Online school

It looks like studying will veer towards online-home study and it is going to be difficult for me. I will be in charge of this considering that I am already emotionally spent from all the crisis outside and inside our home, it  will just add to my current difficulty.

Getting them to study is difficult. Since they are enjoying  a lot of Youtube and video games, getting them to stop those enjoyable activities in lieu of more than an hour studying is not easy..  Another problem is Liam is not too keen in doing his school work  and often ,when he is tutored, loses interest in the middle of it. While Kenzo’s issue is giving up easily when faced with a challenging topic. Li has this stoned-face-dont care attitude, I think he knew that if he will act like he dont know the teacher will just give up… sadly he is correct. Ken is more of the impatient kind, he is willing to study but does not want to redo if he got it wrong.

There is also the difficulty of preparing for the review,  to teach it correctly and add all  of my chores like cooking, cleaning etc. Teaching the kids is not physically draining but more psychologically. I need to power thru to keep my sanity intact to be able to teach them properly.

Covid free

They survived the virus and that was a joyous moment. I kinda expected that they will not succumb to it , but still I was worried that something might go wrong. In one of the interviews of Hoover Institution of Stanford U on Dr Bhattacharya he mentioned about a good news, “it is not as deadly as what we might have thought” and M Osterholm’s interview also parrot the same estimate. The IFR is quite low, about .004-.008 and not really something to be panicked about.

Through out the ordeal I was often checking on Sue and also asking about Eric from time to time, about every other day. I try to buoy their spirits with Gospel songs, I told them that I will pray for them, that they need to strengthen their immune system thru rest and sleep. The symptomatic part was difficult, they suffered from coughing, fever, difficulty and breathing but after about 5-7 worry-filled days it was over.

The virus can only be defeated by a good immune system and good health. Once the pathogens were detected by the body, our immune system will create anti bodies like kytokines to fight Covid. 80% of the infected are scott-free almost with only zero to mild symptoms. I keep on telling  them that Math/probability is on our side and it is probable that they will escape it.

Dr Battacharya of Standford Uni made a survey, initially at Santa Clara county (which is the next county next to Sue and Eric) using ABE test and they found out that the actual number of infection is about 50 to 85 times of the figure of WHO or health Dept. What Standford is saying is that if WHO reported 10 cases it is more accurate to estimate that the number is between 500 to 850 (X 50 to 85). An undertstated denominator will overstate the CFR which is currently as per global average is around 4%. M Osterholm estimate the fatality rate should be about 1% but standford’s is less than 1%. To me a 99% survival rate is something i can feel safe with.

It was a week of uncertainty, we were not sure, at that time,  if they are gonna escape it and there were so many “what ifs” lingering. I tried to keep calm and positive that Statistical Math, the low IFR, the probability will save them .. and it did.

 

Homeworks

Since I started to teach Ken, and later on Liam, since he was just 2 yrs old, I never spoonfed him. I dont like to answer his assignments for him. He would rather get wrong answers than lead him to the correct ones.

But times has changed. I am now so exhausted emotionally and does not have the fortitude to trudge on and teach the kids.

Since the LockDown, the school has sent us online stuff to study and teach the kids. I think it is as if they are homeschooled which is great (under normal conditions) but my life is stressed, I am on the edge and spirit is about to break. I cannot teach the kids 2-3 hours daily anymore. Sorry but I just dont have it anymore to be patient. Rather than teach, I will be the one to answer the homework.

The kids will not learn, sadly,  but what can I do?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Covid infections

Got a disturbing news the other day that Eric has been infected with the virus. It was a shock and felt very bad for him, Sue and Sam.

He/They are really at risk because they are frontliners and are there helping old aged patients. His facility, if I recall it right, they had 2 covid 19-related deaths and highly possible that he got his infections  there. Last tuesday, i think,the result came out that he is positive and according to Sue it crushed him a bit because when he got the news he was a bit happy and is already felling better, but just about a day after physically feeling well the positive result came out.

ERIC

He is very strict, a prefectionist, a hardworker and very detailed when it comes to his work, and sometimes his co workers misunderstood him because of these, including Sue. He sacrificed a lot of things to deliver his best work everyday.  he will give it all, the extra mile, the whole nine yards and the kitchen sink just to make his residents/patients feel comfortable and happy in the short last years of their lives.

I have not met a man who is as helpful and self-scarificing as he. I remember our many times at Peet’s Coffee he will always stand up to hold doors for moms pushing a stroller, old people and just about anyone who needed his help. There was also this story he told me that he stopped his car in the middle of the road just to assist a family. He is a good person and I know god will lift him out of this mess in a few days.

 

SUE

I was a mess, well I am still a mess now, but I was in real deep shit before. When Sue let me stayed at her Condo, from 2004 until 2010,  it was the best years of my life. When I was living with my parents my life was a chaotic and I was depressed for almost all of the years I stayed there. Thank God.  I was given a chance to be on my own and it renewed my sorry life. to something way better,  surely would not be able to restart my life without her help.

When I travelled overseas, I always get my own room and I get a lot of freebies, meals etc.. I get to join her on her family vacations, whenever she has a trips to LA she will always bring me along. We will ride Megabus from South Bay, San Jose to LA, it was fun.

 

INFECTION

It is highly probable that Eric got the virus from the facilty where 2 of thier patients died possibly from Covid 19. I was told that it took a few days before he felt some flu-like symptoms, he immediately quarantined himself, when he started coughing,  in a Hotel in the Bay Area, Ca.  He got himself tested right away, after a few days he started to feel better and was looking forward to going home then the result came out that he is positive. His symptoms are mild and he was advised to just self-quarantine and tough it out for 2 weeks and only to go to the hospital when it became very serious.

Now since it took a while before Eric learned about his sickness, he was asymptomatic for about a week and of course can infect others, and the 1st one whom he infected was Sue.

The last time I talked to Sue was about 5 days ago at that time Sue was slightly coughing still without a fever but overall she felt ok. A few days after I messaged her and she told me that she quarantined herself and symptoms are starting to manifest like fever, coughing etc. I have not talked to her since but I would just get short replies from her that they are still OK, though they have fever. but the good news is Eric I think is getting a bit ok.

We are in a deep crisis and the world is entirely different now from what it was 3 months ago, it is very saddening to think about what the future will be to the kids.