AndyO Blog

By Friday, Drew had convinced me that we should be wearing masks in all the common areas in the quarantine zone. I didn't want to, but his logic made sense: If he was positive (after being exposed to Faith on Tuesday), then he'd be spreading it to me. We both put on masks. 

I have to say, this reminded me of the scene in Close Encounters when Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) and Jillian Guiler (Melinda Dillon) are driving through Wyoming and seeing "dead" animals. After some hesitation, their fear compels them to put on gas masks.

While we're at it: Another family "gas mask" joke from Close Encounters, one that took on greater relevance during the pandemic, was the guy selling the gas masks to people in Gillette, Wyoming (filmed in Bay Minette, Alabama). He utters the immortal words: "And now, you're gonna be real disappointed and sorry if you don't have an early-warning system, such as a bird, a gas mask. Why, even my dog has a gas mask. And any of you folks are worth more than a dog." (Below is the best screenshot I could find of this scene--note how the other guy is holding his hand over his mouth and nose, because the dog has the gas mask.)

Back to my house situation: I started thinking about whether there were other ways to reduce trips to our lone bathroom. A few times since I instituted quarantine, I'd used a small, plastic garbage can when I couldn't wait or didn't want to go in the bathroom right after one of the "infected." But I always felt weird doing this -- even if it seemed necessary. This got me thinking: there had to be portable options.

As I browsed Amazon, I saw every kind of portable potty or urine collection device ever created. I was astonished by the selection, which always makes choosing more difficult. I ended up buying some "hospital style" urine collection bottles, including one that women and men could use. 

As it turned out, on Friday Cameron finally tested positive for COVID and developed fever and chills. By the time night came around, I heard him going to the bathroom all night. When I told him later about the portable potties coming on Saturday, he texted back, "Sounds amazing." There's nothing worse than having to walk up a flight of stairs to use the bathroom when you're in a fever state.

Labels: covid-19

On Thursday, as I talked at a weekly counselor appointment, it became clear I'd already given up on trying to remain COVID free. Like a lot of people, I was rationalizing it as being like a cold. She reminded me that we still needed to treat it like a serious disease, especially given how the virus reacts with different people. 

The conversation brought me back to reality and the danger that still lurked. I knew there were people in this same situation who thought they were safe -- because they were vaccinated, young, or healthy -- people who were now dead. I was also reminded, as I was at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, of the summer of 1976, when I first felt the invisible danger of disease. I watched a nightly news report about an unknown disease rampaging at a Legionnaire's meeting in Philadelphia, and it sent me into a tailspin. ("We're all gonna die!" I think I remember telling my parents.)

I'd come a long way since my childhood, mostly being able to contain my anxiety and fear for the past two-and-a-half years, but still being worn down by the fatigue of a pandemic. I resigned myself to keep fighting. 

Drew and I tested again at 7:00 p.m., and we were still negative.

I called Cameron about a new strategy for our house -- one that would reduce the risk for Drew and me. Cameron and Faith could use the bathroom, but nothing else. We'd deliver their food to the top of the stairs. We'd all wear KN95 masks (the N95s were too uncomfortable). I also told them they'd need to sterilize the bathroom (light switches, toilet seat, flusher handle, sink, etc.) after every use. I thought this was a good compromise for having Faith stay with us, and I knew it would be helpful in the long run -- as I was sure Cameron would be positive soon.

With the new strategy established, I felt a wave confidence as I ordered paper plates, forks, Red Solo cups, and a bunch of other stuff on Amazon Fresh. Cameron and Faith would need supplies to eat and drink. I set the delivery for 10 p.m - 12:00 a.m. window again. 

As I was waiting, I wondered what else I could buy to reduce exposure while making Cameron and Faith more comfortable. Before long, I was adding a cheap microwave, toaster, and other assorted items to my cart. 

I knew I'd gone too far when I started looking at 32-inch 4K TVs to replace the 720p TV that I watched upstairs in the living room. I suppose I missed the Sony 65-inch OLED "home theater" downstairs -- a TV that Cameron and Faith were watching constantly now.

Labels: covid-19

On Wednesday, Cameron's girlfriend Faith wasn't feeling well. As she lay on the couch with a stuffy nose, she said she'd lost smell and taste. Obviously, this was a red alert, so Faith and Cameron (who typically live in a garage bedroom) started wearing masks everywhere. But no one tested yet.

