Variable Pig The Casertana Issue The “Presenting at a Trade Show in a Pandemic” issue, featuring the 186th issue of “Polar Pig, the 55th issue of on-the-shelf vol. XVI, “The Celestial Steam Locomotive” 8, and Here Be Dragons 41. Variable Pig – (Casertana) 2 Variable Pig (Casertana) POLAR PIG 186 Welcome to another issue of Variable Pig, the second of 2021. It’s been a quiet few weeks since the last issue so this will be a short editorial. The good news is that Jacqueline and I have finally become eligible to receive the vaccine in Pennsylvania, although we still have to make an appointment. This may take some time as vaccine supplies still seem limited. It is almost exactly one year from when I returned from a business trip to Mexico, straight into lockdown. February has been very cold and snowy, with 24” of snow falling in early February. Fortunately, our newly repaired snow-blower was returned the day before, although it took three efforts during the storm to keep the drive clear. We had a number of smaller falls during the rest of the month, and the weather stayed cold, so the snow remained. This week has seen the first spring-like days and the beginning of the thaw. Work has been busy and interesting. I have had two papers published in the technical trade journals in recent months which is very satisfying. This month’s cover features a picture I took of my computer screen during a practice run for my paper at the annual Waterborne Symposium, usually held in New Orleans. This year, the conference was held using Gather Town online environment. It was pretty cool to have my avatar walk among the virtual tabletops and student posters, set in an 80’s video arcade style reproduction of a hotel conference. One nice feature was the video and audio links that activated in proximity to other avatars allowing you to interact with other attendees, either individually or in groups. It was an interesting experience – definitely not as good as the real event, but enjoyable. Jacqueline and I did return to England for Mum’s funeral last week. Planning the trip was even more nightmarish than before. The rules for Covid-19 testing both before and during a trip to the UK are relatively clear, although the test-to-release and mandatory 2- and 8-day tests still do not seem coordinated. However, booking the tests was difficult and time-consuming. Heathrow airport was awful. We arrived on a quarter full plane to be confronted by two, long snaking queues to get through customs. It took over two hours to clear customs and I heard later delays were even longer. The delay was caused by the need to check each person’s passenger locator form, Covid test results and sign up for the mandatory 2- and 8-day tests. While I accept the need for this, the passenger locator form requires the booking reference for the Covid tests and also includes a QR card that could be scanned. Jacqueline and I tested negative all four times, but I think Heathrow was the most dangerous place for infection I have been since the pandemic started. The cynic in me wonders whether this was intentional – to make travel to the UK so unpleasant that no-one would wish to do so, regardless of reason. If so, will they be able to repair the damage once they decide that the tourist industry (and other’s) need people to visit again. Fortunately, the rest of our stay was much better. We self-isolated for six days in a rented apartment in the centre of Ipswich, only leaving once for essential shopping after Asda failed to deliver the groceries Jacqueline had ordered in advance. We tested to release (successfully) the day before Mum’s funeral and used this for our required test to return the US. The funeral itself went very well – the Humanist Minister did a very nice job coordinating the service and Dad gave a long and detailed eulogy about Mum’s life, without any notes. It was nice to see many of my Aunts and Uncles again, albeit socially distanced, plus my brother’s eldest children that we hadn’t seen for ages. That’s all for now – enjoy the spring and hopefully the new normal is approaching. * * * * * Variable Pig – (Casertana) 3 Letters David Cowie Sorry to hear about your mother. Martin Walker Condolences on the passing of your mum. Best wishes to your family. Bob Pitman Sorry to hear about your Mum. Allan Stagg My condolences to you and your family on the loss of your Mum - it was a pretty awful Christmas for you all. Thanks to everyone for your kind and thoughtful emails which were very much appreciated. Andy York Turning to VP, so sorry about your mother. I'm glad you were able to get back to see her before the end, and to spend a little time with the family. Chris Hibbert I'm so sorry to hear about your Mom's passing. It's good that you were able to visit a few times near the end. This pandemic is making dealing with aging and death much harder for all of us. I was very fortunate that we were able to get back to England in time to see here. Jacqueline did not get to see her father when he was rushed to hospital; he died while she was still in the air flying over. Murray Egan Very sorry to read of your mom passing in December. So sorry mate. Your description of the trials for your dad, brother, and yourself sound horrible. Can't even imagine the restrictions of seeing your mom during Covid. Together with the quarantining and fall of your mom whilst in hospital. It’s been a tough few weeks and we are now trying to plan our return to England for Mum’s funeral which is even more complicated unfortunately. Michael Pargman When my mother passed away, quite unexpectedly, I was standing on the slopes in the French Alpes when I got the phone call... She was living in a nursing home two hours’ drive from Stockholm the last couple of years. Me and my brother drove to see her about every third month for a couple of years. Sorry to hear about your Mum. It must have been difficult when you so far away and not expecting anything. Murray Egan I can't even imagine..... My mom died suddenly when we were still in Holland and it was a blur/scurried trip to get back to the US and generally the worst time of my life, but that said there were none of the COVID restrictions that you had deal with. My deepest sympathies and know that we are praying for you and your dad/brother. How is your Dad doing? I hope that he is still doing well. I hope that you and Sue are still doing well and surviving the return of the Polar Vortex. We had 2 feet of snow dumped on Allentown last week and it hasn’t melted much since then. Fortunately, the repaired snow blower was returned the day before. Steve Ham I hope you are well. I'm so sorry to hear about your Mum. I’m almost two hours’ drive from the family home and I found it difficult to balance everything in my Dad's final days, which were quite drawn out. Even in the best of times trying to work things out from the States would have been difficult. Dad's funeral was at the end of January last year and in hindsight the timing couldn’t have been better as my Mum was always the more outgoing and she really gained a lot from having a lot of old friends around. Sadly, the pandemic meant that I could not see Mum last year. We have tried to visit at least twice a year, but this was not possible last year. I phoned regularly, but as the year went on, I mainly spoke to my Dad. I suspected that Mum’s condition was declining, but it was hard to know and Mum and Dad would not talk about it, until the confusion just before her hospitalization. The pandemic was awful for Mum as she could no longer go out and do the things she liked. Mum and Dad lived a fairly simple life, but they still liked to explore England by bus and train and eat out at the local restaurants. All of which were curtailed by lockdown along with Mum’s regular bridge games. She could not even see her brothers or friends during lockdown. It’s hard not to think that Covid accelerated her decline, even if she was not infected. Steve Ham I was nominated to write and say the eulogy which went well enough, so it was nice to read your Mum's story, your parents seem to have enjoyed very full lives. Michael Pargman I'm sorry to hear about your mother, but you did a good job telling about her life. And it's a good thing you managed to get there to see her at the end. Bob Pitman They gave you a well-travelled childhood didn’t they. Variable Pig – (Casertana) 4 Mum and Dad did enjoy a very full life together and loved travel. Steve Ham And did you share with us that you're actually Dutch? I was born in Holland; my birth was registered at the British Consulate as a citizen of the UK.