Sat Feb 8
We are all astronauts, a motley crew, traveling through space at 268 KM per second on a planet ship equipped with gravity, a vast array of dining options, and Broadway entertainment. Unfortunately, we don't work that well together. If we keep scrapping our life support system for imaginary money, we're not gonna make it. We are clever monkeys, but we are not wise.
The cruise ship situation off the coast of Japan looks scary. Xiaolin worries about recycled air, and the YouTube comments, if not the science, regurgitate that fear.
Kai and Hachoo master their fear with HP Lovecraft
Chris Hatfield teaches me astronauts don't cross their fingers, they manage risk. Being afraid is a choice. A virus isn't scary, but many people are scared. Why? The unknown. We can learn, take precautions, and manage the risk and choose not to be afraid? Of course, we can. So today, thanks to Chris Hatfield, I became an "AsCan" or honorary Astronaut Candidate. AsCan's train for anything that could go wrong, because out there you're on your own, and you have to be able to solve it or get to safety in one breath. This works for me.
My dad calls, and we play a game of online hockey. I squeak out an overtime win.
I dig up an old reference letter that got me to China and helps my former boss draft a reference letter for me. She's left my school after recruiting me six years ago, and it seems like a good time to have all my ducks organized. The situation is fluid.
Chinese scientists say nCoV can only live for 48 hours on surfaces, compared to five to 28 days for SARS. We tidy up the kitchen, and the red peppers, some carrots, two tomatoes, and an apple are moldy. It pains me.
I send the "My Corona" rock cover to my cousin Marc-Andre Labrosse, the radio don of the Quebec airwaves. I'm not sure if he can play it, but I'm sure it'll make him laugh.
It's day 15 of our quarantine today, lantern festival, the last day of Chinese New Year. The magic word is 'pangolin.' We call the family, and Baba is so happy he's played MahJong every day for the past two weeks. Baby Ethan is doing great too. After all, it's winter, anyway.
Lin makes hotpot for dinner. Around midnight we eat glutinous rice balls (tang yuan) filled with black sesame sugar.
A friend that's been going out and eating in public blows up a group chat, ready to panic. While dining with a friend, he "learns" that nCoV has become airborne. After spending a good 100 hours researching this coronavirus, I was able to shut that down. There's no evidence of that, likely, it's a miscommunication due to bad translations. We're good.