WhiteGhost: Left 4 Dead

[WhiteGhost]

Ha, I was so busy ranting that I forgot to post my update  

 

Wednesday

 

Bill - Leg Day!!!!  It has been a long time since I have had a leg day, and it was nice to get to it again.  I started with my barbell and did some light deadlifts and squats.  Then I moved on to my bodyweight stuff and did a pretty full workout based on one of my old workout programs from last year.  I have lost a lot of the progress I had made on pistol and shrimp squats, but I felt like I was stronger in some others, such as squat leaps.  I had to quit my workout a little early because it was lunch time so I didn't get my handstand work in.  Actually it was mostly because I forgot.  

 

In the afternoon, I did some PE with Ghostlet, which was day 2 of Age of Pandora and then 5 minutes on the exercise bike and 10 resistance.  I don't know what they translates to but it was like riding up a medium grade hill.

 

Zoey - I helped Ghoslet with his English reading & other homework, which took an hour or so.  Also, he had a math assignment where he had to graph out (by hand!) a bunch of statistical analysis about Covid in Beijing.  I don't know what the situation is in Wuhan, but the statistics in Beijing are very promising.  The number of new infections is leveling off while new deaths have almost completely stopped while recoveries continue to climb.  Based on his charts, things look like they should be coming to a peak soon.

 

That said, we keep getting updates from my MIL (who has contacts in the government and gets insider information) and she seems to think things are continuing to get worse, but can't point to anything specific that contradicts the official stuff.  I think she is just overly worried and concerned for her daughter.  I hope so, anyway.

 

Louis - I broke out the ukulele and played through all of the songs I know a few times.  I went into one of the spare bedroom and just belted them out, which felt good    Also, inspired by all the other people here doing sketching, I broke out the pencils again and decided to try sketching Wraith.  It turned out better than I expected  

 

Francis - Skyrim happened.  I am surprised that I am still enjoying this as much as I am on my 4th play through.  I may have even got caught up in it to the extent that I didn't even notice it was after bedtime (midnight) until around 2am  

[@mu]

  

On 2/16/2020 at 2:34 AM, WhiteGhost said:

BUT, where is your challenge, young lady?  I feel like I haven't seen you around for ages

 

I move to a battle log October last year because I needed a change of rhythm.

 

I have a Huawei phone and I followed that bit pretty closely.  As I understand it, new phones will only get updates from open source Android because Huwaei has been embargoed by the US (Google store qualifies as a commercial US export). My phone had Google store installed and so far I still receive updates from the commercial version of Android but I probably won't buy a new Huawei phone if the embargo is maintained, which is a pity because honestly it's a very good phone for the price / quality range. I hear you though, working in IT in Iran was an effin pain in the ass. E.g. Google Android docs were censored (by Google itself... but gmail was accessible, go figure...), same with other US dev tool access like Gitlab, Oracle and so on. Go on and VPN all day long while locally they are throttling bandwith and monitoring/censoring traffic as well... it's just too slow... I felt like a hot dog sitting between 2 pieces of bread hitting at each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kishi]

2 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Well, seeing how I am unemployed retired it won't affect work much  However, I am in a leadership/administrative role at church and the apps I use for that are the ones that I need the most.  Those are also the ones I am having the most trouble getting.

 

Aah, yikes. That's a problem for sure then. Or at the very least an annoyance.

 

2 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

As for the dystopia thing, well, Imma spoiler this rant

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

In my opinion, this whole thing is brought about by well intentioned but completely un/misinformed or hopelessly idealistic folks in the US.  China would be happy to have the people here use Google as long as they operate according to local requirements.  Google of course would love to be here.  The catch is the whole local requirements issue.  China wants to censor out certain content or have Google self censor themselves.  Google has come up with a bunch of acceptable solutions only to have THOSE PEOPLE get into a huge uproar back in the US that not allowing people full access to information is a violation of their human rights, suggesting Google is actively helping the communists repressing their people and engaging in human rights violations.  

 

The thing is, Google has created some truly amazing technologies.  The search engine alone is the most efficient way of getting knowledge the world has ever seen.  Imagine what the world would be like if we had to rely on Bing for information!  

