I hope everyone is doing what they can to encourage local and state officials to close all non-essential businesses, especially malls, bars, and restaurants which draw large crowds, to prevent unnecessary contagion and save lives.
A friend whose wife is an ER doctor created a petition encouraging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to do so in NYS. If you live in NYS please sign it and spread the word.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
So let me get this straight – in order to prevent the culling of the older tranche of Boomers (like my RWNJ mom, who is already weeping over the notion of creeping socialism despite my wife’s zeroed income and the upcoming unemployment of all three of my daughters), we’re going to cull pretty much every piece of the greater economy instead.
Seems like a bad trade to me, considering the largesse they’ve all consumed.
NotMax
“Non-essential” is a moving target.
Gas stations = essential. Mini-marts at gas stations = nonessential? Are fast food joints “restaurants?”
lofgren
My wife works in a public library. As in, for the government. Which is not following the government’s advice and remains open. But keeps sending the employees emails urging them to follow the CDC’s advice. But also will not pay them if they follow the bit about avoiding crowds. I know libraries are important but seriously nobody is going to die if they shut down for a couple of weeks, whereas several people may die if they don’t.
germy
NotMax
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Oy vey, you’re not really going there, are you? Put a sock in it, bub
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
I guess we can all learn to code and write apps. Every bartender, server, restauranteur, bar owner, retail worker, travel agent, hotel employee, B&B operator, caterer, social hall owner, etc., etc., etc…….
Learnin’ to code…
Immanentize
In Mass, the Gov. Has ordered all the places that serve food and drinks to close except for pick up or delivery. I don’t think, however, the drinks can be delivered.
It is real and is finally getting real.
Dagaetch
As a fairly extreme introvert, I feel both like I have been preparing for this all my life, and also that when it’s over I may not be capable of normal human interaction ever again. I’m thinking of starting up a 6ft apart hiking group – for people who want to have other humans in sight, but not conversation, while getting exercise.
MelissaM
I’m a library employee in IL and my library closed for the last weekend, then decided to close for 2 weeks. I’m fortunate, we’re all being paid for normal scheduled hours (I’m hourly, like most of our staff.)
My sister is an ER nurse in Chicago and I fear for her. She is also the main contact for my 90yo mother. I’ll contact my brother to step in, but I feel it will fall on deaf ears, much like it did when I contacted my niece, currently living with my mother, to step up and be the one to fetch things for grandma.
Also, IL has ordered closed all dine-in restaurants (though some local ones were doing curbside pickup). Strange times.
donnah
Our Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has been proactive here. He closed bars, restaurants and schools for the next two-three weeks. I don’t know if it’s too much or too late, but honestly, I’m glad that he’s thinking ahead when the president clearly hasn’t been thinking at all.
DOW just opened at -2500 and the auto-freeze kicked in. I don’t know how things go, but it seems like it will be rocky yet again today, if not for a while yet. I’m a traveling teacher and my workshops are still scheduled, but I could see them cancel at any time, which means no income and no backup funding. Fingers crossed for a recovery soon.
PenAndKey
You’ve just described a lot of businesses. Many are telling their employees to burn PTO to cover any lost time, if it’s available at all. This is why we need the government to provide unemployment benefits for affected workers.
I’d also argue a moratorium on debt payments for the duration should be part of that. Mortgages, student loans, car payments, credit cards, none of those are essential for society to survive. Putting those on pause would do a lot to convince workers that they won’t end up homeless if they follow CDC advice. I’m a microbiologist and not an economist, so I’m sure there are major consequences I’m not factoring in, but I hardly think they’d be worse than those we face if we don’t do something to address the elephant in the room that is debt servicing in the face of economic quarantining.
Buskertype
That might be the very best of all the very very good Buck Owens songs
Immanentize
@Dagaetch: I like it! I have decided while I am locked down that I will call or email (no Facebook) five people a day that I care about just to check in.
WaterGirl
@lofgren: Our library just closed down last night. I hope yours does the same, quickly.
MattF
I can see how getting falling-down drunk will appear to be an attractive option for some. I’m planning to read Camus’ La Peste to improve my mood.
ETA: It’s on sale in the Apple book store for $0.99.
WaterGirl
@MelissaM:
Are you in Champaign-Urbana, perhaps? Same thing here, as of yesterday.
NotMax
Repeated from downstairs.
Anyone seen a story about any nursing or assisted living homes setting up a Skype room? Would seem to be a no brainer but I’ve not come across any yet.
