Quarantine - Day 29

A spirited game of "Taboo

Today we resumed remote learning with both Ella and Abi busy with online lessons throughout the morning. Laura and I took a long look at our business prospects and we finally had to start facing the reality that there may be no real way forward for PIAB. We survived a rapid startup in the midst of the Long Recession, built the business to profitability only to see it lose half its revenue during the two year state budget crisis. For the last three years, we have been slowly rebuilding only to see this pandemic come and knock the legs out again.

Ella and I got out only for a brief skate/walk. It was sunny, in the mid-forties, and nearly all the store fronts were closed. Trump came on TV in the late afternoon and ranted incoherently about having total power to restart the economy and deriding the press repeatedly for being fake. He was upset about a NYT article that showed a White House in near total disarray throughout the latter half of January, throughout the whole of February and into March as the cases climbed exponentially.  If he is trying to convince people his administration is well organized, this is an increasingly odd way to do so.  He claimed that the rate of new cases is now flat. It is not. The average rate of increase in new cases over the past seven days is 7% nationally, 9% in Illinois, and 9% locally. How is that flat? The guy is clearly nuts, but half the country treats him like he was elected by God himself. Realizing the fate of the nation’s recovery rests in his hands is simply demoralizing at this point.

Yesterday was Easter Sunday and we had a big roast with all the fixings. Abi prevailed upon me to get out the guitar and play some songs. I hadn’t had the guitar out since October, and it felt like it. I fumbled around for some harmonies and there were brief moments of what it used to feel like. Maybe there will be more moments. Who can say for sure.