My main concern was that I'd gone into the office on Tuesday and had seen at least 10 of my coworkers; I was hoping that Faith hadn't been contagious until Wednesday. And because I'd asked Cameron and Faith to include Drew in their outings when possible (he was out of school for the summer), they'd taken him out with them in her car the day before. Finally, I thought about how I'd helped my neighbor, Pat, who had had surgery, get from his car to the house (45 minutes of close contact, since I was helping him walk). 

Cameron started wondering where Faith had potentially picked up the virus. Since they had both started working for the cruise lines in Seattle on the weekends, where they loaded and unloaded up to 5,000 passengers per day, I thought it was obvious. 

"But we always wear masks," Cameron's said.

I explained how Omicron was twice as contagious as the Delta variant. 

For those who are curious, cruise ship passengers are required to have a negative COVID test before setting sail, and if people get sick on the cruise they are taken off the ship after everyone else, using a quarantine protocol. But given what I'd heard about Omicron, I knew it didn't take much for one person to infect someone in close contact.  

Later in the day, in between my usual work calls, I asked Cameron if Faith had tested, and he didn't know where the tests were. He said he'd been doing his own "tests" with his array of hot sauces to see if Faith could taste those (including the Carolina Reaper Pepper although I don't think he used this one). I pointed him to the stack of COVID tests in the basket by the door (where they'd always been).

"Could she taste the hot sauces?" I asked.

"Not at first, but eventually."   

Not a good sign, I thought. 

He took a test and headed downstairs. After hearing the results of the hot sauce test, Drew and I put on masks in the living room. After about 15 minutes, Cameron came upstairs wearing a more surgical- looking mask. 

I looked at him, and he nodded. Faith was positive. 

"I've never seen the two lines before," Cameron said, referring to the "test" and "control" lines in the window of the test. Since he figured he'd already been exposed both Tuesday and Wednesday, he decided he would stay downstairs with her. They would only come upstairs to use the one bathroom and also cook (although I was already having second thoughts about that). 

It's worth noting that when Cameron was in Boston for school this year, his roommate got COVID. Cameron was diligent about using a mask and staying in his room most of the time (even if his roommate hadn't), and had avoided it. It was an interesting case study, even with people living in the same house, and one I'd see repeated by other people I knew in Seattle.

My first COVID test

For some reason, I always thought that you only tested when you showed symptoms of COVID. The guys I play music with said I should test right away, as it was important to know the first day you're positive. We downloaded the iHealth app for the testing kit, swabbed our nostrils, and put the sample into the test apparatus (which looked a lot like a home pregnancy test). 

After 15 minutes, we were both negative. 

It felt good in the way you feel after landing safely on vacation after turbulence -- but still knowing you needed to fly home. I knew there would be a lot of testing happening over the next week.

Next, I put together a $300-plus Amazon Fresh order. The last order had arrived about a week before, and we'd gone through all of the essentials. I was happy to be able to get a delivery window between 10:00 and 12:00 a.m. that very night (and it actually arrived by 11:00 p.m.).

Finally, before I went to bed, I texted Brenda about the COVID situation. She'd already been away for a week, hiking around southwest England on a walking tour with our neighbor, Charlotte. They'd been planning this trip for at least six months, which requires being able to walk up to 12 miles a day. 

I told her not to worry, and that I had everything under control. (Like the valet handling the Ferrari in Ferris Bueller's Day Off: "You fellas have nothing to worry about. I'm a professional.")

She texted, "I'm not worried."

Labels: adventures of a parent, covid-19

Since the last time I wrote in this blog, the pandemic has continued to mutate and cause deaths around the world. We've been through four variants, including the original, Delta (last summer/fall in the U.S.), Omicron, and additional Omicron sub-variants.

Here's what the waves have looked like since the beginning. The big spike at the end of 2021 and beginning of 2022 was Delta. 

Last year at the end of June, I ended up going on vacation to try to deal with work burnout. It was the first time I'd stayed in a hotel, and I felt safe enough to eat out. By the time Brenda and I were scheduled to go on another summer vacation, Delta was already starting to ramp up and everyone. But it was the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays in the United States that eventually caused the giant spike.

Here's an image from the Johns Hopkins website that shows current numbers of cases, deaths, and vaccines:

Here are the current variants in the United States, showing that Omicron BA 2.12.1 is 56.0% of the infections.