NotMax
@WaterGirl
Hoping Mom will make extensive use of the Kindle I bought her a while back. She knows full well how to get books from her local library loaded onto it, just prefers the tactile feel of a physical book.
PenAndKey
@Immanentize: I know I tend to be younger than a lot of you all, but I’m a major introvert and find that video games with voice chat are a major help for scratching the social interaction itch. My friends and I prefer to hang out in person, but we can all just as easily hang out in our game of choice (Minecraft or Stardew Valley, usually) and rely on the Discord voice and text chat program on PC. Is it the same? No, but there’s a lot to be said for just being able to talk with someone while you both play the same game in the same world. For us it’s functionally no different than hanging out at a sports pub, with the added advantage that we can build projects and go on adventures together even if we’re stuck in our house.
And if you don’t have friends who play video games? Public chat, especially in more chill games like those I listed, can work in a pinch. That’s more a roll of the dice though since online trolls are a thing, but you can still find friends. One of my favorite social circles is actually a private minecraft server community I’ve been a member of for the last 5 years, so I definitely know they’re out there.
AnotherBruce
I wear a lot of REI gear. The stuff is spendy, but it is quality. And they have a really good return system. You don’t have to give them a reason for the return, even if it’s been used.
MelissaM
@WaterGirl: Yes, in Urbana. Um, do I know you? ;-)
NotMax
@PenAndKey
Long time happy hermit here. Not in the least unusual to go a week or more without seeing or speaking with another human.
NotMax
@NotMax
For clarity’s sake:
without seeing or speaking with another human in meatspace.
Rob
Antisocial DC restaurant group intends to stay open
wjla.com/news/coronavirus/hill-restaurant-group-dc-restaurant-protocol-mayor-bowser
kindness
But they will leave the Evangelical Mega Church’s alone, right? Karma happens even to fake Christians.
Dorothy A. Winsor
The restaurants in my building just went to pick up/delivery only. Also as part of my substantial monthly fee, I get 3 hours of housekeeping a week. They’re halting that too. That hurts. I’m not even sure I have the materials it takes to clean a bathroom or kitchen anymore. Oh well. First world problem. And it will give me something to do while I self-isolate.
Just Chuck
@AnotherBruce:
Not to mention you can pick up used gear for cheap during their annual “yard sale” events. The member dividend is nothing to sneeze at either (but I guess nothing in REI is anything to sneeze at now, har har)
Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman)
@lofgren:
The Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library here in Indiana is closed until March 30th.
Willard Library is open, but they canceled all public events.
Jinchi
I hope Trump framed a picture of that stock market spike he was bragging about on Friday afternoon, because it’s gone now.
20,823.09 −2,362.53 (10.19%)
Ohio Mom
kindness@25: just read elsewhere that a huge cluster in South Lorea was traced to ONE mega church/cult attendee.
My synagogue just went to online services only, all meetings, classes and the like cancelled. But considering it is a smallish Reform Temple that only attracts large numbers of attendees for Hogh Holiday and Bar/Bat Mirzvah Services, the new policies won’t be much of a disruption. Except for those 13 year old kids. I foresee a lot of postponed celebrations.
Ken
@Jinchi: Not much further and every bit of gain during his term is gone. Where’d I put that bookmark on “narcissistic collapse”?
Omnes Omnibus
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Do you have any other “undesirables” that you would be okay with killing off?
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@lofgren: Our libraries are closed. And they told people not to return books either, everyone gets amnesty. Guess they have nobody to re-shelve them.
CaseyL
@Jinchi: didn’t he give out autographed copies of a screenshot showing the rise? Those may turn out to be real collector’s items!
Alex
Now I know what Larry Kramer felt like when he was trying to get gay men to stop blithely heading off to the bathhouse still in 1985
JMG
Massachusetts has closed all bars, restaurants are delivery/takeout only, and banned all gatherings of more than 25 people, which I assume applies to shopping malls. Grocery stores and pharmacies exempt. This is pretty draconian. It’s supposed to last for three weeks, until April 6. We’ll see how that goes. Sooner or later, people are gonna need haircuts, they’re gonna need to buy underwear, etc., all the little purchases that add up to a lot of social contact.
Jinchi
@Ken: Just gotta hope he doesn’t lose all the gains of the Obama term before he’s done.
Jinchi
@CaseyL: Like the “Inverted Jenny” of the 21st century. It’s good to know his supporters will have something of value to fall back on.
Ken
@CaseyL: I saw a picture of that where someone had Sharpied in an upward trend showing a complete recovery. I’m not sure whether that was actually Trump, or the person posting the picture making a joke.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Let me rephrase that for you.