 

The problem with the position of the US activists, as I see it, is twofold.  First, the position itself is hypocritical.  Google self censors in pretty much every market in goes into.  "Safe search" is the first thing that comes to mind, but people know about this and accept it because there is an opt out option to access porn.  Why is Google self censoring porn?  Because there are people in the US who feel that that information is best not accessible to for minors, but many would be quite happy to have that stuff unavailable for anyone to see.  There are more, though.  all kinds of things that the US society as a whole feels should not be seen is also censored out  In the US, pretty much any video of a person dying will be censored out and unsearchable.  Certain types of computer script is also heavily censored.  While this is arguably different from censoring out certain news articles, the fact remains that every society self censors to one degree or another.  What other information is filtered out or filtered to be a few pages back?   I bet most people don't know and many don't even care.  There is even a push now for Google to censor "fake news"!  Why is that acceptable but China censoring what they determine to be "fake news" is not?  

 

The other problem, is the law of unintended consequences.  Without Google search, what other options do people have to search out information.  Every search engine available here is essentially an advertising platform.  Anything you search for will be filtered so that the highest paying sources will be the most prominent.  For Baidu (The biggest search engine in China) I have to scroll through 3 pages of advertisements just to find the home page of any major corporation.  The ability to find information is severely hampered.  

 

I do not know what is going on in the minds of those people who think Google should only be offered in if it is completely uncensored (which seriously, it's not a thing!).  Effectively they are saying to the people of China (you could have had access to 99.9% of the information you wanted, but because that last 0.1% is not being made available to you, we will make sure that you are not getting the other 99.9%.  You can only have all or nothing. If those people really cared about the knowledge of the Chinese people (which I am certain they don't), they would push to allow for the best search engine to be made available to the people and then look for other solutions to help people get that last 0.1%.  

 

Besides, if these people had any clue as to how the real world works, China's censorship is merely a show anyway.  Anyone with any kind of technological saavy can install a VPN and get access to the international version of Google. 

 

/rant

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

Yeah. Misinformed people is kind of a problem everywhere right now, and I can definitely see how it would be in this instance especially. There's a certain MMA coach I follow named Ramsey Dewey who coaches out of Shanghai, and he recently commented on the nature of the state and the flow of information, and how it had emerged as a sort of necessary response to the logistical problems they have to solve in terms of how many people there are. The gist of his rant was that when you have a population of ~1.4B people in as concentrated a space as they are, the state has to control the flow of information in order to keep people calm, because a breakdown of social order on that magnitude would be exceedingly dangerous. Not to the state, to be clear, but to the average person.

 

I'm with you on the censorship. Most of the issues I've had with Google in China stem from their collaboration with the state to develop surveillance technology, mostly because I'm not comfy with the idea of some unaccountable entity being able to watch my movements and to act upon the data to control even indirectly my circumstances such that they become able to drive my choices, and all of it without my consent.

 

But yeah, I hear you as far as being frustrated with an inability to freely engage on platforms that you want to engage upon for reasons that are very silly. There is a lot of silliness right now. It's getting kind of serious. I wish it would stop.

 

[Manarelle]

10 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Also, he had a math assignment where he had to graph out (by hand!) a bunch of statistical analysis about Covid in Beijing.

 

 

Wow. I can't even think where to start with that. Props to him (and you for helping). Here's hoping that it is, in fact, closing in on a peak and will improve soon. How'd Wraith react to being sketched? 

[iatetheyeti]

On 2/19/2020 at 2:59 AM, WhiteGhost said:

These responses have really made me think.  I honestly didn't expect people to be impressed by it (especially since it is quite a bit less than I used to be able to do) but I guess the things that seem lackluster to ourselves can be very impressive to others.  Thanks for the reminders

 

Also impressed  

 

And that before I saw this:

On 2/19/2020 at 2:59 AM, WhiteGhost said:

Regular pullups x5

Archer Pullups x6 (3 per side)

Commando Pullups x10 (5 per side)

Tuck Front Lever Pullups x5

Regular Pullups x5

Behind-the-head Pullups x5

Regular Pullups x5

L-Sit Pullups x5

Chinups x5

 

That is basically where I want to be, and I know it's going to take a long time and a lot of hard work to get there. Seeing someone that's already there is both impressive and inspiring, because hey, if he can do it, maybe I can as well. I can't speak for anyone else, but it's a world of difference between seeing a professional athlete doing something like that and someone who is one of us, so to speak. For whatever sense that makes.