Finally, as one might wonder in the middle of the pandemic, how does COVID-19 compare to other viruses? As you can see, it's not the worst -- but also not the best. The Spanish Flu and HIV/AIDS recorded many more deaths. H1N1 Influenza infected the most people of any pandemic. But as a virus appearing in the modern age, COVID-19 has recorded the most deaths of any coronavirus or influenza since the Spanish Flu.

It's because of the advances of modern medicine and technology that COVID-19 didn't cause more deaths. The 2.1 million deaths around the world are still too many, but it was still a miracle that the new mRNA, genetically-engineered vaccines were developed in less than a year -- instead of four years (which is what it took for the mumps). 

Labels: covid-19

Wed, May 6, was my birthday. My first present was waking up to a dishwasher running its pump (which started intermittently on Tues, but then continuously in the middle of the night). I turned off the circuit breaker and left it for later. I had a busy day at work and no time for a new project.

Later on Wed, the kitchen flooded. Turns out there was a leak somewhere in the diswasher, and the basin was full. After my birthday dinner of bratwurst (and National Treasure 2), I started working on the dishwasher again until the wee hours of the morning. Unfortunately, this meant I missed all my meetings on Thursday morning.

By now dishes were stacking up in the sink. Big time.

Friday, I used the shop vac to vacuum out all the water—maybe two gallons worth. This was right before the military flyby over many Seattle area hospitals with two C-17 Globemasters. It wasn’t too exciting, however, since the planes were a mile away. (I guess we always expect the Blue Angels.)

Saturday--like all Saturdays during the pandemic--I rested. Late in the afternoon, Brenda and I washed every dish by hand. Then we watched Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker. This was my third time, and somehow I didn’t hate it--as much as the second time, anyway. Later, I did some stargazing with Drew.

Sunday, I tore apart the dishwasher even more—and eventually lacerated my finger on a sharp edge. No stitches, but a lot of blood. Time for a new dishwasher, even if we are in lockdown. No Swedish Asko, a specialty brand with very little support. (The store that sold it to us went out of business long ago.)

Oh, and it was Mother’s Day. Of course, I failed with that, too, on multiple levels.

Labels: covid-19

Today, we finally got our Amazon Subscribe and Save order of Charmin TP. It had been delayed for about two weeks, and then this morning I heard a “ Shave and a Haircut” knock at the door. The delivery person actually stayed with the box of TP until I answered. Surprised he didn’t have an armed guard with him to protect the 24 Mega Rolls.

In a weird confluence of events, I actually bought an inexpensive Tushy bidet during the holidays, so the need for toilet paper has diminished significantly. I bet after the COVID lockdown many more people will be going the way of the bidet.

Labels: covid-19

On an otherwise relaxing Saturday, Brenda went out to the car this afternoon to drive Cameron to Bellevue—only to find there was no car! Our brand new Subaru Crosstrek gone (okay, we bought it last September, but I think that still counts).

I went outside to look at our other car, also a Subaru, which was parked on the street as well. I clicked to unlock, but there was no beep. I found the driver’s door open, the contents of the glovebox spilling out onto the passenger seat, along with my coat.

So that’s where my coat went...

Then I thought about how I hadn’t been able to find my key for the Crosstrek. And I got a bad feeling  that the thieves had gotten the key right out of my coat. Once they broke into the Outback, I’d basically given them the car. I locked the Outback and went back inside. Now I had to admit to Brenda, Cameron, and Drew that the key might have been in my coat.

After several calls to the police and insurance, I went back out to the Outback and tried to unlock it with the key. But the lock didn’t work! The thieves had broken it. I called AAA, and an hour later a guy with no personality showed up and opened up the car.

Now that I had access to the Outback, I popped the hood and started charging the battery. As I was doing that, I remembered that a friend on Facebook had said his sister’s car was stolen recently, and it just happened to be the same car as ours. I asked if she got it back, and he said she found it not far from her house. Also, my next door neighbor Pat said when his car was stolen years ago, he found it a few blocks away. He said, “Sometimes people just don’t want to walk.”

I looked to the end of the block, which is about a quarter mile away, and saw a white Subaru Crosstrek. I asked Brenda to go for a walk to see if we could find the car. I told her about the car down the street, but she seriously doubted that it was our car.

