Getting Fancier

There are still a few things worrying me about this project, but the tile is quickly fading as one of the worries.

I still have to fasten the sink to the wall. But I have to have the floor done first so the holed in the wall are the right height.

Then I've got to replace the shower hardware. I don't want to replace any plumbing, so getting the right parts to fit might be a challenge.

But we're close. And since Isaac and Lexie helped me a bit, they were able to pass off a few requirements for the Home Repairs merit badge.

Still lots to do. Painting and the floor, for biggies. But this too shall pass.

Tile Going Up

So up goes the tile. And as happens with these kinds of projects, it's expanding. We decided that the half wall of tile behind the sink is going to extend behind the toilet as well. Shouldn't be a problem, as I followed the Barney Gumble Theory of Buying Tile:

After that case, the the other case, there's only NINE CASES LEFT. So I bought them all.

Changes in plan means I get to go to Home Depot again in the morning. Going to buy some more of the accent tile and some beveled edges. I was going to do trim edges, but Michelle decided she liked the beveled edge look better. I don't blame her.

I'm just glad it's finally to this point. Had so many delays and other little surprises with this project I never thought I'd get to the point of putting tile up. I just hope it's all still stuck to the wall in the morning.

Should be able to finish with the tile tomorrow, and maybe grout it on Monday. That doesn't do the floor, but that's coming next. Good thing is the floor in the room is so small it should be pretty easy to get it done. I already have one piece of Wonderboard, so one more will do it.

It wore me out, though. When we moved into this house seven or so years ago, I was digging trenches for a sprinkler system. I'm glad I"m not doing that now. I've aged a bit since then and digging trenches doesn't sound any fun at all now.

Ready for Some Warmth

There's a bit in 1986's "The Mosquito Coast" where the asparagus farmer, Mr. Polski, says to Charlie "Your father is the worst kind of pain in the neck: A know-it-all who's sometimes right."

That keeps coming to mind again and again these days. For some reason.

I can't find it on YouTube, which is a pity. There are clips from the movie, yes, but not this particular scene. And it's a good one. It's that innocent little bit of foreshadowing at the beginning of any great novel that comes to pass, even if you as the reader don't want it to. Because Charlie's father, Allie Fox, sets out to change the world in the wilds of Honduras. And brings the first trappings of the civilized society he sneers so contemptuously at when he lived with his family in Massachusetts.

So there's that.

And there's this: A Facebook friend asked whose fictional character's death "really got to you." My response:

This is not a death, but the ending of the story of Samwise Gamgee in "The Return of the King" gets me every time I think about it.

He carried Frodo through Mordor. He briefly carried the One Ring. Of anyone in the Fellowship, including Gandalf, only Sam knew what his master went through, and continued to endure long after the adventures were over and the Shire scoured.

And in groups, he saw his friends leave for the Undying Lands.

The last time he returns from the Grey Havens and Rosie puts his little girl in his lap and he says, "Well, I'm back," that rips at my heart.

Yes, he follows his companions to the Undying Lands. But that's after a long life of living without them. He experienced a long life of joy, mingled with grief.

Which of course came in part from this, which I shared on Facebook today:

We continue in our era of joy mingled with grief. And some of us behave like the elves, wishing for stasis, that the peace enjoyed a thousand years ago could still be enjoyed today.

But the world changes. And while we don't have to change with it, we can't waste away, pining for the more peaceful times. Because our hope lies elsewhere.

But even then. We go on, like Samwise Gamgee, living the best life. Serving others. Loving those dear to us. But not forgetting where we came from and where it is we can go when all is done.

* * *

On to different things.

The stay-at-home order has been extended through the end of the month. No real surprise there. And this week, it's been cold, with a bit of snow.

I'm ready for some warmth.

SEND HELP

So here we are, entering the third week of the stay-at home order. It's supposed to expire on Wednesday. We'll see what happens (and whether I'm off on the date; it's getting hard to tell).

Last week, worked for almost half-time. Today, worked only an hour. Document reviewing is spotty as I'm not sure who's working and who has access and who is just hiding in the woods, hoping to avoid everything as the virus burns itself out.

I'm a little tired of it all.

