antibody test in 5 cities nationwide 0.91% antibody possession in Tokyo (February 5, 2021)

  This news covers the antibody rate in Japan, specifically in main cities like Tokyo, Osaka, etc. Because the rate of COVID-19 increased A LOT because people are still outside not taking social distance rules, I did expect the percentage to be higher, and it was. In trains, it is packed with people, and Japan is very analog in terms of remote working. A lot of companies still do not allow remote working plus do not change the time that the employees need to clock in and thus everyone commutes around the same time. Plus, because its winter and its cold, the trains and just local restaurants cannot open windows the whole time. Video translated by me. The antibody test conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in five cities nationwide to check the infection history of the new coronavirus found that 0.9% of people in Tokyo have the antibodies. It has increased nine times from half a year ago. Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Tamura: "There is considerable variation in numbers among local governments. Many people are infected and there is no herd immunity." Last December, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare conducted antibody tests on approximately 15,000 people in Tokyo, Osaka, Miyagi, Aichi, and Fukuoka. Using two types of tests, those who are confirmed to have the antibodies in both tests are judged as "positive". As a result, it was found that 0.91% in Tokyo, 0.58% in Osaka, 0.14% in Miyagi, 0.54% in Aichi, and 0.19% in Fukuoka had antibodies. In the survey conducted in June last year, Tokyo was 0.1%. 厚生労働省が全国の5都市で新型コロナウイルスの感染歴を調べる抗体検査をした結果、東京都では0.9％の人が抗体を持っていることが分かりました。半年前の9倍に増えています。 　田村厚労大臣：「かなり自治体でばらつきが出ている。多くの方がかかって集団免疫という話では全然ない」 　厚労省は去年12月、東京・大阪・宮城・愛知・福岡で約1万5000人を対象に抗体検査を実施しました。 　2種類の試薬を使い、両方で陽性が確認された人を「陽性」と判定しています。 　その結果、東京で0.91％、大阪で0.58％、宮城で0.14％、愛知で0.54％、福岡で0.19％の人が抗体を持っていたことが分かりました。 　去年6月の調査では東京は0.1％でした。
• 
  2020-03-24

  Worldwide pandemic street art

  USA Today, like many other media outlets, uses their platform to share images of street art that conveys community messages about COVID-19. Photographs range from March 2020 to January 2021 and include graffiti tagging, murals, paste-ups, and stencils. Many styles of art are represented and can be telling of how artists represent emotions of fear, solidarity, hope, thanks, and humor during the pandemic. Several of the contributions are put on boards covering windows of businesses that shut down during the pandemic, others are on hospital buildings, streets, and businesses.
• 
  2020-08-03

  Navigating A Pandemic And A Social Justice Movement In The Workplace

  Contributor Manon DeFelice interviews Melanie Collins, Vice President and Global Head of People at Dropbox about diversity and inclusion in the workplace, companies making a stand and following through, employee mental health, and what it means to be an ally. The article looks at the Black Lives Matter movement and what a company like Dropbox is doing as an ally to change many social issues facing communities of color today.
• 
  2021-01-30

  Promising COVID-19 Vaccine News Has Some Itching To Travel Again

  COVID-19 has led to many restrictions on travel, both domestic and international. Some families have already started planning for their next trip after the pandemic. The travel industry has taken a major financial hit due to the pandemic and many are hoping that regular travel will resume this year.
• 
  2021-01-31

  COVID-19 Gardening in 2021

  The gardening industry saw a jump in the number of home gardeners in 2020 unlike ever seen before. People, with time on their hands and nowhere to go, jumped into the home gardening world. As a home gardener myself, I think that this is a great thing. I have been trying to convince friends of mine for many years now how easy and enjoyable growing some of your own food is. During Covid, many people picked up the hobby. I hope that people stick with it as there are so many benefits. However, I saw last year what panic buying and the uptick in home gardeners did to the industry. At times, it was nearly impossible to find seeds or gardening supplies. For this reason, I have already purchased all of the seeds that I will be using in my garden (a full 2 months before I would have normally even thought about buying them). The photograph is of a couple of the new seeds and varieties that I can't wait to start in the Spring.
• 
  2021-01-31

  Distracting Myself with Latte Art

  At the moment, the only reasons I leave the house is to shop for essentials and for work. As a barista, my job can get fairly uncomfortable, as there is often a struggle between me and the customer, as they immediately want to remove their mask and take a sip of their drink instead of waiting until they are at a table or outside, or they don't want to wear one at all and refuse to comply when we ask. We also have pushback against limiting indoor seating and maximum capacity of the store, as we do have a small shop that makes it difficult to distance. It has led to tense interactions and anxiety leading up to shifts, and I have been struggling to find reasons to enjoy work. Because of this struggle, I turned towards improving my latte art as a way to both improve my craft and distract myself from the complications and uncomfortable interactions that have disrupted my workplace. It has brought me a sense of productivity and calm, despite the issues pervading the shop. This is my progress so far.
• 
  2020-05-15

  German cafe tells customers to wear pool noodles to enforce social distancing

  I love that this German café found a way to inject some humor into social distancing. It is absolutely hysterical and provides much needed levity during this stressful time for so many. Of course, my brain immediately went to wondering if the café re-uses those hats. Although customers may not catch COVID-19, they could catch lice. Eeeek!
• 
  2021-01-29

  New York COVID-19 nursing home deaths may have been undercounted by as much as 50%, attorney general says

  The New York Attorney General says that the official number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes maybe 50% below the actual number. However, the state's Health Commissioner disputes this claim saying that death statistics are determined by the location of death. Therefore, any nursing home resident that dies in the hospital is counted as a hospital death instead of a nursing home death. There has also been an investigation launched against several nursing homes that are sided to have violated COVID-19 protocols.
• 20201-01-20

