Self-Sacrifice and Pandemics

Self-Sacrifice and Pandemics

Byrichard

Self-Sacrifice and Pandemics are intimate friends. In order for a pandemic to end we must learn to do without things that we need. We go without meeting friends for months, we go without hugs or handshakes for months. We go without restaurants, bars, cafés or cinemas for months. We go without needing the internal combustion for days at a time.


Human Contact


I mention all of these things looking at the past 76 days. Yesterday I had my first human to human contact in that many days. Today I shook my first hand. Between yesterday and today I transitioned from being two or more meters from people at all times to being close. I went into homes that were not my own.


For those who were not alone in self-isolation this might seem uninteresting but for many of us, who live in solitude, is a big step towards post-pandemic life. We can return to being within society, rather than on its outskirts. We don’t need to be distant and cold.


Of course the two meter rules are still in effect, but in two specific contexts I have let the rules slide for family.


The Return to Cycling


Although I didn’t make much fuss about the return to cycling this was a big step towards post-pandemic life. During the pandemic, I did not cycle because I wanted to reach only places that I could reach within an hour to an hour and a half of walking. By cycling, I decided the rule was no longer needed. My range of places to go, and experiences to have expanded.


During the pandemic people went on 80km rides, and I could have done the same, but I sacrificed because I believed that the cost to society would be too high, if I was infected and spread it, or if the opposite happened.


Solitude


Yesterday someone spoke about feeling uncomfortable saying no to meeting friends during the pandemic after I had done the same. My reasons for not meeting those friends were:


  1. It would have required crossing seven or eight towns and villages at rush hour
  2. The group would have been from seven to nine people large when the scientists recommended that groups be no larger than five individuals
  3. The meeting was too late for me to include it within a bike ride, and I don’t want to return to using a car every single day like I used to.
  4. The location would have required me to drive for two and a half hours to three hours at best.


The emotional cost of this was huge, because I really did need to be sociable for the first time in over 70 days and I couldn’t, because couples who were not lonely and in solitary confinement went together anyway.


If you were not alone with yourself for seventy plus days then you cannot understand. As a joke I started to say that I was a pandemic hermit because of the self-isolation.


Driving to Do Things


So far during the pandemic the furthest I have driven is to the top of a mountain. I can get there within fifty five minutes so that shows how close it was. For sixty to seventy days I never crossed the Canton/state lines. I still haven’t been into a city.


The Brits got angry with Cummings for the road trip and I do understand that anger. I felt it when I saw people do touristy things at the peak of the pandemic in Switzerland. It made me angry that I self-sacrificed whilst they went on as normal, and it made me angry because of their apathy towards other people and the rules.


In a pandemic we must all sacrifice, and behave as a united society because solidarity is important, but also because the more seriously people take lockdown rules the sooner a pandemic is over. The less self-sacrificing people are, the more drawn-out the pandemic lasts.


Still Not Over


The pandemic is still not over, but at least those of us who were in solitude for over two months can re-emerge and re-integrate society, one small step at a time.

I Completed the Apple May Activity Challenge Yesterday
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I Completed the Apple May Activity Challenge Yesterday

Byrichard

I completed the Apple May Activity Challenge yesterday. The goal was to walk or run 349 kilometres within one month. I finished this challenge two days early.


Using the Apple Watch Series 3 and the SUUNTO Spartan Sport Wrist HR BARO I tracked all of my activities. For the first two or three weeks I tracked activities with both devices and then deleted the duplicates on Strava and then I stopped tracking with the Apple Watch as I saw that activity data could be communicated to Apple’s Activity tracking.


During the past month I walked 10-15 kilometres a day and when I didn’t walk such distances I was cycling. As a result I have had a sporty month. I’ve walked in the rain, the wind, and recently the heat. I took up running again and this provides me with an opportunity to play with a podcast, and to play with apps.


Running requires for my legs to adapt to the sport so I’m doing shorter distances than my cardiovascular system can cope with. I don’t want to feel knee pain so I’m doing less than I know I could. It’s about building up gradually, and eventually exceeding my previous best.


Now I have two days to recover, before the next challenge.

Day 75 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – Switzerland Expects to Return to Normality within weeks

Day 75 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – Switzerland Expects to Return to Normality within weeks

Byrichard

Switzerland “expects to return to normality” within the next few days and weeks. As of tomorrow groups of up to thirty people will be able to meet. That’s good for all of the activities that I like to do. It means that the Via Ferrata, hiking, climbing, and other seasons can begin shortly.