One ray of sunlight: My class is almost over. Seven papers to grade and I can turn in my grades and be done with teaching until next week. That hardly seems fair. I'm ready for that summer, seven-week break from it.

I'm trying to hold it together. But it's tough. Since I'm home a lot, that means a lot of stuff I'm trying to do at home. That bathroom remodel, for example. I'm still in the reconstruction phase. Finally did get the new heater put in last weekend and managed not to burn the house down doing it. And I'm close to the point I can start putting tile on, to see an end to the job. But not tomorrow. I've got to seal and waterproof things first. But I've got to get done with my class first. I don't need all this happening at once.

Another bright spot: Held our third virtual Scout meeting today. Next week, we'll finish up the Family Life merit badge for all but one Scout, and that's great. We'll also try to do a board of review for our newest Second Class Scout, and we're planning a virtual campout for that following weekend.

But I'm tired. I need a little break from the house. But sneaking out is harder now.

"Do Something, Cat."

Believe me, I understand the impetus to do something.

Although, maybe I don't.

This past week alone, I've met a lot of people doing something. Mostly related to the coronavirus, of course. Which is fine. Admirable. But don't get disappointed if I don't do something alongside you.

Three groups this week. Very busy Facebook groups. Today, one is taking us on a whirlwind tour of local restaurants we should be supporting during the stay-at-home crisis. And all I can think is, "You know, maybe you should have done that virtually. You know, staying home."

But that puts the Libertarians on Facebook (TM) aghast. How dare ANYONE infringe on my right to do anything? HOW DARE YOUR SIR? Because we're on the slipper slope to the Holocaust or the gulags because there's NOTHING in between being asked to limit our trips and being frog-marched into the wilderness to labor for The Man.

See, I don't understand "doing something."

Maybe it's my nature. I'm a little more laid back than some. and that's DANGEROUS, DANGEROUS the do-somethings say.

Well, it's not like I'm not doing anything. I just don't see a lot of utility in what the do-somethings are doing.

Maybe I should try harder.

And maybe they should wind the paranoia back a few dozen notches.

"Is this the Krusty Krab?"

Weird day, truth be told.

Started at about 3 am when the rain, pounding on the roof, woke me up. Then again at 6, when the alarm went off. Lounged in bed for a few minutes, but then Michelle and I were off to Home Depot and Walmart for another early-morning anti-virus run. We picked up electrical and plumbing stuff for the bathroom, and then spent three hundred dollars -- don't ask me how -- on food.

Still can't fathom how we did that. That's a lot of money.

Anyway. I started working on the bathroom again. Had to go backwards a bit, taking down some of the Wonderboard so I could run some electrical wire behind it for a heater we're putting in. But round about noon, that got interrupted by a call from work -- they finally had my Mobikey working so I could start working from home.

Getting the key was a bit of a cluster. There were a few people waiting, and of course I forgot to bring my bag in which I've hidden my passwords, so they had to re-do the one they needed me to use to log in. But log in I did. Then I got home, spent an hour updating the key and got to work about 2 pm. Worked through until 5:30. It's not like there's a lot of work out there, but remoting into my desktop at RWMC was S-L-O-W. Took more than an hour, for example, to update one section of one procedure. I had three more to do, and I got through only two of them, and that's just the editing, not getting them out for review. So on to that tomorrow.

Does it feel good to be back to work? In a way, yes. I want them to realize they still need me. But I wouldn't have said no to additional free time to work on the bathroom. And then I have a class to button up for this time next week. So I know what I'll be doing this weekend.

What news?

The church on Sunday issued a new proclamation on the restoration of the gospel. Which is nicer than a monument, one of the ideas President Nelson said had been bandied about. We've been asked to fast again, this time on Good Friday, to plead for health and economic stability. We can do that.

Also today, the state school board announced they plan to keep schools closed through the end of the school year, unless local conditions -- which they haven't set yet -- warrant re-opening them. Me, I'm doubtful we'll see schools re-opening in the cities. Maybe in the more sparsely-populated areas.

Some good news: I got around the one tricky corner with my electrical wire, so only one more bit to go and the wire's roughed in and I'm a happy little man. That means, after a bit more carpentry, I can finally put the Wonderboard back up and get it sealed before I start the tiling job. And when the tiling comes in, that means the END IS COMING. Of the remodel. Not of everything else.