 

[starsapart]

12 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Also, he had a math assignment where he had to graph out (by hand!) a bunch of statistical analysis about Covid in Beijing.  I don't know what the situation is in Wuhan, but the statistics in Beijing are very promising.  The number of new infections is leveling off while new deaths have almost completely stopped while recoveries continue to climb.  Based on his charts, things look like they should be coming to a peak soon.

 

That's a pretty impressive math assignment! How old is Ghostlet?

[WhiteGhost]

22 hours ago, @mu said:

  

 

I move to a battle log October last year because I needed a change of rhythm.

 

I have a Huawei phone and I followed that bit pretty closely.  As I understand it, new phones will only get updates from open source Android because Huwaei has been embargoed by the US (Google store qualifies as a commercial US export). My phone had Google store installed and so far I still receive updates from the commercial version of Android but I probably won't buy a new Huawei phone if the embargo is maintained, which is a pity because honestly it's a very good phone for the price / quality range. I hear you though, working in IT in Iran was an effin pain in the ass. E.g. Google Android docs were censored (by Google itself... but gmail was accessible, go figure...), same with other US dev tool access like Gitlab, Oracle and so on. Go on and VPN all day long while locally they are throttling bandwith and monitoring/censoring traffic as well... it's just too slow... I felt like a hot dog sitting between 2 pieces of bread hitting at each other.

 

 

Ah, I must have missed the move.  I have now subbed to your BL  

 

I can understand from a macro level the usefulness of things like embargoes and trade wars, but for those of us in the trenches, it seems like nothing but a bunch of needless casualties.  Hmm. that sounds pretty accurate for real war as well...

 

20 hours ago, Kishi said:

 

Aah, yikes. That's a problem for sure then. Or at the very least an annoyance.

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Yeah. Misinformed people is kind of a problem everywhere right now, and I can definitely see how it would be in this instance especially. There's a certain MMA coach I follow named Ramsey Dewey who coaches out of Shanghai, and he recently commented on the nature of the state and the flow of information, and how it had emerged as a sort of necessary response to the logistical problems they have to solve in terms of how many people there are. The gist of his rant was that when you have a population of ~1.4B people in as concentrated a space as they are, the state has to control the flow of information in order to keep people calm, because a breakdown of social order on that magnitude would be exceedingly dangerous. Not to the state, to be clear, but to the average person.

 

I'm with you on the censorship. Most of the issues I've had with Google in China stem from their collaboration with the state to develop surveillance technology, mostly because I'm not comfy with the idea of some unaccountable entity being able to watch my movements and to act upon the data to control even indirectly my circumstances such that they become able to drive my choices, and all of it without my consent.

 

But yeah, I hear you as far as being frustrated with an inability to freely engage on platforms that you want to engage upon for reasons that are very silly. There is a lot of silliness right now. It's getting kind of serious. I wish it would stop.

 

More than just an annoyance for me.

 

I am not sure I understand your other point.  What issues have you had with Google in China?

 

13 hours ago, Manarelle said:

 

 

Wow. I can't even think where to start with that. Props to him (and you for helping). Here's hoping that it is, in fact, closing in on a peak and will improve soon. How'd Wraith react to being sketched? 

I took a picture of his homework. 

 

Basically it was just 

1. find the key data from public courses. 

2. Put the data into a table

3. Graph out the data

 

Wraith didn't know she was being sketched, because I just sketched from a photograph  

 

11 hours ago, iatetheyeti said:

 

Also impressed  

 

And that before I saw this:

 

That is basically where I want to be, and I know it's going to take a long time and a lot of hard work to get there. Seeing someone that's already there is both impressive and inspiring, because hey, if he can do it, maybe I can as well. I can't speak for anyone else, but it's a world of difference between seeing a professional athlete doing something like that and someone who is one of us, so to speak. For whatever sense that makes.

