{"id":4966,"date":"2020-03-30T19:35:45","date_gmt":"2020-03-30T17:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/?p=4966"},"modified":"2021-05-03T17:19:55","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T15:19:55","slug":"the-corona-hours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/?p=4966","title":{"rendered":"The Corona Hours"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here in the Czech Republic, we\u2019ve been under self-isolation\nrules for about 20 days. For some that\u2019s not a big deal, for some it\u2019s a nightmare.\nFor me, well, I spend a pretty good amount of time trying to figure out how I\nfeel and washing my hands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I try to structure my days more or less in line with my normal\nlife. I get up early, make coffee, and fend off the advances of my cat who has spent\nthe night locked out of the bedroom and is thus recovering from the trauma of\nnot being able to get her rectum as close to my face as possible. Pretty\nnormal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things can be normal still when I sit at Mission Control (my\ndesk), check my MITs list (most important tasks), and get started with my\nmorning of work. When I am working on coursebook materials, an article, or fiction,\nI can mostly escape into those places and leave the stresses of the world\nbehind, whether it\u2019s a Corona World or not. I also find that when I am in the\nkitchen cooking and watching a show or listening to a podcast then I am also\nable to block out current stresses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

In order to keep things relatively calm and normal, I avoid apocalyptic\nmedia (which I used to love) like The Walking Dead<\/em> or Shaun of the\nDead<\/em>. I made the mistake of watching World War Z<\/em> and spent an hour shifting\nuncomfortably in my seat at the eerie familiarity of the recommendations and\nreaction (don\u2019t panic, stay home). I spoke with a couple of friends last night\nwho said they had to stop watching Kingdom<\/em>, a South Korean show which is\nabout a mysterious plague sweeping the land. I am guessing shows like this will\neither disappear or become 90% of TV content after this all ends.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I climb the walls a bit. I\u2019ll catch myself writing charts\nabout how quickly fingernails grow and checking my normalcy (stay tuned!). I have\nhad to put limitations on my frequency of checking Gmail or Facebook. I check the\nnews once in the morning and once in the evening. For one, everything is about\nCorona, which I get, but there\u2019s only so much I can take in before I\u2019m overwhelmed.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We spend an inordinate amount of time discussing and\ncreating masks. I have said the word \u2018mask\u2019 more times in the last three weeks\nthan in the 45 years before them. We are connoisseurs of the various types of\nmasks, over the ear straps vs. over the head straps, folded vs. beaked. My dress\nshirts have been commandeered. We boil the masks after using them. I can\u2019t remember\nthe last time I boiled clothing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also spend a lot of time mind boggled by the train wreck of a human that Donald Trump is, to the callous absurd things he says. More mind boggling is the fact that there are people who consider this reasonable rhetoric by not only a president, but a human being. To him, this whole thing, like everything else he gets involved in, is the Donald Trump show. He puts himself front and center to everything. And one would have thought that even an awful drama queen would be able to understand that this is life or death, it\u2019s not his political wave runner. But no. People are dying and he\u2019s boasting about his ratings. He’s accusing doctors and nurses of stealing supplies. These people who have spent the last month desperately working against their enemy to keep people alive. He doesn’t deserve to dispose of their used masks, which, by the way, are not stolen. There\u2019s some part of me that thinks Trump might not understand what is happening, that he genuinely believes this is some sort of reality show. He\u2019s now gauging what states get aid based on their relationship to him. It\u2019s surreal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 If you think this is\nunbelievable and appalling, then congratulations! You are a normal human being\nof moderately sound mind. If you think this is what a president should sound\nlike, then you are most probably a Republican. Also, you need your fucking head\nexamined. Over Skype, please. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of focus on the bag of soggy Doritos occupying the Oval,\nI hope that the people who are remembered are the ones who stepped up. The little\nthings they do. People all over Prague are making masks and giving them away\nfor free. Neighbors are taking care of older people and companies are making\ntheir catalogues free to encourage people to stay home and to make their stay\nthere a bit more comfortable. Overall, I am impressed with humanity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Corona Hours provide an opportunity to learn things about yourself and the world around you. I have learned that the sleeve of a dress shirt makes 2 masks. I have learned that the back of my hands are evidently very sensitive. I have learned that the best way to start a conversation about something serious is by pushing play on a show I want to watch (or opening a book). I have learned that I laugh far more often at British dramas than I do at British comedies. I have also learned that I need subtitles to understand British shows. I have learned how quickly my perceptions change and that, after three weeks of Corona Madness, seeing someone on TV kissing, standing near each other and talking, or eating an apple without washing it and their hands for 30 seconds now makes me gasp. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I suppose what I have learned most of all is all the things I took for granted. Going outside, having a beer in a pub, walking in a park, seeing friends, being annoyed by students. Maybe once in a while it\u2019s good to get the things we take for granted taken temporarily away to appreciate them a bit more. I know that when I get a chance, I\u2019m going to sit in the park in the sun, really draw in deep breaths and beer in counterpoint, mask around my neck, and I will massage the sanitizer slowly into my hands.   <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here in the Czech Republic, we\u2019ve been under self-isolation rules for about 20 days. For some that\u2019s not a big deal, for some it\u2019s a nightmare. For me, well, I spend a pretty good amount of time trying to figure out how I feel and washing my hands. I try to structure my days more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/damiengaleone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/dan.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EvEu-1i6","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4966"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5260,"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4966\/revisions\/5260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/damiengaleone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}