New Protocols

I had to take the Crosstrek to the dealer this morning. Reid had called me the day I left for Kohala back in March to let me know the license plate was in; I told him I would call him back in 2 weeks when I returned. But life got in the way and I ended up being unable to do that. In the 5 weeks since that call a lot of things have changed. Masks are required, someone meets you in the parking lot to check you in, you can either sit outside on the lanai 6 feet apart from other people who are waiting or inside in the waiting area which has been rearranged for physical distancing and the complementary coffee & tea service has been removed. Outside in the lanai area is also a hand sanitizer station.

There is a clear barrier above the desk.

There used to be a 3rd chair here.

I went in to get the license plate and body side molding installed. With the new electric vehicle plate I am exempt from parking fees at state & county facilities (like the University of Hawai'i), I can use the HOV lanes with less than the required number of people, and I can park in electric vehicle designated parking spaces. Now I am waiting for the special license plate for electric vehicles that honors the Hokuleʻa; the last I heard SB2103 SD1 had passed with amendments on March 13th, just before things began shutting down. Now I'm not sure when it might move forward and become available. (I could get another volcano license plate but I would not be able to take advantage of the electric vehicle perks.)

Before.

With the body side molding.

I went to Hawaii State Federal Credit Union while they were working on the car; it's about a block away from the Subaru dealer. There was a long line outside again; I was pleasantly surprised to find that it actually moved quite quickly. There were a number of new protocols in effect to minimize the spread of COVID-19; they will also minimize the possibility of a robbery. To start with, while you are standing outside, you are on camera because of the ATM just outside the door. Then there are a couple of staff people at the door, one hands out clipboards with a form for your signature and account information; right now only members are allowed to enter. The other staff person opens and closes the door so you don't have to touch it; he also locks the door when he lets someone in or out. Inside there are marks on the floor for where customers need to stand while waiting; when you get to the 1st and 2nd positions in line you are on closed circuit TV. Of the 4 existing teller stations, only 2 are now being used so that the minimum 6 feet physical distancing can be accomplished. Each teller has a plexiglass shield; between customers 2 other staff people sanitize the counter area before allowing the next customer to come up. As you leave you can stop by the hand sanitizer station before you go out the door.

The camera at the ATM faces towards the line of people waiting to get in.

I did not walk again this morning. I was still a little tired and since I knew I was going to be walking to the credit union I decided to just use that as my exercise for the day. It's less than the 1/2 mile I was planning on doing at sunrise, but it was during the hotter part of the day and I did stand around a lot so my body was engaged in some sort of activity and not just sitting around. I have also set up a place in my room where I can stand and use my laptop, rather than sitting with it on my lap. I already had a platform that was made for use when you are in bed; I used QuakeHold to secure it to the top of one of the rolling cabinets which puts it at just the right height for me to use as a standing desk!

As I mentioned earlier, our household has been luckier than many households here; none of us are in the hospitality or tourist industry. One nephew is a teacher, another works for an English language immersion school and helped set up the on-line classes & is now troubleshooting from home, and the third nephew just started a new job today working as a teller at a credit union. And me, even though what I am collecting in my retirement, social security (which I took early), and investment income is right at the poverty level for Hawai'i, because the house is free and clear I pay no rent or mortgage which makes it easily livable. Because of that I have chosen to redistribute some of my 'wealth' by more frequently buying prepared meals from small businesses than I used to. Except for breakfast, Curtis & I have not done our Tuesday morning breakfast since things were shut down in mid-March since we have no place to sit down and eat. I have also been doing more on-line shopping, again to help small businesses. I am trying to support vendors whom I would like to see around when things start to open up again.

I did not do much texting before; but now I am beginning to appreciate it more. This morning Amelia, who is in Washington, texted me an audio file of a bird singing in her back yard. I didn't know what it was, so I forwarded it to Terri, who is also in Washington but does not know Amelia. Terri said it sounded like a Bewick's Wren. So I passed that information on to Amelia. Our entire conversation took about 15 minutes and I am 2500 miles (and 2 time zones) away from them!

I have also been introduced to Zoom and Facebook Live. I should probably get familiar with the other platforms as well. This COVID-19 is pushing me in to becoming more technologically-oriented! I entered the age of high speed wi-fi internet a few years ago when I got my first laptop; up until then I only had dial-up. It kept Kai from moving back home since the places he was renting had wi-fi. It made him work at all sorts of jobs other than his "ideal job" since he did not want to have to go back to dial-up! He even spent some time as a day laborer!

I watched All Rise this evening; the episode "Dancing at Los Angeles" has a story line taken from real life. They were all sheltering-in-place in Los Angeles and experimented with doing a trial with all parties attending the trial virtually. It was great!


Time Health has an article about why Hawai'i has such a low COVID-19 rate but how it has impacted our economy. Another article they have about Iceland shows the value of a rigorous testing and contact tracking program and how it can help with opening up the economy. Our elected and public health officials here are already pushing for both of those. And although there have been small protests calling for immediate opening of everything, I think we are like most other areas of the country where polls show over 70% of the people want restrictions to remain in place longer and have the science say when it is okay to open things up. With our higher than average number of kūpuna here, and larger extended families living together under one roof, it would be wiser to be more conservative in when we open things back up.

Keala & S'mores were curled up on the chair together this afternoon. Sometimes they would be kicking each other in the head and biting each other. Then a short while later they would be calm and grooming each other.

There was no new COVID-19 case reported today, bringing the total up to 621. There were no new deaths or hospitalizations but a few more people were released from isolation bringing that number up to 88%. Looking at the epidemiological curve you can see that we have had very few new cases recently; I hope it stays that way as we begin to relax the restrictions.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Mary!