Spring Break 2020 Part 1 (or the Coronavirus Blog)

What a time to be alive. Spring break is here and the university is free of the majority of children. What is usually a relaxing time for those of us on campus has been disrupted by talks of COVID-19, AKA “The Coronavirus”. I did not want to write about this but here I am. Life during a pandemic… It’s the conversation piece when I walk into the office. I hear it all across campus. I hear about it all day. I walk into it in the mornings. Heck, people are asking me if I’m concerned because of my compromised immune system. (I’m not, btw.) It’s like we are living in a quagmire of fear right now. Being on a campus the main worry is where have the kids traveled for spring break and what will they be bringing back with them. I get it. Campus is already a cesspool of germs. It’s no big stretch to think that they could bring this new threat back to campus. It’s good to take the necessary precautions. But the panic is driving me out of my mind! I have an anxious energy about me because of it. It’s that kind of feeling I have before a thunderstorm comes rolling in. All the uncertainty. Not fear of infection, but how is this going to disrupt my everyday life. I was laughing at my youngest brother when he started stockpiling beans & rice. He has been on panic mode since this all began. It was fun feeding into those fears. Now he is saying “I told you so”. The University already extended spring break one extra week in order to “assess the evolving situation”. With Texas Tech and many others going online courses only, I think it’s only a matter of time before we do to. (UPDATE: We did! Remainder of the semester all courses online and students encouraged to stay home and not return.) I have no idea what that means for my job and many others across campus. Who knows how long this will last. No precedent for it. It’s just eerie. And it is giving me a f***ing headache. So many stupid people!

All the event cancelations. Music festivals, the NBA, movie releases. Disneyland & Disneyworld… My beloved March Madness!!! It’s just crazy. I don’t know what to think about all of this. If you look at the facts, it’s not yet the end of the world. I have seen no sign that the apocalypse is upon us. I just don’t understand it. I’m baffled & confused. Do we really fear the unknown so much? Something new comes around and mass panic ensues? But this isn’t the first time and the reaction was never this drastic. Social media and THE media have people going crazy with fear. “The sky is falling!!! The sky is falling!!!!!!” And it’s having a real life effect on things. Stocks are down, jobs are dropping, everyone is afraid. People believe everything they read or hear without a second thought. I see it getting worse before it gets better. It’s spiraling out of control so quickly. Italy basically shut everything down for quarantine. Sometimes I even ask myself if I’m not downplaying this a little much. Thankfully I have friends that are not yet in panic mode either. It’s nice to have a little reassurance from time to time. I am reminded of one of my favorite lines from the first Men in Black movie. It seems fairly relevant right now. “A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it!” Why am I surprised? One of my favorite novels is The Stand by Stephen King. The book is about a manmade virus that gets out of containment and decimates the world population. Lots of human stupidity in that book. Sadly, some of the stuff in that book people are doing now in reality. I had always just hoped that people were not as stupid as they are depicted in works of fiction. Thanks for proving me wrong, humanity.

Stores have sold out of toilet paper. This is a respiratory virus, not dysentery!!! What does that say about society? Having a clean a** is top priority? I said the one thing that I did not want to come out of this was for it to interfere with my shopping experience. I love my shopping experience and now it’s starting to piss me off. The stores is crazy. I could care less about hand sanitizer. I don’t need toilet paper at the moment, but eventually I will. I will admit that once I saw what was happening in Australia & Japan I made a point to buy a little if I was at the store and I thought about it. I thought maybe that could happen here, but hopefully not. Can’t hurt to grab a package of 6 just in case. But I never bought in bulk! Panic purchasing toilet paper is going to put some people in a real bind. A friend desperately needed some and had zero luck finding any Thursday night. She had a sick child, a house of 5, and 2 rolls. To the son-of-a-b**** that bought 8 cases w/ 40 rolls each, you sir, deserve a good kick in the balls. You are part of the problem. Stop being part of the problem. The only thing that I did find pretty humorous was that all the hand soap was gone… but the dish soap was aplenty. People… people… people… It’s all soap. So dumb. I have been overwhelmed with stupidity. My brain has hurt for 3 days straight. The only thing good to come from the “toilet paper crisis” would be the meme’s. I wonder what the history books will have to say about the year 2020. Will it be the year of the “Coronavirus” and a decimated global population? Or rather the year of the great toilet paper shortage and mass hysteria? Only time will tell.

Thanks, everyone. I might have needed some of that TP….

It’s only fitting that this crazy week ends on Friday the 13th. It would. A day that is synonymous with bad luck. What a cherry on top. At least the weekend is almost here. I can’t wait to get out of this office. I hate to sound like a total drunkard, but I really am looking forward to pouring myself some peach crown, getting comfortable, and sitting back for a little while with some soothing music to ease my weary mind. It’s not that the day itself has been very taxing. In truth, I have done very little. I f***ed off more than I did any actual work. It’s just that I have had enough of people for the day. I like people, but I’m done. Done with the Coronavirus. I don’t even want to turn on the Weather Channel when I get home because I am afraid they will be talking about the f***ing virus. See, it’s even making me cuss like a f***ing sailor. So you all have a nice weekend. Try not to live in fear. Follow the necessary precautions. I’m out. My mind is mush. Happy f***ing Friday the 13th!!! See you next week for Spring Break 2020 Part 2.

Jalapeño…

Sunday was black eyed peas with grilled chicken. Throw some avocado & pico.

So this week we tried to keep things pretty healthy and basic. Just grilled meats and either grilled or steamed veggies for the most part. Caribbean jerk pork tenderloin. That has been in the blog a good few times because it is Bekah’s favorite.

Pretty basic steak w/ lemon pepper asparagus.

Teriyaki salmon w/ broccolini.

I found this new McCormicks grill mate at the store I wanted to try. Garlic herb & wine marinade. Lea & Perrins had a white wine Worcestershire sauce that they discontinued a few years ago. It was one of my favorite things to use with chicken. To my surprise, this taste very close to that. I am so happy that I tried something new.