D-Day – 6th of June 2020


From the 6th of June onwards cinemas, theatres, zoos, ski lifts, camps, swimming pools, and higher education will begin again. The article doesn’t specify whether people will have to space themselves out in the cinema or if people can cluster again. From that day groups of four or more will be able to meet in restaurants.


D-Day + 2 – 8th of June


From the 8th of June public and private events grouping, people of up to three hundred people will be possible with protective measures still in place. It’s not clear whether this means maintaining the two-meter rules, no contact, etc.


Businesses will be able to recruit from the EU and other countries from then on.


How It Feels


It feels awesome to read this news. I didn’t dare get my hopes up, or allow my enthusiasm to trick me into being disappointed yet again. At this stage it looks promising. We’re a week or two from social lives for those living alone to be booted up again. It’s such a relief.


I think that to ease back into normal life I’d like to hike, cycle and do other such sports where proximity to others is less frequent. I don’t feel the urge to return to climbing and Via Ferrata yet. The advantage of hiking and cycling is that we don’t need to use a car to reach the starting point.


I feel no urge to rush back to using the car for every sporting activity.

Day 74 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – Looking At Swiss COVID-19 Case Graphs
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Day 74 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – Looking At Swiss COVID-19 Case Graphs

Byrichard

For several days I have not been looking as seriously at the COVID-19 case graphs for Switzerland because we the storm waves of new cases that we were getting before are now no more than ripples on a pond. The situation seems to be under control in Switzerland.


A graph of the daily new cases – we see a consistent degradation of the wave.


As we look at the graph above we see that for at least a month the number of new cases was high every day but that by the fifteenth of April the number of cases decreased week, by week, until the number of new cases per day seems imperceptible at the scale of the graph above.


The graph for Switzerland has flattened.


The graph for the total number of cases has flattened for a few days now so we may be over the worst. I still wear a mask in the shops and I still respect the minimum two meter distance between individuals. I don’t want to lose a habit only to find I will need to resume it in a few days.


We have gone from a peak of around 14313 active cases in a day to less than 600 yesterday.


The number of active cases has also gone down. We are now at around six hundred active cases.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/mainvision/49940581723/in/datetaken/
Cars waiting to cross into France


During one of my many walks I passed by the French border from Vaud into Divonne and I saw columns of cars waiting to get into France. I saw one or two cars, turn around, in the hope of finding a less congested route. For people who have to cross borders on a daily basis patience will be even more important than usual.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/mainvision/49940583378/in/datetaken/
A discarded face mask.


Someone shared an image of two mice resting in hammocks with a caption to the effect that “it’s wonderful going into cities at the moment, there are plenty of hammocks to be found.”. The perspective is amusing.


Face mask as Political Statement headlines


When I went to the shops yesterday I saw that some people were wearing face masks, as was I. Now that I have a few I can wear them when I have to be indoors with other people or within close proximity to others. My only reason for not wearing a face mask was that I couldn’t find them. It was never a political statement.


For some people, the wearing of a mask is a sign of oppression and of submission. For others it is common sense to wear a face mask.


The Daily Walks


Yesterday the daily walk was a run and a walk. I went on a shorter route than usual because we’re at the end of the month and I had reached the daily distance goal for the day. I still walked fifteen thousand steps.


During a bike ride two days ago it was funny to see how a walking path had been worn between Signy and Eysins. So many people have walked along the grass by the road that they have left a walking path. Usually foot traffic is not heavy enough to leave a trace.


Daily Tasks


I have renamed one of my daily tasks from “write a blog post” to “work on the website”. Yesterday and the day before I spent hours working on my website so I was out of creativity when it came time to write a blog post. That little change means that I’m on a 70 day streak.


Day 72 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – British Anger At The Wrong Thing
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Day 72 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – British Anger At The Wrong Thing

Byrichard

I want to write about British anger at the wrong day today. As Switzerland gets closer and closer to zero cases and zero deaths per day it’s dangerously easy to think it will be over soon only to find out that it isn’t. I thought that by April 19th we could be back to normal but we weren’t. I thought that when the soft lock down was lifted we’d be able to do group activities. Of course we still can’t and I don’t want to get my hopes up anymore.


I speak about hope because from Thursday to Saturday or so there were no deaths in Switzerland linked to COVID-19 and then three in the last day or two. We seem to be even further along the long tail of the virus.


If you look at twitter, and what the Brits are tweeting about you see that they’re angry about Cummings 240 mile drive when people are not meant to go more than five miles from their homes. Guy Verhofstadt is saying:


Day 71 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – An Ingress Mission despite Lockdown.

Byrichard

Two nights ago we did an Ingress Mission Despite Lockdown. This was a Franco-Swiss Mission to create a field over Geneva. Normally with Ingress missions people would drive tens, or even hundreds of kilometres to capture and link portals but this time was different.