  Covid Rules

  During Covid-19 we had many rules and regulations. We couldn't go out to eat or shop anywhere! Nobody was allowed to stay open which affected their businesses. Places slowly adapted and stated opening up outside. To go anywhere it was mandatory to wear a mask at all times unless eating or drinking at a table. We were forced to stay home and school was online. Now school is open and we're wearing masks. The rules seems pretty dramatic since the virus isn't as bad as they say it is. Elderly people are affected by it the most since they usually have pre-existing diseases or just problems.
• 2021-01-26

  Final Thoughts and Statistics of COVID

  Corona Virus statistics show that up until we had the vaccine the number of people who had it increased day to day and once the vaccine was released the amount of people affected has gone down. I have not personally been affected by corona virus except by having a couple friends and a teacher who had it. I was near those people and had to stay home for ten days due to the exposure. Some things I have enjoyed in this Covid season are being able to have tons of free time to do whatever I want, such as redecorating my bedroom and invest and watch the stocks from day to day, but also having too much free time is not fun when you have nothing to do. I have also experienced having to stay overly clean washing my hands every twenty minutes and wearing a mask out in public which are definitely things that I have not enjoyed. This has been a very eventful year with Corona Virus.
• 2021-01-26

  Statistics about Covid

  The internet says there was been 99.9 million cases and 2.15 million deaths globally. But in the US the was been 25.3M cases and 421K deaths. I personally don't trust the Covid death count completely because there has been a lot of rumors that they are counting people who die from heart attacks and things like that to the count of the Covid death count. I am not sure why, but I have heard that the more covid deaths counted the more money the doctors get. My life through the pandemic was weird. I got a lot of time on my hands to workout and train for football and bulk up, but on there other hand school is so much harder for me. Everybody else loves because they can cheat, but my mom would kill me ( if I got caught ).
• 2021-01-26

  aftermath

  The coronavirus was spreading quickly. with the usage of masks and hand sanitizer, it looked like nothing had worked. When we first had to lock down in late March, there were about 16 people with the coronavirus weekly. About 2 weeks ago it skyrocketed to 260,000 weekly cases. That is over a 200% increase in cases! Out of all those cases, I only knew personally a couple of people that had the virus. It seems to have gotten a little better but once we say that we know that it can go downhill again. I don't believe I have gotten the virus personally in any way and my parents are very good at keeping me and my siblings safe. The experiences throughout the pandemic have been very rough but we can always take the good out from a bad situation.
• 2021-01-26

  COVID 19

  It is January 2021 and Covid 19 has now infected almost 100 million people around the world. Although I have not experienced Covid first hand it still effects everyones day to day life, simple things like going to the grocery store or even school put us at risk. Covid 19 was difficult for everybody and my biggest struggle was making sure to keep in touch. I found it was easy with all the time at home to just hide in your bubble. Do online school, finish homework, go outside, watch some television and repeat. It started out like this but as time went on I realized the importance of getting out of routines and trying new things which significantly made my quarantine better. I facetimed friends, did zoom call secret Santa gift exchanges, walked the dogs, reached out to family. Although it was rough, This whole experience truly made me appreciate the small things and learn that going through times like these are really when everyone needs to come together and support one another.
• 0021-01-26

  Covid Affects

  At the start of Covid, I wasn't worried about the numbers. But after a few weeks, I saw the death toll and how this will result in a lockdown. My area which is in Ventura County didn't mind this virus and we all just carried on. But a huge outbreak started. We were not allowed to go to the beach and other places. This affected me a lot because I was already staying home for school, but when I wasn't allowed to go anywhere else, it really hit me hard. The outbreak died down but it was still pretty bad. I was worried about my grandparents. To me, Covid was a key that is locking me into a room that I can't leave. Living through this pandemic made me think about all the things I took for granted.
• 
  2021-01-25

  Biden keeps COVID-19 travel restrictions for Europe and Brazil, adds South Africa

  New travel bans. In reference to new strains discovered in South Africa and England.
• 2021-01-26

  Covid-19 Final Thoughts

  Covid-19 was a very scary pandemic. There has been people doing to the hospital to get medications and even people dying. As of January 25, 2021, in Ventura county, there has been 525 deaths that are people 18 years old and up. In a week, there're +13,593 new cases in Ventura County. There is so much deaths in Ventura County because of Covid-19. There was 26 deaths on January 20, 2021. There has been a lot of people in the hospitals and I think there has been no room for some people.
• 
  2020

  Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines For Children and Youth: An integration of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Sleep

  The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology published guidelines to encourage Canadians of all age groups to maintain their health by pursuing a balanced lifestyle. This comprehensive guide emphasizes the importance of sleep, exercise, and reducing sedentary behaviors.
• 2021-01-26

  Covid-19 Statistics

  When Corona Virus started, there wasn't many or even any cases in America. The first case was on January 19th, 2020, a man from Washington State was traveling back from Wuhan, China. He experienced symptoms and tested positive only 4 days after he got back. Now in January of 2021, we have had 25,000 new cases in the past 5 days. The cases have been going down since the holidays are over, and I hope that it will be over for good soon. It's been a lot going through a global pandemic, and having to wear masks and stay at home. It affects a lot of people and their mental health as well as their personal health. Being back at school has helped me not repeat the same day over and over again, and get back to the new 'normal'.
• 2021-01-25

