Personal

The stuff about me and my life. The “diary” side of blogging.

WA Virus Update

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An update on WA’s coronavirus status.

As has been noted in a Twitter screenshot I’ve seen a number of people sharing, one of the key metrics to track is not the number of cases, but the number of deaths, and how quickly that number is growing. According to the Twitter post from Dr. Sam Wang of Princeton, “If the ‘doubling time’ of these slows to more than 3 days, we’re starting to bend the curve.”

Screen Shot 2020 03 26 at 2 19 00 PM

According to a graphic from the New York Times, as of this morning, WA’s ‘doubling time’ is nine days.

Screen Shot 2020 03 26 at 2 19 30 PM

This is good news. WA may have been first in the US to get seriously hit, and there have been some hiccups, but overall, we’ve been doing a good job of social distancing and controlling the situation as much as possible.

I’ve even seen other (currently unsourced) comments indicating that the UW medical center is not only not overwhelmed, but aren’t even as whelmed as they expected to be at this point, and are offering assistance to other places.

None of this means we’re out of the woods yet. But they’re all good signs that we’re doing the right things, however frustrating they may be.

Keep it up, everyone!

Masked Memoji Me

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Just a bit of silliness today — I created a mask-wearing version of my social media profile photo to use for the foreseeable future, and I’m actually pretty darn happy with how it came out.

👍 with facemask

I took one of the Memoji caricatures of me from my iPhone, found an image of someone wearing a disposable mask, and then did a little image editing (“photoshopping”, only using Affinity Photo) to extract the mask, overlay it onto the Memoji, and warp it into place.

It’s silly but serious, and was a pleasant distraction for ten minutes or so earlier today.

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Can I simultaneously respect the people willing to give their time, energy, and skills to voluntarily sewing masks to donate to hospitals, and the people who refuse to do so because it’s a request/expectation for more unpaid skilled labor in a traditionally feminine area?

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From a friend on Facebook: “Drive-in movie theaters need to come back.”

Social distancing while still participating in a social activity, watching first-run films on a big screen, theaters and studios still able to function during pandemics…. Doesn’t seem like a horrid idea.

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📚 fifteen of 2020: *batteries not included by Wayland Drew ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had vague memories of the film, but as it turns out, very vague: other than the tiny flying saucers, none of this was familiar. A pleasant enough bit of fluff to distract myself with, but not much more.

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📚 fourteen of 2020: The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack ⭐️⭐️⭐️

A direct prequel to the Picard series, detailing the struggles, triumphs, and travesties of the Romulan relief effort. Also the most politically & socially currently relevant Trek novel I’ve ever read. 🖖

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📚 thirteen of 2020: Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O’Keefe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #PKDickAward nominee

Good grand scope space opera, with neat questions on consciousness and the psychology of AI as used in ships of war. Figured out many of the reveals quickly, but still quite good.

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Wishing a good #InternationalWomensDay to all women: family, friends, acquaintances, and those not known to me; cis, trans, or enby, however you present, openly or closeted; whatever your history and however you choose to live your life. May you be healthy, safe, and valued.

Soap: The Final Frontier

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CDC reccommends washing your hands for 20 seconds. You know what takes roughly 20 seconds to say?

“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before.”

You’re not required to hum the theme afterwards, but who’s gonna stop you, honestly.

— Monica Marier on Facebook

80-Proof Sanitizer

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Earlier today, I made this joke on Twitter:

Hand sanitizer is sold out everywhere. So is isopropyl alcohol and aloe vera gel.

Anybody know the correct ratio for vodka and personal lubricant?

And while that didn’t come even close to going viral (two replies and three hearts), so I know I’m not to blame, I was amused to see this article this afternoon:

As hand sanitizer disappears from the shelves across the U.S. while the coronavirus spreads, the social media team for Tito’s Vodka has been spending much of its time explaining to fans that hand sanitizer made with their product would not be effective for preventing COVID-19.

“As soon as we saw the incorrect articles and social posts, we wanted to set the record straight,” a Tito’s spokesperson told The Dallas Morning News. “While it would be good for business for our fans to use massive quantities of Tito’s for hand sanitizer, it would be a shame to waste the good stuff, especially if it doesn’t sanitize (which it doesn’t, per the CDC).”