Ryan's COVID-19 Chronicles

Both of my kids have COVID-19. They got tested this morning and confirmed this afternoon. I might also have it, since I've been sick for a few days. My partner may have also had it last week, though she took two tests that came back negative. This sucks. I don't have the energy or the heart to talk about it any more than that. This just sucks. Stay healthy and sane. Someone has to. Ryan Update: It's nighttime and I just took an at-home test that came back positive. I had taken one earlier in the week that was negative, but after getting the kid's results this isn't much of a surprise I guess. Just a big bummer.

I find myself struggling to think of what to write about in this blog anymore, even only once per week, that I haven't already said. This pandemic has just been going on for way too long. Nothing's really changing. Stupid people are denying the virus' existence, how to stop it, and refusing to follow rules that would get us out of this mess. My family is trying to stay safe while keeping sane. I miss the way things were before. I'm grateful for my daughter's ignorance. I'm devastated for everything we can't let her experience during this crucial part of her life. Many countries are beating or close to beating the virus while the USA lets it spread and destroy. President Trump has spent more energy attacking the CDC and Director of NIAID in a week than he has spent attacking the virus and protecting people from it for the last five months. Nothing's really changing. How many thousands more need to die or be impaired for life from this virus? I just want t...

Well I think it's pretty obvious by now that we (at least in the United States) are going to have to deal with this COVID-19 pandemic for quite a lot longer than we originally hoped or expected to. Despite the fact that we could pretty easily squash this disease while simultaneously saving the economy $1 trillion simply by wearing face masks and practicing social distancing, lots of people just don't want to wear masks, social distance, or believe simple facts from experts. Just a friendly reminder that President Trump is one of those people. He also suggested injecting people with disinfectant to cure COVID-19. Moving on. All that said, I've recently realized that it might be time to stop thinking about the present conditions as a temporary thing and start thinking of them more like the "new normal." Just a few days ago I thought of the "new normal" as being the time after the worst of the pandemic had passed, or even perhaps as being whenever it was o...

Intellectually, I know that the only correct answer to the question of "is it alright to hang out with someone outside of my household during a global pandemic?" is "nope, just stay home to keep yourself and others safe." Emotionally, however, there's really no right answer to that question. My brother had a birthday recently and my parents naturally wanted to throw a little family party. While my partner and I have occasionally interacted with my parents recently and then even interacted with my brother for Father's Day after debating the decision for quite a while, this party would reintroduce two more people into our social circle; my grandmother and one of my uncles. It can be a slippery slope to let people back into your physical vicinity these days. It's so easy to think "well my grandmother is already interacting with my parents, and I already interact with my parents, so what's the difference if I interact with my grandmother now?" ...

I had a great six-year anniversary weekend with my partner and our daughter. And while I'd love to tell you all about it, there's something more important I want to discuss today: should we relax our self-isolation or not? Despite the fact that COVID-19 is on track to kill more US citizens than died in all of WWI, and despite the fact that cases are spiking in several states after reopening , my state of Wisconsin seems to still be flattening the curve after being forcibly reopened–at least it appears that way for now. And with summer just around the corner, there's more and more pressure and desire to cautiously return to normal. Father's day, Independence Day, and various birthdays are just a few occasions coming up in my personal life that I'd love to spend with the family and friends I've been missing. The odds are, apparently, in favor for relaxing my family's self-isolation. So why am I still hesitant to get back into close physical contact with anyone...

Hope is a double-edged sword. It can help get us through difficult times, but it can also lure us into a false sense of security. Some states are reopening . Some organizations have already set dates for their employees to return to the office despite the effectiveness and safety of remote work. Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the US continues to climb with the tally currently at 1,219,066 confirmed cases and 73,297 confirmed deaths. I'd like to remind you again that each of those over 70 thousand deaths was a human being with a job, friends, and a family who cared about them but was unable to be at their side when they passed on. This isn't something we've won. This isn't something to celebrate. People are dead and continuing to die of this disease. This is an ongoing tragedy. Of course I want to believe things are getting better. I want to believe that we've got this thing under control, but I want that to be true more than I want to believe...

I have two sad stories to share today. Last night our dog found a nest of baby bunnies in one of our outdoor planters. One was sticking out of the nest, not moving. Given the freezing nights and rain we've had recently it didn't seem likely that the others would be in great shape either. I called the humane society to see if there was anything I could or should do to help, and the person there walked me through how to check each bunny and had me send a photo of their bellies to see if they'd been fed by their mother recently. Only one seemed alive, and only just barely. I was told it probably wouldn't last the night. Unfortunately it did not. I work full-time at a tech company that provides resources to insurance brokers and my partner works hourly at an HR company on a team that handles HR for a big health insurance provider. Given the economic downturn, we've both been thankful that we work in industries that serve one that's staying busy ...

I never thought I'd be so scared of a package that I was expecting. Like a lot of people, my partner and I have resorted to ordering things to be shipped to our door rather than go out and buy it in person. However, thanks to how little is known about if/how long COVID-19 can transfer via surfaces, each delivery we get is met with a mixture of excitement and terror. I suppose everyone has a different level of comfort with how they approach the opening of a package, but here's generally how the process has gone at our house: Either my partner or myself claims responsibility for retrieving the package, and they are applauded by the other The responsible person puts on some outdoor footwear, clears a surface on a table or counter, and then retrieves a box cutter (optional: gloves are worn) They then go outside and cut the box open while touching it as little as possible The contents are pulled out and placed onto the ground The box is broken down and taken directly ...

As a brief update to my post from yesterday, I did end up going for a run outside and it was absolutely wonderful! While I anticipated it would be difficult and expected to need a break or two since I haven't run outdoors in months, I ended up running even further than I planned without a single break! I ran for 4.3 miles, which is pretty close to my all-time best distance of 4.9! Unfortunately I also have bad news. The situation I detailed yesterday regarding my toddler spending the mornings with her grandparents may be compromised. As a result, she's home with us while we work today and will be until we can guarantee (to whatever extent that's possible) that it's safe again. Yesterday while my partner was visiting her parents to pick up our toddler, her brother stopped by to pick up something. Unfortunately, after getting closer than 6ft to his parents, he disclosed that he had been feeling mildly sick since Monday but was feeling relatively bett...

Wisconsin's "Safer at Home" order went into effect today. The gist of it is that we should stay home unless it's absolutely necessary to travel, such as for groceries. Fortunately, "essential travel" includes to care for minors (under definition 15b) and "essential activities" includes taking care of others (under definition 11e) so for now my partner and I are still driving our toddler to and from her grandparents' house for childcare in the mornings. It's a decision that my partner and I talk over at least once every single day and will no doubt continue to reassess each day of the forseeable future. Here are the points that it always comes down to: Reasons against: Nobody wants anyone to get sick. Symptoms take two weeks to show and some people are completely asymptomatic but still infectious. What if we're being stupid? Reasons for: All of us are taking every possible precaution with cleanliness and health. None of...

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...

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 els...