  Covid-19 Research and Thoughts

  I did a bit of research about the current statistics about Covid 19 in California. So far there have been about 3.9M cases of Covid-19, and 37,118 deaths so far. As of the 24th of January there have been 21,680 reported cases of it. I have a few final thoughts about living through this pandemic. It has been insane, schools have been closed, major events have been cancelled, everyone has to wear some sort of face mask to prevent spreading the disease to others. It affected everyone socially quite a bit, you couldn't see your friends as often as you used to be able to, and you couldn't go out and do anything with others because of shops closing down or being temporarily out of service.
• 
  2020-06

  A College Student Surviving the Pandemic

  I chose my Target employee card from when I worked there over the past summer in my hometown, Venice, FL. I chose this object because it represents to me the pandemic when everyone was at their worst, during all the main lockdowns. I keep it in my wallet because I still somehow have an employee discount. But every time I pull it out, I am reminded of that scary summer of when no one knew what was going on or what was going to happen.
• 2021-01-25

  COVID-19 statistics and in my life

  Worldwide, there are 99.3 million cases of COVID-19 54.8 million recovered, and in about 2 million deaths. In the U.S. there are about 25 million cases of COVID-19 and about 419,000 deaths. In california (locally) there are currently about 3 million cases, and around 37,000 deaths. This has taken a toll in many people's lives, losing family members, distancing from family and friends, and many other things. I have been affected by COVID because my whole family already had it. We had it during Christmas, because of that Christmas was very dull as we couldn’t see anyone and we had no christmas dinner. I was still able to open Christmas presents in the morning which i am extremely grateful for, but it just wasn’t the same as it always was. When I had COVID I went into quarantine for 14 days and retested after the 14 days, it showed that I had the antibodies. I am not entirely sure how I got it but it happened. When I had it I didn't have any major symptoms since I am so young and healthier than most people, the only thing that happened was that I lost my taste for a few days and then it came back to me, my mom had basically no symptoms, my dad just felt a little tired and same with my brother. We were all fine at the end and now we have extra protection from covid now. I have a family that has been affected by COVID but thankfully no one has died yet. One of my family had to go to the hospital but he recovered, but that’s a story for another time. Right now since I have the antibodies I am not too scared of COVID, but for people that don’t have it I still think that it is a good idea to wear a mask and social distance. I hope that stores and restaurants are soon to reopen as I think that rule wasn’t necessary in my opinion. I don’t think life will ever be the same or at least for a while, but I hope that things can go back to normal as soon as possible.
• 2021-01-25

  Statistics and Additional Thoughts

  Total Number of COVID Cases Worldwide - 99.3M Total Number of COVID Deaths Worldwide - 2.13M New Cases Reported 1/23/21 Worldwide - 600,790 New Deaths Reported 1/23/21 Worldwide - 15,846 Total Number of COVID Cases in LA County - 1,073,533 Total Number of COVID Deaths in LA County - 15,260 New Cases Reported 12/23/21 in LA County - 8,224 New Deaths Reported 12/23/21 in LA County - 98 These numbers are so big. Most of the time I am annoyed with the slowness of the reopening, but looking at the numbers makes me think that maybe we do need to be cautious when it comes to reopening everything. Pretty soon, the number of cases and deaths will start going down. I know this because now they are going to change the way that they count cases. It will be harder to get a positive test result, because instead of just looking at the results of the PCR test (you can get a positive test result but have a viral load so small that you aren't contagious) symptoms and contact tracing will be examined as well. If this change had been made before, then my high school friends would probably be attending school again. Small businesses would be reopening already. But I can't be bitter about that, because it doesn't lead anywhere productive.
• 2021-01-25

  Statistics of Covid-19

  So far worldwide Covid 19 has infected 99.3million people and there have been a total of 2.13 million deaths. In Los angles county there have been a total of 3.19 million cases and 37,118 deaths. Covid 19 has been going on for over a year and we have been in quarantine for nearly a year. We think around New Year's my nana may have gotten Covid- 19 but she just had a sore throat and a bit of a cough it lasted for about 3 weeks and she was fine and now she feels great. I did not like being stuck at home and not being able to go anywhere. I don't think it is smart to close our small businesses and restaurants and keep our huge chain stores open and thriving. I personally think that we should open up all the businesses and restaurants. If someone doesn't agree with that and thinks everything should be shut down then they don't have to go to those restaurants or businesses they can stay home but let people who want to support business go to them.
• 
  2021-01-22

  More Espresso, Less Depresso

  The item that I have chosen that connects to the pandemic was a Starbucks Coffee. The reason why I decided to choose this item is that there are days that learning over zoom is quite a challenge and that it gives so much pressure on me to be able to adapt to this kind of style of learning. With coffee on my hand, I can focus on class more and it makes me more energetic. When I drink coffee during my zoom classes, I tend to be able to participate more. I love caffeine, it encourages me to also be a positive person during these times because, without any coffee, I wouldn’t be able to learn anything from a monitor screen. Coffee best represents my current experience as a junior in high school because there are days that are sad and depressing, and there are days that are happy and bright. Online learning is a cycle, wake up and learn, after that you rest. I have been doing this since MARCH. Again, this is me with coffee because without any coffee, I am really tired and not energetic. When I have my coffee, I am always feeling refreshed and active! Online learning is something that I am not used to and I fear how with the difficulty of learning online, I am not able to understand the lesson which can lead me to bad grades. Hopefully, I will be able to accomplish my goals by staying determined and dedicated to online learning, resulting in a better grade for my classes, (with coffee of course). One word to describe my 2020 year is a challenge. It’s a challenge because there are things I have been through, like losing my grandpa who sadly passed away due to a heart attack and not being able to visit him because of COVID. COVID was mainly the reason why my 2020 was a challenge because I have to figure out new ways to keep myself happy and motivating. Online classes have made me less motivated because it didn’t feel the same and that everything was quite last minute last year. I wasn’t able to keep up with lessons, which discouraged me to continue and of course my grandpa’s sudden death. As from my experiences, the various holidays looked the same for me this year. Christmas and Thanksgiving were the same because I usually hang out with my family. When I do my online classes, I usually have a workspace. Since I know for a fact I am going to sit in one place for the next 9 hours, I have my coffee next to me to keep me up, I have my water, some chapstick, a big monitor screen, my textbooks, and my journals. I also have an office chair with a pad seat cushion for me to be comfortable! Even though those were the basic items on my quarantine workspace, I like to keep things simplistic. I only have things that are essential for me to use for working online, so I am not bothered by that. The three things that I would include in my quarantine survival kit would be some energy drinks, chapstick, and a pen with a journal. The reason why I chose these items is that for the first two, I cannot do anything without them! It’s great to have a lot of energy to do tasks, and some chapstick to have my lips not chapped. I also wanted to bring a pen and journal to describe my experiences in quarantine. I would also use that journal to write down things that bother me and things that I am appreciative of. Words do mean a lot, so I love to express my feelings in a journal to remind me that overall in time, things can get better.
• 2021-01-22

