The View from the Hermitage, Day 121

We've now squared eleven days stumbling though this pandemic. Can 144 be that far off?

The husband informs me that both the federal and state tax returns have been completed. I imagine he will want me to sign something before they go out in the mail. I know he could e-file, especially given that he does the taxes using TurboTax, but if he wants to mail them, it's fine by me as long as they get mailed in time.

Story related to husband's mailing tax forms on time. He once went on a trip to Europe with a return date of April 15. He had me sign the federal form before he left. Complete them and mail them from across the pond? Yeah, right! He completed them on the seat-back table on the return flight that I think landed at Dulles Airport. Wherever it was that he landed, he managed to get a copy of the forms made and put them in a mailbox with pickup that would get the desired postmark of April 15. The man lives a charmed life.

Lots of action on the covid-19 front. Last night, I sent older son a link to a couple of articles about the local mayor saying the university's bringing students back  was "a recipe for disaster." She noted that the city had no real say in what the university did. Older son emailed back to me that while the city had no official say in the matter, they could strategically place city cops so as to do a serious number on underage drinking, public drunkenness, and so on. I told him he should email that suggestion to the mayor. He replied not too long later with a draft of a lengthy email to the mayor with that suggestion backed up with photos of rooftop frat parties being held when such gatherings were supposedly illegal and the results of a survey of undergraduate students about how they might behave while here. Older son noted that even if 85 percent of the students agreed or somewhat agreed with a statement about following certain procedures, the 15 percent who disagreed amounted to a formidable number. He also noted that his undergrad and master's degrees from the local university meant he'd seen first-hand many times how the undergrads behave or misbehave.  Needless to say, I felt a good dose of maternal pride when he bcc'ed me on the final email.

This afternoon the governor gave his first briefing on the pandemic in several weeks. As expected, he devoted significant time to the situation in the beach communities. He did not, however, change any of the Phase 3 dos and don'ts. He merely encouraged local officials to more closely monitor and, where needed, enforce them. He told business owners that it was now "no shoes, no shirt, no mask, no service." If someone refused to wear a mask in a business and refused to leave, that person was trespassing and the police could be called. I'm not sure if that will end well or not. When asked about a Phase 4 that would allow gyms and some other types of businesses to operate at full capacity and would allow patrons to sit at the bar in a restaurant and not order food, he basically said that was not in the foreseeable future, especially not with people not following the mask and social distancing requirements.

I got an email from the senior care facility where my mother lives. The covid-19 tests came back negative for all residents and staff members. They'll test again next week, two weeks after the first test, to confirm that everyone remains covid-19-free. That was good to learn. It gives me one less thing about which I can worry. There's certainly no shortage of worrisome things these days.

The View from the Hermitage, Day 120

What's new? Really? Anything? Covid-19 cases in Virginia continue to rise slowly. Cases elsewhere continue to surge. Florida's new case total yesterday would make it fourth on a list of new cases by country. California's governor has ordered most indoor activities including restaurants to close. I do not know the status of the beaches there, but it would seem to me that that might pose a similar problem in terms of crowds. The increases are especially disturbing given that we're just starting to get into the period in which one would expect the cases caught the July 4 weekend to begin to appear.

Los Angeles and San Diego school systems, the two largest in California, will begin the 2020-21 school year online. I can't say that I blame them given everything else happening in that state. In terms or sports, the Patriot League has cancelled its slate of fall sports, though there is some dispensation for West Point and the Naval Academy should they wish to continue their games with the Air Force Academy. I told someone this morning that it would not at all surprise me if football were the deciding factor at the university here. No fall sports means no football and without football why have students come back. The husband said that he wished that did not sound even a bit plausible.

The husband was talking to one of the staff members in his department about getting something set up, and was told that unless some announcement is made, he and his faculty colleagues are barred from using their university offices. They can go in to pick things up, check on anything that needs to be checked on, and then leave. They can't, for example, use their office to meet with a grad student or do work using their office computer. He has absolutely no idea what the plan is for fall other than that he will be teaching online only, meaning taping all the lectures as he did this summer. He would like to do that in the physics building and be able tape demos as they are done rather than plugging in pre-recorded segments. It would be nice if he knew in a couple of weeks so that unpacking furniture and refilling bookcases (once they're put back together) can be adjusted to any taping space he might need here at home. At least any taping that has to be done here will be done in his upstairs office and not the living room as was the case this summer. I'll still have to be on the quiet side, but I will at least be able to do things in the kitchen, for example. One drawback to an open floor plan is how easily sound can travel.

The deadline for filing one's federal income tax returns was moved from April 15 to July 15 due to the pandemic. The husband is responsible for the taxes and normally starts working on them around April 12 or 13. This year? Yeah, the box of papers is sitting on the table in front of me and has yet to feel the caress of the husband's hands. I lose track of the number of times each year that I bite my tongue so as not to upset the apple cart. The state tax forms are already overdue. The husband claims he can't do the state returns until he's done the federal returns. Normally, the federal deadline is April 15 while the state deadline is May 1. They did extend the state deadline but not until August 1. I have no idea what sort of penalty we'll pay. As long as I don't draw blood while biting my tongue...

Given that I spent all morning on the phone with a friend (I did not know that she and her husband had separated), the day became something of a no-starter. If I go put the clothes into the dryer I will be able to say I at least did something noteworthy today.