Re: Covid 19 Check-In

Posted by John Greenly on May 08, 2020; 12:03am
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Covid-19-Check-In-tp15600p15607.html

Hey Jim,

I'm glad you've asked,  it's good to hear from you all!  I'm at home in my tiny village of Ludlowville, near Ithaca, NY,  with my son and his girlfriend. I'm very lucky to have them living with me.   My lab at Cornell has been shut down since mid-March,  except to stop by periodically and check on liquid recirculation systems.  It's weird to see it so quiet, to walk in and no grad students or techs there to say hi.   All work on campus was stopped shortly after the students went home, except for things that couldn't,  like live animal research.  I moved my office home and am working here, mostly writing, although I had 14 hours of  Zoom meeting over two days.  That was a couple of weeks ago... I think...  I've totally lost track of time.  

We're doing quite well here in upstate NY,  new COVID cases have been very few the last two weeks.  Gov. Cuomo's rules for reopening, to begin possibly on the 15th if a set of criteria are met,  seem like a pretty sensible staged progression tailored to local areas.   The big question in Ithaca is what will happen in the fall.  So far that's completely up in the air.  Cornell and Ithaca College are investigating a range of possible scenarios. How to deal with student dormitory living seems like a tough problem.  

Meanwhile, despite the run of cold weather we've had I've been getting outside a lot, cleaning up the gardens,  taking down some trees.  The  water finally warmed up enough that I got out to row on the lake a couple of times last week.  The outdoors seems to be the best antidote to sitting in front of a computer screen all day working.  For me, seeing the Ospreys back on their nests and all the birds passing through heading north is very comforting.  Good to see that the world and all its life continue, heedless of our travails.    I haven't been doing too much railroading, except making a couple of small bits for engines 13 and 30 and trying some ideas out on the new lathe.

my very best regards to everyone,  this community is a wonderful respite from a lot of grim stuff these days.

John

Lansing, NY