2020-04-27
Western Australia has done a great job containing the spread of COVID-19, with
just ten new cases over the past ten days. As a result some restrictions are
being lifted, which raises the possibility of family brunch next weekend, and
dinner with my parents. Fingers-crossed that numbers continue to look good; the
risk is the delay between restrictions being lifted and numbers rising as a
result (it could be up to two weeks for us to notice).
Watched “Music from the Home Front”, a great live concert on TV this Anzac Day.
We stood on the driveway at 6am on Saturday the 25th with the kids for dawn
service. At least half the street did the same. Kids sang “Song of Australia”.
2020-04-24
Seen on my morning bike ride. Idiots live amongst us.
2020-04-17
Looks like we’ll be facing at least 4 more weeks of isolation, but that schools
will be returning in a week. Not sure how that works.
2020-04-06
Got a guitar. Had been borrowing my BIL’s but decided it was time to get my own.
Learning with RockSmith, and managing to practice for about an hour a day on
average I reckon? It’s quite fun.
Apart from that, we’re still living this dystopian future.
2020-04-03
Had an after-work beer with Matthew, Jack and Rob. Virtually, of course. Google
Hangouts was janky so we switched to Zoom, and they gifted us unlimited meeting
time. Worked pretty well, and we managed to play some of the JackBox party
games. Coincidentally, young Jack (aka my son) has been doing Zoom classes at
school. Great to see him and a few dozen of his classmates all working together
during the day, and his teacher much love the ability to mute all the kids apart
from the one that he is asking a question.
2020-03-30
Big morning bike ride. Did 16km in 40m, which is an average speed of 24kmh.
These are nice numbers that work well with base-60. And just the right level to
get elevated cardiovascular function without getting tired out, or having the
legs burn. Very pleasant out there.
I ride in three stages. The first 15 minutes takes me past Heathcote, about as
far as Applecross Tennis Club. That’s bang-on 6km. After a brief rest, I then
ride for 20 minutes back towards home on the other side of the river, ending up
to Yagan Park on Leach Highway. That’s bang-on 8km. After another short rest,
I do 2km through the back streets to get back home in about 5 minutes. Love how
the numbers work out so nicely.
I also have landmarks at 5 minute intevals along the way:
- Footbridge to Aquinas College
- Raffles Hotel
- Applecross Tennis Club
- Raffles Again
- Deep Water Point
- Mount Henry Bridge
- Yagan Park
- Back Home
I try to do that mid-morning 3-days per week.
2020-03-28
Well. A lot has happened. We’re in the middle of a global pandemic. I have
written about it
and have
released a dashboard as well.
There’s not much more to say. We’re happy and healthy and taking care of our
parents. And I’m learning to play the guitar.
We are very, very lucky. Lucky to be in Perth, a remote part of the world, with
few cases, relatively speaking, than elsewhere. Lucky to live in a “food bowl”
region, where we produce 300% of what we consume, unlike the UK, for example,
which produces just 50% of what it consumes. Lucky to have kept our jobs. Lucky
that we already worked from home, making isolating with the kids much easier.
And lucky to have saved money for a rainy day.
I want to continue donating blood, and we need to figure out how we can be of
help to other people.
Unfortunately, the family restaurant has closed its doors. For how long I cannot
say.