In order to avoid the overwhelming of hospital beds which will crowd out not only critical Covid-19 patients but critical patients with all conditions, in order to avoid forcing doctors to have to decide who lives because they get the ventilator and who dies because there aren’t enough, yes we are trying to limit the rate at which new cases appear. We are trying to slow down the spread.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Omnes Omnibus:
If those who I am demonstrating a verbal lack of concern for (mom, I’m looking squarely at you while you benefit from dad’s teacher’s union pension, social security and medicare) would simply get on board with a robust set of measures for economic relief for all the displaced workers and businesses without whimpering about socialism and bootstraps and their parents during WWII, I may be less inclined to start driving about and licking the doorknobs of retired wingnuts.
Johnny Gentle (famous crooner)
So if the economy is laid to waste as people fear and Biden is then elected, he’ll have the “honor” of being the third straight Democratic president to take over during a recession. Nothing like having your platform goals sidelined by having to perform months or years of economic triage.
The Moar You Know
In a working band. I don’t need the money (great day job) but my other three guys need it very much. Too young for social security, we got one guy on Medicare and one about to get there, and no other employable skills.
They are all over 65 (I am much younger). So far we’ve had no cancellations (i think everyone is just waiting to see what happens) but if Newsom is serious about shutting down all bars/restaurants, we are done until at least the summer. And most of those gigs – and venues – aren’t going to come back.
Which is fine for me. But not for the rest of my guys.
Rob
@Jinchi: Biggest one-day point drop ever, I think. And it’s only 10:34 ET
Baud
@Johnny Gentle (famous crooner):
I wonder if voters will have finally learned their lesson when 2022 rolls around.
MattF
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I don’t recall doing any of those things. Of course, that may just be due to cognitive decline.
randy khan
Last Thursday, my company adopted a policy of extremely flexible work schedules so people could work at home. Apparently, not enough people got the hint (although it seemed obvious to me), so last night we were sent another message, which included nuggets like “strongly encouraged,” “nobody is expected to be at the office,” and that there is “absolutely no stigma” for working at home. We’ll see how that goes. (My own group created a group text so we’d know who was in the office, and nobody has said they’re there today, so at least my immediate cohort got the message.)
In another bit of news, the FCC has gotten a pledge from all of the major broadband providers (and a lot of not-so-major ones) that they won’t cut anyone off from broadband during the pendency of the crisis. I am generally pretty critical of the bunch in charge there now, but they’ve been handling this much better than most of the federal government. The initiative to keep people connected definitely is a good thing, and the FCC more broadly has been ahead of the game here, essentially sending everyone home to telework and literally closing the HQ building to visitors unless they have special permission.
But I’m really posting about a study in contrasts here in D.C. This weekend, Jose Andres, probably the leading restaurateur in D.C., closed all of his restaurants and announced that many of them would be turned into community kitchens offering take-out food to people who need it, basically free takeout from the side entrances to the restaurants. Meanwhile, the people who own Hawk ‘n Dove, a popular Hill hangout, and two other similar restaurants, announced that they were going to ignore the Mayor’s order prohibiting bar seating and stand-up service. They apparently want to kill people. Needless to say, the Mayor is not amused, and I will not be going to any of their restaurants once this is over (not that I think I’d been to any in a very, very long time). I will, on the other hand, make a point of going to one or more of the Jose Andres restaurants, which are worth a visit at any time.
The Moar You Know
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: The kids at my wife’s junior high have a name for the virus, which they shared with her on their last day of school Friday:
Boomer Remover.
NotMax
Someone’s gonna make a pretty penny by snapping up the domain virtuallapdance.com.
//
(Nope, not a-gonna check to see if there already is such a site.)
zhena gogolia
@The Moar You Know:
I’d like to ask the OP to remove this comment.
Frankensteinbeck
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Yes. We are. Because liberals don’t choose who dies by whether they are deserving, and wishing death on anyone is abhorrent, especially an entire demographic. We will do our best to save everyone in a time of crisis, even if we won’t succeed.
Ken
@NotMax: Also without looking, I will confidently state that there is such a site by Rule 34.
geg6
Well, Allegheny County executive Rich Fitzgerald has asked all restaurants to go to takeout or delivery only. The city of Pittsburgh and the county have done okay so far, but they should have done the bar/restaurant thing much earlier as my younger betters saw fit to completely jam every bar on Saturday night for a drunken St. Patrick’s Day bacchanalia and scream at the tv cameras that they were young and didn’t need to worry and too bad, okay Boomer. You would think the city shutting down the parade, one of the biggest in the country, would have been enough to convince them to stay home, but apparently no.
