Sunday, March 7 - Never Fear
Day 44. Today is International Woman's Day. I make Xiaolin a whipped milk sugar latte and toast up our homemade egg cake for breakfast. She loves it and takes a few pictures for her peeps. I drink strong black coffee and eat some boiled eggs with guacamole toast. Xiaolin looks lovely today. We are both happy and peaceful. I'm glad we worked through our tensions of the past weeks.

We've had almost 50 days inside since I finished teaching my fall semester. We didn't get a nice winter vacation this year, but it's been relaxing in its own way, once you remove the anxiety, fear, unknown, panic, prepping, and hoarding. You never know when you're going to wake up, and everything will change, so enjoy every single minute.

My favorite astrophysicist Neil Degrasse-Tyson was on Colbert. He was great, as always. "We are in the midst of a massive experiment," Neil said, speaking about the response to COVID-19. "Will we listen to scientists; take their precautions and instructions to heart?" We will; out of respect or fear of the consequences if we don't. "But we shouldn't be too afraid to live. "A life lived in fear is a life half lived," Neil said. We can be aware, and we can be alert, but we should not let fear consume us.

In the pursuit of a life of virtue, I look way back to the ancients sages of the old world. "If a person gave away your body to some passerby, you'd be furious. Yet you hand over your mind to anyone who comes along, so they may abuse you, leaving it disturbed and troubled - have you no shame in that?" - Epictetus, Enchiridion. We protect our possessions and our money. Yet, we give away our time and our mind to any that press upon us. It's essential when being a creative person, or an entrepreneur, to learn how to say no. When the virus comes to my door, I'm not opening it. I won't allow myself to think about it all day, either. I'm still interested in learning, but there is an acceptance growing within me. I must learn to balance my energies to make it through the long term unscathed.
There are 108,000 odd cases of COVID-19 in the world today. Many people are alarmed over Italy, quarantining 16 million people. Italy calls this a "soft quarantine" because Milan's airport is still partially open. There are too many cases in more than 80 countries now to list them.
The CDC tells us to hide our grandparents in the attic to protect them.
The colossal debate on the use of masks keeps arising between Asian countries and Western countries. Asian countries believe they cut down the spread of infection by making everyone wear them on public transportation. Western countries say, "masks don't work unless you're a doctor." I can't understand it. I've engaged with Donald Trump, the Surgeon General, and Elon Mask this week to try to figure out what they're thinking. Still waiting for an answer that makes sense. At least here, in Chongqing, our procedures are working well. It's been almost two weeks since our city has found an infected person.

Before we teach our 1-3, I play a game of hockey online with my Pops. He whups me, which is a nice change for him and I'm a good sport.
I found my "hefty" three-Pronged Mac adapter, and feel more ready to handle a pandemic now. Pandemics are hefty.
Yesterday, the Xinjia Express Hotel collapsed in Quanzhou, a city in the Fujian province. Chinese CDC was holding people under observation, potentially exposed to the coronavirus. More than 10 are dead, and 25 are still missing as the rescue effort continues.
A COVID-19 patient attended the same conservative conference as Trump and other high-profile Republicans, before seeking treatment. Put a pin in that.
Our first class is easy and fun. We have a four-year-old student named Aisla, and she's a joy to teach.
The second class is challenging. I have 11-year-olds who struggle with basic words, and they forget everything by next week.
Rather than be tormented by a frustrating class, I imagine they are just lackluster demons, doing a terrible job of torturing me in a pathetic circle of hell. I will emerge unscathed.
After a 10 minute break, I switch from some reading to our textbook, and things go smoother. I need to keep things simple. It turns out I'm an idiot. It's easy to criticize something when it's not going well but takes a real leader to step up and fix them. This is a universal lesson.
Late last night, we saw "All the Bright Places" on Netflix. The film was well cast, well written based on a novel. It's terrific, although a bit sad. I suppose you can't have happy endings anymore, somebody thinks the kids won't believe in them. After work, we ordered some pizzas and Xiaolin made dumplings. I toasted the pizza to be safe.