  Unused and Forgotten

  During the start of the pandemic, I bought extra school supplies for my family and I. Not a single one of these supplies had run out, despite my initial thoughts. This pen stands as a symbol for that very idea. Everything transferred to a digital platform, schoolwork, classwork, official documents, it's all digital. It makes me wonder, everything in our world truly can be shifted to a digital medium. In fact, with the sudden surge of food delivery services, general delivery services, and internet coverage throughout the globe, I do believe that our world can truly be lived entirely in doors. This is obviously not including jobs, but this point still stands as a sign that our world is extremely connected to the internet and data.
• 
  2021-01-16

  Becoming Boba Experts

  One of our family’s favorite treats is boba and in our area, boba shops are as ubiquitous as Starbucks. Even though transmission of COVID through food is seen as a minimal risk, the process of going into a tiny boba shop to order and wait doesn’t seem worth the risk for an item that is not really essential. After years of vowing to never make boba at home (too much stirring), my husband caved in and ordered instant boba online. We were skeptical - would it really taste as good as the boba shops? Would the texture be right? Making it is a little time consuming, but we were surprised that the taste and texture are exactly right, even at home. My husband, who has always liked brewing different loose leaf teas, has gotten much more into perfecting the “perfect tea.” He has had a fun time experimenting with different teas and sweetness levels, and although I miss the different jellies and other flavors that you can get at a boba shop, I have to admit I am impressed at how easily we were able to conquer making something we never would have attempted without COVID. Added bonus - over the past two plus decades, I have grown increasingly uncomfortable with the amount of plastic that is wasted with a boba drink (the plastic cups, lids, and giant plastic straws). Even with straws technically outlawed and the growing popularity of reusable boba straws, loopholes and lack of enforcement allowed most people to still use disposable plastic straws and the plastic cups and lids. When we make boba at home, there is no plastic involved, nothing is thrown away, and we use our reusable straws. An upside of COVID will be that it hopefully helps us to make small changes (like making our own boba and tea) to our lives to lessen our carbon footprints.
• 2021-01-19

  The rules and procedures of Covid 19

  Because of Covid, we have to wear a mask if we go anywhere besides our house. I personally do not like wearing a mask at all and I think they are hard to breathe in and very annoying. We also have to social distance from other people at places like the grocery store. That means the stores can only have a certain number of people in them at a time. I think social distancing isn't a bad idea can it help with having germs from one person not spread to another. In the beginning of covid, we had to quarantine which means we couldn't leave the house unless it was necessary like going to the grocery store. I hated quarantining because it was very boring and I wanted to see my friends. Now we don't have to quarantine and we can see people. Also now all retail shops are open were in the beginning only grocery stores were open.
• 2021-01-19

  The Rules That Did Make Sense and the Many That Didn't

  There were a lot of rules and regulations that we had to follow to stop the spread of COVID. Most of them were simple and made sense. Others, didn't... The rules that made sense were simple. Wear a mask; wash your hands often; stay six feet away from others; don't gather in large groups. The rules that had to do with which businesses were allowed to be open, seemed a bit arbitrary... For example, restaurants could open, but bars couldn't unless they served full meals. Retail stores could open with a limited number of customers allowed in at one time, but zoos couldn't. It was perfectly fine for you to wait with 10+ other people outside of a store, but to go to a zoo which was also outdoors apparently meant certain death. The rules that annoyed me the most were the ones regarding school closures. In California, it had been made practically impossible for schools to open. The worst part was that my school was in LA County, by 500 feet! I remember that in April, I went to Carpenteria with my dad and one of his friends. My friend was there too and we were standing about 4 feet apart without masks on. A lifeguard came up to us and started to get kind of mad. The strange thing was that the sign in the parking lot said, "No lifeguard on duty." Overall, the regulations weren't to bad for me, but I was to annoyed with our governor killing small businesses to remember that.
• 
  2021-01-13

  Space Sweepers

  The first Korean space blockbuster is set to release soon. Korean film and media and culture truly have advanced during the past 5 years of my life and it is good to see parts of my culture be spread far.
• 2021-01-14