We all stayed in our little corners and we did whatever we could, however, small the task. We stayed on our respective sides of the borders. In my case I just had to Jarvis a portal one village away. It took minutes to get to and then I had to wait for the right time to carry out the action. Once my action was taken I went home to have dinner. It’s the smallest contribution I’ve made to an Ingress mission in a while.


It really annoyed players from the opposite team, the next day.


During this lockdown I saw people do much worse than drive a certain distance to hack portals or play Ingress. I saw them go to the Creux De Van, to the French Mountains or to Valais right in the peak of the pandemic. Compared to a few geeks driving a car, hacking and linking portals, hiking along narrow trails during a pandemic is acceptable.


It’s the most sociable thing I’ve done in two months. For two months I haven’t had any opportunities. At least with Ingress that changed for an hour or two.


I’m working on understanding CSS at the moment. I expected that it would be hard to understand and to grasp but so far I have found that the opposite is true. I have found that it is intuitive and that although I spend hours fiddling to understand its intricacies I eventually understand the topic I want to learn.


The result is that I’m taking content from a 24 year old website and making it look modern. I’m bringing new life into old content. I also consider expanding certain sections. I have quite a few pictures from a villa in Spain for the section about the Romans. I also have a lot of images of various types of rock from rock climbing, via ferrata and hiking, whether by the sea or in the mountains.


Yesterday we had rain for most of the day but I still managed my daily walk. It was less than ten kilometres long for a change. I went for a bike ride today and got stung by a wasp I think. I hope it doesn’t become a habit again.


The Walking Paradox
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The Walking Paradox

Byrichard

Today I noticed how quiet the world, or at least the area in which I was walking, was. I saw very few cars, very few people walking, and very little noise from other people.


This doesn’t mean that people weren’t out and about. Although my route was for the most part deserted of people I did encounter crowds at two or three points. I think a man said “hello” but I ignored him for the cardinal sin of not walking single file, down a path, with his companion during the closing days of a pandemic.


“What does it matter?”, you may ask. I would love to do a group hike or a group Ferrata but I can’t because from a scientific point of view Switzerland is not yet clear of the virus. Meeting in groups of more than five is currently still forbidden. The groups I usually go with could be up to twelve people or more. I don’t know how long I will have to wait for the opportunity to do social activities once again.


A Fourteen Kilometre walk and I Crossed Paths With Just Two Other People.

A Fourteen Kilometre walk and I Crossed Paths With Just Two Other People.

Byrichard

Today I went for a fourteen Kilometre walk and I crossed paths with just two other people. It was a couple of runners and we crossed paths at just the right place as I could slip into a clearing, wait for them to pass and then continue on my way. I think this is the quietest walk I’ve been on in a while.


During the walk I saw that some fields had been harvested, that new barriers were being put up and that someone’s Mini adventure involved a bike in an open top Mini.


Before the daily walk, I continued studying CSS and after learning the basics I am learning how to fine-tune and control what CSS is doing with more granularity. The finished product is looking better and better.



Day 65 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – Coping with Solitude
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Day 65 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – Coping with Solitude

Byrichard

Coping with solitude is one of the challenges that we, people who live alone, are going to become familiar with. It’s 65 days since I’ve had skin to skin contact, sixty-five days since I’ve given or received a hug. It’s sixty-five days since I’ve had a meal with anyone.


Happiness, whilst entirely and easily accomplished, is all about adjusting our goals and aspirations to remain positive, and even find happiness. As it’s lunchtime, and it’s Tuesday, I should be going to get food for the upcoming week but I don’t have the positivity to do that at this instant. I’m writing this blog post because I have found, on more than one occasion, that writing helps me organise thoughts into a positive context.


I’m still working on the future.


Today I finished the Linkedin Learning course on Essential CSS and I started the course on CSS Essential Training. I’m still moving forward and I’m working on being able to apply for a different set of jobs. I have already studied for 102 minutes and my weekly goal is just 120 minutes so I’m reaching that goal with speed.


According to the Productive App, I’m on day 69, with 69 “Total perfect days”. I’ve “done” 354 tasks so far with an average of 5.1 a day. With Duolingo, I have a 252-day streak of studying a new language every single day, with no “skip the weekend” or other cheats. I’m still moving forward.


I have returned five results and generated 3549 points for OpenPandemics.


Avoiding Reminders of What We Can’t Achieve.


