On staying calm

[paultuttle]

We are

- unpacking the bought-but-still-in-the-wrapper DVDs that we thought looked so interesting during past holiday sales

- learning new recipes

- reading old books that we haven't reread in a while

- catching up on the National Geographics and other reading materials that've come into the house that we were at the time too busy to read

- cleaning things up and moving things around so I can have a real home office instead of just the recliner in the living room

- downloading more games on our smart phones

- debating the relative merits of puppies and kittens

- pumping up the tires in the bicycles, because they may soon become a combination of transportation and exercise

- learning and relearning how to play different card games

- exploring the depth and breadth of the entertainment available via our Netflix and Hulu subscriptions

- working on various projects that we'd been thinking about but hadn't started because we were too busy

- learning how to use meditation and other calming techniques at those times when the bombardment of pandemic-related news gets to be too damned much

[hmaria1609]

Since my library is closed until the end of April, I'm enjoying the fresh air during my morning walk around the neighborhood.

[apl68]

Went to church yesterday at the usual time for Sunday school.  Normal services had been cancelled, but I was able to talk with the pastor, his wife, and a couple of their grandchildren for quite a while and have prayer time with them.  Then, at the usual time for morning worship service, we watched the message he had earlier recorded for streaming over Facebook Live.  He had never done recorded messages before, so having to preach to an empty auditorium was a new experience for him.  He and the music director who was recording him were also having to learn how to use some borrowed equipment.  All things considered, it came out pretty well.  Feedback was positive.  If anything the message seems to have had more people viewing it than a usual Sunday message. 

[mamselle]

The church I was raised in, in Col's, OH, has done taped services ever since I was a kid--but with a full choir, congregation, etc., as you say.

It was definitely different to hear a hisband-and-wife duet and a pianist instead of the 40-voice chorale, but I was glad they'd included a children's sermon as well as the adult message, and an instrumental prelude and postlude.

The children's sermon was appropriate, really, to everyone. The minister joked about making a tablecloth fort--or "you could use toilet paper!"--not really...and how it could be both comforting (I thought of our hiding place forts online, here) and also scary.

She talked about how unknown things and entering unknown places could be frightening--then she brought out a flashlight, and called it "Hope."

Pandora's box as Gospel.

M.

[Catherder]

Since my library is closed until the end of April, I'm enjoying the fresh air during my morning walk around the neighborhood.

I've learned to love the public on-line library. It's in most of the States too. Try Googling :  Overdrive

Or you might be able to access it via your own public library website.

[hmaria1609]

I've learned to love the public on-line library. It's in most of the States too. Try Googling :  Overdrive
Or you might be able to access it via your own public library website.

Yay! Glad to hear.
I should have mentioned the library is where I work.

[apl68]

Our state's Secretary of Education has officially recommended that those needing wi-fi for educational purposes head to the parking lots of the state's public libraries.  The State Library is helpfully creating an online map of libraries where wi-fi is available.

[downer]

Our state's Secretary of Education has officially recommended that those needing wi-fi for educational purposes head to the parking lots of the state's public libraries.  The State Library is helpfully creating an online map of libraries where wi-fi is available.

I'm a bit confused. Are they going to made special efforts to point the wifi to the parking lot?  Otherwise this is a suggestion that seems unlikely to be very helpful. You have to get close to the building for the wifi to kick in strongly enough to be useable. Otherwise it tends to fade in and out.

[mamselle]

Several libraries I know of have the wifi already aimed on the parking lot all the time after hours. It's not just "spill," it's on purpose.

I've had to send in midnight-due-NOW abstracts and so on (taxes, once) when I didn't have home wifi that way.

Our little branch library at the end of my street has a porch you can sit on, which I've also used on occasion.

Just another reason I'm a huge fan of libraries and librarians....

M.

P.S. - I meant to add this: Yale's "Happiness Course" is free online to auditors:

   https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/23/health/yale-happiness-course-wellness/index.html