The Adjusted Normal, 33. Mask it Up.
Today feels like someone turned on the oven and left it on with the door open, even after the cake was taken out. There's a yellow warning on for extreme temperatures in our corner, with highs forecast to reach at least 36ºC/96.8ªF. When my last student left at five, I closed the window and the blinds at the front of the house. Maybe, I'll get a bucket of ice cream from the freezer to eat in the half-darkened kitchen in a little while.
What I am not going to do is go to the beach. I don't like the thought of slow-roasting an hour or two. Besides, the water temperature is freezing. I don't do from oven to freezer. My baking dish might; I don't.
And now, the regional government, in the question of safety, it must be said, is making it obligatory to wear masks at all times when outside the house, even if there is a distance of at least a meter and a half, as long as there are people around. Even at the beach, if you are walking along the surf line or getting up to get an ice cream, you have to wear one. The exceptions are sitting still on the towel or bathing. The other exceptions are taking something at a bar or restaurant (literally putting something in your mouth), if you have a respiratory illness that impedes wearing a mask, or doing individual exercise outside. Damned, damned devil virus! If it were visible, I'd go after it with an axe.
Truth is, while the outbreaks here in Galicia are pretty much contained, and reducing in number, the outbreaks in Catalunya and Aragón are worrying. There, they are no longer simple transmissions among known contacts, they are community transmissions, and much more difficult to bring under control. It took the entire country three months to bring the first wave down. Already, people in Barcelona and its metropolitan area are being told to stay home unless it's absolutely necessary, though they are not being obliged to shelter in place, and can move around the area. Night spots have been ordered to close, as have gyms, movie theatres, theatres, pools, parks, and theme parks. Gatherings of over ten people have been forbidden, though the courts are to have the last say on that one. Non-essential stores are open only on an appointment basis. Restaurants and bars will now only let in 50% of total people allowed.
These new restrictions will last for the next fifteen days, to see if contagion goes down. While not as restrictive as the national lockdown in spring, they do impinge on normal life, and some people are getting angry. Well, I'm sorry, but it's a public health problem, and this is just one year of our lives. Eventually, we'll come out the other side, and then we can go as crazy as we want without maiming each other.
During the lockdown, there were plenty of fines handed out and about. One of the most notorious breakers of the quarantine was Prince Joaquim of Belgium, who travelled from Belgium down to Córdoba for a private party. He was fined ten thousand euros. But, because the prince didn't appeal the fine, and is paying promptly, he's just paying a little over five thousand euros. Well, I'm sure his pocket wouldn't have suffered much even if he had been obliged to pay the entire amount, por gilipollas, as we say here in Spain. (Excuse the expression.)
So, with the harsher mask rules, I may end up spending even more time at home than I have been doing. In a sense, I don't mind. That means I don't spend much money. On the other hand, summer is beautiful and it's a wonderful time to wander around. But like I said earlier, this is just one year out of my life. There shall be more.
Life continues.
What I am not going to do is go to the beach. I don't like the thought of slow-roasting an hour or two. Besides, the water temperature is freezing. I don't do from oven to freezer. My baking dish might; I don't.
And now, the regional government, in the question of safety, it must be said, is making it obligatory to wear masks at all times when outside the house, even if there is a distance of at least a meter and a half, as long as there are people around. Even at the beach, if you are walking along the surf line or getting up to get an ice cream, you have to wear one. The exceptions are sitting still on the towel or bathing. The other exceptions are taking something at a bar or restaurant (literally putting something in your mouth), if you have a respiratory illness that impedes wearing a mask, or doing individual exercise outside. Damned, damned devil virus! If it were visible, I'd go after it with an axe.
Truth is, while the outbreaks here in Galicia are pretty much contained, and reducing in number, the outbreaks in Catalunya and Aragón are worrying. There, they are no longer simple transmissions among known contacts, they are community transmissions, and much more difficult to bring under control. It took the entire country three months to bring the first wave down. Already, people in Barcelona and its metropolitan area are being told to stay home unless it's absolutely necessary, though they are not being obliged to shelter in place, and can move around the area. Night spots have been ordered to close, as have gyms, movie theatres, theatres, pools, parks, and theme parks. Gatherings of over ten people have been forbidden, though the courts are to have the last say on that one. Non-essential stores are open only on an appointment basis. Restaurants and bars will now only let in 50% of total people allowed.
These new restrictions will last for the next fifteen days, to see if contagion goes down. While not as restrictive as the national lockdown in spring, they do impinge on normal life, and some people are getting angry. Well, I'm sorry, but it's a public health problem, and this is just one year of our lives. Eventually, we'll come out the other side, and then we can go as crazy as we want without maiming each other.
During the lockdown, there were plenty of fines handed out and about. One of the most notorious breakers of the quarantine was Prince Joaquim of Belgium, who travelled from Belgium down to Córdoba for a private party. He was fined ten thousand euros. But, because the prince didn't appeal the fine, and is paying promptly, he's just paying a little over five thousand euros. Well, I'm sure his pocket wouldn't have suffered much even if he had been obliged to pay the entire amount, por gilipollas, as we say here in Spain. (Excuse the expression.)
So, with the harsher mask rules, I may end up spending even more time at home than I have been doing. In a sense, I don't mind. That means I don't spend much money. On the other hand, summer is beautiful and it's a wonderful time to wander around. But like I said earlier, this is just one year out of my life. There shall be more.
Life continues.
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