Release date

2 April 2020 (Day 14) - Almost there. Our release from strict quarantine/self-isolation comes tomorrow. We’re both feeling fine – just old and anxious.

Karen and I have a lengthy shopping list that we hope to shop for tomorrow during the seniors hour. Whether we’ll be able to get everything we need and want remains to be seen. We saw how panic buying and disruptions to supply chains emptied shelves at the Tesco where we shopped in Maldon before we left the UK.

I’m feeling nervous about just going out of the apartment. The assumption at this point is that we’re C19-free. (Our understanding is that 99.99% of people infected show symptoms within 14 days, most within five to seven, and we don’t have any symptoms.) Now, every time we go out of our home, though, we’re very much at risk of being exposed.

We will be taking precautions, both at the stores and when we return. I wrote in an earlier post about the protocols we followed for bringing our delivered groceries into the apartment last week and disinfecting them. We’ll do the same again.

There has been considerable debate among medical experts and others about whether we should be wearing masks when we go out. We don't have masks in any case, but I heard it suggested on the radio today that even a bandanna wrapped around your face could offer some protection. And in the Czech Republic, where they reportedly have the epidemic in better control than we do, it is required that you wear a mask when you go out. 

The only reasons I can see for not wearing a mask are that real medical-grade masks are needed much more urgently by healthcare professionals and are in short supply. And there is a risk, if you don't remove your personal protection with caution, that it could actually increase chances of infection. Canada’s Chief Medical Officer is advising against non-infected or -exposed people wearing masks. But she added, in an interview I heard on the radio yesterday, that the keys to preventing infection when removing protection are not touching your face and washing your hands carefully afterwards. 

We will have hand-sanitizer with us when we go out, and wear re-usable latex gloves. I plan to extend washing after the fact to clothes and the rest of my body. Clothes worn when I go out will go in the laundry hamper, not to be touched again for at least 48 hours. And I’ll shower.

I know, it sounds absurd. But if you’re a senior and you’re not freaked by this pandemic, you’re a feckin’ idiot. Anybody really, not just seniors.

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I am smarting this morning after another humiliating defeat on the Scrabble field at the hands of my darling wife.

It wasn’t a bad defeat, only by 15 or 20 points but it still stings. The wins have been few and far between this year. And Karen insists my summary of recent Scrabble activity in yesterday’s post actually understated how badly she’s been whomping me recently. Possible.

As for last night, in my defense, I had terrible letters. My first pull included the Q, the Z, three E’s, an O and one other letter I can’t remember – but not U. I couldn’t use either of the big scorers until at least six turns in, by which time Karen had zoomed way ahead. After the first couple of pulls, I never had more than two vowels in my hand at any one time. At the end of the game, I still had about 16 points in my hand, all consonants.

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This morning I started my new job, creating a closed Facebook group for our building. It’s a learning experience, but nothing wrong with that. Even old dogs, I keep telling myself, can learn new tricks. So far so good.

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Desert Island: Definitely desert island material. The fourth movement of the Rachmaninoff sonata is sublime.

Some music snobs turn their noses up at Sergei Rachmaninoff, the 20th century Russian composer (1873-1943). One American composer and critic, now largely forgotten, said of Rachmaninoff's music that it was “mainly an evocation of adolescence” and “no part of our intellectual life.” Sergei was definitely swimming against the minimalist, atonal current of modern orchestral music. His work is tuneful, accessible, very romantic, a throw-back to the music of the late 19th century when he came of age.

Dirty Hippy: I’d never heard of J. J. Cale until about 20 years ago, but he’s definitely of our era (1938-2013), and he’s now a regular part of my mix whenever I’m looking for social music that’s not too crash-and-bangy.

A friend’s 20-something son introduced Cale to his Dad years ago. Dad introduced J. J. to his group of friends and I think we all listen to him now, or did at one time. The music is laid-back, groovy, with a distinctly southern feel – although he was actually from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Wikipedia lists “blues, rockabilly, country and jazz” as the mix of elements in his style.  That sounds about right. He was apparently very influential. People like Mark Knopfler and Eric Clapton, with whom he made a record late in his career, list him as influences. Yet he was never actually famous. A great find.

The Cryptic Corner

From today’s Globe & Mail puzzle, a few illustrative examples:

“Shipping trade (5).” As the form suggests it’s a double-meaning clue, but it’s a tricky one.

The non-cryptic part of a cryptic clue isn’t necessarily an exact synonym for or definition of the answer. As in this case, it can be a word that might, only in some contexts, be a synonym for the answer. Or might be only a near-synonym that could be substituted for the answer in a sentence sometimes.

The answer: CRAFT.

You might refer to water “craft,” boats, in some contexts as “shipping.” You’re meant to be confused by trade – is it the verb, the noun from the verb, or a noun meaning...well, a “craft.” It’s true that you wouldn’t call the trade of electrician a craft, but you might call carpentry a craft, or a trade.

Some clues offer concocted, sometimes humorous definitions for a phrase formed when you break up the answer word into constituent parts. 

Here’s an example from today’s puzzle: “A policeman not on duty perhaps is unusual (7).”

Answer: OFFBEAT. Get it? The non-cryptic clue is “unusual.” The policeman, you see, is “off” his “beat.”

One more. Here’s another example of the non-cryptic clue not being an exact definition or synonym. “Work in a band to commit fraud (6).”

Answer: FIDDLE.

Well, in some “bands” one or more members fiddle. A fiddle is also a colloquial term for a “fraud.”

Finally, here’s the puzzle as far as I’ve got it. Any ideas about the last two? (Gail Wreford, c’mon, you’re a crossword fiend – time you stepped up to cryptics.)