My “Hair-Raising” Personal Experience With The Pandemic

Philip DeFranco called for videos about personal experiences with the pandemic. The timing was great since I wanted to make a pandemic-related video. I can also put his picture on the thumbnail to get more clicks. Here’s my “hair raising” personal experience with the pandemic.

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The 2020 Coronavirus Is The New 1918 Spanish Flu

Last year I made a video about 2020 being the beginning of a new decade or the end of an old decade. According to a YouGov survey from last year: 64% of Americans believe 2020 is a new decade, 17% believe 2021 is a new decade, and 19% don’t know. That video came out three months before the coronavirus became a U.S. problem—and I still needed a haircut.

I mentioned in that video that some people believe we are re-living the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Decades better known as the Roaring 20s, the Great Depression, and World War II. We are not yet re-living those decades. We are re-living the years before those decades. When the 1918 Spanish Flu killed more soldiers than all the soldiers who died fighting in World War I.

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Using An Outdoor Swimming Pool During Coronavirus Pandemic

When I started working from home nine month ago, I wanted to go aqua jogging after work every day. But the water in the unheated outdoor swimming pool was too cold. I had to wait until spring for temperatures to warm up. And then everything—including swimming pools—shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.

That was four-and-a-half months ago.

Santa Clara County, otherwise known as Silicon Valley, re-opened outdoor swimming pools with social distancing rules. I’ve been aqua jogging every week for the last month. Learn how my “gated community” re-opened the outdoor swimming pool.

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Shaving My Head Bald During The Pandemic

Image by C.D. Reimer

I cut off my unmanageable naturally curly hair with the electric clippers two weeks ago. A failed attempt to grow out my hair. I haven’t had a haircut in the six months since I started working from home for my government I.T. job at a three-letter agency. My haircut—or lack thereof—didn’t matter much to my virtual coworkers. We all had black tape over the webcam of our work laptop to protect our privacy. If I were to give myself a bad haircut, there wasn’t a better time than the stay-at-home pandemic.

Since my haircut with the clippers turned out uneven and splotchy, I had to finish it off with shaving cream and razor blade. My newly shaven scalp felt raw like a rubber inner tube from a bicycle tire. I searched with my free hand for rough spots to shave with my razor hand. A smooth scalp all the way around made for a consistent haircut. That, and looking good as a man, made shaving my head bald worthwhile for me.

The only other hair that I had on my head besides my caterpillar eyebrows was my sideburns and no mustache beard, which started and ended at the indentations of my glasses at my ears. A pair of scissors kept my beard nicely trimmed to avoid interfering with wearing a medical mask in public.

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Shaving My Head Bald During A Pandemic

It’s Day 44 (+/- a few Groundhog Days) of the California lockdown—and I’m bored. Since I’m not a vlogger, I can’t make random videos about being bored. Since I don’t have a Nintendo Switch, I can’t play Animal Crossing and invite you to my island. Last week I was so bored that I shaved my head bald with an electric clippers and s razor blade. I didn’t realize that “shaving my head bald during a pandemic” was a thing. That men who gives up a full head of hair to go bald are confidant, dominant and masculine. Who knew that looking like Mr. Magoo was sexy?

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Will Drive-In Movie Theaters Make A Comeback?

The last movie I saw before the shelter-in-place order took effect in California was “Bloodshot” starring Vin Diesel. With people already staying away from the movie theaters, two-dozen people watched the Saturday afternoon IMAX showing in their own row for proper social distancing. Since then I missed going out to the movies every weekend to break up the week-to-week grind. Every day in Silicon Valley is Christmas morning with few people walking about and cars on the street.

If only there was an alternative for watching movies at the movie theaters. Silicon Valley still has a drive-in movie theater called the Capitol Drive-In in San Jose. The chain that operates that location is West Wind Drive-In, which has its Sacramento, CA, and Glendale, AZ, locations open for business during the pandemic. Other regional drive-ins in the U.S. are also open for business.

Will drive-in movie theaters make a comeback for today’s social distancing?

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