So this is not the Krusty Krab. And I am not Patrick. But I'm feeling accomplished today.

After All We Can Do

So, at home this week. It's been weird.

Weirder yet when Danny called at about 9 am Wednesday and said due to an uptick in demand for editors, they were going to get me a key so I could work remotely at home.

Since then, nothing. I imagine Blake, the IT guy I get along with the most, seeing my name on a list for key-needers and saying "Eh, he doesn't really want one," and putting my request at the bottom of the pile.

We'll see what happens Monday.

I wouldn't mind going back to work, though. Not that this past week has been bad. I just don't want them to forget I'm useful.

Or that I'm really getting used to this:

I did dream about going back to work last night. Our offices had been moved to an abandoned shopping mall. There were desks and computers and cubicles everywhere. But the one that had been assigned to me was taken by someone else. I managed to pick up my mail, walked past a souvenir stand where two ladies were fighting over a plush Grumpy the Dwarf doll, and then I found an empty conference room where I could sit, but no computer.

Bathroom remodeling continues. The state, as of yesterday:

It looks like I'm making progress. But alas. If you look behind the sink, that little black square is a wall pan for a new heater, replacing the one that was underneath the sink cabinet. It can't go on the wall anywhere behind the sink, because either the sink or the plumbing is in the way. So it's going to go in the opposite wall, meaning I have to take down some of the Wonderboard I've got up in the shower area so I can run some electrical wire. Won't be that bad to do, but it does feel like a step backward. But it'll get the heater in that Michelle wants.

Note also we can't re-use the old faucet from the sink. The pedestal sink calls for something fancier. So Monday morning, 6 am, I'll head to Home Depot to find a replacement.

Shopping -- and no work -- has been the biggest disruption for us. Stores are weird. I go to Home Depot at 6 am to avoid the lines, not that I suspect there are lines anymore anyway. People are getting a bit more used to the pandemic restrictions. We even managed to find toilet paper at our last trip at Winco earlier this week.

Online shopping is bonkers, probably worse than going to the stores. I haven't looked myself, but Michelle says she's seen quadrupling, and quadrupling again, of prices for food. She tried to order some stuff from Walmart online, but their system flat out wasn't working, probably due to increased demand.

And it's Conference weekend. Blessed conference. We've been asked by President Nelson to hold a special fast on Good Friday, next week, for additional help from the Lord in beating the pandemic. So we'll do it. It's our chance to show our faith, after all we've been asked to do.

And what have we done? Well, stayed home for the most part. I'm trying to convince Isaac and Lexie to earn the Home Repairs merit badge as they can do most of the stuff in it working alongside me, but that's an uphill battle against cell phone technology and friends who are equally stir crazy. They started online classes Wednesday (or Thursday, it's hard to tell with our days blending together a little bit). I think they're going okay, though they're on a really shortened schedule (probably for the best) and doing a lot of their work on their own. So it's like an online class through BYUI, which isn't all that bad. They have cancelled senior projects for the year, officially, which has made Lexie pretty happy. Not that she doesn't want to choreograph her ballet dance, but it does mean she doesn't have to write the associated research paper.

Sounds like one of the dogs did an unauthorized indoor poop. Better go check.

Long Weekend Indeed

So yeah. A very long weekend.

Started Thursday. Given the governor's stay at home order, I opted to do just that. I probably should have gone in to work, but there was enough darting about not really accomplishing all that much Wednesday it seemed fruitless.

Now tomorrow, no work. We're out until at least April 20. And blessed we are, it's with pay. That comes thanks to having a job connected with the government. And I'm trying not to bandy it about, as there's a little fever pitch in the community about others losing their jobs. Of course it's on my blog, which no one reads.

Some things, we're trying to get back to normal. We haven't held a Scout meeting yet, but we did do a committee meeting online, followed by boards of review for two new First Class Scouts. Tomorrow, we're planning our first virtual troop meeting.

The kids are starting online school April 1.

From what I hear, we have only two cases of Covid-19 in Bonneville County, but they're seeing community spread in the Boise area and in Blaine County.