During this pandemic one of the easiest ways for me to be happy and stable, is to avoid reminders of what I don’t have. By avoiding people who are not walking alone, by avoiding seeing families together, by avoiding romantic comedies, and by avoiding specific television shows, I can feel content with the life that is possible for a single person, living alone, in between jobs, not to fall into a negative feedback loop.


Happiness, is about being happy with what we have, and what is possible.


Driving to the mountains with a group of strangers to go for a hike, to go climbing or to do via ferrata is not possible. Even if we did go to climb on the Via Ferrata that are open we would have to respect the two meter distance, wear a mask, gloves, and then disinfect at the end of the activity.


With those limitations we might as well continue with our pandemic routine.


A person rides a horse along a dirt road near some woods.
A person rides a horse along a dirt road near some woods.


During this pandemic I get comfort from people doing things in solitude, like the horse rider in the image above. I was walking towards the horse and its rider and it seemed spooked so I stopped, and let it walk by. I went into the meadow between fields to give it more space.


Moments like this feel good, because they’re experienced between two individuals. I am not reminded of the solitude that I am currently unable to change. The person might not go back to solitude, but I draw strength from seeing other people dealing with solitude.


Thru Hiking, which is a topic I’ve been reading, and listening to podcasts about, is about spending hours, weeks, or even months in solitude with one’s thoughts.


I love hiking with people, and I look forward to when hiking can resume being a group activity. It is a pleasant way of starting new friendships although this pleasure will have to wait a few more weeks.


Réfuges, in the mountains, are re-opening and these opportunities are slowly coming back. I look forward to when things are back to normal. I look forward to when we can start to do group activities.


I knew I’d feel better, after writing this blog post and I was right. I do.


It might seem strange that I’d rather not meet people who are not alone through this, but it’s a coping mechanism, which is why I’m on day 65 of solitude, and ambitious, rather than the opposite.

Day 64 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – “When I’m 64”
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Day 64 of Self-Isolation in Switzerland – “When I’m 64”

Byrichard

Earlier today or yesterday at some point I was thinking of the song When I’m 64, and that I should share it. I’m not 64. Quarantine hasn’t aged me so drastically. I felt the need to make that joke.


Recycling


For the first time in two months I went to the recycling centre today. For at least two months I cleaned everything that could be recycled and sorted it into the correct bag. I was waiting for an auspicious time to take all this stuff to the recycle centre and today was that day.


I still spent more time waiting in the car, to get into the recycling centre, than actually in the centre. I’m organised with recycling so that it takes me seconds rather than minutes. I need to improve my paper recycling habits so that I can take seconds, as I do with everything else. Years ago I used to be disorganised about how I sorted things. I became systematic because I wanted to make the process almost instantaneous and it works.


Post Pandemic Spring Clean


Some writers or journalists were encouraging people to spring clean at the height of the pandemic but this made no sense to me. Why would you want to generate more rubbish and more things to recycle when going to recycle would take hours rather than minutes?


It feels nice to have finally got plastic, aluminium, PET, Glass and other things back under control. The next stage is to “turn the home into a museum” stage. It’s my way of saying “cleaning a place so that you can no longer tell that someone lives there.”


In a few weeks the idea of having guests may no longer be an alien concept so we might as well be ready.


Those Who are Alone and Want To Do Something Social, and Those Who Are Not, but Behave cruelly.


On social Media and Activities websites you see that there are two types of people. Those who are desperate to do something social, after two months of solitude, and those who are cruel and make it clear that they want to exclude people. It’s cruel because self-isolation and solitude are hard. I’m impatient for the chance to go hiking with people, of cycling with people, of shaking hands, or even simply having a conversation at a normal distance.


The Number of New infections in Switzerland faceplanting.


Although faceplanting is not an academic term it does reflect how impatient I am for the pandemic to be over so that I can get back to having a life in the physical world. By physical I mean handshakes and riding in the same car as someone else. It’s been at least 64 days since I did either.


Web Mastering


At the moment my biggest investment of time is working on my website. I’m making sure that I understand the bits of CSS that I am learning and applying them to page after page. It may be time consuming and repetitive but the goal is to learn, and master new skills. Repetition is my friend.


It’s also a way of working on a new portfolio while considering another career pivot. If the pessimists are right and we still have months of solitude and self-isolation then web mastering is a good direction to take.


And Finally


It’s easy to feel down for several hours a day during a pandemic and we need to find methods by which to stay sane and to stay stable. I believe that to a large extent I have but this is fragile.


We don’t know whether we will be able to socialise this summer. If we can’t then we have to survive another winter of solitude.


Take a look at the legacy part of my website. My Weathering page will make you dream of hiking.


If you have pictures of mountains outside of Europe I’d be interested. Leave a comment below