Self-Isolation Day 4: Hello

Hi there.

My name is Ryan and this is an interesting time to be alive. SARS-CoV-2 and the resulting COVID-19 is making its way around the world and like many other people I'm now confined mostly to my home for the foreseeable future.

I've often described myself as "a really easy-going guy" and an optimist. My partner is the worrier in our relationship and I'm the one always reassuring her that everything's going to be alright. Our discussions about the COVID-19 epidemic have followed this pattern so far, but I'm starting to think that maybe her reaction is the more rational one in this scenario. As an optimist, that's pretty scary. It's scary to think that it's not going to be alright and it's scary to think that I've been a fool to think so. Mostly, it's scary to not know exactly how scared I should be.

Anyway, today I happened upon this article in which a University of Virginia professor urged his students and everyone else to write down their experiences during these unprecedented times. In addition to documenting a unique moment in history, I've decided to take his advice because I think it could be therapeutic to share my experiences and hopefully find solace through community. I'm also a writer by trade so this is sort of my thing.

So the plan is to write a short post every day (or close to it) documenting my life and mindset in these strange times. Please leave comments below with your own experiences and hopefully we can all get through this together.

Stay healthy and sane.
-Ryan

Comments

I've Been Unemployed for a Month

Sorry I haven't written here in a while. So much was happening in those first few months of the pandemic, and then it seemed like everything just kind of slowed to a crawl before it all went stale. Every day has been the same thing. People don't believe facts. People are getting sick. The pandemic isn't over yet. We need to stay home. We need a sense of normalcy. The numbers are down. The numbers are up. On and on and on in a never-ending loop. Like many people, I fell into a sort of numb depression without even realizing it. The pandemic and quarantine weren't great for my mental health, and I stagnated. I kept on going through the motions, but it was all in a sort of half-conscious way. Fortunately, a few months ago I became aware of this and made some changes to improve my mental health and overall lifestyle. It seemed like everything was going to be alright again. Then, after an incredibly stressful two months at work during which I worked and pushed myself harder t

News Updates for Posterity

As I said in my previous blog post, I'm not sure there's really anything significantly new to say about this pandemic since it's been going on far longer than it should have. That said, I still want to keep this blog updated on a somewhat regular basis for future historical reference. In the absence of any new insights to share, I'm going to share and comment on some recent news. July 14: CDC says U.S. could get coronavirus under control in one to two months if everyone wears a mask This is pretty much the thing I've been preaching from the beginning because I respect the advice of educated experts. Still, it's nice to have the CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (spelled out, capitalized, and bold in case you forgot that this pandemic is literally what the CDC was designed to help us with) slap the nation across the face with how badly we're messing up and how quickly we could be done with quarantining if everyone just wore their damn masks. July 15

The Escalation of Events

So yesterday I stumbled upon this article in which a respiratory therapist describes in detail what the worst of COVID-19 looks like in the hospital. These disturbing descriptions were all new to me, which is worrisome given how far into this pandemic the world already is. The details of the disease shouldn't still be unknown or downplayed at this point. I began to reflect on my experience learning about this disease and how long it took for me to take it seriously versus how quickly everything seemed to go wrong. I was away on business in Boston for PAX East (a big video game convention) from February 25th through March 2nd. There was talk of the "novel coronavirus" at the time but I didn't know much about it. While I worked my booth and walked the convention floor I couldn't help but notice the (relatively small but nonetheless) increased number of attendees wearing face masks at the event. I just kind of shrugged it off, thinking it was good that peo

Ryan's COVID-19 Chronicles

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