Looks like we could use a fresh thread.
If you haven’t seen me around much lately it’s because the primary has turned everybody’s brains into disgruntled oatmeal. (This is not directed at anybody in particular.) Fortunately it’ll be all over but the shouting after Florida.
I’ve also been trying to get my coronavirus panicking out of the way so I’m actually useful when I need to be. I seem to be one day ahead of the rest of the shoppers. Amazing that you can’t even buy rubbing alcohol on Amazon any more. Maybe I got the last two pints.
At any rate, yesterday I fled our disease-ridden shithole of a country for Mexico City, though alas I return Monday. I’m going to check out the temples in Teotihuacan tomorrow. That should be fun.
Open thread, clearly.
JWR
Still empty, eh? Oh well, here’s something to talk about:
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
No kidding. Surgical masks are basically gone now. I managed to grab 3 boxes of these. Not for protect myself or my family. These masks are useless for that; but to prevent transmission once I inevitably become infected by this. When I first bought the N95s last month, I thought there was a good chance I could avoid infection. I don’t think that’s possible anymore. I work at a job where I get a lot of face time with the public
Major Major Major Major
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): My parents (before all this) rented a cabin in a small town near Aspen and I’m seriously thinking of just going there while this all blows over. Why the hell not, I can work remote.
HumboldtBlue
Baseball is upon us and the Minor League Pensacola Wahoos decided that it was time to legalize marinara on 4/20.
They should have smoked a bowl.
Major Major Major Major
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): oh, shifting topics, I found some food for thought for you
jl
Disgruntled oatmeal is good dry with dried prunes and some whiskey. Pan fry it, but watch out it don’t catch on fire.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
A big public high school here in San Francisco shut down abruptly in the middle of the school day after the mother of one of the students tested positive for COVID-19 (one of the first two diagnosed cases here). Of course teen Snapchat got the word out first – before the school district had even made an announcement, my 16-year-old son, who goes to a different high school, called me to say some other kid in his class said “Lowell is closed because 3 parents have the virus!” So bad info is spreading along with correct info, maybe even faster. Meanwhile rumors broke out in my office and ran wild. I’ve heard stories directly from the mother of one of the closed-school students (a coworker and friend), from various other coworkers with kids in other schools, from a buddy in the Mayor’s office with his own tidbits about the identity and connections of the patients, and from my mole in the Public Health Department who knows more than all the others but frankly admits half of it will probably turn out not to be true. Each has slightly different takes on or portions of the info, which I then hear echoed back, often distorted, a short time later. It’s been interesting to see a real-time case study of the spread of misinformation.
ETA: My son’s response: LOL MOM WERE GONNA DIE.
Me: Not until your homework is done.
Martin
@JWR: Barr will never provide the unreacted version because there’s no consequence for ignoring the court. See House vs McGahn.
Major Major Major Major
Good god, NYC has 2,700 in self-quarantine, which they’d been keeping a secret.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/nyregion/coronavirus-new-york-cases.html
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Major Major Major Major:
I definitely agree with LeGuin in that sci-fi often extrapolates current trends/events to their logical extremes for dramatic effect. Brave New World and 1984 come to mind immediately.
Imo, the best, most timeless fiction often has something fundamental to say about humanity or existence itself.
In Sci-fi’s defense, fantasy (or at least science fantasy) can do the same thing as well.
I’m especially a sucker for coming of age fantasy stories that involve kids from our world either traveling to a fantasy world or non-human characters coming to the “real” world along with all of the consequences of that (government/general public freak the fuck out and trying to capture the non-humans)
Martin
@Major Major Major Major: 10,000 in California.
Major Major Major Major
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): sure; the next page is about thought experiments allowing for heightened moral complexity.
Major Major Major Major
@Martin: work is likely to ask me to self-quarantine when I get back. In their infinite wisdom HR seems to think Mexico City (caseload: 1) is riskier than the conference they’re hosting in SF this week.
SectionH
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice: BEST ANSWER EVER!
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
Along similar lines, I just finally tracked down a copy of “Engine Summer,” John Crowley’s 1979 post-apocalyptic sci-fi set apparently 500-1000 years in the future. Given everything that’s going on now, it does not qualify as escapist fiction. What astonished me was how well he anticipated how the trends current in 1979 would extrapolate to the fictional near-future right before the “Storm” – which seems to have hit right around, uh, now.
Anyway, I recommend it if you can find it.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
On a related note, anybody else think the X-Men mutant metaphor doesn’t really work? I mean, sure not every metaphor/allegory has to be 1:1, but people who can destroy major metropolitan areas in minutes are existential threats, sorry. They should be feared. Shit tends to blow up where ever they go.
Also too, it makes no (logical) sense that non-mutant supers like the Avengers aren’t just as feared as the X-Men. I know, I know “next evolutionary step”. I still don’t agree.
I think this fundamentally comes from an intense distrust of uncheckable power I have. Nobody should have that kind of power
I can like superheroes when I suspend my disbelief
Martin
@Major Major Major Major: Well, it’s the airport that will get you. But yeah, LaGuardia to LAX is probably two more horrible airports than you had going to Mexico City.
Major Major Major Major
@Martin: they’ll be asking because of international travel (booga booga), not airports. Like I said, they’re happy to fly people from all over the country to their conference, which is in a friggin hotbed of this thing.
ETA I don’t think the airport is too much worse than the subway, anyway.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Major Major Major Major:
It’s very irresponsible. ComicCon is apparently still going ahead. As is SXSW.
