Latest Diaries

What happened Fig 1-1
Diaries After the Lockdown
David Andersen

What Happened to Our Holiday Season This Year?

Our Holiday Season is being smashed apart this year. Record-breaking number of new COVID-19 infections are being reported. Large numbers of airline flights are cancelled. There are vacant seats at our Christmas dinner table. What is going on? Is all this due to the Omicron variant?

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October morning at New Fadum Farm with green pastures waiting for the fall foliage to arrive
Diaries After the Lockdown
David Andersen

What obligations do we have to protect them

October is Deborah and David’s favorite month, and we are looking forward to dinner with good friends. An unexpected COVID-related isolation of one of our grandchildren makes us rethink our plans.

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Old Testament prophets Micha and Habakkuk saw the need for hope and social justice to guide us through harsh times
Diaries After the Lockdown
David Andersen

Micah and Habakkuk, the Delta variant, and Ali’s Model

This is the 50th “Diary During (or After) the Lockdown” story to come from New Fadum Farm since the first story in April of 2020. Two recent sermons at David’s church, both pertaining to minor prophets in the Old Testament, provide a jumping off point for this “golden anniversary” story.

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Our unvaccinated grandchildren gather with their friends at this playground at New Fadum Farm. Surely, we should be willing to wear our masks again indoors to protect them!
Diaries After the Lockdown
David Andersen

Why should “I” wear my mask (again) to protect “Them”?

The CDC is now recommending that even fully vaccinated persons should once again start to wear masks indoors because of the emerging highly-infectious Delta variant. David goes on a rant, reasoning, “I got the vaccine, why should I wear a mask to protect people who refuse to get vaccinated?”

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Nancy and Matt's former residence across the street from the pond at New Fadum Farm
Diaries After the Lockdown
David Andersen

A Road trip to North Carolina to Say “Goodbye” to Nancy

Deborah and David are very sad to learn that their very good friend, Nancy, has been diagnosed with a serious illness and is facing a poor prognosis. They consider making a road trip down to North Carolina to visit her. David runs some mental simulations of the risks posed by such a trip.

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The avatar, EGO, is designed to take control of everyone in Ali's world--the whole crowd. Can EGO control the pandemic?
Diaries After the Lockdown
David Andersen

What would happen to the pandemic if EGO were in control

In a moment of whimsy, David starts to think about what would happen if we had the ability to clearly specify how everyone must behave? Would it be possible to then behave in a way that would end the pandemic? Could human agency overpower this pandemic? Or is the pandemic stronger than we are collectively?

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Test kit from UAlbany contains supplies for weekly saliva-swab tests for the COVID-19 virus.
Diaries After the Lockdown
David Andersen

Tests, More Tests, Contact Tracing, Quarantines, and Now Vaccines

Deborah and David both get a message from the University informing them that weekly saliva-based tests are necessary for all faculty and staff who may be on campus. Driving to campus to pick up their test kits, they are impressed by the science and resources being used to combat the COVID-19 virus in our area.

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Google Map route to David’s vaccination appointment on February 15 in Adams, New York
Diaries After the Lockdown
David Andersen

Will the Pandemic really be over in 44 days?

Deborah is scheduled for her first vaccine shot in nine days on January 25 and David is next on February 15. If the second shots come 2 weeks later, does that mean that the pandemic will be over for them by March 1, that is, 44 days from when I am writing this note? Surely not! It’s more complicated than that.

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Daily Positive COVID-19 Cases, Albany, NY
Diaries After the Lockdown
David Andersen

What Causes the Shape of the Pandemic?

Understanding what drives surges and turnarounds in the COVID-19 infection rate is important for managing our day-to-day plans. Ali’s model has some answers.

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Old White Farmhouse and Barnhouse as seen from the Porch of the Little Red House on New Fadum Farm
Diaries during Lockdown
David Andersen

Creating a Double Bubble in Rhode Island

Deborah reads a news feed from the Canadian Health Service reporting on the practice of “double bubbling” as a way to safely increase social contact during COVID-19. We decide to give it a try.

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A farewell hike on the North Loop Trail at Five Rivers Center
Diaries during Lockdown
David Andersen

Saying “Good-bye” to Babak

Babak has rented a car and is getting ready for a cross-country trek to his new job in Las Cruces, NM. Deborah and David plan a small dinner at New Fadum Farm to say “good-bye”.

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Fred Shearing Sheep at New Fadum Farm
Diaries during Lockdown
David Andersen

Spring Sheep Shearing

As the time approaches for the spring sheep shearing, Deborah and David ponder how best to conduct this mandatory event in the COVID-19 era.

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Construction on Deborah’s Wool Room in the Tractor Shed
Diaries during Lockdown
David Andersen

Finishing Deborah’s Wool Room in the Tractor Shed

David is feeling conflicted about rescheduling a COVID-19 delayed construction project. He proposes six principles to guide the reopening of that project. The first principle is for David himself to take personal responsibility for project safety.

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Diaries during Lockdown
David Andersen

The Day Our Barn Almost Burned Down

David searches for good analogies and images for visualizing how to respond to a problem that threatens to grow exponentially in order to keep it from going out of control. Deborah suggests he describe how the Onesquethaw Volunteer Fire Company controls track fires.

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Vlomanskill trail at Five Rivers Environmental Center
Diaries during Lockdown
David Andersen

Florence Nightingale is Speaking to Us. Are We Listening?

David and Deborah have been watching the Netflix series “Victoria” and encountered Florence Nightingale, who worked to eradicate urban epidemics in Victorian England. David reflects on the role of political leaders and technical experts in fighting the pandemic.

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Diaries during Lockdown
David Andersen

Thinking Globally, Acting Locally

Ali’s model is a global template for thinking about COVID-19. In overview, there are 6 major themes. The important trick is to shift this global thinking into local action to figure out when to open businesses, how to get the church back to worship, and how to re-open universities next fall.

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Late Spring Snow at New Fadum Farm
Diaries during Lockdown
David Andersen

Re-Opening Our Church for Normal Worship Services

Returning to “normal” church services may be far in the future, up to 2-4 years even. This relatively long time frame gives us time to plan for positive transforming changes. We do not have to think only about returning to a pre-COVID-19 “Normal”.

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Wedding Tent at New Fadum Farm
Diaries during Lockdown
David Andersen

Will There be a Second Wave?

Plans to rent a tent, hire a DJ and caterer, and then hold a party to celebrate getting through this current COVID-19 crisis are put off for a while. Ali’s model explains why a second wave is quite likely and having a big party this summer is just the wrong thing to do.

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Marauding Chickens at New Fadum Farm
Diaries during Lockdown
David Andersen

How to Stop a Pandemic

David and Deborah feel awkward, even silly wearing their face masks on a quick trip to buy ice cream. Babak builds a simpler model than the one Ali briefed us on. The results are stunning and clear. There is nothing at all silly about social distancing and wearing face masks.

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Sunset over the farmhouse at New Fadum
Diaries during Lockdown
David Andersen

When Will This Pandemic End?

A long planned trip to Norway this summer is being threatened by the pandemic. Looking at formal math-based simulation models clarifies how to think over time about this pandemic.

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New Fadum Farm on Palm Sunday
Diaries during Lockdown
David Andersen

Ali Calls from Tehran on Palm Sunday

Ali calls from Tehran with news of a system dynamics model of the COVID-19 pandemic that he has built. David contacts Dan, Babak, and Andrada. The “Diaries During Lockdown” is born during a Zoom call on Palm Sunday.

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