Living with the new reality

I just posted this on Chesstalk, in a thread on Tournament Cancellations - but in case we have anyone here who doesn't go there, I'll cross post

Fred

According to https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/, Canada has 241 new case today up from 214 yesterday. As of today, anyone entering PEI from off-Island now has to self-quarantine for 14 days, the other provinces may follow suit.

The situation in Europe is horrible, and near-draconian measures are needed in North America for us not to follow suit. In addition to age, population density seems to play a factor, if you look at the stats for Europe's "tiny" countries.

While I'm only 62, my wife is worried about my health, and even has discouraged me going to the grocery store, as I do have an underlying condition (high blood pressure). In any case, my whole work team is now working from home, so I haven't been really out of the house since last Sunday evening (I somehow managed to get two small chess tournaments in under the wire, last weekend).

The following is just my opinion --> I think it is fair to say all chess tournaments in Canada of more than 4 players are cancelled for at least two months. Things will only return to "normal" when there are just a handful of new cases daily in the country. My next scheduled weekend event is May 30 & 31 - so it is on the cusp.

In the meantime I've moved my chess activities (playing, teaching, and organizing) online (to 3 different servers), even though I have next to no experience doing this.

Fred
(from the comfort of his couch today, and now everyday).

Cut and pasted from the Off-Topic Sub-Forum, here's a post of mine from the 'How are things going?' thread there, posted 3-14-2020:

A couple of nights ago, things suddenly began to change at my local supermarket. Instead of a typical low-key evening, the place was packed; apparently the (panicky?) rush is now on in Ottawa to stock up on supplies, due to the coronavirus crisis. Such things as toilet paper and diapers were apparently flying off the shelves. Lucky for me, at least that night, I had fewer than 9 items, so I passed relatively quickly through the (albeit long) Express check-out line.

In my apartment building, the social/games room and gym were also closed indefinitely that evening, again due to concerns over the virus (notices posted by meeting places). Luckily for me, I haven't used either place for a long time; concerns over my Achilles tendons have discouraged me from using the gym's equipment, and I don't much play any sort of card games any more (never mind knitting nights :)), which is what the social room is usually used for.

My Mom's in the middle of having cataract operations on each eye, so we're hoping neither of us comes down with any sort of illness. At the moment I do all the shopping, luckily within easy walking distance (while supplies last). I have to give her eye drops several times a day (due to her Parkinson's making her hands tremor a bit), including getting out of bed earlier than I'm used to, for over a month possibly. With sports cancelled, I'd be tremendously bored, except for chess variant play online, studying chess, and surfing the internet, besides taking in any news on TV or radio that's not the currently depressing, and monotonous, stuff. Watching WWII documentaries and such on DVD gets a bit old after a while.

I'd add that I too have high blood pressure (under control), plus many years back I had a nasty virus that bothered my lungs a lot towards the end. Currently I'm almost 60. A local store just began asking people to bag their own groceries, and a friend told me a coffee shop he went to recently had refused to take his cash (filthy stuff, I guess). Meanwhile, Mom's surgery on her second eye has been rescheduled for quite some time down the road, for now.

They are even restricting medications. The pharmacist told me that they have been told not to let people stock up on drugs like high blood pressure pills. So far restrictions do not seem to apply to diabetes medication. It really doesn't make much sense to ask people who are the most vulnerable to the virus to travel out into possibly infected crowds three times for a one month supply rather than once for a three month supply as is the normal case for these medications. I hate taking the blood pressure pills anyway. They have side effects. I usually take them just before sleep.

Many of my students are embracing the move to online classes. A few are not. Depending on how long this drags out. it could be tough. I haven't taken my car anywhere in a few days. The price of gas is at an all time low. Now that we have the first few positive cases in Windsor, I will probably make one more trip to Costco when my meds come in and then I will start drinking my coffee black when the milk runs out until the pandemic breaks.

I guess you're not much of a cereal or oatmeal fan at breakfast time, then?!

Fwiw, here's the National Emergency Response System link [your eyes may glaze over; these guys are paid on our behalf]:

https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/r.../index-en.aspx

One possible silver lining in this covid-19 cloud is that after it passes, people may be less inclined to show up at chess clubs with themselves or their kids having a cold or the flu, infecting other members possibly. Two years in a row I caught a cold within 3 days after either playing opposite someone with a cold (plus a box of kleenex) or from having someone's kid with a cold spectating by circling around my board every other turn. What's also galling is that one year I got over a sinus infection, and wasn't contagious, so I went back to my club to finish vital round-robin tournament games, yet since my nose still dripped slightly now and then, 2 adult opponents who are less patient/more nervous about sick people than I normally am questioned me closely - even after I told them my doctor said I wasn't infectious, they were frowning, even snapping at me in one case.

P.S.: Years ago at the club I played in, two old men were playing, one of whom had a constantly runny nose. His opponent kept asking him if he had the flu, which he denied. Finally, his opponent (a 'civil servant') threatened him that if he caught the flu, he'd launch a lawsuit (difficult to win, since as I understand it, one must prove the defendant intentionally made the complainant sick). Anyway, the man who was (probably) ill never returned to the club after that night, for whatever reason.