I was watching my older niece’s FB feed jamming with all her and her fiance’s friends begging them to get a babysitter and come out and partay! Meanwhile, my sister and her mother has Crohn’s disease and her dad has MS. Glad to see she didn’t listen. I would have kicked her ass if she had.
randy khan
@Alex:
Kramer is widely understood to be a jerk (he was kicked out of ACT UP, which he founded, because he was causing so much trouble), but he was right, and I’ve always wondered if some portion of his jerkiness was related to being right, really right all the time, and having people ignore him.
(By the way, for anybody who hasn’t seen it, The Normal Heart is really worth seeing, even now.)
satby
@zhena gogolia: that phrase is all over Twitter too, especially shared by the rose emoji crowd. Evidently killing people is the only way they think they’ll win any elections. Considering their lord and savior Wilmer is highest risk, you’d imagine they might be less gleeful about it, and you’d be wrong.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@The Moar You Know:
Yup.
Of course, mom and dad were happily at a buffet dinner theater Thursday, and their wingnut friend is lamenting the absence of services at her megachurch.
I did get a phone message from the new priest at my titular Greek Orthodox parish (communion is by a common spoon). It was short and to the point – if you’re vulnerable or elderly, stay the fuck home.
I approved of that immensely.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Amid the TP panic, here’s a video of what people used to use before TP. Go ahead and click. You know you want to.
Immanentize
@PenAndKey: My son is 18 and even before all this, he enjoyed hours of yelling at his friends while online gaming. He has a great rig set up, so he is at least physically set up to endure this.
Good on you for staying in the mix.
germy
@satby:
I saw this one a few days ago:
satby
@Dorothy A. Winsor: nope. ?
zhena gogolia
Okay, time to quit BJ for real. I don’t need to be interacting with people who are actively wishing for my death.
I have been a Democrat all my life and advocated for social justice. I work with young people and try to help them every day. I don’t need to see this vicious poison at a time when I am deeply anxious and scared not only for myself but for many wonderful friends.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Frankensteinbeck:
Great. So what’s the plan on the economic dislocation?
Tax cuts on non-incomes? Loans by bankers who will be eager to hand out money to people whose business revenues have flatlined? Mortgage extensions to those who own rental properties that are leased to people with zero revenue by government orders for closure?
Brachiator
Life itself is a non-essential business, so smug moralizing should be avoided. In Los Angeles, restaurants are not closed, but limited to take out. Already, they are calling this Grab and Go. But this also makes serving staff “non-essential.”
The local supermarket closed early last night and some markets this morning are making people stand in line. You would think that people standing close in line might catch the virus.
It will be tough getting through this. The snark should be toned down.
Nelle
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I think you are embarking down a dangerous road here. I understand fury and the desire for karma (I was mentally composing a story for a new genre I called Pacifist Revenge Fantasy – hey, I’m a Mennonite with anger issues – but events are overtaking the storyline). Still, there is an audience here, some of whom are really struggling, and I encourage that we take care over our words. We’re so used to letting everything fly, regardless of the audience (or like the former Miss Nevada said, “This is America. I’ll do what I want”). In difficult times, I think it vital that we all contribute to wisdom, not otherwise. And this is said by someone who has her issues and poor moments, as I said above. So not trying to lecture, but to set out the alert that these are changed times. We may need to change behavior, including verbal.
A personal note: I’ve been reading these kind of comments from other forums for several days now. In a low moment, I feel like a parasite on this society – older woman, etc. I’ve come to terms that in a triage situation, I’m not coming out on top. As I should not. I am in the part of my life that the end could be very near, nearer than I had sort of assumed. I’ve come to intellectual terms with that and it’s personally sad but no different than what many have dealt with throughout history. But it would be nice not to have invective hurled on our way out. Oh, you meant not all old people? I’ve never been on the R side of things, but once you begin picking and choosing who to save or insult? Remember, none of us choose the time of our birth or the times in which we live. We do choose whether to live with grace or not.
Immanentize
@Ken: the magic number is 19827.25. closing Bell on inauguration day for Trump
germy
@zhena gogolia: The anti-boomer comments have been on and off here for years.
Even subtle stuff, like when they’d suggest that racism would disappear when all the old folks died off. As if the internet and streets weren’t full of young fascists.
Omnes Omnibus
@zhena gogolia: You are going to leave now because someone who has always been an asshole acted like an asshole? Just pie him.
