Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Going Viral

I planned to attend three events this spring, but my plans may be scuttled by the Coronavirus.

Coming up next Friday is the True Colors Conference – a conference for LGBT school-aged kids and young adults. Schools throughout the Northeast bus kids to this conference and already, one school as cancelled the trip and others may follow.

Of the three events I had planned to attend, True Colors is the one that is most likely to be cancelled because of bad timing and because school-aged kids are the main participants. The Conference website declares that “the conference will go on rain or shine, virus or no, with plenty of hand sanitizer.” We’ll see.

Next month is the Transgender Lives Conference. And in May is Hamvention. Whether those conferences go on depends on what happens with the virus. IMPOTUS claims that things will improve when the weather gets warmer, but considering the source, I am not counting on his hunch.

I am presenting at all three events and hope I have the opportunity to do so. But I am also a senior citizen – and they say that the Coronavirus appears most dangerous to seniors, so I am loathe to put my life on the line just to present at a conference.

We will just have to wait and see what happens.




Source: Boston Proper
Wearing Boston Proper



Alex Mathias, Vadim Oleynik and Artem Meh
Alex Mathias, Vadim Oleynik and Artem Meh femulating on Ukranian television’s version of Your Face Sounds Familiar

7 comments:

  1. Hey Stana,

    We are the same age and both have the same concerns with the current virus outbreak. It is better to maintain a low profile for the short term and then be able to relate to people later then to blow off the concerns and wish you hadn't.

    You will be able to support our community more by being safe for the short term.

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  2. What ever you do you are going to be wrong
    Lucy

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  3. I have a curious question that maybe you could answer. Why is it that it seems that a lot of ham operators are from the northeast part of the country. I was associated with one when I was younger, but after joining the military and moving around I couldn't continue. Since settling in the south, I don't hear of many operators anymore. Again just wondering?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Michelle,

      The ham population corresponds with the general population more or less. The more populous states have more hams than the less populous states and vice versa. The following link lists the ham population by state: http://www.arrl.org/fcc-license-counts

      Stana

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    2. WOW! I didn't realize how many there were here in Florida. As I said I dropped out of the community when I joined the military (we weren't allowed to set up stations in the dorms). Thanks for the info.

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  4. Sally StoneMarch 10, 2020

    The Keystone Conference was just cancelled due to Corona Virus. I was scheduled to facilitate a workshop and I bought a beautiful new gown for the Gala. I guess I'll just keep it in the wrapper for next formal event. I am disappointed, but I completely understand the organizer's concerns.

    Hugs,

    Sally

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  5. I wish there were some way for you to either pre-tape your presentation or present via Skype. These presume the event is not cancelled but you sre taking appropriate steps for your personal protection. My closest birthday is in August, when I'll be 79. I'm taking careful measures to reduce my possible exposure, but I'm still attending an adult continuing education program twice a week. Our host college will decide on suspending classes. Our attendance is down, but only a little. We all appear to have some sort of disinfectant and on class breaks there's a line at the sinks.

    We're responsible people and know to pay close attention to Dr. Anthony Fauci and not to the science deniers intent on preserving their political situation. Dr, Fauci is probably the world's top expert on infectuous diseases and many of us will remember him during the AIDS crisis. It's not easy getting old, but we need to keep our composure and to heed the advice of people we know to trust. Being well informed is our best defense against infection, along with taking careful steps to keep ourselves and others safe. Thank you, Stana, for raising this issue. When this contravirus wanes, as viral infections do, having been informed and following good advice will have us out and about again.

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