I'm glad I went to the gym yesterday. I got an e-mail this morning saying that they were closing until further notice. Stores are closing. Restaurants are closing. The world as we know it is starting to disappear. No wonder people are buying everything in the grocery stores. Things are changing so rapidly that it's hard to tell what is going to happen next.
Janet and I both went back to get more groceries today. I think we've got plenty of food for at least a month. As luck would have it, they were restocking the bottled water when I went to the store, so I added to our supply. Janet got extra food for Dawn and lots of things we can freeze. We've got plenty of food, water, medicine, and household supplies now. Eventually we'll use all these things, but I hope our lives don't depend on them.
It's weird that everything is closing to keep people from congregating, but the grocery stores are still full. There was no social distancing at the store I went to today. The place was packed and people were buying like there was no tomorrow. It's hard to know what to buy for the apocalypse. If things really do get bad, I imagine that most of us will realize that we bought the wrong things.
I heard that the stock market had it's worst day in history, dropping 3,000 points in today's session. This is not good. A lot of small businesses will be wiped out. It's sad to see so many restaurants closing. Owning a restaurant is not easy during the best of times. I hope all my favorite places survive. When this all blows over, there is going to be a huge desire to go out to eat again. Canned beans and tuna fish are going to get real old after a while.
This is a bad time to lose faith in the media. There is so much information floating around and it's almost impossible to tell which of it is true. I was feeling pretty good when I read that if you could hold your breath for ten seconds, your lungs were in good shape and it was unlikely you had the virus. On a good day I can hold my breath for thirty seconds. Later, I was disappointed to read that this test was bogus and had nothing to do with the coronavirus. The theory that drinking lots of hot tea or other hot liquids will kill the virus turns out not to be true either.
It looks like I'll have plenty of time to write my Sky and Telescope article. I'll start writing tomorrow before the memories begin to fade. Even though my trip to McDonald Observatory was cut short, I had some very memorable experiences. It was an amazing week. If I can manage to turn my time on the mountain into an article worthy of publication, a little home quarantine might even be worth it.
I wonder if society is going to fundamentally change after this pandemic runs its course and things return to normal? I can't remember a time where we were all actively encouraged to stay away from each other. It would be ironic and even a little funny if a lot of people started living like me. What if people discovered that living in relative isolation wasn't all that bad? It's been my little secret until now. If you stay away from people, you automatically remove most of the things that cause you stress.
I don't think my life will change all that much, even if we are in a lockdown. I've been known to go weeks without leaving the house even when things were normal. I doubt that anyone will ban walks in the park. Outdoor air and exercise are good for you. I guess we'll all just have to wait and see what happens. This is all new. I have no idea what will happen next, but I hope it ends well.
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