 

You can absolutely do it.  When I first got started on NF in 2017, my pullup workout was

3x1

2x1

1x1

 

That's 6 regular pullups total and I couldn't do more than 3 in any set.  I eventually worked my way up to a max of 10 per set, but I tend to focus on more sets of lower reps to build explosiveness rather than endurance so that has come back down.

  

11 hours ago, starsapart said:

 

That's a pretty impressive math assignment! How old is Ghostlet?

He is in sixth grade

 

Thursday

 

Another rest day.  I didn't work out, Ghostlet didn't have any English class and I didn't do any sketching or get out the ukulele.  I did watch a sketching tutorial, but that doesn't count.  I pretty much spent the whole day just sitting on the couch with my xbox controller  

[iatetheyeti]

6 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

You can absolutely do it.  When I first got started on NF in 2017, my pullup workout was

3x1

2x1

1x1

 

That's 6 regular pullups total and I couldn't do more than 3 in any set.  I eventually worked my way up to a max of 10 per set, but I tend to focus on more sets of lower reps to build explosiveness rather than endurance so that has come back down.

 

My current max is zero, but I'm hoping it won't stay there for long. A few years back I was capable of 1x1/1x1 chin-ups per workout, so I know I can do it. I think maybe by the end of this year I could see myself having worked my way up to a 3x1/2x1/1x1 pull-up (or at least chin-up) workout.

 

[Kishi]

15 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

I am not sure I understand your other point.  What issues have you had with Google in China?

 

Well, it may be going a bit afield of your concerns (and I'm sorry if so. I don't mean to take up your time with my ramblings) but per some reporting on the matter, it appears that Google executives were working alongside Chinese companies to develop spy tools which at least as of a year ago were going on sale to authoritarian regimes. I'm not sure if I'm just being a firebrand about it, but it seems to me that if a company is getting into the business of monitoring data, it's not going to not use that tech at some point to turn a profit in its other market if it can.

 

Also, glad to hear you had a rest day. Rest days are pretty grand.

[WhiteGhost]

On 2/21/2020 at 6:31 PM, iatetheyeti said:

 

My current max is zero, but I'm hoping it won't stay there for long. A few years back I was capable of 1x1/1x1 chin-ups per workout, so I know I can do it. I think maybe by the end of this year I could see myself having worked my way up to a 3x1/2x1/1x1 pull-up (or at least chin-up) workout.

 

I am also confident that you can.  Like most anything else we do here, consistency will help more than anything else

 

On 2/22/2020 at 3:18 AM, Kishi said:

 

Well, it may be going a bit afield of your concerns (and I'm sorry if so. I don't mean to take up your time with my ramblings) but per some reporting on the matter, it appears that Google executives were working alongside Chinese companies to develop spy tools which at least as of a year ago were going on sale to authoritarian regimes. I'm not sure if I'm just being a firebrand about it, but it seems to me that if a company is getting into the business of monitoring data, it's not going to not use that tech at some point to turn a profit in its other market if it can.

 

Also, glad to hear you had a rest day. Rest days are pretty grand.

Ah, for some reason I thought you meant what Google and China were doing had some kind of direct impact/influence on you.  Nice to know you aren't directly affected.

 

As for rest days, I guess they are good when actually a rest from the norm.  When rest days become the norm, it becomes a problem

 

Friday

 

I did get into the kitchen for a bit.  We had some mascarpone and some heavy cream that were nearing the end of their usable lives, so I tried to make some tiramisu.  Unfortunately, I did not have enough cream so it ended up being more like a cake with tiramisu tiramisu flavored frosting.  It tasted pretty good, but just wasn't tiramisu.  I was also going to make some chocolate chip cookies, but we don't have any butter so I just ended up making some cupcakes instead.  Other than that, I did not do anything productive

 

Saturday

 

Even less productive than Friday.  I spent pretty much the whole day on the couch  

 