Jinchi
It appears to have become a fundamental law of modern politics that Democrats are only allowed to govern while cleaning up Republican disasters.
burnspbesq
@MattF:
I think I may still have my hard copy from high school.
Camus is broadly applicable in times like these. The idea that you do the right thing, even if it may not work, because it’s the right thing and is its own reward.
My favorite Camus quote: “one must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Nelle:
Thank you for this.
Just Chuck
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Yeah, thank goodness the virus only infects wingnuts.
And you double down in the comments below. You’re worse than fucking Cacti.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@satby: It’s very entertaining!
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
Frankly, I’m this close to joining you except that the good and the rational still far outweigh the proudly cretinous and the pointedly malicious here.
trollhattan
@germy:
All those nazis and klansmen at Charlottesville with their walkers and oxygen tanks were such a sight to see.
Another Scott
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: You’d know the answer to your question if you’d read Speaker Pelosi’s statements:
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
zhena gogolia
@Omnes Omnibus:
Yeah. I thought germy was joining in but I guess he was just giving an example.
I am terrified not only for people getting sick but for the suffering of people who are losing their incomes. This is overwhelming.
zhena gogolia
CT, NY, NJ just announced all bars, restaurants, gyms casinos have to close at 8:00 PM tonight. Restaurants can only do takeout/delivery.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Nelle:
My wife is now at zero income at least until August, with a definite downtrack after – and every bit of work she did in January and February (50-60 hours a week of it) is now uncompensated. I’ve already been way down compared to 2014-2016, and don’t know how badly it is going to affect what is left. My kids are all winding up unemployed, and their usual backup plans (serving, bartending, retail) are shuttered.
So yeah, after a lifetime of watching my political wishes and my economic state suffer at the hands of older boomers, they seem to be taking one last shot at me, one that may well leave me bankrupt. I may be a bit salty until somebody starts talking about a plan as opposed to wringing hands about the safety of older boomers.
burnspbesq
Today is (I think) a return filing deadline for partnerships and S corporations. Hopefully every accounting firm filed extensions for all of their clients a week ago and sent everybody home. But I wouldn’t bet on it.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Another Scott:
Sadly, that one won’t do jack squat for me or my family.
Brachiator
@lofgren:
Some of the libraries in the Los Angeles area cutting back on services. A lot of people depend on the services there to help them find jobs. And they are a refuge for the homeless.
Omnes Omnibus
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: When you start off by not giving a shit if a bunch of people die and then want people to feel sorry for your situation, you could be asking for a rather heavy lift. I mean, you’re an asshole; why should we care if you go bankrupt? Right? Or we could try to get through this with as little death and disruption as possible. I vote for the latter.
Brachiator
@burnspbesq:
Some firms were scrambling last week to get them done. They may have to deal with e-file rejects and other matters today.
Nelle
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: So you are scared and lashing out.
Who are the real targets? Can we help you direct your anger there? Read Jane Mayer’s Dark Money. Your targeting of a generation with a broad brush is a lovely way to fall into a variation of the trap that the Kochs, et. al, have always laid for those who suffer. Hate them (be they of different skin color, ethnic or religious background, or age). Just don’t look at us stuffing all the last of the cash in our pockets (or offshore accounts). You are reacting exactly as to plan. Congrats on that!
(And the Kochs and their minions are still scrabbling after Social Security and Medicare – yep, even some of the “Boomers” and their elders are poor, insecure, and terrified too.)
dexwood
@Nelle:
@Omnes Omnibus:
Thank you both.
Immanentize
This really is just nutzoid and will increase the Carnage — for all. Wasn’t “American Carnage” Trump’s inauguration theme? NBC Poll:
Hell of a place we built.
trollhattan
@Omnes Omnibus:
It looks like Oklahoma’s governor has the Right Idea.
IIRC this is the same governor who bragged last weekend about using half of his state’s test kits on NBA players and staffs. He seems nice.
Suzanne
I went to Costco yesterday. I have to drive by the mall to get there. The parking lot was packed. People are nuts.
Fair Economist
@germy: Sounds like disinfo trying to divide generations. It’s not the boomers telling the youngs to just suffer (plenty on here for living wage, etc.), it’s the conservatives, of all ages.
schrodingers_cat
Can we have this Boomer-Millenial drama later? Each cohort thinks that they are the most put upon generation in the history of the universe. Please get over yourselves. Also too, these distinctions are pretty meaningless, there are assholes in every generation and ethnic group. How horrid a person is does not depend on their age. Stephen Miller and Orange Conealer say hi.
