As I thought, my brother and niece were not there "for a bit," like Mother said they would be. (Aside: As I did not think, my sister-in-law didn't come over. Hmmm. ...) They got there almost precisely at noon (I don't know because they came through the door while I was in the backyard cleaning up the lawnmower after I just got done cutting grass) and my niece was playing with blocks (after playing with the ice shaver before that and enjoying Mother blowing bubbles in her face in the back deck before that) when I left at 2.
I left at 2 for the thing I indicated to my parents I had to do, even though I never told her what that thing was: A taste test ten Minutes away. I got there in plenty of time. In fact, the main proctor cycled us through the test(s) and I was out of there at 3:15, 45 Minutes after we started, when we were told that the session would take 75. Could have gotten Pizza Hut and been home around 3:30, but instead I went to my storage unit five Minutes north of the session to read an old issue of ESPN The Magazine until it was time to get the pizzas at 4:30, the time I said I would get the pizzas when I placed my order online. (Actually I got there at 4:15, after I stepped into a gas station to grab a Pepsi.)
But back to the taste test. It was held at a meeting room in a church. I've never been to this place before, so I postulate that the company administering the taste test needed to find a space big enough for the sample size they need (I say there were 20-30 people) to be able to spread out when sitting down to take their samples. From the description of the test, the company was going to comply as stringently as possible to standards to protect against COVID-19 while trying to get this done. For the first time in my life I got my temperature taken with a forehead scan. (I think I got a 97.9.) I got a spot in the back of the room, six feet away from the closest desk (sat on by an anti-masker -- I should talk about these people, for they piss me off). Tablets are used to compile our answers registering our thoughts on these samples, but this time they were put in plastic pouches. Usually workers give us samples, but this time we were supposed to get up, walk on pathways marked by tape on the floor to table, pick up the samples from there, then walk back to our desks.
Well, there's one exception to that. Most people had a walkway where they had to follow to get back to their desk, but since I was in the very back, I was allowed to just walk directly back to my desk. I followed the pathway four of the times I was up, but for the first and last samples I picked up, I decided I wanted to be a non-compliant rebel and scooted back to my desk against the flow of participants and the airflow they generated.
Yeah, about that. I kind of regret that. I was told that what I did was OK, but I did see that I was going against the flow of "traffic," and as such I was crossing paths with strangers who had to, at least theoretically, breathe in the air I expelled. (Oh, we all had to wear masks when we were getting these samples, but could take them off once we sat down.) Also, I noticed that although we were sitting down more than six feet apart, this was indoors, and I didn't hear any loud fans circulating the air around. So, when it comes to assessing risk for getting the coronavirus, the setting this afternoon is a lot better than being crowded next to each other, as we usually would be in non-pandemic times. Could we be farther apart? I guess. Would this be better if it were done outside? Never seen it before (besides this one time where I got paid to try out lawnmowers), but yes, it would. Should I have not done this? Well, let's see how I feel between now and two weeks from now.
But shoot, I have been in several situations where I suddenly realize I might, maybe should be scared that I might contract the virus. A few months ago I was stacked up at the Wells Fargo drive-thru and this car full of dirty people were the only people around me not wearing masks. I went to a bar a couple weeks ago to watch an NWSL match and stayed there for more than two Hours. And then there's work five days a week. Now, I haven't gotten the virus, at least I don't think, and yes, I use my prior experience to re-assess my risk in thinking about doing anything. I'd like to think I'm not being complacent. But time moves on, and at some point I will find myself walking into a situation not even thinking about catching the 'Rona when I would adamantly stay away before. And the conditions of that situation will be far from 0%, and therefore, if I don't get the virus, I should, beyond anything else, thank my lucky stars that I keep dodging bullets.
And yes, tomorrow I will dodge a bullet in a situation where I am happily walking into: Going to ****e's house and fucking her. Close contact? Yes. Close contact for 15 Minutes, the standard of time in defining "close contact?" Well, I wish, but that has never happened. And we don't cuddle.
I left at 2 for the thing I indicated to my parents I had to do, even though I never told her what that thing was: A taste test ten Minutes away. I got there in plenty of time. In fact, the main proctor cycled us through the test(s) and I was out of there at 3:15, 45 Minutes after we started, when we were told that the session would take 75. Could have gotten Pizza Hut and been home around 3:30, but instead I went to my storage unit five Minutes north of the session to read an old issue of ESPN The Magazine until it was time to get the pizzas at 4:30, the time I said I would get the pizzas when I placed my order online. (Actually I got there at 4:15, after I stepped into a gas station to grab a Pepsi.)
But back to the taste test. It was held at a meeting room in a church. I've never been to this place before, so I postulate that the company administering the taste test needed to find a space big enough for the sample size they need (I say there were 20-30 people) to be able to spread out when sitting down to take their samples. From the description of the test, the company was going to comply as stringently as possible to standards to protect against COVID-19 while trying to get this done. For the first time in my life I got my temperature taken with a forehead scan. (I think I got a 97.9.) I got a spot in the back of the room, six feet away from the closest desk (sat on by an anti-masker -- I should talk about these people, for they piss me off). Tablets are used to compile our answers registering our thoughts on these samples, but this time they were put in plastic pouches. Usually workers give us samples, but this time we were supposed to get up, walk on pathways marked by tape on the floor to table, pick up the samples from there, then walk back to our desks.
Well, there's one exception to that. Most people had a walkway where they had to follow to get back to their desk, but since I was in the very back, I was allowed to just walk directly back to my desk. I followed the pathway four of the times I was up, but for the first and last samples I picked up, I decided I wanted to be a non-compliant rebel and scooted back to my desk against the flow of participants and the airflow they generated.
Yeah, about that. I kind of regret that. I was told that what I did was OK, but I did see that I was going against the flow of "traffic," and as such I was crossing paths with strangers who had to, at least theoretically, breathe in the air I expelled. (Oh, we all had to wear masks when we were getting these samples, but could take them off once we sat down.) Also, I noticed that although we were sitting down more than six feet apart, this was indoors, and I didn't hear any loud fans circulating the air around. So, when it comes to assessing risk for getting the coronavirus, the setting this afternoon is a lot better than being crowded next to each other, as we usually would be in non-pandemic times. Could we be farther apart? I guess. Would this be better if it were done outside? Never seen it before (besides this one time where I got paid to try out lawnmowers), but yes, it would. Should I have not done this? Well, let's see how I feel between now and two weeks from now.
But shoot, I have been in several situations where I suddenly realize I might, maybe should be scared that I might contract the virus. A few months ago I was stacked up at the Wells Fargo drive-thru and this car full of dirty people were the only people around me not wearing masks. I went to a bar a couple weeks ago to watch an NWSL match and stayed there for more than two Hours. And then there's work five days a week. Now, I haven't gotten the virus, at least I don't think, and yes, I use my prior experience to re-assess my risk in thinking about doing anything. I'd like to think I'm not being complacent. But time moves on, and at some point I will find myself walking into a situation not even thinking about catching the 'Rona when I would adamantly stay away before. And the conditions of that situation will be far from 0%, and therefore, if I don't get the virus, I should, beyond anything else, thank my lucky stars that I keep dodging bullets.
And yes, tomorrow I will dodge a bullet in a situation where I am happily walking into: Going to ****e's house and fucking her. Close contact? Yes. Close contact for 15 Minutes, the standard of time in defining "close contact?" Well, I wish, but that has never happened. And we don't cuddle.
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