Nothing to do but put on my big boy pants and deal with. Yep, winding finishing up yet another lockdown weekend. In theory, this should be the last one, but Lucy has pulled away that football so many times now that I ain’t counting on it.
Done with season two of Game of Thrones, so that’s an accomplishment I suppose. I also got desperate enough to start playing solitaire on the computer. I’m up to the Master level now!
Speaking of being a master, I came across this clip of George Carlin back in the day (early 1970s?). He was talking about this pandemic bullshit way back then. Just over six minutes and well worth the watch. Dude must have been a time traveler.
And while we are on the subject of time travel, Kevin Kim did another of his “crazy walks”, this time doing an overnight hike on the streets of Korea. I’d never even considered doing such a thing and unless I’m on the run from the law I doubt I ever will.
Yesterday’s morning walk was much more my style:
Anyway, it was a hot but otherwise pleasant 8K endeavor. The highlight of my weekend by far, but that’s not saying much I suppose.
For today’s interesting photo, I’ll offer this:
My helper had put out some flypaper. This morning when I went to make my coffee I encountered this poor guy. I know the feeling to be stuck in the house.
And I’ll leave you with this golden oldie:
Time for me to get back to counting flowers on the wall. Or watching Game of Thrones. One of those.
I keep hearing you’re concerned about my happiness
But all the thought you’re giving me is, conscience I guess
If I were walking in your shoes, I wouldn’t worry none
While you and your friends are worrying ’bout me
I’m having lots of funCounting flowers on the wall, that don’t bother me at all
Playing solitaire ’til dawn with a deck of fifty one
Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo
Now don’t tell me I’ve nothing to do
Hats off re: all the good you’re doing for the mountain folk. And you’ve managed to keep on walking despite all the legal nonsense.
Here’s a May 10 comment I saw over at the blog ROK Drop from a commenter who goes by “TagumCityTim”:
Here in the Philippines, some of the restrictions initially put into place for the lockdown are coming off. My particular area has been on lockdown for 55 days now. This coming Friday, we’ll see if we get to go back to a more normal life. We’ll still have to wear masks when going around to do business[,] but at least the stores and other establishments will have a chance to reopen and get some [cash flow] back. The Philippines is already a poor nation. Suffering through almost 2 months of lockdown has forced many businesses to make drastic changes[;] some will never open again. Also, the lifeblood of the Philippine economy, the Overseas Foreign Workers (OFW)[, has] for the most part been called home. OFWs constitute a quarter of the nation’s GDP every year[,] so having them out of work is a big sting on the economic life of the Philippines.
Personally, I need a haircut[,] and I need to get out and feel the tropical sun on my skin without someone [asking to] see my quarantine pass (which the government provided only one per family so only one person at a time can be out). As the world starts to return to normal, let’s hope that we don’t see this type of thing ever again. Thank goodness some scientists have started to speak out on how lockdowns do little to stop the spread of the disease and [how keeping] healthy people isolated only increases the risk for more disease outbreaks by [weakening] the immune system. Also, keeping healthy people locked down creates new places for the virus to spread because a lot of the new cases of late have come not from people outside, but from within families who have been on lockdown. Precautions must be taken[,] but panic, as we have seen in the past two months, is NOT the answer.
Your thoughts?
Yes, that pretty much nails the conditions here and I share his sentiments as to how pointless this has been and also the long term consequences to the economy.
We will hopefully be downgraded to “general community quarantine” status on Friday, but that is nowhere near normal. Some people can work, some public transport will become available, but most other restrictions remain in place. Barretto is basically a tourist town for foreigners. With no sign the travel restrictions will be lifted in the near future; the hotels, bars, and restaurants that cater to this crowd are in deep trouble. Not enough expats here to support them. I’ve already heard of some bars that won’t ever reopen.
We’ve had 12 cases in more than two months and no fatalities in my province. It is time to move on.