  The Silencing of Industry

  The sensory experience that overwhelmed me the most as the United States, and the world, came to an abrupt halt when it was realized that we were in a pandemic virus outbreak was an aural experience—it was the overwhelming silence that came with the world stopping. I live in a heavy industrial town on the Pacific coast Of Washington. While I live about fifty miles from the cities and one hundred miles from Seattle the economy of this area is based around heavy industry and there is constant noise that comes with this. There is a port a mile from my house that is said to be the busiest deep-water port on the northwest coast. At this port soybeans, wheat, oil and lumber are shipped out and German cars built in Mexico are brought in, among other commodities. In my neighborhood there are four train tracks. The closest one is about five hundred feet from my house, the next three are another three hundred feet further. Those train tracks bring goods into the port like soybeans and wheat from the farm fields west of the Cascade mountains and fuel and oil for the ships and for the operations at the port. The train tracks also ship out the cars that come in from Mexico to car dealerships throughout the Northwest. Across from the four train tracks there are lumber mills. The lumber mills load up chip trucks (trucks that carry sawdust from the sawmills to paper mills) and the chip trucks roll in and out of town on a constant basis. The log trucks also roll through town on a constant basis and the log truck drivers as well as chip truck drivers live in the area and park their trucks at their houses. All of this leads to a very noisy area for such a small population. This has never bothered me as the only thing that I really miss about living in cities is the noise. This is the reason why the first thing I noticed as the Covid-19 shut down occurred was how much silence there was. No longer were there log trucks and chip trucks rolling through town. No longer was the rumbling and squelch of the train heard in the early morning and the late afternoon throughout the town. No longer were the airhorns and warning sirens heard from the port. It was just pure silence.
• 
  2021-01-16

  Fewer people are crossing back to the United States, and less noise.

  The story I uploaded is about people crossing the United States Calexico CA port of entry before and after the pandemic.
• 
  2020-12-25