The news about Covid has been interesting to follow.  The official news from China seems to be quite positive, with the overall infection rate seemingly dropping and and recovery rate far outstripping the mortality rate.  On the other hand, the the news we get from my MIL (who has insider contacts) is that the situation is getting more and more dire and that things are getting a lot worse.  Apparently the district we live in here in Beijing is being called "Little Wuhan" by some insiders, and a hospital near us is being called "Beijing's Huoshenshan Wet Market*".  The dichotomy between the official news and the insider gossip is striking, and not a little terrifying.  The next 2 weeks are going to be a major test, because that is when most companies are expected to have all of the workers back in the office** and the transportation systems and office workers all in such close   proximity, I will be amazed if there isn't another huge outbreak by the end of the month.

 

 * Huoshenshan is where the virus is suspected to have originated from.

 

  ** This may change.  The bank next to our complex has been ordered to reduce hours and until further notice will only be open Tue/Thu/Sat.

 

We have one more week of quarantine and then Ghostess is expected to be back in the office, so that is when the real test (and stress) shift into high gear.

[Lara]

8 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

The official news from China seems to be quite positive, with the overall infection rate seemingly dropping and and recovery rate far outstripping the mortality rate. 

I was so relieved to read this, that the rest of the paragraph was like a bucket of cold water

But the fact that quarantine is going to end and that in 2 weeks most of people are going to get back to work, shouldn't be because things are better? Or it's just because the country can't afford keeping things the way they are now?

[KB Girl]

Wish I could get you a couple of hugs. Any chance Ghostess can postpone going to work? Not that being stuck at home doesn’t massively suck, but at least it’d be less frightening.. 

[WhiteGhost]

14 hours ago, zenLara said:

I was so relieved to read this, that the rest of the paragraph was like a bucket of cold water

But the fact that quarantine is going to end and that in 2 weeks most of people are going to get back to work, shouldn't be because things are better? Or it's just because the country can't afford keeping things the way they are now?

The 2 week quarantine is for our family because we returned to Beijing.  At the time we returned*, the policy was that anyone returning to Beijing was required to remain at home for 14 days which is the presumed incubation period for the virus.  Most companies had the employees back to the office last Monday, some more are starting back today and the rest will be back to work from next Monday (The government asked companies to stagger the return times so not everyone was returning from the CNY holiday).  That said, things could always change between now and next week, but so far there hasn't been any indication that changes are in the works.

 

 * The day after we came back, the policy changed that in order to return to Beijing, you need to have a chopped certificate from the place of departure (either the housing complex management office or some medical facility) certifying that you do not have any symptoms and have not had any close contact with high risk individuals for 14 days.  On top of that, you also need a chopped certificate from your place of employment in Beijing certifying that you are essential to the work there and your presence is required in Beijing.  Only with these two documents can you get on the plane to Beijing.  

 

3 hours ago, KB Girl said:

Wish I could get you a couple of hugs. Any chance Ghostess can postpone going to work? Not that being stuck at home doesn’t massively suck, but at least it’d be less frightening.. 

In theory she could do pretty much anything she wants as she is one of the owners, but she does not feel right staying away when her workers are all there.  Her employees all started back last Monday so she feels it is important to go back and be with them.  It is going to be a very stressful time, though.

 

Sunday

 

In the morning Ghostlet and I spent some time setting up a track for his hot wheels that started from the top of his bookshelves and ended up at the door of his room.  It took quite a bit of work getting everything right, but eventually we got it so that we could get a car down the whole track.  In the afternoon, I decided to work out, but I was just not feeling it.  I did enough to call it a full workout, but I didn't really push very hard and basically just phoned it in.  Something > Nothing and all that.

 

In the evening we had more stress as Ghostess started to feel a little ill.  She had some tightness in her lungs and a bit of a cough, and the thermometer was showing her at 37.9C.  We ended up staying up until about 3, planning what to do in the event that she had to go to the hospital, and covering all the contingencies.  It is really scary, because if even 1 of us gets sick, the rest of us will need to go to a quarantine facility (we won't be able to stay at home any longer)  and the big variable is what would happen to Wraith.  She can't come to the quarantine facility because they don't have any way to care for her there and she can't go to anyone else because she would be a possible source of infection.  We are all afraid that she would end up having to be put down  .  She started feeling better around 2ish and her temperature came back down, so we all called it a night and are feeling better (but very sleepy) this morning.   

