Covid 19 Entry #6 and getting bored. This is supposed to be a bike blog.

May 11.  Entering week 9 of shelter-in-place.

Many words are being written on this current pandemic.  For something different, here is an interesting audio take on the pandemic, as done by Matmos bandmember, Drew Daniel.  It is 15 minutes of audio compiled from many submissions from the around the world, probably in the first couple of weeks of the pandemic (late March, early April 2020), reflecting what people view as their own personal COVID-19 experience.

https://soundcloud.com/user-597121341/tci-irl-the-sound-of-quarantine

We all hear stories about how the world has changed.  Let me take that a step further.  Maybe we should hope that some changes become permanent because they are better than what's currently happening.  Less cars, so less air pollution.  More work at home, so less office buildings needed (and less commuting).  Is the capitalism model for economics in the west fracturing?  If not, it sure has exposed how little margin there is for financial error.  Rainy day funds??  How about rainy years?  That's what "we" (everyone) all seem to need.  More commuting by bicycle?  (That's being pushed in London and Paris to avoid crowded public transit.)  Drawing back the curtain on a clearly inferior US health care system and maybe more will to fix it.  Also, pulling back the curtain on a clearly inferior commander-in-chief.  Where do we start with that one?  Job losses are rampant, but perhaps that will lead to some people moving out of the Bay Area, taking the pressure off the housing market and general overpopulation?  And it also could give first time buyers who are still working less competition and lower home prices in the near future.  Many of these forced changes are economic considerations, but how about redefining our lives?  Given that we're all being forced to practically come to a full stop with many activities (for 8 weeks so far), there's a chance that these days will give us a chance to reconsider what is most important in our lives.  A quieter lifestyle.  Relationships.  Family.  Maybe food, music, nature, more bike rides.  Meet more of your neighbors.  Many things consumed our time "BC".  Some of those activities are gone.  People whine about being bored, but I like to look at it as a way to slow down, decide what's really important, and catch up on missed opportunities, friends, and tasks.  I consider myself one of the lucky ones of these times.  There are few times in life when this "chance" comes around.  Let's try and take advantage of this side of it and savor it.  Before things go back to "normal".  There are parts of BC that might not be that good to return to.

Observed oddities during this crisis include:

- SF is providing liquor, drugs and cigarettes to homeless people housed in city provided hotel rooms during the pandemic to keep them away from others.

- Selective emptying of jails to avoid close quarters and Covid spreading.  Makes some sense, but I'm not sure this is going to all end up well.  It includes not only no-name misdemeanor criminals, but also many white collar criminals (incl. Trump's convicted buddies Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort).  Let 'em rot, I say.

- No bail release of some new criminals for the same no-crowding reason.  Can you say repeat offenders??

- Some secondary schools are giving every student an automatic A for their subject grades.  The reason is because there is too much inequity among students to receive instruction.  So their solution is to give everyone an A?   How about gapping the inequities?  Many universities went to a pass/fail system.  In a pinch, that seems like a better solution.

- Initially, the government sent out $1200 stimulus checks to many people.  It was all tied to their tax return information.  Funny enough, some of those people had already died and were still sent checks.  Did their heirs need to return the checks?  Where would they send them?  This issue has gone back and forth with blurry statements sent out by the administration.  So....are the anti-Socialist republicans throwing money away at dead people?

- Unemployment benefits have been fairly generous and extremely valuable to many folks.  In some cases, the benefits are more then the people made in their jobs.  I believe I heard that people who are on a job won’t be at all forced to find a job.  Where’s the incentive?  This appears to be another case of trying to help, but not thinking it through.

- Roads are quieter, but trails are busier with hikers, etc.  And the trailheads are jammed with parked cars, some illegally.  Where were all of these people BC?  They weren’t working out in the parks.  If they were getting in shape, I'd say great.  Instead, they just seem to be getting in the way.

In some places, masks are starting to be seen as a statement of political identity.  Demos wear them and Republicans despise them as government overreach. Wasn’t this supposed to be the time when we all got together to beat this thing?  Apparently not.  As Frank Brunei said in the NY Times:  "Rugged individualism ends where dying on this breathtaking scale begins.  There's liberty and then there's death."  Better to be 6 feet apart than 6 feet under (said another wise sage).

We seem to be past the peak and on the downslide of virus infections and deaths.  That's good news, although there are many opinions about that topic.  Let's hope it doesn't rebound.  Assuming there is no rebound or we look far enough out, someday there will be a new normal.  60 minutes did a good story this week on what that might mean.  It's one of the best stories in awhile.

From 60 Minutes:  What will be the long-term effects of the coronavirus pandemic?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-society-effects-changes-60-minutes-2020-05-17/

The totals seem to keep increasing, with the current US death count at over 92,000 (May 20).  Trump still doesn’t wear a mask and is taking the high risk drug he (and no one else) claims is a COVID 19 cure, hydroxychloroquine.  Good luck with that one, Mr. President.  (Or is he?)

But isn’t this a biking blog?  YES!  So, let's finish up this entry with bike material.

I saw a Moots review from back in 2013 in Road magazine.   “ It’s like having a Monet in your garage – except you get to ride it!”  I love it!  Having one of these bikes, this is one of the reasons why I'm one of the lucky ones during these times!

https://moots.com/accolade/psychlo-x-rsl-review-january-2013/

Finally, bike riding has become so popular that there are order backlogs for purchases and repairs and more talk of increasing cycling infrastructure.  Silver linings?  Yes!

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/nyregion/bike-shortage-coronavirus.html

Bleach? Really?????

April 27, the beginning of Week 7 of Shelter in Place.

