Life in the Time of Corona

In the span of about two weeks, the temperature in my apartment went from “so you like to sweat all the time?” degrees to “put on more layers; we’re not paying for heat yet” degrees. It’s since warmed back up to what the average temperature in September is supposed to be (~highs in the 70s, lows in the 50s), so no heat here yet. The undergrads and new students semi-successfully moved into Ann Arbor and began classes. I say semi-successfully because we’re not seeing hundreds and thousands of coronavirus cases like some other universities, but we’re also not testing, which I just can’t agree is a good idea when you’ve brought back twenty(?) thousand partying, interacting, public-transportation taking students from all over the place at once. The lack of preparedness for move in and minimal testing also didn’t sit well with multiple groups, leading to the graduate students’ union (GEO) striking, the RAs striking, the dining hall workers wanting to strike, and a no confidence vote in the university president from the faculty senate.

The president has since committed to “more” testing, though it’s still random opt-in testing of up to 3,000 (6,000?) people a week, which is 1) not very many people percentagewise and 2) not really random. The university’s COVID-19 dashboard also continues to improve, but we’ve passed the hundred cases per week threshold. Again, this isn’t horrible, but on the other hand, Cornell went for the test everyone every week strategy and in their most recent (as of writing) 7 days of data (9/18-9/24), they processed 33,400 tests and had 6 positive results. Their percent positive rate is 0.02%. They actually have a reason to be cautiously optimistic that they’ll make it through the semester. The University of Michigan needs to hang on to their hats and send up thoughts and prayers that things don’t go seriously wrong in the next couple weeks. And after that long introduction, let’s get into what I did in September.

I started off the month (still) working from my apartment reading some utterly fascinating literature that a whole three people, at least, care about. The Revolution played one of their worst games of the year on Wednesday, September 2, losing 0-2 to NYCFC at home at Gillette. On Thursday, September 3, I went for a hike after work through my loop of nearby parks. Around this time, I also discovered I had a little over 25 days to watch about 55 episodes of Parks and Recreation before it left Netflix. Between streaming services turning into the new cable and editing/removing “problematic” episodes of shows, they’re going to push people back to DVDs. I picked up my clarinet for the first time in six months on Friday, September 4, just long enough so I can say I remember my scales. I would have practiced longer but I had to find a new use for duct tape – removing corroded batteries from my tuner.

California said hi to Michigan, but it was with smoke :(

I spent the weekend in my apartment and baked peanut butter swirl brownies on Saturday, September 5 and watched the Revolution secure a 2-1 W over the Chicago Fire courtesy of everyone’s favorite not blue, not green guy, Teal Bunbury, on Sunday, September 6. It was back to work the next week; Tau Beta Pi had our first virtual meeting of the semester on Tuesday, September 8. Saturday, September 12, I met a friend in person for the first time since coronavirus shut down the university in March. We went to the Furstenberg Nature Area for a walk/hike and that night the Revolution went to Philadelphia to lose from a last minute corner kick. The next day, Sunday, September 13, I met a different friend on the other side of Ann Arbor to hike Bird Hills/Barton Nature Area. I biked there via the Border to Border trail, which is more miles than my other route but is more pleasant so that may become my default way to get there.

The next week (Monday, September 14) started with a new batch of my micelle simulations, as well as season 37 of Jeopardy!. Armed with sunscreen and insect repellant, I passed through North Campus for the first time since classes started on Wednesday, September 16 to get to Cedar Bend Nature Area and see the Huron River at sunset. Campus was noticeably occupied, but not swarming with people. I ended the workweek with a trip out to the Thurston Nature Center on Friday, September 18 to see the goats they had there to eat poison ivy and other invasive plants. On Saturday, September 19 I did groceries in the morning, rode the Border to Border to a new park after lunch, got back to my apartment in time to watch the Revolution tie NYCFC in a frustrating but not horrible scoreless game, and made pancakes for breakfast for dinner.

Thurston Nature Center

In another first since March, I returned to in person church back indoors in Ann Arbor on Sunday, September 20 to see how I felt about it. It was okay, fully masked though not super distanced, and I got to catch up with some people. I had leftover pancakes waiting for me when I biked back to my apartment (not touching the bus system until I have to) and it was laundry day. Wednesday, September 23 the Revolution were back in action at Gillette and put together one of their best games of the season, beating Montreal 3-1. I was back on my bike on Saturday, September 26 to check on the fall colors at Barton Nature Area (just starting to change; probably won’t be much even at the peak), and back at church on Sunday, September 27, after which a few friends and I walked through downtown. It was busy; mask compliance was pretty high, though there were also a lot of people dining in the streets and I wouldn’t want to hang around there too often. I also finished Parks and Rec on Saturday with days to spare.  The Revolution picked up their first back to back wins of 2020 on Sunday with a 2-0 result over D.C. United.

To close out the month, I’ve been running more simulations and keeping tabs on the coronavirus situation. Honestly, people would be much less frustrated if the university would at least commit to performing the alleged number of tests they claim to be able to process (10,000/week). Students have been back for 5-6 weeks and we’re still barely making it over 3,000 tests a week. On average, Cornell processes more tests than that in a single day and is still seeing fewer positive results. What’s worse, the U-M number includes testing athletes and support staff every single day, so it’s not even 3,000 people randomly scattered across campus. (Also, student-athletes, yeah right.) People are getting tired of emails about coronavirus clusters in the dorms, exposure in in-person classes, room and building closures, and our “safe and public-health informed semester” (there is no corona at the university/there is no war in Ba Sing Se, anyone?). But damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!