March 30, 2020

"We need everyone to hold the line as the epidemic inevitably gets worse" -- Well, duh.

In the absence of a vaccine, an antidote, mass testing, and a more robust healthcare infrastructure, there's not much left to do except "hunker down" and "ride out" the "inevitably worse." The real issue is that "the line" we're trying to hold against the virus should have been drawn four months ago when border closing, comprehensive testing, professional-grade masking, contact tracing, and actual quarantining could have combined to "flatten the curve." I think that's why people have started "rebelling" against social distancing -- not out of boredom, ignorance, or defiance, but from subliminally realizing that curve flattening was a fantasy, and that staying home now does too little, too late.

This could have happened in the U.S. -- but it can't now because U.S. leadership didn't see the smoke on the horizon and/or pull the alarm in time.


rocktivity

March 12, 2020

RE: Rule #1

The bad news: I didn't pack my camera accessories bag, giving me a seven-hour, six-band concert to shoot with just one battery to my name.

The good news: I did pack my (15-ounce) charger and my tablet, into which I'd put a PDF of my camera's user guide.

The great news: I had bothered to read enough of the user guide to know that my camera is capable of on-board battery charging. So instead of "calling in sick," I simply looked up the instructions: all I needed to do was connect a USB/micro cable between the charger and camera between band performances.

Lessons learned:

1. Keep an extra (fully charged) battery, and either an extra camera battery charger or a USB cable and wall plug adapter, in another part of your bag.

2. Thou shalt know thy camera as thyself.

rocktivity