 

I kind of feel bad putting all this out here because I suspect it is going to make all you concerned as well, but it is very helpful for me to have some place where I can put all this out.  I know you guys can't do anything about it, but having a place where I can talk to someone about it is keeping me from going crazy.  You guys are pretty much my only contact with the outside world at this point.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

36 minutes ago, WhiteGhost said:

 

I kind of feel bad putting all this out here because I suspect it is going to make all you concerned as well, but it is very helpful for me to have some place where I can put all this out.  I know you guys can't do anything about it, but having a place where I can talk to someone about it is keeping me from going crazy.  You guys are pretty much my only contact with the outside world at this point.

We take care of our own. 

[Mad Hatter]

I'm really glad you're sharing with us, I'd be quite concerned if we didn't hear from you. Plus, I'm staying informed on how to survive the zombie apocalypse in case it spreads here too.

 

On 2/23/2020 at 5:16 AM, WhiteGhost said:

The news about Covid has been interesting to follow.  The official news from China seems to be quite positive, with the overall infection rate seemingly dropping and and recovery rate far outstripping the mortality rate.  On the other hand, the the news we get from my MIL (who has insider contacts) is that the situation is getting more and more dire and that things are getting a lot worse.  Apparently the district we live in here in Beijing is being called "Little Wuhan" by some insiders, and a hospital near us is being called "Beijing's Huoshenshan Wet Market*".  The dichotomy between the official news and the insider gossip is striking, and not a little terrifying.

If this is the case, did the crackdown on the underreported numbers not have an effect? Or is there something else going on here?

[KB Girl]

More than happy to help keep you sane. And yea, we’d be really worried if we didn’t hear from you. 

[Lara]

I'm sorry you and your family are going through this, it sounds all so scary and stressful, but, please, yes, keep in touch. Unfortunately, there is not much we can do, but as others say, it is a relief to hear from you every day.

 

[Hazard]

10 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

In the morning Ghostlet and I spent some time setting up a track for his hot wheels that started from the top of his bookshelves and ended up at the door of his room.  It took quite a bit of work getting everything right, but eventually we got it so that we could get a car down the whole track. 

 

This is just the best.  Good dad.

 

[Manarelle]

11 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

The 2 week quarantine is for our family because we returned to Beijing.  At the time we returned*, the policy was that anyone returning to Beijing was required to remain at home for 14 days which is the presumed incubation period for the virus.  Most companies had the employees back to the office last Monday, some more are starting back today and the rest will be back to work from next Monday (The government asked companies to stagger the return times so not everyone was returning from the CNY holiday).  That said, things could always change between now and next week, but so far there hasn't been any indication that changes are in the works.

 

 * The day after we came back, the policy changed that in order to return to Beijing, you need to have a chopped certificate from the place of departure (either the housing complex management office or some medical facility) certifying that you do not have any symptoms and have not had any close contact with high risk individuals for 14 days.  On top of that, you also need a chopped certificate from your place of employment in Beijing certifying that you are essential to the work there and your presence is required in Beijing.  Only with these two documents can you get on the plane to Beijing.  

 

Oof, good timing on getting back, then. And two scares now since you've returned... I hear Ghostess on not wanting to stay home while her employees are working, but if she's already gotten two scares while isolated, it might be best for everyone for her to stay home. 

 

As mentioned several times above, it's good to hear from you and know you guys are ok. We're here for ya. 

 

Unrelated, how's Ghostlet taking all the home time? I'm sure he misses his friends, but sounds like extra dad time is pretty awesome. 

[sarakingdom]

14 minutes ago, Manarelle said:

And two scares now since you've returned... I hear Ghostess on not wanting to stay home while her employees are working, but if she's already gotten two scares while isolated, it might be best for everyone for her to stay home. 

 

Yeah, it sounds like she's fighting something off. Better to take a little time to rest and do that, under the circumstances. This is not a good time for a weakened immune system.

