Monday, March 2 Fender Bender
Day 38. After a strong pot of coffee, I'm like a jacked-up workhorse. Memento Mori, Carpe Diem!

I write a letter to help the most talented student I've had in six years get into Stanford. It makes me feel excited to think forward to a time after COVID-19 when we have dreams and goals.

I work up the courage to read my boss Judy's reference letter. She was the best boss I've ever had, and for the longest I've ever had the same job (six years). It's a beautiful letter. If I ever need another job, I've got some great references.

Tom Cruise decides to cancel the new Mission Impossible movie. He doesn't mind jumping out of an airplane, but he's not crazy enough to breathe the air in Italy these days. That should say something. France closes the Louvre to protect the Mona Lisa from COVID-19.

I scan chapter two from my textbook because none of my students brought their books home before the quarantine. I download a video about "risk-taking" and send some more materials. It's a great class. It's so clear, it's perfect. A perfect call.

Andrea and I play some Shadowrun online, get my character "Bo," a Native American Navaho cowboy gunslinger from Arizona 2058, get ready to bodyguard a Yak prince as he meets with a dockside gang called the Cutters. Of course, everything is about to go sideways, so it's all about preparedness. That's a popular theme these days. I send some IELTS books his wife can use to study and check-in - they're going to be ordering some supplements for me.

After, Xiaolin and I buzz around to clean up clutter and tidy.

Xiaolin, tells me I need to rush to building eight to get a package before they start charging for storage. They're in a signal dead zone, which makes that hard to pay, especially with sweaty foggy goggles, gloves, and stifling masks. I rush over, see a Fender Bender on the hill up around the corner. A car has smashed into a minivan. I guess they weren't used to traffic after all this peace and quiet. Two families are squatting and calling for help.

I notice water dripping from the crunched radiator and dream back to one hot day in the desert…

It's a scorching hot summer's day, towards the end of August in Northern California, past a town called Klamath. It's 2011, and I'm on the way to Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert. After three grueling months on tour with my band, The Root Sellers, and the recent accidental death of a close friend weighing my heart down, I'm a bit numb. The little old lady driving a Civic in front of us slams on the breaks, and we have no chance to slow down - we smash right into her with the sickening crunch of metal.

I stand, baking, on the side of the road, on the desiccated body of a mountain goat. Our radiator's burst, and there's water everywhere. By the time the tow truck comes, they can only take two, and Galen and Schelly need a night to relax... I stick out my thumb and hitchhike, through the desert, into the most magical, temporary city on the planet. I used to think that was crazy.

I snap a photo, get my package, and head home. There are two more packages waiting at the gate! I get ready again. Thankfully, I'm using reusable masks I can cycle through (no waste) and go to the front gate. I find not one, but two packages waiting for us. We have nuts, tofu jerky, and a big box of plump oranges now.

After hours of procrastinating, I take my steamed chickpeas out and make very good hummus. I'm an emerging hummusmancer.

Do I need all these precautions in CQ today? Maybe, maybe not, but good habits will come in handy if there's a resurgence of infection here.

Tomorrow night looks like we're on for D&D, which means Wednesday morning. I'm going to be doing the 40-day live stream party on Facebook! Fantastic. My week is looking good.

I make tasty pasta, and we enjoy a delicious dinner.

Today the news here in Chongqing is great. Chongqing has only 120 confirmed cases of COVID-19 currently hospitalized. We have nine patients in severe condition and two in critical condition. We've sadly had six deaths. Four hundred and fifty patients have been discharged after recovery, according to the Chongqing Municipal Health Commission. All those cases have totaled 576 confirmed cases infected with COVID-19.

Sunday had no newly confirmed case for the sixth consecutive day, and twelve more patients recovered and discharged from the hospital. A total of 23,563 people who had close contacts with COVID-19 patients have been traced, 23,192 people have been released from medical observation, and 371 people are under medical observation. ♪This is how you do it ♫ Chongqing is getting back under control!

Now we just have to make sure to screen those coming back, from 65 countries, including Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Iran, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Kuwait, Bahrain, The UK, Malaysia, America, Canadia, Iraq, Austria, Sweden, Israeli, Lebanon, Croatia, Greece, Ecuador, Mexico, Indian, Denmark, Pakistan, Algeria, Czech Republic, Iceland, Qatari, Romania, Belgium, Russia, Switzerland, Afghanistan, Belarus, and many more from reinfecting us! What does that say to me... this is a global menace. Temperature checks will hopefully keep us safe. Well, from the ones that aren't asymptomatic. Yesterday a British man return to Shenzen via HongKong, passed a temperature check and the next day fell ill and tested positive for COVID-19. That, plus the risk of reopening factories and the risk of coming out of our cocoons, are our biggest concerns now, after our 40 days of quarantine, we need to make sure other countries don't bring this virus back into China. We don't want to waste all this hard work.

The biggest concerns globally are India and some African countries where immune inhibitors and co-morbidities are present such as tuberculosis and AIDS, which will almost certainly combine with COVID-19 to create a lethal cocktail.

Xiaolin had this idea that the fridge might not be closing because of ice forming at the back --- but maybe the ice is forming because it can't close properly. Later, I sneak up on it with a hammer, remove the shelves and just whack that ice until it shatters and I clear it out. The door closes perfectly. This is fantastic.

We watch some TV in the evening and relax. Tomorrow is going to be a great day. Dungeons & Dragons! How do you want to do this?