7:03a: I decided to exercise first and then have a mug of coffee. My sleeping hours have been longer these past few weeks maybe because of the quiet and the cleaner air.
I read that the lock down in Sampaloc is going to be for 48 hours. Two days. That is not actually long. I don’t know what that will accomplish.
I had a quick chat with an office friend. I wanted to see and check if they’re okay. We should check on our friends because they are … friends.
I remember reading that we have 17 testing centers but for our population. If we’re going to do mass testing there must be more testing centers and more labs to process those tests.
2:53p: I am seriously thinking of getting pandesal.
4:24p: I did get pandesal. And canned tuna. And cup noodles. So yeah, meryenda/dinner was good. But every time someone goes out, every time we go back, the shoes or slippers has to be disinfected and the clothes get shed and put in the laundry and the person immediately takes a bath. I’m not entirely sure that what we’re doing is correct but I sure makes us feel cleaner.
5:48p: It is almost 6pm and the barangay kagawad has not come back with Mayor Isko’s relief goods. Maybe tomorrow?
It’s going to be dark soon and the quiet follows shortly after. I look forward to that part of the day when the blanket of hush falls on the neighborhood.
7:19p: And the streets start to quiet down. There’s just this dog barking in the distance. It feels surreal though because it only gets this quiet in the province.
It has been about five weeks since the quarantine. There is still work but working from home, although surprisingly exhausting, still gives one a little extra amount of time for other indoor activities. I wanted to keep my head on right and decided to learn something or maybe two. So I’ve decided to fire up DuoLingo again and restart my Japanese language education.
7:11a: I just read that the mayor of Manila will lock down the whole Sampaloc area where we are. Shet. That is a pretty big space. Reports say, as of this writing, 7:06am, we have the largest confirmed infections in the City of Manila at 98 and a suspected 158 more. They have not set when the lock down will be. We have to change some patters and plans because the nearest market is outside of Sampaloc.
Ang dami pa ring makukulit sa Maynila.
9:09a: Robin just came in from a supply run. Vegetables, shrimp, pork, garlic, onions, and some veggies. He’s optimistic that it’s going to last for two weeks. My estimates go only up to one week but let’s see.
I also read from one of my reliable Viber groups about a plan on a country-wide lock down but that’s only a planned lock down if things get worse. I truly hope not. Handling this Sampaloc lock down is difficult enough to take in.
10:38a: Watching the a webinar about the R&D Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The speakers are from international bio-pharmacy firms. The vaccines are being developed and some even started clinical trials. They did estimate that the availability of the vaccine will be by the second half of 2021. It seems to be a bit long for me but I have read that normally it takes about 10 to 12 years from research to availability. So I am somewhat relieved to see that the vaccine to covid-19 has been extremely accelerated.
Plans for the immediate future (up to the end 2021) must be made. That is up to two years. I still have to wrap that around my head before I can make any solid plans.
11:26a: I have to stand up and walk around and move every once in a while to avoid from stiffing up my muscles. I should set an alarm for that. I also have consciously lessened my caffeine consumption and increased water intake. I am not sure if that last sentence is good for my soul.
3:02p: It is almost 38℃ inside the house. I expect it to go down in about an hour and I’ve been sleepy. I do note that I wet the handkerchief on my thrice and it dried on top of my head three times.
around 4:30p: There was this kagawad calling on residents to come and pick up what the Mayor was giving out to residents in the next street. Just bring the quarantine pass. I go to to the next street and I was told the group giving away stuff was in my street. I go back to my street and the group says my quarantine number is listed but will receive our share in the next batch within the day so we wait.
8:03p: Evening curfew has started. We waited and they didn’t come back. There is this feeling of frustration. Maybe tomorrow.
Exercises tonight were light. My left thigh still hurts but it is a lot better now. I somehow have to let it rest by not doing the full set.
It’s 3 o’clock in the morning and I’m reading the news. I seems that a lifting of the quarantine or lock down would be premature without a vaccine. There are antiviral meds being tested — Avigan (Fujifilm) and Remdesivir (Gilead) — but they only helps people to recover from covid-19. They do not prevent you from getting the virus and getting sick.
I’m going back to sleep but I thought of acquaintances, almost-friends, and just-faces and wonder how they are.
Minor chores left over from yesterday was finished. A quick run to the bakery done so I can indulge this craving for an old snack I had — pandesal with condensed milk inside. It was too hot to take a nap but I got some anyway.
I sent a chicken soup recipe to Robin and that got him hungry and within an hour he cooked a spicy pork-based soup with vegetables. It was good. ^_^
Weekends has become chores days and also a time to think about how to streamline “household processes” so there’s more chill time. Yeah, it’s a little obsessive but what the hey.
I think I overstretched something yesterday and now it’s hurts a bit when I walk. Ugh. I should move about when I work. Or when I play games. I was a bit more active moving about before the quarantine and I have to replicate that. So tonight I think I’m just going to stretch — lightly — if I can hold myself back.
It’s a Saturday. I have done plenty of chores I think and there are more tomorrow so tonight I’m just going to chill.
Okay, it’s the last day of the work week and I’d like to put in my take on using zoom. A lot of people know about what it is and if you don’t please google it.
Recently there’s been about a huge increase in the usage of zoom since it’s easy to use. But easy and secure does not really go well together. There’s a security vulnerability regarding a hacker can take full control of a Mac. This has been fixed. There’s a security issue where Zoom leaks personal info to Facebook even if you don’t have an account. The software dev kit (SDK) has been pulled from iOS app by removing the “Login with Facebook” feature. End-to-End encryption. There is some form of encryption, yes, but it’s the the full blown encryption protocols that everyone has in the minds. That’ll take months. Zoom can expose your Windows password to users. This has been fixed. It was reported that local attackers can use Zoom to install malware. This has been fixed. They say China can eavesdrop on your Zoom conversations. Zoom fixed this by giving the Zoom host if they want to route Zoom traffic to be routed to China or not.
The important vulnerabilities have been fixed and it does help if the hosts of a meeting or a webinar is cautious also. FYI, this is not a paid post in case you’re wondering. For references please see the links at the bottom of this post.
The old normal is gone. It is now history. I do not know what the new normal will be after this pandemic. This new normal will not even be happening after the quarantine is over. It’s probably going to happen after the vaccine has been widely spread and available to the public. I think I’ve said that before. I see connectivity to the Internet becoming essential. I see offices become smaller because working from home becoming part of life.
It’s 9:41am and there are more vehicles and people on the streets. Most of the vehicles are making deliveries and the people are walking to their destinations as public transport is still at zero. Still there are more people out. Not as much as before the quarantine happened though. Maybe they don’t know that the quarantine has been extended until the end of the month. Or maybe they just don’t care anymore.
It started raining before four in the afternoon. It also rained yesterday. At least it cools the afternoons down and maybe add some water to our supply.
Another week done. Five days of exercises and there’s the expected pains but that’s just restarts. This has to continue through the weekend though even with chores being done.