The stay at home order has been odd. It's resulted in lines at stores -- they want to keep the number of people inside stores limited, to aid in distancing. I have to go to Home Depot tomorrow morning to get some backer board for a tile project, so we'll see how that goes.

On to brighter news. The reason I need the backer board is this:

We've had some loose tiles in the bathroom for a few years now. A few weeks ago we bought the tile to re-do the shower stall, and last weekend I started on the demolition. There's a lot more mold under there than I anticipated, but not all that much water damage to speak of. So the tile and drywall are coming out and the backer board is going in. We're also getting new fixtures for the shower, which is good, since the old ones are just worn out. As I'm not at work this next week, this'll give me something to do.

Then on to the fence. And the siding. Which isn't all that appealing, but you know, it needs to be done. And as long as I've got the time. . .

So I'm not feeling completely gloomy about the virus. It's a challenge, to be sure. But not overwhelming.

I have faith things will be fine. And I'm not just talking about the bathroom.

Big Brother, Watching Your Social Distancing

So far this week, it looks like Coronavirus is taking aim at three things:

1. The British royal family, with Prince Charles announcing a positive diagnosis
2. Easter, with egg prices in the United States soaring and hoarders gobbling up the surplus egg supply that was being built up for Donald Trump’s Easter.
3. Local news.
4. Your privacy.

And maybe that last one is a bit overblown.

But here’s this company, Unacast, using GPS data from cell phones to grade us, county by county, on whether we’re doing the social distancing we should.

I say company, but I’m not sure who these dudebros from Norway are.

Here’s their privacy statement:

The Social Distancing Scoreboard and other tools being developed for the Covid-19 Toolkit do not identify any individual person, device, or household. However to calculate the actual underlying social indexing score we combine tens of millions of anonymous mobile phones and their interactions with each other each day - and then extrapolate the results to the population level. As a company that originated in Norway we put privacy front and center and believe it to be an individual right, and since we operate on both sides of the Atlantic, we have been operating within the GDPR guidelines since May 2018 and this year also adopted the CCPA guidelines for the whole of the US (not only California).

But [enter the wormy med student from “Young Frankenstein”] isn’t it true they could they identify individuals via cellphone? Probably, given the technology available. We’re seeing such tracking in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, and probably other places too.

Temporary measures, you say.

Maybe.

But we are in the era of paranoid/populist governments, where such temporary measures could become the norm, you know.

I know this sounds paranoid. And I would have to say if someone official wanted to use my phone GPS to track my whereabouts and movements, my inherent Dutch stubbornness would be to tell them to pound sand. And I’d leave my phone home.

Also, part of me looks at their county-by-county data and things, well, this is kinda like a heat map for distance as well as population. Out west, where I live, things are further apart than in other areas of the country. And looking at Alaska, where they’re being praised for little movements in their boroughs or census areas, I’ll wager population is sparse for the most part (or concentrated, such as in Anchorage) so the data from this month might not look all that different from the data from this time last year.

There are just a lot of questions here, even setting privacy aside.

I do not confess to be a genius. My analysis here is totally by the seat of my pants. But I’d like to ask these dudebros some questions.

Another Virus Update

So the big boss just walked by, asked how we’re doing. A few cubicles down, he said something about “tuning in at 9:30,” but I wasn’t fully listening.

Nine-thirty has come and gone. Don’t know what’s going on. I’m not missing a meeting, because we’re not supposed to be having any in-person.

Here’s what else is going on in our increasingly Covid-19 world:

1. School is now out through April 20, with other things like ISAT testing and senior projects off the list. That last one has my daughter ecstatic.

2. We now have until July 15 to file and pay federal and state taxes. Federal taxes are already filed, and we’re hoping to see that refund soon so we can apply it to the state taxes. Getting that delay is helpful.

3. Lexie earned her Geocaching merit badge on Sunday. In other Scouting news, we held a board of review for two other scouts late last week via Zoom, so they both have earned their First Class rank. We need to do more for those Scouts as we’re not able to meet face-to-face.

4. Work goes on, the mysterious tuning-in notwithstanding.

I’ll update as things go on.

UPDATE: Nothing. Absolutely nothing.