So the advice is to stay at home and socially isolate; only go out if necessary and stay at least 2m away from anyone else. I come from a family of introverts. We are happiest behind our computers and other screens. We communicate largely by text not phone as (heavens!) we might have to actually talk to someone. Help! We have been preparing for ‘social isolation’ it would seem from birth. One of my brothers wondered how he could reduce social interaction but texted that he had managed it – he only spoke to himself half as much as before. Our children and their friends meanwhile are apparently laughing as they try to ground their parents – “where do you think you’ve been?”; “why have you been out?” – revenge for life as teenagers.
But, as well as hiding here behind my computer, I do go out to teach. Or I did. . . . My students have signed up for a ‘course’ of classes and now the last three of their Block of the Month sessions at the shop have been cancelled. I can email them the worksheets but it’s not the same as being in the classroom and demonstrating what I mean. But there is video . . . Hmmm. Can I make this work. Do I have a means of recording a video and where would I put it once I’ve recorded it? Added to this angst is the fact that I hate, loathe and detest having my photo taken, let alone appearing on film and hearing my voice. It was the worst thing about teacher training – being videoed so your faults could be pointed out, not just to you but all the other trainees as well. Paranoid? Me?!
But back to videos. Yes, I have a phone that takes photos and records videos but I need a stand of some sort for it – you can’t sew with a phone in one hand. Can you? Ah! But, I have an old digital camera with a tripod. Hunt it out. Blow the dust off it. Find a battery for it. Find the handbook for it. Set it up to video a brief burst of me using the sewing machine. Play it back. Oh. The quality is dire. It only records 40 seconds at a time. The tripod gimble thing had turned the camera slightly when I started it and I had in the wrong place so all you can see are my hands in close up. Maybe shouldn’t have come in straight from the garden and weeding as I seemingly still have half the garden under my nails.
Light bulb moment. There is a thingy in the car with a suction pad that sticks to the dashboard and holds the phone. Go fetch. Stick it to the desk by the machine and angle it to take a video. Attach phone and it all tipples slowly forward and the phone clunks down onto the desk. The phone at that angle is too heavy for the suction thingy. Find masking tape. Tape it to the desk. Try again. It works! But still not quite the right angle as it is still tilting forward and gradually pulling the tape off the desk so the video starts off ok and then gradually becomes a film of the back of the sewing machine and then the desk. Bother.
Further intervention is required. Prop the phone on something suitable – the lid from the 505 spray is just the right height. Try again. (if at first . . . etc). Sew several units together. Oh – forgot to switch phone video on. Try again . . Switch on, sew several units together, pull them out of the machine to cut the threads. Bobbin thread had run out near the beginning. Bother. Ah well – what is the video like? Not bad actually. However there is a very audible ‘bother’ (although that is not quite what was audible!) at the end.
I’m spending my time in the garden. There’s a lot needs doing out there. In the meantime the worksheets will be augmented with step-by-step photos of the salient points.
How are the rest of you doing?!
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