We walked down the street, a cold wind against our faces. As we got closer to that white car, I asked Brenda the license plate number again. It was a match!

We couldn’t believe it.

We looked over the car. The driver’s side door was open a crack. The glovebox was open. And there, sitting on the seat, was my key! I opened the door and grabbed the key. Brenda and I both thought we needed to leave the car where it was, since we’d reported it stolen. When she called the police back, they told us to leave it for three hours. They said if we drove it and officers stopped us, they would draw their guns.

So, if you walk outside one day and your car is missing, take a walk around the block, because it sounds like this is common pattern among car thieves.

I’m just glad to have the car back.

Labels: covid-19

For the first time in 5 weeks, we ordered takeout: Pagliacci’s Pizza. Funny how it just wasn’t as good as I remember. It seemed like they rushed the order, with the toppings and cheese slipping off as you ate it. I bet it will be good cold.

Spring weather has now arrived in Washington, which is a welcome distraction. The quality of light changed on Wed or Thurs. So strange how we forget about this until the earth makes its way around the sun, and the angles lock into place.

It’s almost enough to make you forget about the dangers lurking outside.

During this winter/spring hibernation, my dreams have become more vivid. It’s as if the mind needs to make up for the lack of activity and social interaction. There are times I remember what it’s like to walk into someone’s office at work and talk to them in person. No video stuttering. No audio cutouts. Real-time, real conversation. Now those physical interactions are just a memory, like a dream.

Amazing how human beings can adapt to living and working from a virtual cave. But I’m left wondering what this pandemic would have been like 10 or 20 years ago, without all the streaming services and Internet? Without Amazon being able to deliver food to your front door? It’s as if we’re all able to plug into the Matrix—only to find out we’ve been doing this for a long time.

Labels: covid-19

During the Covid-19 crisis, my parents, who are both in their 70s, have had to continue regular visits to their doctors. One of those visits was on Friday, when my Mom had a monthly injection in her eye for macular degeneration. My Dad gave an interesting report to brother and sister (Erik and Kristen), which I’m including here:

“Yesterday was a historical day. Kristen had face masks made for us (Erik had given us a couple N-95s earlier). When we arrived at Mom’s eye doc, we waited in the near empty parking lot until we were called to come in. We put on our face masks. We were ushered to a room to get Mom’s shot -- no waiting, nor was there any one in the waiting area. All staff wore face masks and eye protection. They were all wearing the same pretty blue protective clothing. It was a scene from the “Andromeda Strain” movie — really eerie! 15 minutes later, we were ushered back out and given a couple different face masks. Now we each have three face masks and could part with a couple if anyone needs one😃”

One thing you should know is my Dad is a scientist, so he’s always observing or looking at data. At one point we started calling him a “big name scientist,” because he was on Good Morning America as part of a story on cold fusion, and that’s how they introduced him.

If you’ve never heard of “The Andromeda Strain,” I don’t recommend watching the movie any time soon. Basically, a pathogen from space comes to earth and has the potential to kill everyone. The plot is about the scientists who are tasked with finding treatment or a cure. The novel of the same name was written by Michael Crichton, who was in medical school when he started writing stories. He’d eventually write “Jurassic Park,” which was turned into 90’s blockbuster by Spielberg. But Crichton wrote many novels that were turned into films. I think my favorite by Crichton is a non-fiction book called “Travels.”

Labels: covid-19

The situation grows more serious in the US and the world. Unemployment claims skyrocketed to over 6 million. Trump has relented on his plan to open the country by Easter after seeing the best case scenario of deaths at 100k. Some states are still not in lockdown, and some people think this is all a hoax. In Seattle we’ve had days of hail and rain, adding to the apocalyptic tone. I haven’t taken a walk in over a week—and somehow feel ok about it.

