ZOOMIE ROOMIES

Zoom.us video conference service gained much popularity during this COVID-19 pandemic.  Free for 40 minutes  or available at some reasonable price, the web-based service is used by people quarantined in their houses to interact with other people quarantined in other houses.  I've seen Zoom meetings between members of orchestras, yoga teachers and students, the list goes on and on.  Just prior to me losing my desktop support job, because there's nobody around to need my support, I kept overhearing the manager of the group talk about users wanting to use Zoom.  Now it's everywhere and tonight I had some fun playing a trivia game over Zoom.

It is quite a lot of work to organize the game but I think we got the right people for the job.  Someone came up with all the questions and answers, the format, and someone else tallied the scores and sent the various teams into their Breakout Rooms so they can talk among themselves.  I named my team Zoomie Roomies, to reflect the fact that my team of four are split into two different physical rooms, two per room.  We were roommates of sort, but over Zoom.  I think I coined the phrase Zoomie to refer to users of Zoom.us service, but maybe someone already did that.  It does give me an idea for a cartoon, in a day when the current pandemic is over but we will have other issues related to Zoom.  Stay tuned!

HIGHLIGHTS: CLASS OF 1982 WILLIAM COWPER JHS 73

Even before the current self-quarantine/lockdown scenario in New York and across the U.S., I already put in a lot of work for the general Newtown High School group on Facebook.  It helped that I inherited a stack of yearbooks from a popular teacher after his passing.  Besides scanning the yearbook pages, I also arranged for occasional luncheons and do research to help the members locate old friends.

With even more time on my hands, I also scanned pages of the yearbook for my own Class of 1985 at Newtown and even went back to JHS, namely William Cowper JHS 73 Class of 1982.  I know, the school is now named after a popular teacher who passed away in an accident, but for some reason the name has a hard time sticking in my head.  The yearbook, named Highlights, is not complete yet but you can find the first 10 or so pages at the following link:


https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.10150384086182542&type=3

TERRANCE QUARANTINO

Coming soon to a screen near you, the long-awaited Kill Bill: Volume 3 by yours truly!  It's my life-long dream to direct it and now that I, for all intent and purpose, have no job, no public library to go to, cannot even go out for a run, I have plenty of time and with today's technology, a movie can be made with just a smartphone and one person playing many different roles.  I already have an alias to go with the movie - Terrance Quarantino!

Seriously, I have no plan to direct any movie during this self-quarantine period many residents of New York City are going through.  No, I have no signs of infection, just no job because the place I worked have most people work from home.  Being a contractor doing physical computer setup, there's no future for me when this pandemic struck.  Normally I would spend a lot of time at the public library but that too is closed.  At first Brooklyn Public Library announced that they would operate at reduced hours, something like 1 P.M. to 6 P.M. and closed on the weekends.  Shortly after, it was announced that all Brooklyn libraries would just shut down.  Not that I would travel that far, but same thing for Queens and NYPL (which covers Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island).  So what's left to do?  Again, the normal thing, oh not so long ago, would be to go for a run.  I'm a slow runner but I can do a few miles out then back.  Ten miles, eight miles, whatever, something to do to take one's mind off the pressing matters.  Not anymore.  Now the outdoor is a dangerous place, you don't know who can infect you.  Who knows, soon we may be in lockdown mode like some other cities.

Time to hunker down and stay at home as much as possible.  Here's what I plan to do:

• Work on maintaining a Facebook group for alumni of Newtown High School (Elmhurst, Queens, NY).  If you attended that school and don't yet know about it, check it out at https://www.facebook.com/groups/47486807610/
• Resume maintaining a family tree that I started some years ago.  It is a lot of work, with people dying, being born, getting married etc, it needs updating every so often.  Well, for the immediate future, I do have time.
• With the library closed, one of my source of entertainment is no longer available.  Sure, Overdrive is available for digital content but I'm an old-school guy, I still watch movies on DVDs and such.  A sister of mine left a box or two of VHS tapes in my attic, I might watch some of those old movies after all.
• Last but not least, this blog needs more regular posting.  Facebook et al are nice but can be so chaotic sometimes.  I like to go back to old materials every now and then.  A blog is good for that.  It's just me and my own stuff, no need to wade through pages and pages of other people's stuff.

Hang on, COVID  Cave-Dwellers!