Day Three of Captivity

Remember how I said the other day that I had plenty of things to do at home? Well, I still have pretty much all of them to do, since my days at home have been mostly about resting, despite not having coronavirus.

I am working my way through one of my History magazines, which is making me think I ought to be reading more Jules Verne, single-handed creator of the literary genre of science fiction; plus I finished off a Country Life (sent out by my electrical co-op). Who knew we had a worldwide manufacturer of giant plastic in Grand Junction?

This company, Reynolds Polymer Technology, puts together really thick walls of see-through plastic for aquariums and high-end swimming pools. Pools that hang off the sides of or between buildings, so that you can see the ground 10 feet below you as you swim, which is certainly something I’ve always aspired to.

They’ve also made the “window wall” for an undersea restaurant in Norway, so the world can literally be your oyster as you eat. I wouldn’t eat, though; I’d be waiting for the wall to collapse and wash me and all my fellow diners away.

I watched an old video (yes, VHS on my VCR) I found when I put DVDs on my new bookshelf, an action I took before adopting a lifestyle of lethargic leisure. Six Days, Seven Nights, with Anne Heche (where has she gone?) and Harrison Ford, also with a small role for Allison Janney, whom I would never have recognized but for her voice.

I have to say, the title of that movie has always bothered me, and yesterday I still couldn’t figure out how you put in more nights than days, especially when Anne and David Schwimmer arrived for their week on a tropical island during the daylight. Six Nights, Seven Days, sure — but not the other way around. There were a couple other small points, such as: where did Harrison Ford come up with a hacksaw in the middle of the jungle? But in general it was still an enjoyable movie (with pirates!) all these years later.

Lynn and I also watched the world outside our windows and saw a bald eagle cruise to a landing in the pond, spend some time below our sight level, and then launch upward in a series of rather labored circles before gaining enough elevation to head west.

The geese have been with us for about a week now, and yesterday in my only foray of note, the morning constitutional with Oz (no encounters with people, but I’m really starting to wish my fellow dog walkers would clean up after their charges), we got honked at ferociously by a goose who then launched itself from our neighbors’ front yard, still honking. I’m thinking that means baby geeses might be on the way.

I did have enough oompf yesterday morning that I finally wrote to the Ariel Bath Company about my shower, which was probably the one thing I shouldn’t have undertaken, because I got back a reply assuring me that of course I can access their website, which I have been completely unable to reach on at least two browsers on two computers for several weeks now. (If you got bored today and wanted to try going to arielbath.com and then let me know how you fared, I wouldn’t complain and might even say “thank you.”)

They sent multiple pictures, some of which I also can’t access, that I don’t feel are helpful to my issues. I just want to know what cleaner to use and where the “cleaner inlet” might be, and I don’t see how photos of clean and dirty coiled pipes, which I’m guessing are deep inside the steam generator itself, helps. There are at least pictures, labeled in understandable English, as to what part does what. But I still just want to know how to clean it, and what I should be doing about the plastic pieces crumbling away in the heat.

Of course, I also found plenty of time to read about the coronavirus. Our county is issuing updates twice daily, and the one yesterday evening initially sounded relatively innocuous, but I believe our caseload has exploded, despite only four “official” cases.

You have to do some reading between the lines to get to the meat of the report, which is that Gunnison County only had, sometime yesterday, 100 test kits. Initially this was enough for 50 people, because two swabs of each person were taken, but the state has decided to just go with one swab, thereby doubling the number of people who can be tested.

But with 55 people showing up at yesterday’s drive-up clinic [our county has practiced for this eventuality by offering drive-by flu shots one day each fall for the last several years], those test kits could go quickly. So response officials are being judicious in their use of testing, saving them for the high-risk populations. In other words, even if they did decide that poor James ought to go to the parking lot clinic, they would evaluate him without an official test and send him back home.

If you count the number of people they think but haven’t verified have coronavirus, that’s another 30-35. I’m not clear if this number includes the 25 “civilians” and two health-care workers that are in their homes but being “continually monitored.” Either way, it’s a lot more than four.

I think — again, I had to read between the lines — that we had a death due to cardiac arrest that may have had an underlying virus cause. The report didn’t even say for sure the victim had died, just that the coroner was evaluating the cause of the cardiac arrest. I inferred from there. The report did note that the victim’s spouse tested positive for influenza.

I see that one of my friends is temporarily unemployed, since the county libraries are now all closed until April 8. They don’t even want you returning your books — keep them until the 8th.

I’m not sure what to do about Pat’s. Reports are that it’s been quiet, except for the kid who somehow managed to knock over and break our gumball machine. (But at least his or her parent bought three whole stickers that doesn’t even cover the cost of a replacement part.) That’s how wild it gets without James and I there to oversee things.

But instead of breaking things, visitors to our shop could be carting germs. Or, since James has body aches and more fatigue than I do, we might be sending germs out. We do have a very small sick-leave policy, and Kara and I have a plan to bank hours so that we could hopefully afford to pay people if we shut down (we will work the hours off later), but it’s a balancing act between employee and community safety and the stress of affordability, both for the employer and the employee.

Soon there may not be a choice. The public health officer has banned gatherings over 50 people (not sure if that includes the ski area), and gatherings under that number have to meet criteria outlined in the order, which I couldn’t find on-line.

I am going to forego my planned trip to the lumberyard today, which doesn’t help a fellow small business, and skip out my usual Saturday time in the woodshop, but for now I’m still planning to see if the health food store is open and whether my milk is coming from Olathe.

And I’m hoping to have a little more energy, to maybe start on some of my many home projects. Although the way things are looking, I may have a couple of weeks, or more, to work on them, whether I want the time or not.