It’s been a number of weeks since I posted anything, a pause due to a number of factors that have in large part run their course. Now that much of the world and most of the US finds itself in pandemic induced isolation from closures, cancellations, and a recognition that the most at risk among us need to be protected, it felt like a good time to come back to the blog. First off, I’m an engineer, not a medical professional. I won’t be spending this whole post lecturing long-winded. I’ll say this though: trust in the medical experts, not the bellicose and arrogant who claim to know all there is to know without a shred of evidence to support their delusions of grandeur. And for those young people in my age group who aren’t taking this seriously, these measures aren’t to protect you. These measures are to protect the at-risk and immunocompromised, particularly from the asymptomatic carriers we could so easily be. But enough on that, and on to the art of figuring out how to spend an afternoon or weekend in these odd times.
For some of us, this whole pandemic has extricated us from commitments and given us all that much more time to sit in an apartment and stare out the window, or pace back and forth. If that sounds specific, that’s because I’m wearing a hole in my carpet from walking back and forth over the same stretch of fabric time and again, mind running a mile a minute, but only ever in circles, though that’s not all that uncommon. Before this, I’d often hope for time I could spend as I wish playing video games, watching shows, reading books, or most importantly at my desk writing stories. And I’ve certainly done those things. It was on the day my local climbing gym closed and it became clear outdoor trips that could overload small towns weren’t the best idea when I really started going through my backlog of games to beat (thinking of you Jedi:Fallen Order, a good game to try and live vicariously through if one is missing running around climbing on stuff) and books to read (thinking of you giant stack of to be read books at my bedside). And I’ve made some good progress on a short story. But the isolation has had an unanticipated effect as well, or at least unanticipated in the strength of the effect.
I saw a meme that had a picture of Bane from the Dark Knight trilogy with the word “introverts” written across the top and a slightly modified quote written across the bottom. I don’t remember the words verbatim, but it was a modified take on Bane’s pointing out to Batman that he had merely adopted the darkness, while Bane had been born it in, molded by it. The word darkness was replaced with isolation. That one got me. 10 outta 10. But who’d a thought I’d hit my limits within less than a week? I certainly didn’t.
For those among us who are single, its not exactly the best time to be going out on dates, so that means its way past time to realize and appreciate the connections one’s already made. Friends and family. And to take advantage of the technology to reach them since gatherings of any significant number of people are best avoided. A friend of mine gifted a copy of tabletop simulator to me, and I’m looking forward to getting that going. I have to think that game is just raking it in right now; the thing was practically made for the situation we find ourselves in. In any case, it took me way less time of not going into the office and being cut off from the usual social things to go a bit stir crazy. I’m actually using my phone to talk rather than just text. Crazy right? Who freakin knew. For anybody else out there going a bit mad with all this, if you’re looking for advice from someone whose worn a noticeable divot in his carpet in just a couple days, fire up your favorite online game and get people to join in (I’m looking at Divinity 2 right now). At least now, gaming truly is for the common good.
All the best,
M. Weald
M. Weald 