Captain’s Log 26 March 2020
Y’all I am exhausted. I woke up and ran, literally, I actually ran. This is highly unusual. But I didn’t stop there, I walked the dog, I did a lot of landscaping (because most years I am traveling too much to pay attention to my yard), I planted a bunch of seeds (also and unprecedented happening in my world), I have been sewing and starting a handyman project that has been on my radar for two years. All that said, I am too damn tired to write today’s blog. So, my brilliant, charming husband is going to do it for me. I am telling you, I won the dang lottery… jocelyn
Quarantine Day 13 March 26 2020 – The Mark Chronicles
Hey there fellow travelers! Well, I should say hey there fellow stay at home travelers! That’s better! Today, Jocelyn is taking a break from writing the quarantine blog and I am trying my hand at blog writing. I think you will see that my skills are better placed talking in front of the camera than typing out a blog. That may explain why our videos have always done better than our website ever did. Anyway, onto our 13th day of self-quarantine.
What happened last night
So, for those of you who didn’t know, we have been doing live feeds on our main YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/woltersworld every Wednesday night at 8pm (and Saturdays at 9am) just to give our fellow travelers a chance to have some sort of normalcy during this very not normal time. Honestly, I have begun really looking forward to these live feeds as it gives both Jocelyn and myself a chance to interact and socialize with other adults. Don’t get me wrong, we love each other, but being stuck in the house with just the four of us… we all want some new stories to hear. So, we have really enjoyed talking about travel and all things not coronavirus.
It is fun seeing all the other travelers’ comment and grow friendships via a chat window (shout out to our moderators who keep the trolls and mean people off the chat). We have so many great fans that it really gets me sometimes how many people we have been able to help travel better, and how many people have let us be a part of their travels. It really is an incredible feeling, and so when people are online chatting it just brings a huge smile to my face. So, please pop on sometime. You don’t have to ask questions if you don’t want, as there are plenty of questions and tangent stories that pop up during the feeds. It’s funny, when we first started doing live feeds if we got 45 minutes we thought, wow we did a long feed. Now we are doing over two hours and honestly, I think we would go longer, but an 8pm start means we get a wee bit tired when we hit 10:30pm. So, I am looking forward to Saturday’s 9am chat this weekend.
Anyway, the theme last night was drinking with fellow travelers, so we had a few drinks and let the stories flow. It was a really fun time. Thank you everyone who took part. There were more than a few comments how the more the Glenlivet flowed the more chatting I became. Who knew?
Jocelyn’s day
So, I know a lot of people are asking why isn’t Jocelyn writing today’s blog. Honestly, she spent the day digging up the yard and planting flowers and vegetables, and she is just tired. So, I said I can write this one for us. It is probably nice to have multiple perspectives on what it is like being in this quarantine. So, don’t worry. Jocelyn will be back tomorrow with her wit, humor, and way with words.
The Boys
Well, the boys were rather docile today. We think they did their work. They said they did their work. They promised us they did their work. We gave them work to do. We saw them at the table working… but we are still not sure if they actually did their work. It is a weird feeling a parent gets when their kids say, “Homework done” and you just don’t feel like they spent enough time on it. But we are letting them be responsible for their homework and they have to turn it in via email, so they will feel the consequences in their grades if they are not doing what they said they were doing.
Aside from school work the boys enjoyed a bit of “monkey in the middle” as they call it. Basically it is just keep away. It was funny watching Caleb trying to explain to Liam how to best catch a football. Liam is a big conspiracy theory kid, and whenever he sees a triangle he has to point, “It’s the Illuminati” so Caleb said, “catch it like the illuminati sign” and I will be darned, it worked. I think the boys are starting to feel a bit on the down side with all this time at home. Their spirits have been high for the most part, but not having friends to play with is getting to them a bit. It sounds weird, but I am happy they have some of the online games they can play with their friends. Even if it is Liam yelling with his buddies Anthony and Lela playing Fortnite, at least they are still staying connected.
We have had dreary weather lately and they haven’t had a chance to really get out and play. So, we have been dragging them out when it is nice to go for a walk or just something outside. We try, for example Liam and I hit some tennis balls for a bit today, but in general I think we are all getting a bit worn down from it all. But I am glad we are doing our part and staying home. Oh, the boys got out Caleb’s old Taikwando gear and boxed each other for about half an hour. I think they still have too much energy left in them.
My Work
Well, work continues along. I had two live feeds for my university job today where I had office hours and helped my students prepare for their exams. There was maybe 10% of the students online, and I am OK with that. I have been filming my lectures and topics videos for a long time on http://www.youtube.com/professorwolters and I have been sending them the YouTube video lectures. I think that gives my students more leeway on when they can study.
I know some professors are only doing live classes and if a student misses the live feed, they are not able to make up the lost information. That really irks me as there are so many students who are back home now living and working from home with their parents who are also working from home, not to mention the other siblings who may be home as well. I mean there is only so much bandwidth to go around. So, I feel by giving my students the option to watch the videos when it works best for them, I am hopefully giving them a better chance to actually learn the material. I could be totally wrong, but I just really want to give my students a bit more grace than usual these days.
How is it going though?
Well, considering we are all healthy I cannot complain. There are many people who cannot say the same. For that we are blessed. It looks like the weather may warm up, so the boys can play outside more. I don’t know if it is physically possible for me to go on more walks than I am now. I think I am at four or five walks a day. Though, these quarantine blahs have got me snacking too much. I lost 50 pounds and hit the 50 pound mark last week, but the snacks are calling me hard. I think I am doing better than I was the last couple days (that could be because we have no more Hostess products, but I digress). So, I am feeling better. I think I am getting a grasp on how I will work with my class online which was really bothering me, because those students pay so much money to have my classes and I want them to still get the best class possible.
Anyway, I understand a bit better now why Jocelyn writes these. It really does help to deal with the isolation and uncertainty of this coronavirus pandemic. Just putting your words down helps you refocus on what you should be doing. I know now what I will do with my students, with our travel videos, with a lot, and for that I thank Jocelyn for not wanting to do this today. Thanks sweetie!
Going forward
Well, going forward I think I have a better grip on things. I see my digital marketing slides adding on another 50 slides tonight and 100 tomorrow. I see me recording a podcast with Hawkeye down in Texas. I see Caleb and I fighting over his math lecture tomorrow as I go through three homeworks with him in one go. I see Liam wanting to sneak his Nintendo Switch to he can play instead of doing homework. I can see Jocelyn reading this and going… Mark, you are not writing any more of the blogs, because you are just a rambling fool. And then I see her giving me a big smooch… you never know 😊
Anyway, I am glad I could write something for today March 26, 2020. Another day in quarantine, but also another day I am with my family and we are healthy, happy, and still more or less sane.
Big travel hug to you all!
Mark