Kelly
@AnotherBruce: I still use the REI down sleeping bag from my first order. I was 16, joined REI spent some of my summer wages on a the sleeping bag, ext frame pack and a tent. I had the zipper replaced back in the 90’s. It’s not as warm as when it was new but I don’t camp in the snow any more.
Brachiator
@Nelle:
Very well said. Thank you for this.
The Dangerman
Someplace, Devin Nunes has a sad; maybe we can cut to a video of him slowly shedding a tear like Chief Iron Eyes Cody back in the day. I don’t get his stupidity sometimes; maybe he’s trying for the VP slot if Trump can’t get Darling Nikki (hey, Trump needs someone to blame/fire/disembowel for this situation, might as well be Pence). I figure NK avoids the VP offer like the fucking plague (that used to be a funny line; no longer).
I fell in love with San Luis Obispo back in the 70’s or 80’s (maybe earlier, since this was a Family vacation spot from the jump). I think it was the first city in the state (nation?) to ban smoking in restaurants (this goes back quite a ways, so maybe it was all things indoors). Cool…
…another thing, in the presently NOT cool part of the equation is drive through fast food was banned. So, the concept of take out just ain’t here in any scale. Sure, some poor schlub can bring it out to the car, but the whole transaction is going to be slow and bottlenecks will occur in milliseconds. Those are the places that stay open. Most will close. Oh, and to make life THAT much more interesting, our Costco is on the one street in town that can get fucked up with traffic (LOVR, acronym for Los Osos Valley Road). Costco could be a nightmare to reach. If it ever opens.
I’m going back to bed. Wake me when it’s over.
The Thin Black Duke
@zhena gogolia: Please don’t go. I’m always glad to see you here and I value your comments. Ignore the asshole.
Another Scott
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: That’s not all she’s trying to do.
These bad times will end rather quickly after January 2021. Hang in there, and do your part to make things better.
Cheers,
Scott.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Omnes Omnibus:
I’d be a lot more sanguine if I hadn’t read/heard the following:
It has always been this way my entire working life, and inspires my inner Strelnikov.
You know something that breaks my heart? This morning, as I walked to my office, I saw the coffee shop across the street getting set up for lunch. I pop in there once or twice a day – they’re nice people, and the kids working the counter are great, so I’m happy to tip them. Seeing them do that was a sign of normality.
Tomorrow, they won’t be doing that.
geg6
@zhena gogolia:
Don’t let the assholes let you down. Stay. They only want to you leave. Why satisfy them?
KSinMA
@dexwood: Thanks from me too.
trollhattan
@Kelly:
REI is still a solid organization, even if it little resembles the Capital Hill Seattle temple of outdoors awesomeness of my yoot. (Membership # in the low six-digits.)
They remain a consumer-owned co-op, which goes a long way in explaining why they’re not just another Bass Pro Shop. “Where da ammo at?”
8 man shell
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
You’re exactly right and the pushback you’re getting in this thread is an excellent example of the Boomer mentality which can be summarized as “But what about me???”
From the reports I’ve seen about COVID19, it will not be nearly lethal enough to slow the unchecked, catastrophic population growth on this planet.
zhena gogolia
@The Thin Black Duke:
Thanks.
Gin & Tonic
@Immanentize:
And here’s the kicker – just like R’s crashing the economy and sticking the black guy with cleaning it up – if the various closings and social distancing measures work reasonably well and help mitigate the pandemic, the R’s will be all like “well, that wasn’t necessary, was it?” Just like all the morons after the Y2K changeover went smoothly saying “so what was all the fuss about, anyway?”
Another Scott
@schrodingers_cat: Yeah. I remember griping to my dad about how hard it was when I was in college and trying to figure out what to do, once I graduated into the remnants of the Reagan recession, etc., etc.
He said something like, “Yeah, well at least you don’t have the Draft to worry about…”
:-/
It’s far, far too easy to look back at how great things were for the previous generations. (Just about) everyone had it tougher than they would have had with sensible policies.
We’re (mostly) all in this together. Eyes on the prizes.
Cheers,
Scott.
The Thin Black Duke
@8 man shell: Goodbye.
Tony Jay
@Alex:
I was discussing all of this with a friend this morning. He’s overweight and about to undergo a battery of tests for high BP and slow pulse-rate so he’s convinced he’s got some kind of chronic condition that will mean he catches Corvid-19 and goes on to become one of the “pre-existing conditions” statistics. He’s one of those people who seems to have been born with a dodgy rabbit’s foot bonded to his DNA, so this would not exactly turn out to be a super-large surprise, but, as a friend, my job is to distract him from the possibility that life will shit once again upon the eiderdown of his existence, so I did.