[Shello]

I'm finally caught up on your challenge/ordeal.  I am very glad to hear that all are still well and all the positive vibes I can find are being sent your way so they stay that way.  

[starsapart]

Echoing everyone else: even if it's scaring the hell out of me, I'd still rather hear from you than not. I hope you keep posting with honesty like you have been doing. Crossing my fingers for Ghostess to feel better ASAP and for things to stabilize.

[@mu]

15 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

It is really scary, because if even 1 of us gets sick, the rest of us will need to go to a quarantine facility (we won't be able to stay at home any longer)  and the big variable is what would happen to Wraith.  She can't come to the quarantine facility because they don't have any way to care for her there and she can't go to anyone else because she would be a possible source of infection.  We are all afraid that she would end up having to be put down  .

 

Please take care

 

In the meantime I saw this last week:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2020/feb/14/catman-of-wuhan-the-man-rescuing-pets-abandoned-amid-coronavirus-outbreak-video

maybe you could find a cat sitter like that guy who can pass security? at least to put your mind at rest on that issue.  I sure hope the fever comes down!

[WhiteGhost]

21 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

We take care of our own. 

It is truly appreciated

 

17 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

I'm really glad you're sharing with us, I'd be quite concerned if we didn't hear from you. Plus, I'm staying informed on how to survive the zombie apocalypse in case it spreads here too.

 

If this is the case, did the crackdown on the underreported numbers not have an effect? Or is there something else going on here?

I really hope it doesn't, but it seems to be getting around more these last few days

 

I honestly don't know.  I get the sense just by observing what is going on in our complex and the surrounding neighborhood that my MIL's concerns are a bit overblown.  I hope that is the case.

 

16 hours ago, KB Girl said:

More than happy to help keep you sane. And yea, we’d be really worried if we didn’t hear from you. 

So far it seems to be working.  I think I am still sane (for now  )

 

13 hours ago, zenLara said:

I'm sorry you and your family are going through this, it sounds all so scary and stressful, but, please, yes, keep in touch. Unfortunately, there is not much we can do, but as others say, it is a relief to hear from you every day.

 

Yes, it is a crazy roller coaster of emotions.  I expect your life is similar, although for very different (and much better!) reasons  

 

11 hours ago, Hazard said:

 

This is just the best.  Good dad.

 

If you liked that, just wait for the update below  

 

11 hours ago, Manarelle said:

 

Oof, good timing on getting back, then. And two scares now since you've returned... I hear Ghostess on not wanting to stay home while her employees are working, but if she's already gotten two scares while isolated, it might be best for everyone for her to stay home. 

 

As mentioned several times above, it's good to hear from you and know you guys are ok. We're here for ya. 

 

Unrelated, how's Ghostlet taking all the home time? I'm sure he misses his friends, but sounds like extra dad time is pretty awesome. 

She has been in discussion with the other founders, and they are reasonably worried about having her come in.  I expect they will ask her to hold off for a bit before coming in

 

For the most part, Ghostlet seems to be loving this whole thing.  He doesn't have to go to school (even though he has loads and loads of schoolwork every day) and apparently that makes everything worth it.  He misses being able to play soccer outside, but other than that he can still keep in contact with his friends online.  They have a gaming group set up that meet regularly to play Minecraft or PUBG.  In other news, I have been learning tons of Chinese internet slang from listening to them play  

 

11 hours ago, sarakingdom said:

 

Yeah, it sounds like she's fighting something off. Better to take a little time to rest and do that, under the circumstances. This is not a good time for a weakened immune system.

I think you are right.  Luckily she was feeling much, much better yesterday, so it seems like she is winning against whatever bug she has been fighting

 

10 hours ago, Shello said:

I'm finally caught up on your challenge/ordeal.  I am very glad to hear that all are still well and all the positive vibes I can find are being sent your way so they stay that way.  

Thanks, positive vibes have been well received  

 

9 hours ago, starsapart said:

Echoing everyone else: even if it's scaring the hell out of me, I'd still rather hear from you than not. I hope you keep posting with honesty like you have been doing. Crossing my fingers for Ghostess to feel better ASAP and for things to stabilize.

