Quarantine Thursday.
Random personal observations:
1. The 2019-2020 academic year has been a sandwich of strange. Last semester, I was on medical leave. January and February were a whirlwind because I was teaching 3 courses. Spring Break is this week, and now, instead of that whirlwind becoming a storm...
2. Everything is cancelled or cancelling. The only reason why I'm on the road is because I'm supposed to be at my first out-of-town 2020 event. My next event isn't until April 24, and they say it's going on as scheduled. (Bought the tickets. We shall see.) Everything else is in late May, June, July, and beyond.
3. I have two students whose dissertation defenses will likely be via Zoom, Skype, etc. We'll see.
4. Yes, far too many people are being racist about this virus, but let's be clear: humans are ableist, too. People already do not believe us when we tell you that we've got asthma and respiratory illnesses on a good day. ("It's in your head!" "Try Cure X!" "Stop using those inhalers!") And now folks are getting beat up for coughing, if you’re Asian… but I just got off a flight filled with coughing men in expensive suits. Which means I’ve got to self-quarantine. (Beyond annoyed. Nice watches, no common sense.)
5. I am going to try my very best not to let this social distancing period drive me back to @Ebonyteach Twitter. Nope! The very reason I started Tweeting more on that account was because of the polar vortex. Gotta turn off the news, catch up on work, read, and write. And when I’m done with that? Star Trek. Hold me to it.
6. I’m planning to stave off isolation blues with daily walks around my complex! Hold me to that, too. It won’t break self-quarantine because it’s quiet around me. What my home lacks in people it has in beauty. And spring is almost here…
7. My nerves are telling me to drop into my PCP's convenience hours super duper early on Friday. Lungs aren't quite 100% from the cold last month I have no nebulizer because the logic of my provider and insurer is that if I need one, I should go to urgent care or an ER. Either I walk out with an RX for one, or a year's supply of albuterol. Period. (Update: Coughing on plane, and COVID-19’s wide and untested spread, means I’m at home for the next 14 days. No doctor’s office for me until or unless I really need it. Excess mucus problem is being resolved by taking a round of Zyrtec D.)
8. I can't believe I left my mama, who lives in a state with no cases, to return to whatever is going on in Philly and the East Coast, all while exposing myself to the ‘rona again.
9. I need to order groceries, because Philly's supply chains are starting to stretch reeeeeeeally thin. Hoping to shop, pack, and ship while here in Detroit for a minute... and no, friends and family, I love you, but I'll look forward to seeing you this summer when we're on the other side of this.
10. I have plenty of bleach, sanitizer, Lysol, etc. because hello, asthmatic here and this place prides itself on being grimy.
11. Thanks to my colleague Laura Jimenez, I am starting to track my temperature and blood pressure daily.
12. 2020. Wow. Just… wow.