Staying Normal In An Abnormal World

I hope this post finds all of you healthy and unaffected so far by all the current happenings in the world - and if you don't know what I'm talking about then you really need to lay off that full-time Fortnite playing, my friend. Yup, do yourself a favor and crack open that front door, get a quick shot of Vitamin D, and then hop on to CNN so you can join the rest of us in our increasing hysteria! 

The coronavirus crisis is just one reason why there haven't been any new posts lately but it has a lot to do with it. I was hoping I'd be bringing you big news about Project Astrid coming along but that's on indefinite hold with the US borders closed to non-essential crossings and the Federal government scrambling to deal with more important things than old Japanese cars.

The finishing touches to my Nismo R32's restoration were humming along until a late snag, and now the virus is also making that timeline iffy since sourcing parts right now could be a tad difficult. Hopefully we can still find them and the packaging doesn't release a cloud of nasty germs in our faces.

And then there's work - which being in the healthcare field means all hands on deck and a certain level of panic right now. Honestly, I'm more worried about my family than myself but we're all just trying to keep on keeping on as best as we can.

Speaking of which, that's probably the best thing for all of us to do right now - try to keep calm and strive to maintain as much of a sense of normalcy in the various circumstances we're in right now. 

Here in our little city of Yuma we've been fortunate that things are still doing okay for the most part. Yeah, we've had panic buying and a lot of people are scared but we've only had one confirmed case so far and we're not on full lock down like major cities are. 

I'm sure some of you reading this are in harder hit areas that have limited services and  have required people to stay at home, and I hope you're coping with it as best as possible.

Unfortunately the coronavirus pandemic is a huge global crisis that's unprecedented and has had life-changing implications for all of us but I just wanted to put a positive note out there.

No, this isn't the zombie apocalypse. I'm sure even if you live in the worst affected areas you can look out the window and you won't see any undead hordes beating a path to your door. The sun is probably even shining (unless you live in the UK where it rains all the time in which case my condolences) and doesn't have the leaden appearance of impending nuclear winter.

This crisis will pass and life will go on. It's important we all keep that in mind and not let our fears get the best of us. We should exercise due precaution but not behave like the world is coming to an inexorable end. Let's not forget that we still have futures to live for and I sincerely hope we all can get back to our normal lives soon.

I for one want to see this blog hit its fifth anniversary and to that end I'm making plans for more articles to come. If I get some downtime I plan on working on an article on rare R33 Skyline's now that they're coming of legal age in the States, as well as various other topics.

It might seem silly to still be thinking about cars when the whole world is trying to get to grips with a deadly virus but panic won't do any of us any good. Holding on to whatever sense of normalcy we can muster to avoid joining the crazies who are losing hope is as good a plan as any in these uncertain times so I'll keep this blog alive and someday soon I hope you'll be reading it again but under more usual circumstances.

Until then, stay safe and healthy everyone!

P.S. I'll still be responding to emails and comments if you have questions or need help when I have time so please still feel free to send those in. I'm sorry though that I won't be able to help with that toilet paper shortage you're experiencing - I can only suggest that you hang on to those old phone books that have been gathering dust in your kitchen cabinet. Having grown-up in a third-world country and known the cold caress of the yellow pages I can assure you they'll work in a pinch!