'Virus Chronicles'

By Ed Piper

Mid-February
Get a restore done on my phone. One of the best things I've done--enables me to occupy myself with reading e-books through local libraries during the forced inactivity.

Thurs., Feb. 26-Thurs., March 5
Attend Spring Training in Arizona. 12 games in 8 days. No one talking about the coronavirus. A week later--MLB shuts down Spring Training.

Wed., March 11
Because of the coronavirus, the NBA suspends its regular season. The NHL and MSL follow suit. Ditto the XFL and Major League Rugby.

Thurs., March 12
Major League Baseball announces the regular season will not start March 26, as scheduled.

Fri., March 13
--On Friday the 13th, local school districts announce all classes and activities, including sports, are called off for the next two, three, or four (Carlsbad) weeks in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
--I renew my city library card so that I can begin reading e-books on the Cloud app.
--The NCAA, which still operates under an archaic, out-dated system, finally announces the cancellation of men's and women's March Madness basketball championships. Earlier in the week, the NCAA had announced championships without fans present in the arenas. Is this organization greedy, or what? (You can tell what my opinion of the NCAA is.)

Sat., March 14
--LJHS track coach Paul Byrne, in a phone interview, with his second baby on the way within the week, talks about the possibility the track season won't resume. "If we have a season, I'll do everything I can to make it successful," he says.
--Get a county library card, which enables me to check out up to 25 e-books at a time. The first week of cancelled school, I read a ton from several different checked-out books, including the riveting Madame Fourcade's Secret War, on Marie-Madeline Fourcade's gutsy leadership as an untried civilian, 31 years old, of Alliance, a major organization in the French Resistance against the Nazis.

Sun., March 15
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issue a call for a limitation on gatherings of 50 people for the next eight weeks.

Mon., March 16
On the first day of cancelled classes, UCHS running coach/ceramics teacher Gimi McCarthy, in a phone interview, says, "They're saying we won't return to school this school year. The Ohio governor has already said that." This is the first person I've heard this from.

Tues., March 17
On one of the most subdued St. Patrick's Days ever, the 10 CIF section commissioners and the state commissioner meet but conclude they can't make a decision yet on the suspended Spring sports seasons or championships. Their next meeting is April 3.

Wed., March 18
--Go to Von's at 7 a.m. in the rain, face empty shelves in several aisles. I enter anxious, I leave upset. "It's like being in Bosnia!" I remark to one of my fellow shoppers, intending no ill will toward that country. Violeta, a store employee: "The problem is people aren't taking one of each item, they're taking several." I recover, and have my first good day this week.
--Participate in a recovery phone meeting. Seventy-plus people call in. With so many people, the technology is a little overwhelmed, with blurred sounds, but it works.
--Brooke Weatherup, who I do a phone interview with on her volunteering with the San Diego Chill ice hockey team for special needs kids, mentions I might not be able to travel to La Jolla from my home in Clairemont to snap a photo of her to go with the article if we're put under shelter-in-place. I agree, and meet her later the same day to take a photo in front of her school, Bishop's, outside campus. (A guard stands at the entrance to keep people out.)


Thurs., March 19
--Go to Von's again at 7 a.m., it's even barer. This time I'm tired, stressed, and upset. Tough day. Not doing too well.
--Cheryl at Sprout's asked me, "Are you doing okay?" I said, "It's much calmer here. Vons is not." I got two banana nut muffins. Sprouts was out of bread from suppliers, including my favorite, whole wheat sourdough.
--In the afternoon, Governor Gavin Newsom mandates that all Californians stay at home except for essential services, because the virus continues to spread.

Fri., March 29
--9:14 a.m. Tom Melville, my editor at the La Jolla Village News, sends me an email: no more sports stories till further notice, other than one that was his story idea on Brooke Weatherup, a junior at Bishop's who volunteers with the San Diego Chill, an ice hockey team for developmentally disabled kids. So now, with substitute-teaching also eliminated temporarily we have to pull in our belts. I'm a retired teacher.
--USA Swimming asks that the Japan Olympics, scheduled for late July/August, be delayed until 2021 so that its athletes can prepare properly, without the coronavirus situation. USA Track does the same the next day. Japan is still holding out.

Sat., March 21
--I bounce the idea of my going to Costco to check for items off my wife. She points out lines will be even worse on the weekend than they have been on weekdays. I forego a trip, thinking maybe Monday morning I will try, during the early "seniors hours". Nightmare stories came out of Costco's across the U.S. about customers shoving, one calling 911 over people cutting in line. Ridiculous.
--LJHS baseball coach Gary Frank, in a phone conversation, says, "Ideally, the students will be able to return to school (this Spring) and athletes will be able to play. But the most important thing is that everyone is safe." Like McCarthy, the UC running coach, he is severely disappointed at the cancellation of school and sports so far.

Sun., March 22
--We miss in-person church for the third Sunday in a row, a record for me since the 80's, I would guess. Instead, either my wife and/or I watch on TV David Jeremiah, Catholic mass, and Charles Stanley.
--At 5 p.m., we go to Costco. No lines. Signs up for "60 and over" and "59 and under", but not in effect at this moment because of the low numbers of people. We find everything stocked virtually as normal, other than toilet paper (none). We buy salads, Late July tortilla chips (the best), cinnamon rolls (we never buy these normally!). You have to hold your Visa card up with the back facing the checker so she can zap it with the electronic reader--nobody touches each other. At the door, the gentleman asks us to hold up our receipt for him to look at from a distance: "We can't touch it."

Mon., March 23
--7 a.m. Coronado Vons. Distilled water, which was out at the Balboa Vons, is in stock. I take two bottles, the limit. The manager: "We will get a delivery of Clorox wipes tonight. Maybe we'll see you tomorrow morning at 7 a.m." No toilet paper or napkins. "What happened was people bought toilet paper. When that ran out, they went to tissue. When that ran out, they bought napkins. When those ran out, they bought paper towels. When paper towels ran out, they bought wipes." Regarding the Balboa Vons last week, he said, "It set record numbers for customers."
--L.A. Unified School District announced classes being cancelled now till May 1.