The theater of the absurd continues, as does the shelter in place.

Here in California, we're in it for another month or so, until the end of May.  The July Euro bike trip has predictably become another casualty of COVID 19.   Without guarantee of even getting into one country, never mind 3, without needing to be quarantined for 14 days, or knowing if hotels would be opened, this trek made no sense for this year.  At least we still get to ride here in the US (and especially locally).

We're used to the current situation of no real social contact, except ZOOM and your home bodies, so thank goodness that relationship is a good one!  I can't imagine not liking your spouse these days.  It is especially hard for parents who work and have to home school their little kids.  They may love their kids, but everyone is starting to realize how under appreciated teachers are.  Ugh....we are so lucky.  We get a paycheck.  We are healthy.  And we get to ride.  What a treat!

Back to connecting to people....I feel the need to contact many folks to check in.  Even people who I'd gone months or years without talking to them.  It's weird that everyone is going through the same thing, but it’s still comforting to speak with them.  So far, we're lucky that people we know have their health.

The absurd I mentioned at the top will be the subject of many books, movies and jokes for a long, long time.  Inject bleach as a remedy?  Sunbeams and UV in your body?  Is 45 sane?  Obviously no.

Every few days, we hear updates on numbers.  Infections.  Deaths, Unemployment numbers.  And unlike 45's approval rating, they are increasing.  Today (April 30), the rough numbers are:

- US Infections - 1,000,000
- US Deaths - 60,000
- US Unemployment Filings since March 1st - 30,000,000 (rivaling the Great Depression)

All of these numbers remind us that almost everyday, there are new milestones being reached.  Mostly bad.  Eoconomic, health-related, etc.  And the tough part remains the unknown about when it will be over.  Obviously, it won't be all at once and every place will be different.  Days?  Months? Years?  Wow, that sounds sad and ominous, but some things may never be the same.

May 3.  Onto more positive thoughts.  We took a nice ride to Marin today and did the Paradise Drive loop.  The roads are getting a bit back to normal traffic, but we took some trails too and they continue to be crazy busy!  I want to focus on the positive here (instead of saying they need to get outta the way!).  I honestly hope that all those little kids and parents who seem to be discovering their bikes for the first time actually keep it up.  They seem to be enjoying it, but have a fair amount of work mastering their two wheelers!  Slow, weaving, dressed badly, helmets hanging over the handlebars, or worse yet, no helmets near the kids.  But they are enjoying themselves.  Maybe the virus will be the thing that increases the number of folks who cycle and that would be a good thing!

May 5.  I’m beginning to think I’m in the eye of a hurricane.  I’m safe, it’s dry, my life is almost the same with a retirement check coming in.  I can shop for food.  We can go for bike rides or walk or hike.  And I know I’m starting to repeat myself.  But the world continues to fall apart around us.  I’m constantly reminded of the virus when I’m outside and there’s little or no traffic, the BART lot is empty, kids are sometimes riding up and down the street on their bikes.  Millions have lost their jobs from all sectors.  All schools are closed.  Most businesses are closed.  The stock market is unstable.  Much of public transit has shuttered.  And finally, people continue to die in large numbers.  The administration still wants to view this as merely an economic encumbrance to be surmounted.  In fact, they pat themselves on the back because of how great a job they’ve done.  Well over 60,000 people have died in 6 weeks - more than the Vietnam war in 10 years - and Jared Kushner considers this a success?  Ouch.  And the trauma, socially, financially, health, etc. is continuing with no real end in sight.  If this is success.......I’ll leave it a that as we have entered our 8th week of shelter-in-place.

May 7.  Sheesh.  Only 2 days later and we're up to over 73,000 dead in the good ole USA.  And what does Trump do?  He visits a mask factory and doesn't wear a mask.  WTF?  Yesterday, we had a big ride up Diablo, all the way from home.  79 miles and almost 6800' of climbing.  And no cars on the park's roads (well, a few work trucks) since the park is closed to motorized visitors.  That'll take your mind off the crazy world.

May 9. Everyday it’s another 2,000-3,000 deaths.  The unemployment rate is rising and now hovers at 14.7%, reflected in the headline “Jobless rate rises to highest since 1939”.  It’s as bad as it got during the Great Depression.  Yet, I’m sitting in the house, doing what I please, reading, watching TV, listening to music, I tend to forget about it.  Even getting out for a bike ride, always absolutely appreciated and a pleasure, is still my normal life.  The traffic seems to be increasing out there, especially on the weekends.  Trail heads are filled with parked cars.  Bikers and runners are out there doing what they do.  And then I see the line to get into a grocery store.  For Berkeley Bowl, it’s more than a block long, wrapped around the corner, maybe 100 people deep.   The parking lots at North Berkeley BART or Lafayette BART are essentially empty.  Acres of parking lots, now turned over to parents teaching their kids how to ride their bikes.  That’s when it hits me again that this is real.  The bad news continues.  The battles over when to “open” society and return to “normal” continue. The administration’s refusal to take any leadership role continues.  The pandemic is not over and there’s no telling when it will subside.  And as many writers have said, the return to “normal” life may never come.  I find that hard to grasp, as every perturbation in life has eventually subsided and things get back to normal, so why not this as well?  Are they right or am I right?  And what is the future?  Is it weeks, months, years?  No one knows and that’s what’s hard to grasp.

PS Some good news.  My bike riding miles are doing pretty pretty well, averaging well over 200 miles/week.  Spring is here and the weather’s been glorious (while it’s forecast to snow back east."...yes, in mid-May!).  So even though the future is unknown, I’m trying to make the best of the present.