Family drama, grouchy kids, no relaxing weekend at the lake, no fall admissions to preferred MBA program (still waiting on another).
Took a drive up the canyon in the GX470, which is surprisingly sporty. 2nd gear locked in is good from 30-60 and has nice pull everywhere in that range, plus sounds nice. The torsen center allows for crazy grip and the TC cuts in pretty mildly. With the shocks set to full sport it doesn’t even lean in too badly. Great brakes too.
Once I got to the top of the canyon I decided to keep going on the dirt road as high as I could go, which is about the top of the lift I take my family skiing on for some nice views (shown). I haven’t gone out for a frustration drive in a while and I forgot how therapeutic they can be.
Just trying to mellow and do a little writing while working and trying to find some zen.
At least I’m not quarantined. We had a little scare this week. My kids are all required to wear masks when playing with friends and while some friends also do it some do not. Some of the ones that don’t went away for a few days and came back sick and got tested. It occurred to us that if she tested positive, WE would have to self isolate for 14 days whether we got it or not. Their choice would have cost me 2 weeks PTO if not more (if we got sick). The good news is that she tested negative.
A gentle reminder that masks aren’t just for you, they are for others. This family has now agreed to make their kids wear masks when playing after realizing how far-reaching their choices have been.
Here are some other things you may or may not know
1. COVID isn’t deaths only, in fact, that’s just a small part of it. A friend of ours has a friend who was recently diagnosed with a heart condition due to her having COVID earlier in the year. This will be a lifelong condition that will probably reduce her lifespan. This isn’t super rare, and we won’t know the long term effects of even recovered people for a while.
2. A high percentage of people that need to be intubated on ventilators are showing PTSD like symptoms from their experience including vivid hallucinations of being repeatedly raped or beat up while in their induced coma. I’ve met some of these people. It’s gnarly, you don’t want it.
3. Even outside and “social distancing”, large group gatherings are still a bad idea. A coworker’s family had a reunion of 80 people in Arizona a few weeks ago and it was outside and “social distanced”. He didn’t go and he’s glad he didn’t as one of the younger cousins was non-symptomatic positive and spread it to 43 of the people in that group.
4. Think dosage. outside with no masks 6 feet from someone? You can probably safely chat for a while. Inside right next to someone for hours while both of you are wearing masks? This represents a higher total risk of spreading or catching the virus.
One of the things I hear a lot is that “we can’t live in fear”. It sounds brave and stoic and makes sense on its face value. But it’s just a fancy way of saying that reality is a bitter pill to swallow, and it’s easier on myself if I don’t acknowledge it exists. Doing the basics is no more living in fear than swimming in the ocean is “living in fear” of shark attacks. You don’t have to be fearful, you can be hopeful and reframing the context from “this is hard for me” to “this is good for us” can help. I don’t want you to live in fear, you don’t have to. But ignoring reality may deny others to live their full lives, or at all.
Lastly, this isn’t going to go on forever. All past pandemics had a point where equilibrium is reached and community spread moves from a growth phase to a sustained phase. The good news is that there is some good science showing that antibodies are generally effective at warding off the virus and that a vaccine is not only possible but likely to have a meaningful effect. Don’t fall into the “we just need to get on with our lives” trap. Look beyond the short term.