Testing

As part of my return to teaching, I will have to take a COVID test. According to my university's instructions, the test should not be too invasive. Certainly there have been a lot of stories in the media about nasal swabs going very very deep.

I have my suspicions that I may already have had COVID. I haven't had any of the main symptoms but do feel a bit out of shape, more out of breath with stairs than I used to be. Of course I haven't worked out since March but still.

Side Effects

I take a large number of medications for my diabetes and hypertension.  One of them has apparently begun causing swelling in my legs.

It has been frustrating me for a few weeks that my legs have not been working the way I expect them too, that the signals have been translating a bit differently into movement. Now that I identified it as swelling I feel better, knowing that is not muscular atrophy (since I've missed the gym because of the pandemic).

Pandemic

Life under the pandemic is dreamlike. No one that I know has been diagnosed with it while millions around the world have it and hundreds have died in my state.

I go to a mostly empty building at work on weekdays. I do grocery shopping surrounded by masked folk. I read the news and worry but it is very unreal.

My reflex is to do what is right, to isolate, to wear a mask, etc.

Cancellation of Conference

A conference that I worked on was cancelled this week because of fears of the novel coronavirus.

Sigh. It's for the best, but it hits close to home.  I feel for the people that put more hours than me in helping prepare for it.

COVID-19

Lurking in the background of my day-to-day life is the rapid spread of a new strain of Coronavirus. It has a slightly higher fatality rate than the regular flu and is spreading very rapidly with no vaccination or specific treatment yet.

From what I've read I and my loved ones will probably catch it, with most of us having mild symptoms. Not much that we can do other than the usual prevention efforts (mostly hand-washing, etc.).

Focus

My job is relatively easy to do once I achieve the proper focus, which is like saying that weight-lifting is easy after you practice it for decades.

Focus depends on how many distractions I have and how much energy I have.  It is very hard to exclude distractions when I'm around others; I do best with that in my office alone.

The energy depends partly on sleep but more so on locus of control; when I feel as if others determine my schedule my energy and initiative seep away.

Returning to Yoga

I started yoga classes in graduate school to get out among people. I was past most of my classwork, my part-time job was isolating, and my apartment was echoing when I was alone there.

I took to it very quickly, not so much aptitude as enjoyment with developing more of an awareness of my body and its strengths and weaknesses. I also found that it helped calm my mind, which given the great emptiness I faced with looking for a career after graduate school really helped.

I kept it up until our kids were born, and then life got too hectic. This past Fall though I realized that I had no more rationalization to stay away and have started attending classes again weekly.

My body is different; I am older and heavier. Some things are more of a struggle than I had hoped but by and large it's been very good for the same reasons it was very good when I began.