While slagging off the British Government’s pathetic response to the pandemic, it occurred to me that a very clear analogy to its approach would have been if, during the early days of the AIDS epidemic, the Government had stood up and said, yeah, this is all very sad and all, but the only way we’ll know for sure how bad it is is if we test everyone, and since we’re not prepared to do that in case the numbers are REALLY bad, we think you should just look after yourselves and only bother us if you get really, really sick. That good? Yeah? Job done.
The mind boggles that they feel (with a great deal of justification) that they’ll get away with this piss-poor abdication of responsibility. After all, they just got voted back in with a stonking majority. Those voters aren’t going to want to admit that they fucked up big-style, are they? Rally round and wave the flag, that’ll show the Virus.
Wankers.
And on reflection, I’m aware that the above basically WAS the British Government’s reaction to the onset of AIDS, only with added bile because there’s nothing so homophobic as a Right Winger in a panic.
tom darga
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Sorry to hear about your troubles, but how are your family’s unemployment problems the fault of “Boomers”?
And how is this pandemic a “shot at you” in any way at all? You seem to be implying that the disease is the fault of Boomers somehow?
Or is it just the attempt to control it that is the shot? So you are blaming the actions that hurt you on the people they are designed to protect?
Another Scott
@8 man shell: You’re trying to get banned, aren’t you?
Regards,
Scott.
schrodingers_cat
@zhena gogolia: Don’t go, I don’t know about others but I will definitely miss you.
KithKanan
@The Dangerman:
I’d say it’s now three streets – LOVR, Broad near the airport, and Santa Rosa from 101 to Highland. Not much of a ‘rush hour’, but a lot more than there used to be.
BobS
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Let me preface what I’m about to write with a disclaimer: I’m mid-60’s, still working regular shifts in one of the largest emergency centers in the country (probably should have already retired, but I like the work, I like my co-workers, and I enjoy the money)- my age would put me lower in the que for available ventilators, however my skills raise me a notch or two.
All that being said, a national discussion regarding triaging patients eligible for finite resources (ICU beds, ventilators, hemodialysis, etc) that are very expensive is long over-due. Every day I work I see a disproportionate amount of these resources (all of which take a similarly disproportionate amount of finite care-giver time) given to people who are permanent residents of extended care facilities, many of who might, on their best day, be able to tell you their name. We ‘save’ most of these people, in order to return them to their ECF’s and wash, rinse, repeat.
If this crisis creates a dialogue about what is already a crisis (had to wait 6 or 8 hours for treatment in an ER lately? It’s because a lot of hospital beds are filled with patients receiving essentially futile care, which is backing patients up into the ER), that would be good.
With respect to young people cynically referring to this as ‘boomer remover’, lighten the fuck up. I’m sure every older person here advocates for something akin to Medicare-for-all. Unfortunately, as many or more older people don’t. A lot of these kids have had to endure the ‘snowflake’ bullshit from people who, due to the ‘magic’ of having turned 65 have what they don’t, and continue to vote for the people who would deprive them of it. Who can blame them?
Ohio Mom
Zhena: did you see my response to you the other day? I don’t remember what thread it was but the Tl;dr is: please, please, go to your PCP, explain that your anxiety is out of control, and get some meds.
You deserve to be happier and calmer, it is distressing to me to see you in such distress.
There is no shame I doing so, I take an antidepressant myself, and I know others here have occasionally mentioned the meds they take for the sake of their brain functioning. Modern medicine can do some wonderful things, please avail yourself of it.
And now this comet is as long as my first, and also probably payed long after Zhena logged off…
8 man shell
@Another Scott:
The earth cannot sustain a population of 9 or 10 billion people as long as people continue to act like, well, people.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction
The fact that your takeaway from this is “We need to ban people to stop discussion of this” says something about you.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@tom darga:
The protective measures are going to crush the lives of millions, and no thought or planning has been given to sensible mitigation, given the extreme levels of protection.
To mitigate that would require immediate bailout measures, which are impermissible socialism.
Kathleen
@Immanentize: Same in Ohio. DeWine did not want bars crammed with St Patrick’s Day revelers or anyone else. Schools may be closed until end of year.
Chyron HR
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Yeah, definitely. Fuck the boomers and their (checks notes) “boomer remover”.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
PSA: Check your cats’ browser history, people. My order from chewy.com, expected tomorrow, will not have any Fancy Feast as they have none of the type we like in stock. Somebody is hoarding.
