[WITI No.73] Nearly stranded by Covid, Interview with an author, kids making money, rapidly hand & eye coordination
Nochmals Guten Abend. Already 9 PM and I’m scrambling to put together my weekly newsletter called What is the Information? I’m switching up the format a bit this week. I didn’t get to complete much reading or thinking. I hope you don’t feel like I’m phoning this edition in.
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Someone I follow on Twitter snapped a pic of their Covid-19 rapid test with a positive result. The day before our return to the US from Germany, I was agonizing over our testing. So many possibilities swirled in my head. If one of us tested positive, I would stay back with one of the children. If both of the adults were positive, we would all have to stay. The rest of the family would fly home and the thought of being thousands of miles apart was heartbreaking.
I’m sure our host would not have minded but Germans are pretty strict about quarantining if infected. We would be hanging out in our room until we could have a positive test - that would be a lousy extension to our trip.
I would have to work using the tiny screen of my phone - this would be a nightmare.
We used EMED rapid tests that were proctored via phone. I was so impressed with the call center’s fidelity to their script. Since I was assisting everyone with their tests, I was able to hear the proctor’s script perfectly delivered five times.
Thankfully, we all tested negative and none of my worst case scenario thinking came to pass.
The infected Twitter user was only stranded on her couch with a severe sore throat. I have no interest in suffering from the Corona virus in another country.
Currently listening to:
I finished listening to the Tim Ferriss Podcast Interview with A.J. Jacobs. Jacobs was talking about his new book called The Puzzler: One man’s quest to solve the most baffling puzzles ever, from crosswords to jigsaws to the meaning of life. I’m not much of a puzzler but I did appreciate the curiosity Jacobs embodies. I haven’t read his books but if I’m looking for some light, fun reading he might fit the bill.
I still making my way through a re-listen of Robert Wright’s Why Buddhism is True. This is my before bed listen so I only catch 5-10 minutes. Lately, it’s been closer to five minutes so nothing new to report.
Of interest to parents:
Nate is a Twitter user I follow and he presented an interesting idea…
I like this idea a lot.
What a world we live in where a committed young person who is not an adult can develop valuable skills and use them to make a living online.
I was discussing this idea with a friend today. You can literally learn to do almost anything from Youtube.
Find of the week: World Jigsaw Championship
As part of the research for his book, AJ Jacobs was accepted to represent the United States at the World Jigsaw Championship. Since it was a team event, he recruited his family. They came in 2nd…to last which is very respectable for a team with no experience or training together.
Jacobs explained that his family was able to finish 1 of 4 jigsaw puzzles within the 6 hour allotted time. They got crushed by a group of women from Siberia who had division of labor strategy which let them complete the puzzles with an 1.5 hours to spare.
Here’s a video of the championship for teams consisting of two people.
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Have you been stranded? Recommend another author interview! Know of any kids doing amazing things? Is there another world championship that isn’t well known?
Thinks someone might be interested to hear the opinions of a husband, father, tax debt studier, reader, and continuous writer and podcaster?
This is the end…my only friend, the end..of our elaborate plans…the end, no safety or surprise, the end.
-George