  The Blessings and Curse of My First COVID Christmas

  The Blessings and the Curse of My First COVID Christmas By James Rayroux For the sake of relative brevity, the story of my first COVID Christmas actually began in October even though its events first took root in March, just as is the case for most all of us, I imagine. I’m what you might call a professional investigator. Considering the years of training and practice that led to my thousands of successful interviews and interrogations, I’ve more than earned the burden and blustering lack of prestige the title actually carries. In the fall of 2020, I worked as a government contractor, and I specialized in COVID medical investigations. Not the laboratory kind, although that’s well within the reach of my background. I worked on the patient side of things. The County wants us to keep referring to them as ‘cases,’ not ‘patients.’ Apparently, ‘patient’ infers a medical relationship that allows and demands we provide medical advice and counsel. I wonder what they think on the other end of the phone from us...are they a patient in need of accurate information, compassion, and sympathy; a human with needs, fears, questions, concerns, and families; or are they a mere ‘case’ with signs and symptoms of ailments to be questioned, interrogated, and subconsciously blamed for having acquired their illness in the first place? If they’d only done all the things our government minders had asked, mandated, and demanded, we might not have had need of this conversation at all... I digress. Although I’m not a frontline healthcare worker reporting to shift at a hospital, clinic, or testing site, COVID has consumed most of my waking hours since July. I hear it on the news, I get paid at least forty hours each week to talk, laugh, and cry about it, and then I discuss it with my family at night while we hear it on the news again. Now you’ve got most of the background. I hadn’t seen my grandparents since February 1, 2020. Most of our extended family had planned an elaborate beach vacation for late April that you already know was cancelled before reading these words. We all kept our respective distance from each other, didn’t go out of town or out of state to visit each other. Talked on the phone, an occasional FaceTime, but that’s it. My grandparents respectively turned 85 (x2), 89, and 92 this year. Two of them went on hospice in the spring, one remains on daily hospice care now. Given their frail condition and the unknown and distant end to the COVID pandemic, we collectively decided I needed to make a trip to see them, so we put a responsible plan in place based on then-current guidance from public health officials. I quarantined at home before I left to ensure I didn’t bring anything with me. I stopped once for gas, used the stupid mask and medical gloves at the fuel pump, discarded them immediately, and sanitized my hands upon returning to the truck. I hate hand sanitizer now, far more than it deserves to be hated by anyone. I scheduled my time away to allow me to see the more fragile set of grandparents first. I stayed with my family, saw no one outside the normal circle that envelops those grandparents, and ensured I didn’t introduce any foreign bodies to their existence beyond myself. The day I packed up to depart to see my second set of grandparents, I got a call that one of our family might have been exposed at work. He felt fine, but his partner couldn’t smell or taste. Monkey Wrench Number 1. I extended my trip two weeks to allow for the then-recommended exposure quarantine to run its course. The possible became real when two of my family fell ill. The rest of us woke each morning and waited for our signs and symptoms to begin. My wife and I had planned on me being back home on Thanksgiving, but I would now, at best, be over to stay with Grandparents #2 on Thanksgiving Day. I should explain here that although my wife also works from home and has tremendous flexibility in her schedule, we moved her parents in with us about two years ago. COVID has further complicated that relationship and our respective reality due to their advancing age, physical decline, and pre-existing conditions. Like too many folks, we live with the constant anxiety that their contraction of COVID will lead to their imminent and virtually guaranteed death, despite ALL the data and our personal experiences that clearly demonstrate otherwise. She feared coming with me because it would mean leaving her folks behind to care for themselves if they got sick while we were away, and also meant she would have to quarantine from them for two weeks after our return. Thus, no Thanksgiving with her folks. Now you’re caught back up. So, I made it to Thanksgiving Day with no symptoms, no illness, and a general sense that all was as well as it could be. I had again packed the truck and prepared to go on to the next house, and my cell rang at about 8am. My cousin told me Grandad wasn’t feeling well. High temp of about 103-104. General malaise. Nausea. Fuck. Monkey Wrench Number Two. We agreed they would call his general practitioner and cardiologist to seek their guidance, and I was on the way. I hadn’t yet had COVID to that point, but if my grandparents had contracted it, they would not be able to care for themselves or each other. I didn’t have fear of enduring the illness myself, I had only ever worried about bringing it to them. That particular concern no longer held water. I visited three stores around town to gather all the generally recommended OTC meds, supplements, and vitamin packs that I thought three people might consume in two weeks, along with a new thermometer, and I landed at the home of Grandparents #2 just before noon. Grandad felt fine. Normal temp. No explanation of what the morning’s signs and symptoms had been. Hell, he’s 85 and mentally sharp as a tack, so you have to expect some physical cost for those benefits. With the crisis seemingly averted, we cautiously went about limiting their access to the outside world for a few days. Aside from Grandad’s normal physical limitations, all seemed normal, and that reality demanded its own action plan. Having not seem them in action for ten months, his feebleness struck me right in the heart. He’s about my size and my Grandmother’s half of him, and I had trouble helping him at times. She couldn’t do this on her. Not only that, but she shouldn’t have been caring for him on her own for probably most of that year. She needed help, and he needed to recover some of his dignity. After speaking with the nurses in our family and a couple trusted confidants, I called Hospice and set an appointment for them to evaluate him and his needs. A brief aside for the uninitiated: while Hospice is designed and statutorily enabled to assist folks in the last potential six months of their life, patients may be on Hospice care for much longer than that, or for as many times as needed. Those Hospice Nurses deserve all the accolades we may provide, and they absolutely deserve the Capitalized Titles. God Bless Them. Despite my familiarity with Hospice, hearing my Grandad’s new nurse confirm his conditions likely indicated he had fallen within the Last Six Months struck me. Hard. I only ever saw him cry once, when we surprised them for their joint 80th birthday party. They unexpectedly walked into a room filled with friends and family ready to celebrate with them, and he hid behind my petite grandmother for a moment to stifle his tears. Being my father’s son, I have no such trouble crying. I just didn’t want him to see me cry for him. We all spoke after the Nurse left, and we got some other things set in motion to help care for their daily needs. Having now been at their home for a week, which had been the original plan back from October, I talked to my grandparents about leaving. Are they going to be okay if I go? Do they need me to stay? Do my cousins want me to hang around for another week to help supplement the transition into professional in-home care? We all agreed I was welcome, but technically unneeded. I should go home and see my wife, whom they adore. I had already been gone from home for a month. That was Wednesday, December 2, 2020. I drove home on Thursday, December 3, and this is as good a time as any to say I didn’t feel 100%. For clarity, I’m telling you a few things out of chronological order here. My symptoms began on Saturday, November 28, with a weird diarrhea that lasted for a few hours in the morning. I don’t usually have GI troubles, but with no other signs of illness, I thought it was food, or the stress of waiting for my Grandparents to show COVID signs and symptoms. For the next week, I had very mild cold/allergy symptoms. Some sinus congestion, a little tightness in my chest. All consistent with my normal experiences this time of year, and all so mild to not have been worth mentioning. However, it’s critical at this juncture in the timeline. Grandad went downhill two days after I left. My mom and sister had arrived the day before to visit for the weekend, and the updates grew grim. Hospice came in on Saturday, December 5, and made substantial changes and improvements to the house. My wife and I began discussing when we would return, how long we would stay, how we would check off all the logistical needs boxes for us and our little household. The COVID test I had scheduled for Monday morning fell through; the testing site had insufficient staff to administer it, and they had cancelled all the appointments for the day... “You should have gotten an email...” My mom called a few hours later, on Monday evening, with ominous news: come now, he won’t be here much longer. My aunt departed from her house and agreed to pick me up in two hours so neither of us fell asleep driving. In the meantime, for my own conscience, I went to a local ED, explained my symptoms and imminent travel to say goodbye to my Grandad, they administered and processed a COVID polymerase-chain-reaction test. Positive. