It is hard to imagine that we have been locked down for 160 days now. I had to work-from-home even before the official lockdown as I had allergies, and every time I coughed or sneezed, my co-workers were not happy. So lockdown is about 165 days for me.
And to celebrate 160 days here is the best thing so far I have found created because of the lockdown on the Internet that makes me smile every time I play it: YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND performed by the worldwide cast of BEAUTIFUL (in quarantine) for The Actors Fund.
It was a busy week, and sleep was hard to come by for various reasons. So when I woke at 5AM this morning, I just rolled over. When I woke again at 6AM, I rolled over again and stayed that way until 9:30ish. I feel still a bit worn but not sleepy.
I attended a Meet-up via Zoom at 11AM for the Knowledge Mavins this Saturday. Garret, who runs the meet-up, had a guy named Nick who works on phonetics give a presentation on the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA–though I always think it is about beer). Nick covered how all this works, and it was something I knew nothing about. Apparently, the IPA can be used to represent unique ways to make sounds for various languages and has charts for how certain vowels, for example, sound different in different versions of a given language. The presentation video is here: How to Speak Every Language: A Tour of the International Phonetic Alphabet.
I finally finished the last faction mech miniatures today for my copy of Scythe the board game. I have all the proud colorful mechs in my copy of the game now. I have a spare set of miniatures from the manufacture. Scythe is one of the few games where even the plastic pieces can be bought and collected–there is also a metal set that is just going too far for me–so they can be painted and traded-sold. I have painted three sets of characters and now one set of mechs. I gave away one set of painted characters and have another that is yet to find a home. I am waiting for a spare set of airships and campaign parts so I can paint those too. But I can stop painting for a bit.
Aside: I try not to describe games I play as the link takes you to a website that will cover everything about the game.
I have now started on my next project. I have ordered a GPS top for a Raspberry Pi 4 microcomputer. I am building a chimes controller for the church and decided to go with the new powerful RPi4. I plan to get the time and day updates from a GPS connection. Get the date and time from the sky (satellites) just seems so right in a church. I can also use the Internet to get the time and day, that is how the Raspberry Pi, which does not have an internal clock, gets its time and date. I want to have the data and time double-checked before my software set-off a chime in Beaverton, Oregon!
The GPS board is from Adafruit in New York City but ordered from a regional supplier as Adafruit is still focused on making PPE for the city. Also, timing for deliveries is no longer promised. Apparently, the virus and the White House messing with the Postal Service now is making deliveries timing unstable. Bah!
Dinner was chili burger with cheese and onion for me, and a bacon and cheese covered patty for Susie. I cooked it all.
We were also snacking on new items from The Vermont Country Store that was delivered today. I reloaded my Charlie Chips in a Can, and we had other wonderful items. It is not helping with weight control!
King Arthur Flour scone mix, flour, dried buttermilk, and yeast for baking also was delivered today.
Today we are almost out of toilet paper. A new order for delivery from Safeway is in. Milk, TP, meat, and various other items will be here in the morning. I still avoid shopping. I try to order paper products for no more than two weeks of use.
Today it is reported that in the USA, more than nine-hundred seventy people died from the virus. Worldwide the reports for today show more than five thousand three-hundred deaths happened because of the virus, and about a quarter of a million people were counted as new cases today. The death rate for those counted as new cases of infection today is five percent. The chance of requiring hospitalization once infected is twenty percent.
This is the best version of this spiritual I could find on the Internet, ‘Tis the Old Ship of Zion. Methodist Hymnal #345 with many more verses.
Alohawild (Michael Wild's) Website 