Had the opportunity to go to campus today to do some work. We were producing some instructional videos. How to mount a camera on a tripod. How to turn it on. How to change the settings. This sort of thing. Useful stuff. And beneficial to do in a video form because it will maximize the return on time investment. Teach a basic thing to a camera, so the video it captures can be seen over and over by students as necessary, rather than continue to give boutique, small-group presentations of the same material. It’s a good approach. The circumstances of the day have made it an imperative, even if it’s something we’ve intended to do for several years.
People ate lunch in a room that will hold socially distanced students in our first classes next week. I sat in a chair where some future industry giant will sit, and watched people munch on sandwiches.
There are soap dispensers and wipes and stickers about. One suspects more signs will go into place in the next week or so.
A few places where a person sits that custom and decorum suggest will still feature human interaction now have a cling wrap structure around them. Some of that went up today. Chairs are spaced and excess furniture is stacked. We saw to that a few weeks ago.
And, in general, the mood will be:
There are a lot of plans in place — testing, prophylactic, event restrictions and limitations — hopefully it will be sufficient toward the cause of educating students and conducting research and all of the other things that take place on campus. Or, all of the things that will take place this year. Some of it will be quite limited, sadly. That’s the mood. No gathering please.
Taking next week off from writing here. No particular reason. There’s some work stuff and a break sounds good and, when I do come back, there might be an actual tidbit or two to catch up on. So, until then, be safe. Exercise grace and patience with one another, and yourself, and we’ll catch up on August 17th.