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Monkey Wrench Number Three. At that moment, I was on Day 9 of the symptoms, at worst Day 7. Recommendations at the time demanded isolation for ten days once signs and symptoms appeared, and wait until your condition is generally improving and you’ve gone at least twenty-four hours without a fever. Never had a fever, and my ailment never grew to be more than a nuisance. However, I had to wait at least a day, and three days would be better. I couldn’t confidently say my COVID started on the 28th or the 30th. Safer for all around me to say the 30th. Another phone call changed my life at 8am the next morning. Grandad passed on at home, surrounded by family, just after 7:30. Mortality had claimed one of my two lifelong mentors, and the most perpetually positive male role model I had in this life. The following days of isolation and despair are the darkest and loneliest I’ve ever known. I waited until Friday, December 11, to travel back and commemorate my Grandad’s life. By the time I arrived, he had moved from his customary chair at the head of the kitchen table to an urn on top of it. I learned the crematorium doesn’t remove the clothes before lighting the fire. Who knew? Over the following few days, our family celebrated his life, and thanked God for his role in ours. My aunt, uncle, and I hung around to help my Grandmother tie up his affairs and transition to an empty nest. Aside from the odd nightshift, she hasn’t slept alone since he returned from his Army base in Germany in 1961. I had planned to stay two weeks and go home on Christmas Eve. At 5am on Saturday, December 19th, my uncle woke me up: he started feeling flu symptoms overnight, and he had to leave before he got anyone else sick. He has a substantially suppressed immune system, and his rheumatologist had convinced him that COVID would kill him, FYI. Some things are worth the risk until they aren’t. Fuck. Monkey Wrench Number Four. This seems like a good time to note the prevailing guidance around COVID transmission as of December 2020. Public health officials had proclaimed the virus could become contagious two days before the patient (not the case, the patient) exhibited any signs or symptoms of illness. Also, I might as well fill you in that my uncle had infrequent, wet coughs for several days at that point, but nothing else that would have indicated a significant illness. Thus, at 5am that morning, we had to consider my uncle might have become contagious to my Grandmother on the 14th. Over coffee that morning, my Grandmother and I looked closely at the calendar, considered then-present guidance, and decided she needed to stay in quarantine until December 29th. The guidance at that moment (which had changed since the beginning of this tale) was to quarantine for seven days with a negative PCR test administered on Day 5-7, or to quarantine for ten days with no test and no signs or symptoms. At that time, test results took more than five days to get back, so the early release wasn’t an option. I committed to staying until New Year’s Eve, assuming she never fell ill. With that change in plans and circumstances, my wife and I prepared for separate and relatively isolated Christmases apart. The family had decided back in October not to exchange gifts that year because of all the other stress that had befallen each of our households, so, the week of Christmas, my Grandmother’s tree had not a single gift under it. My Grandad passed before buying her anything, so my wife and I found a few items we hoped might make her feel warm and hugged when we couldn’t be there with her. My wife has an incredible fondness for “woobie” sweaters, and we found one in my Grandmother’s size and color. It’s what she’s wearing in the attached photograph. She had lived in such a mental fog up to that point that she hadn’t even noticed the packages I’d wrapped and put under the tree. I didn’t hide them, but, in all fairness, I didn’t set them front-and-center, either. I’m forever grateful she had a few things to open that morning, and that she might find some small comfort in them. One of my cousins had already had COVID run through their house in the past few months, and I moved my Grandmother’s quarantine across town for breakfast. That’s where the picture was taken, with beloved family and a brightness none of us had otherwise felt for a few weeks at that point. That morning became the first sense I had of something normal returning to our lives. I made my wife’s infamous cream cheese-mushroom quiche, and my cousins added traditional American breakfast items: sausage, bacon, toast, potatoes, scrambled eggs, fruit juices. I later added rum to a tropical juice blend. Delicious. You might notice the stocking she’s holding in the photograph, and stockings are a big deal in my household. My wife and I love them, and they’re a big part of our personal Christmas traditions. On Christmas Eve, I found out my Grandmother didn’t have a stocking made up for her, but I managed to find everything I needed without her finding out about it. My favorite part of that was the Sock Monkey, which I imagined she would just think was cute, but she laughed when she pulled it from the stocking. My Grandmother explained her mother used to make stuffed monkeys for my Grandmother and her siblings from my great-grandfather’s worn-out tube socks. Having grown up on a rural farm in the Great Depression, every material item had to have at least two lives, and old socks didn’t get a pass. The New Sock Monkey became her newest Christmas ornament, however, and I already look forward to helping her hang it later this year. I had bought and prepared a bone-in rib roast for us that night, and another cousin (fellow COVID survivor) came over with her two kids to enjoy Christmas dinner with us at my Grandmother’s home. No one had yet sat in my Grandad’s customary chair at the head of the table. Someone eventually will, and they may have already, but I’ve yet to see or hear about it. My grandmother said she still feels him in their house, but I haven’t, not since I said goodbye, fully expecting to see him again in a few months, as planned. I saw apprehension on his face as I left, and I ignored it. I chose to believe what I hoped. The 29th came with some fanfare and a drive out of town just to celebrate her release from quarantine. We revisited a recent conversation, and she assured me she was ready-enough for me to go home; she didn’t want me to leave or need me to leave, but she didn’t truly need me to stay, either. In her kindness, she asked me to go home and take care of my wife. On the 31st, my cousins helped take down her Christmas tree and decorations, and we all said a tearful goodbye. When I left their home the first time, just four weeks earlier, my Grandad and I had promised to see each other soon; my Grandmother assured me on New Year’s Eve that she’d hold up her end of the bargain. In about two weeks, I’ll get to hug her neck again, and I’m ever so ready to do so. For all the misery, suffering, and omnipresent anxiety COVID has brought to our society, my infection was an incredible blessing, all things considered. I have no idea from whom I contracted the illness, as no one around me was ill during the timeframe that I could have contracted it. More importantly, NO ONE around me fell ill after I showed signs and symptoms. Not a single person in my life contracted my COVID infection, not my 85-year-old grandparents, not my aging and infirm in-laws, not my wife. No. One. My experience proved to be excessively mild, given the possibilities, and the eventual immunity allowed me to ensure my Grandmother didn’t have to quarantine alone so soon after her husband’s death AND that none of my other family had to risk infection to stay with her. She wasn’t alone on Christmas. I will remain forever grateful for the blessings that managed to weave themselves throughout this experience. Their presence didn’t transpire through mere coincidence, especially not for so many to have appeared in one life and in so short a timeframe. That’s not how probability, chance, or statistical evolution work. With my recent positive COVID antibody test, this also means I can begin volunteering outside my home again, and that I can donate convalescent plasma about once a week. It’s a small thing, but I’m sure it will make all the difference for someone who needs just a little help.
• 2021-01-14