Major Major Major Major
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): the good news is, comicon attendees tend to self-quarantine anyway when they aren’t at cons ?
mrmoshpotato
I’m mrmoshpotato, and I approve of this team’s hilarious name.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@Major Major Major Major:
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
That seems kinda nuts. My husband’s research group at UCSF just cancelled a big meeting they were hosting this week, at the last possible moment and even though they’ll have to eat a lot of facility costs, airfare, booked hotels, etc. for would-be attendees.
The kicker is that they’re a virology research lab, and they’re already working on this very virus.
ETA: that sounded misleadingly grandiose – it’s not his group, he’s just part of it.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Here’s my county’s Weekly Influenza Surveillance Report for this Week, a snapshot from roughly two weeks ago, if anybody’s interested
mrmoshpotato
@Major Major Major Major: *shakes head
Major Major Major Major
Apparently my dad had some nasty virus, negative flu test, 104 degree fever, in mid-January. He’s 80, so I’m kinda hoping it was the Coronavirus, even though that would mean it’s been in Denver for a while. Or at least through denver; he is a museum docent and sees a lot of tourists. (He has since stopped for now.)
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Major Major Major Major:
Apparently, some convention attendees have to be reminded by the organizers to fucking wash themselves. Ugh
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice:
Oh it is. The LA marathon is also still on for this Sunday too
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Major Major Major Major:
I hope your dad got it too. That would hopefully mean he’s now immune ??
oatler.
@Comrade Colette Collaboratrice:
I have that book! It’s one of the most beautifully wrought novels of its age.
NotMax
Beware Montezuma’s revenge.
;)
Dan B
Regarding alcohol vs. soap:
Alcohol dissolves oils in your skin and also dries the skin so it can irritate the skin if overused. Mixed with aloe and/ or glycerin it is less so since these reduce the loss of moisture and oil.
Soaps saponify oils and can do it to a lesser extent to proteins. Skin is mostly protein. But this varies a lot by how much residual alkali remains in the soap. Also perfumes are irritants to many people. Many high quality soaps, especially ones available at drugstores, are designed to be cleansing but not irritating or allergenic. Ask a pharmacist.
Then there are “soaps” that are wetting agents. These help water loosen dirt and some oils. They are most likely to be non-irritating but some people still react to common detergents like sodium lauryl (laureth) sulfate.
Dove soap bars and pharmaceutical cleansers that are designed for health care pro’s who must wash hands many times per day are best bets.
Cheers and be careful.
Anotherlurker
@mrmoshpotato: A Wahoo is the largest member of the Mackerel family . It is extremely fast (40+ MPH), very powerful, an athletic jumper and very good eating. The IGFA World Record for this fish is 184lbs.
IMHO this is a good name and image for a sports ball team.
Karla
Teotihuacan is truly amazing. The restaurant in the cave is an obvious tourist choice, but it is a nice place to be out of the sun for a while. I really enjoyed Mexico City — the only time I was there was 2009, so any hole-in-the-wall recommendations would probably be irrelevant, and of course you’ve researched what you’re going to see, but I wanted to put in good words for the archeology museum, folk art museum, Dulceria de Celaya near the Zocalo, and El Moro, plus a day trip to Tula if you want another day trip out of the city.
WereBear
Right now, we are living in John Brunner’s The Sheep Look Up and I’m not happy about it.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
5-3-1
Five hours of sleep, three meals, one shower every day.
See also: Febreze Ninja
Just One More Canuck
Up here in Canada, my wife’s company (GiantAss intl Accounting Firm) has banned all international travel, but not domestic travel, so the partner she works with can still make his trips to Saskatoon
satby
JEEZUS, just kill me now. So many half truths, so little time.
NotMax
@satby
Seen a pick-up in sales?
debbie
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Schwarzenegger’s The Arnold Classic /eyeroll/ has been severely cut back. Competitions will be audienceless; tens of thousands of visitors and spectators have been barred from attending — which they don’t learn of until they’ve arrived here. They were all over the local news with their complaints last night. Of course, they’re the same people who would start suing someone the minute they get the sniffles.
satby
@NotMax: online, slightly. In person traffic at the market is down, but it’s been depressed since Christmas. I expect it to tank though.
And I’m ready to self quarantine for the rest of the year just because I’m sick of how stupid people are. About almost everything.
NotMax
@satby
As someone whose factory default mode is hermit, I can empathize.
Barbara
You are so lucky to be able to travel to Mexico. I went to Mexico for the first time now more than 10 years ago, when we were invited to the quincenero of my daughter’s middle school friend. We started the trip (basically, Holy Week) by staying not far from her family’s residence in a small town at the south end of Mexico City. So there were all kinds of fiestas and entertainment in their local town square (think Santa Fe type square). After the party, we went to a place called Patzcuaro, a beautiful market town in Michoacan, with great markets. We also stopped in Santa Clara del Cubre and saw along the way, among other things, one of the only remaining churches with indigenous decoration on the ceilings and walls, built sometime in the 16th century. We spent the last few days back in Mexico City, and were blown away by the archeological/cultural museum of ancient and indigenous Mexican culture — one of the best museums of its kind I have ever been to. Anyway, I have often wished to go back but feel lucky that we were able to have that kind of trip.
Williamc
My cinematographer and I just got back from living the fall in Mexico City editing our film! Totally gonna try to move out of this country and down there as soon as I possibly can! Be sure to check out the National Museum of Anthropology and the Chocolate Museum!
Barbara
@Williamc: Yes, that was it — the Museo Nacional de Antropologia. Link
It was wonderful. I spent the whole day, and could have spent two or three days.