However, there’s some good news to report:

Labels: covid-19

It’s week 3 of the great social distancing experiment for COVID-19. As predicted, things are getting progressively worse around the world and the US. Here’s the latest:

• New York has become the center of the outbreak in the US. Cases are doubling every three days according to the governor of NY.
• Spring Breakers in Florida didn’t heed the social distancing directive, so they shut sown the beaches and everything else.
• Multiple states are in lockdown, including New York and California. Washington State is implementing a “Stay home, stay healthy” initiative, which is basically a lockdown rebranded. The governor didn’t issue this last Friday as many expected. 
• The 2020 Olympics in Japan were postponed.
• Trump has been having a briefing every day, which makes you realize how serious it is. Unfortunately, he’s getting bored with the situation and said he expects to get back to normal in a few weeks. After all, the economy is tanking, and that won’t help his re-election. Last week Trump admonished a reporter for asking what he would say to Americans who were scared? As many pointed out, this was the greatest softball question in the history of press conferences.
• I’ve worked every day for the past 2 weeks. I thought my job was crazy before, but now I realize that wasn’t true. Fortunately, what I do has a direct impact on helping people during this time.
• Cameron and Drew are now watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
• I got the special Xbox $1.00 Game Pass deal, which will allow everyone to get more games. Of course, we could just get out all he old discs, but that would be too easy.

Labels: covid-19

Another long workday. My schedule: get up, go to work by 8/8:30, go for a walk around 11 or 12, work more, have lunch, and then work again. For some reason I run out of energy by 4/4:30, so I take a break and play games on my iPad. Sometimes I go back to work after 6:00 pm. Tonight, I had a call with our India team from 9:30-10:30 pm.

At least all of this work is distracting, which keeps my anxiety in check. The dazzling sun and blue sky also help. For a moment, you can almost forget about the crisis happening around us.

The news is always bad, so I try to limit my exposure. I know Italy had a record number of infections today—and has passed China in COVID-related deaths. I know New York is bad. California is trying to get everyone to stay indoors for a while. People are worried about food shortages. Health professionals are worried about equipment shortages. Trump said the states need to figure it out, because the federal government can’t fix all the problems. At least he appears to be taking this seriously now. He retweets posts from the CDC—people who know what they’re doing!

Unfortunately, a lot of people are still not taking this seriously—playing soccer at Greenlake in Seattle, etc. There are rumors of a real lockdown coming for Washington state, and it would be for this reason: people who don’t understand what social distancing is, who are putting all of us at risk.

In a “virtual happy hour” today with my team, one person told us that they had been to the gun shop to buy a handgun. Everyone on the call didn’t know quite what to say, although someone asked if they had any experience with firearms (it was unclear). This person said the gun shop was busy. Fear is contagious; people are preparing for the worst.

Labels: covid-19

As of tomorrow, I will have worked from home for 2 weeks. It’s been an adjustment for sure. Here are some of the things I’ve done to cope with this new environment:

• Set up my workstation on the dining room table, including docking station and monitor.
• Set up a desk for my wife in the bedroom.
• Start each day as if I’m going to the office: take shower, put on work clothes, even shoes. My kids aren’t used to me wearing jeans instead of shorts around the house. I don’t change into shorts until I’m done working.
• Try to walk outside once a day. Today I walked almost a mile!
• Use video conferencing as much as possible. Seeing people’s faces is more important than ever.
• Set boundaries with work, because working from home makes it easy to to go all day and night.
• Find meaning: I’m working on projects that are important in the current situation. But I think we can help and support each other through small acts—even if it’s just being kind to each other. All the petty crap doesn’t seem as important anymore.

Labels: covid-19

It's been a little over 3 years since I posted to this blog. Given the historic pandemic with COVID-19, it seemed like a good time to start up again.

Here's a timeline of events:

• Late December, 2019: A pneumonia of unknown cause starts showing up in Wuhan, China. The virus is eventually linked to the coronavirus, which is also responsible for SARS and MERS.
• Jan 21, 2020: The first confirmed case of the virus is reported in the United States in Washington state. The man had returned from Wuhan, China. He recovers two weeks later.
• Jan 30: The World Health Organization (WHO) declares a public health emergency.
• Feb 11: WHO names the novel coronavirus "COVID-19."
• COVID 19 spreads throughout the United States and the world during February, hitting Italy, Hong Kong, and South Korea especially hard.
• Feb 29: The first death is reported in the United States. The person is a resident of the EvergreenHealth nursing home in Kirkland, Washington. Many of the residents test positive for COVID-19, and to date 29 have died (out of 41 total in the U.S.).
• March 6: I start working from home full-time.
• March 7: The world passes 100,000 cases.
• March 11: WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic. This sets off a chain reaction of event cancellations across Washington and the United States. Schools in Seattle are canceled--first for two weeks, and then for over a month.
• March 13, President Trump declares a national emergency and invokes the Stafford Act.

 

Labels: covid-19