  The impact of Covid-19

  Corona Virus or Covid-19 started in Wuhan China in early 2020. It has almost been a year since this deadly virus started. When the disease spread to America and was declared a national pandemic. Stores all around the world, and with those stores, schools shut down too. All kids around the world were now going on virtual meetings and learning from home. This change affected me a lot. I started going to bed later and barley getting sleep, I wasn't exercising, or eating right. Life wasn't that good... until I got used to it. Once I got used to it I would sleep in between classes and have all my assignments turned in on time. We're back to school now which makes me sad and happy at the same time. Whatever happens I'm just glad I get a good education.
• 2020-04-27

  COVID-19 and Daycare

  I worked at a daycare in Hoover, Alabama for 5 years that provided care to over 200 children. When the state went on lockdown, our numbers dwindled down to 60 as we were only allowing children of first responders to stay. All other children were either left to their parents, babysitters, family, friends, etc. I was a lead infant teacher for babies 6-12 months. I normally have about 10 but on my first day of work after lockdown was initiated, I only had 2 and that instantly meant less noise. I have a schedule I keep but each activity lasted half the time it normally does. It gave the babies more time to play and explore but for me, I had to begin the process of deep cleaning. We were issued new cleaning products and if there was a time when you weren't busy with children, you had to clean. We kept our masks on all day for the children's sake but it limited my breathing since I wasn't used to wearing one. Add that to new, stronger cleaning products and it makes for a difficult day. I experienced the normal smells of infant care that I have for the last 5 years but the new, stronger cleaning smells altered my olfactory system. I was worried how the babies and I would react to it after we've been exposed to the chemicals for a long period of time. We weren't allowed to open our doors or windows so the smell stayed with us all day. It gave me headaches and made my babies cranky. It was a learning process with the new sanitizing methods and we all finally got a rhythm down and requested that we be allowed to open our windows and doors while cleaning. It helped us keep our kids and ourselves healthier and more conscientious about our cleaning habits. With less children around, we were able to clean thoroughly and get everything in order but it felt less like a daycare without all the noise. We worked diligently so that when lockdown was over, we could welcome back our loud and crazy kids to a new, sanitized environment.
• 
  2021-01-13

  The Scent of a Deli

  If you've ever set foot in a deli - a real life, New York style deli or in my case a real life Texas deli, then you know about the powerful and delightful smells that can attack your senses upon entry. In my restaurant, the traditional odors of hot corned beef and pastrami mixed with sauerkraut, bacon and horseradish combine with the popular fragrance of Texas brisket layered in a spicy bar-b-que sauce and the undeniable fragrance of apple and pecan pie. Homemade beef stew, French Onion soup and Texas chili are reducing in the kitchen while the entire restaurant fills with the aroma of good food. There is nothing quite like a deli kitchen prepping, baking, grilling and cooking in the morning. These are the distinctive smells of my life before COVID-19. Shortly after March of last year, the city of San Antonio shut down all dine-in operations throughout the city and instantly took away our morning routines and systems, forcing our restaurant to evolve just to survive. Overnight, we became a grocery store with a curbside service selling raw products like eggs, tomatoes, cold cuts and sliced cheeses. The great morning aromas of the deli were replaced with the stale, cold odors of bleach and sanitizer. Sales dipped by seventy percent and even when dine-in was reopened to fifty percent capacity, we were forced to cut our menu by half. Now, as we keep paying for our holiday gatherings, the business has come back by half but it just doesn't seem the same or at least the smells do not. We are more of a to-go business now with items packaged and tagged in sugar cane boxes and biodegradable containers. The sweet mixture of multiple savory recipes and meats cooking side by side has been replaced by vacuum sealed soups and cold cuts prepared in a sanitized and disinfected central kitchen.
• 
  2021-01-10

  Local Bar Offers Food Delivery With a Side of Live Music

  Two downtown bars in Windsor, Ontario, are offering live music alongside food delivery. Customers can choose from multiple "Gravy Train" packages which offer food and performance from a local musician.
• 2021-01-12

  Voices No Longer Heard

  In my line of work, which is construction management and execution, communication is key. Often, this begins and ends with emails, phone calls, and the occasional zoom chat to set a project up. However, once work commences, field superintendents meet daily with clients to discuss progress, delays, opportunities for improvement, and at times, complaining. Morning meetings are at the heart of the daily communications, and have always taken place at 7:30 am, with fifteen to twenty people present. From January 2020 thru the middle of March 2020, morning meeting went as they had in the past. At times, with so many in the room, expressing their ideas, it can be difficult to keep track of what is being talked about. In my role, I attend one or more of these meetings, at different jobsites, throughout the week. As Covid safety precautions took hold towards the end of March, I noticed that the meetings I attended were quieter. This was partially due to masks being worn. Whenever someone chose to speak, their voice, which had been loud a week or so prior, was now muffled and subdued. Additionally, people spoke no more than was necessary, the meetings were shorter than they had been. Gradually, power points were introduced on a screen each day so that talking was not necessary. Instead, the bosses laid out the schedule, expectations, and those in the room simply took notes. By the end of April, the morning meeting changed over to Zoom Chat, with everyone in their office, staring at a screen which displayed those same power points, saying very little or nothing at all. By this point, with social distancing in full-force, there was no need to speak. Notes were made by a Project Engineer containing key points and emailed to attendees after the conclusion of the daily Zoom. Suddenly, there was no face to face conversation, fewer phone calls, and increased emails. With masks across our faces, everyone continued their work in an eerie silence. The robust workplace, full of ideas and plans which must be heard, faded into blank stares saying nothing. With the New Year, I did not expect any change. It would be difficult to say when practices that existed only a year ago might return. This morning, I logged into Zoom for a pre-construction meeting, I was met with the same silence I heard just before the Thanksgiving holiday.
• 2021-01-12

  Covid Journal

  What I think the cause of the virus is well a disease that started in Wohan China. I think it is this because that is where people gather and talk and are close together and do not have a proper cleaning system. Or in other words it's filthy. right now in the world Wohan China is clean and people have opened up business and things are returning to normal.
• 
  2020-06-02

  Store owner stares at aftermath of looting

  A store owner stares at the wreckage the looters caused in her store as she cleans up.