Month: July 2020

• Quarantine Day 115
• Livermore cases: 256
• Alameda County cases: 7,193; deaths: 145
• U.S. cases: 3,047,000+; deaths: 132,000+

This XKCD comic came out this week. I feel it.

I actually went to work on site today for the first time since March 6. It was weird.

A lot of post-apocalyptic vibes. Guards with their rifles and side arms, now wearing masks. Signs on every building saying you must have pre-authorization before entering. Signs at every door reminding you that you must wear a mask and to wash your hands immediately after touching shared surfaces. Signs on every conference room declaring the reduced occupancy limits. The place is a ghost town because they're only allowing ~25% of employees on site on any given day. Everyone you do see is wearing masks. The cafeterias are still closed.

I got to my office and there was a thin layer of dust on everything and my calendar still says March.

Just so weird.

There was one huge bright spot in my day though. To understand why requires some context. In 2007 a videogame was released called "Portal." In this game your character is stuck in a quirky science lab and has to solve various puzzles involving a "portal gun" (a device which lets you open a portal from one location to another). At the entrance to each puzzle room is a sign indicating which hazards or components are present. Here are some examples:

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Additionally, in the game you'll see various corporate posters like these:

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So with that context in mind, I was greatly amused to see this sign posted on one of the security booths (or "portal") that I pass by between the parking lot and my office:

Whether it was intentional or not it looks like something very much inspired by the game. The apparent energy rays, the person appearing to levitate--it all just comes together nicely.

I contacted the Facilities department to ask if I could get one of the signs or the artwork at least and they provided it to me, which is why I have it here to share. I also ordered a metal sign of it for my own personal amusement.

I hope that the graphic artist tasked with designing the signs is a Portal fan and saw this as their opportunity to have a little fun. It made me happy at least.

• Quarantine Day 108
• Livermore cases: 196
• Alameda County cases: 6,223; deaths: 137
• U.S. cases: 2,679,000+; deaths: 128,000+

Several states now have reimplemented restrictions due to spiking case loads. Texas re-closed bars. 19 counties in California were ordered to stop a bunch of indoor business activities that had started. Arizona re-shut-down bars, theaters, gyms, and water parks. A bunch of states have enacted mandatory face-mask wearing (I have not seen any reporting on what compliance levels look like). Alameda County has postponed further relaxations, but has not re-implemented any restrictions.

New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut have announced mandatory quarantines on people traveling in from 16 states.

Dr. Fauci warned Congress that "[he] would not be surprised" to see the U.S. hit 100,000 new cases per day if more isn't done to curb the spread. The head of the WHO, Ghebreyesus, warned in a briefing that, globally, the worst is still ahead.

So things are going well [sigh].

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Last weekend we didn't play any Dragon Strike. I didn't have another adventure prepared and Heather never brought it up. But I'm planning to have one ready to go this weekend.

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On Sunday we did go walk around downtown a little because the weather was really nice and it was a chance to get out of the house. We wore masks and most other people were also wearing masks, but not all.

People seemed to feel that because a mask isn't mandatory when eating that as soon as they sat down at a restaurant (outdoor seating only) that it made sense to take off their masks. So I saw many people reading menus and waiting for food without masks on. Which, of course, makes no sense.

I made pizza with my new, fancy, imported flour. It did get more browning than my other bread flour, not a lot, but some. I'll have to play with the oven conditions. Aside from the browning, the texture was noticeably different than with the bread flour I've been using. "Fluffier" or "smoother" or something might describe it. I guess that's the point of "00" flour (which is more finely ground). I liked it.

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We're exploring getting solar panels installed on the house. We have other, higher-priority projects we'd like to get done (like the lighting in the kitchen), but a photovoltaic system could be installed without workers coming into the house (which they're not supposed to be doing for non-essential work).

We're also looking at including a battery backup so we can run independently when the grid is down. However, battery installs are wait-listed until next Spring. There's also apparently some concern about our main feed and whether we can run a solar and battery system. We're waiting on further details from the company's electricians.