She is feeling better, but I don't expect things to stabilize anytime soon.  The latest projections are saying the earliest we can expect this to peak is May.

 

6 hours ago, @mu said:

 

Please take care

 

In the meantime I saw this last week:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2020/feb/14/catman-of-wuhan-the-man-rescuing-pets-abandoned-amid-coronavirus-outbreak-video

maybe you could find a cat sitter like that guy who can pass security? at least to put your mind at rest on that issue.  I sure hope the fever comes down!

Yeah, I saw that when it was first making the news here back in early January.  I don't think that is realistic here, though.  If one person is confirmed, the whole complex goes on lockdown, all family members are put in isolation quarantine and everything in the home will get disinfected by a cleaning crew.  Nothing can leave, including pets, to minimize exposure risk.  The guy in Wuhan was able to make it work because the whole city is a contamination zone and so he can move around more freely and the risk of contaminating a non-contaminated area is much lower.  Also, with Beijing being the Capital, the government is being much more strict here about any real or perceived risks.

 

We spent a lot of time the other night looking at our home protocols and determined that the chance for exposure to be pretty close to zero.  I am the only one who ever leaves the house, and when I come back I go through a very thorough decontamination process before being able to pass the entry area.  Anything that is brought in from outside goes through the same process before it can come in.   

 

Monday

 

Ghostess was feeling completely wiped out in the morning after having been up most o the night, so I helped Ghostlet with his schoolwork.  Part of his schoolwork includes a PE assignment which we did in place of the Age of Pandora stuff.  It was mostly pushups/situps/squats focused and it ended up being quite a good workout.  My calves are super sore this morning from all of the calf raises we did.

 

We finished up all of his classwork by mid afternoon so Ghostlet needed something to do.  He is not allowed to use his phne during the week, so he decided he wanted to play with the "legos".  We have boxes and boxes of off brand "Lego" blocks that have been accumulated over the years and when they start to fall apart get thrown into the boxes.  Yesterday we poured out 3 of the boxes and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening trying to put together some of the old toys.  I expect this process is going to take up most of our free time for the rest of the week, mostly because trying to sift through 3 boxes worth of blocks to find the right piece takes F O R E V E R !!!.    Making the problem even harder is that some of the off brands, in an attempt to cut costs, have slightly smaller pieces so sometimes we will find the piece we need only to discover that it is from a different brand and doesn't quite fit.  We have our work cut out for us  

 

Because we spent so much time with the bricks that I didn't play any Skyrim.  I don't feel bad about that at all   

[Manarelle]

11 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Ghostess was feeling completely wiped out in the morning after having been up most o the night, so I helped Ghostlet with his schoolwork.  Part of his schoolwork includes a PE assignment which we did in place of the Age of Pandora stuff.  It was mostly pushups/situps/squats focused and it ended up being quite a good workout.  My calves are super sore this morning from all of the calf raises we did.

 

We finished up all of his classwork by mid afternoon so Ghostlet needed something to do.  He is not allowed to use his phne during the week, so he decided he wanted to play with the "legos".  We have boxes and boxes of off brand "Lego" blocks that have been accumulated over the years and when they start to fall apart get thrown into the boxes.  Yesterday we poured out 3 of the boxes and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening trying to put together some of the old toys.  I expect this process is going to take up most of our free time for the rest of the week, mostly because trying to sift through 3 boxes worth of blocks to find the right piece takes F O R E V E R !!!.    Making the problem even harder is that some of the off brands, in an attempt to cut costs, have slightly smaller pieces so sometimes we will find the piece we need only to discover that it is from a different brand and doesn't quite fit.  We have our work cut out for us  

 

Because we spent so much time with the bricks that I didn't play any Skyrim.  I don't feel bad about that at all   

 

Love the PE homework and the "Lego" stuff. Sorting 3 boxes sounds super intimidating, especially if some of the pieces don't work together. Awesome that you get to spend quality together time on stuff you both like. 

 

11 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

In other news, I have been learning tons of Chinese internet slang from listening to them play  

 

As a linguist, I am highly jealous of this.  Very cool insight.