3/20/2020
Ithaca NY
Day 5 of self imposed isolation



Things are moving incredibly quickly, this morning Governor Cuomo announced a full closure of all non essential businesses effective in 2 days, also everyone is supposed to stay in unless absolutely necessary.  It has been very encouraging and reassuring to see the strength of his leadership in the face of this crisis.

Things online are starting to get nasty, people are angry and scared, lashing out or unable to cope with the reality of the situation or with other peoples extreme emotions.  I myself am dealing with the stress decently, but have gotten caught up in some nasty arguments.

Today i went to the woods for the first time since being in isolation, it was a good opportunity to think about the situation and come to a few conclusions.  I also stopped by my old restaurant job and saw one of the cooks and my boss, its very clear now that my job is gone never to return.
I realized today that things aren't going back to normal, even if we shelter in place and shut everything down, when we all come back out the disease will just spread again.  Either we shut down society until a vaccine is created or hundreds of thousands will die, at least.

The conclusion i have reached is that i will mostly likely be forced to leave town and set up either on my friends farm, on my parents land in Trumansburg or on my friends land in Vermont.  None are easy choices but i do think once i make it there it will be more relaxing, working in a garden, out of this constant stress living in the city around people who are not taking this seriously.

It's incredibly frustrating, today i met a friend briefly to pay him back a little money i owed him, from the moment i saw him it was clear he wasn't taking it seriously, he kept trying to come closer to me and was saying a lot of really idiotic things.  So out of touch with reality.

I've been thinking alot of publicly normalizing social distancing.  Making public displays of social distancing can help break the ice when it can be awkward or socially difficult, it can also help signal the seriousness of things to someone who isn't paying attention.  I've been trying to do this as much as possible.

These are dark times, and i fear things will get much much worse.  Every day it become increasingly clear how badly the response to this was bungled, especially by Trump and the Federal Government.  Its appalling.

So i'm getting ready for bed because i stayed up way to late last night arguing with people on the internet, planning to go to Walmart at 6 Am tomorrow morning as usual to beat the crowds, got my last paycheck today and planning a final stock up on cleaning items and food, Walmart seems to be the best option right now, Wegmans is very chaotic and i don't really feel safe there, its also hard to find stuff because its badly organized so i waste time and put myself in danger pointlessly walking around searching for stuff.  Anyway, stay safe out there and see you on the other side.

Your Humble Servant,

Luc