PenAndKey
@zhena gogolia: Just use the pie filter. I figure it’s part and parcel of their personality since they’ve always been a “burn them out” rhetoric user. I’m not, but I can certainly understand the emotional appeal of the “they refused to listen and now karma bit them in the ass so I won’t give them any sympathy” viewpoint.
I’ll admit that when it comes to my grey haired RWNJ family members I’ve tried to help educate them as much as I can, but all they’ve made it clear they don’t care and would rather believe FOX News over their family microbiologist. I can only give them so much of my emotional energy and they’ve just about tapped it out. Have I washed my hands of them? Not completely, but every day they get a bit closer to that line. If other people in similar boats want to use dark humor to handle the situation I find it best to just ignore them. They’re in the minority, and they’re no reason for you to leave when they can be easily ignored.
WaterGirl
@MelissaM: I don’t know. Are you in IT?
The timing you described for your library was identical to my library, so I wondered.
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat:
Thanks.
Another Scott
@8 man shell: Yeah, me calling you out for effectively cheering-on genocide says something about me.
Maybe review the Comment Policy.
Regards,
Scott.
Fair Economist
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: The Dems are pushing as far as they can. They will be advocating for something like a UBI to help self-employed/contract workers, because that will be necessary to keep the country afloat and they want that.
Brachiator
@Tony Jay:
I love how Boris Johnson is telling the public that all the British people have to do is buck up, get plucky and tell Johnny Virus he’s outmatched!
Tony Jay
@zhena gogolia:
I’ll add my tuppenceworth to the stay around chorus.
eclare
@schrodingers_cat: Amen
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@tom darga:
Sorry to hear about your troubles, but how are your family’s unemployment problems the fault of “Boomers”?
As I said before – the protective measures have zeroed my wifes income for the indefinite future. Education closures and bar/restaurant closures have wiped out my childrens’ employment.
I graduated into the Reagan sunshine of great times for Wall Street guys and shit times on Main Street. A sashay into law school planted me in the Bush I doldrums and lack of opportunity there. I clawed, did happily during the Clinton years, and then Bush II stole it away again at the beginning and end of his terms. With the election of Trump, I have watched my clientele’s fortune decline again.
zhena gogolia
@Ohio Mom:
Thanks for the comment. My anxiety seems to be due to the fact that society is breaking down — isn’t that anxiety normal?
I don’t want to go to a doctor’s office right now if I can avoid it, and I have to convert to online teaching with one week’s notice, so I can’t avoid any cognitive difficulties. I appreciate your concern, but I don’t think any meds are going to do anything for me right now.
Calouste
@Immanentize: I’m fairly sure the Dow will drop below what it was at the end of Obama’s term before the end of the week, or otherwise next week. And probably keep dropping until it is below 15,000.
Fair Economist
I love the pie filter. It works so well when these troll types come on to spread trouble. And with Covid, I’m less tempted to go out and have some!
schrodingers_cat
@Brachiator: Katie Hopkins is preaching the same message on Twitter.
Mike R
@Another Scott: Well you could be said to be infringing his free speech, but most likely you should be a considered a decent human being counseling a person who is spewing garbage to mellow out.
zhena gogolia
@Tony Jay:
Thank you! I hope you are well. Boris is doing a heckuva job too.
Thrasius
Mandatory closings of small businesses are just going to place a heavier burden on the system if the government doesn’t properly assist them. I have numerous friends and family (like my sister and BIL) in that situation. For my sister and BIL, if they close their small business, neither they nor their employees have any other money. What are they supposed to do? They have two young children. I’m in a similar boat, albeit with no children at least.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Ohio Mom: Second this. we finally got my mother on a low dose of anxiety meds when my father was in hospice, and it was a fight the rest of her life to keep her on them. (Her mother was addicted to valium back when it was about the only thing they could offer someone with a rampaging anxiety disorder, and Mom was afraid that she would end up a zombie, too.)
Modern anxiety meds are good.
opiejeanne
@zhena gogolia: please do not leave because of this asshole. I would miss you terribly.
zhena gogolia
@opiejeanne:
Thank you. I hope you are well.
PenAndKey
That population growth is the result of industrialization of the parts of the world that didn’t go through it in the 19th and 20th century. It will end there the same way it did the early starters. This is a well studied phenomenon and has been for years.
If you want to peddle Malthusian VEHMT propaganda rhetoric you’re going to find that people are going to push back, especially when we’re in the middle of a worldwide pandemic.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@zhena gogolia: Please don’t. I will add my voice to the others saying, “use the pie filter”. It really works wonderfully, and it even offers you choices on how you want people pie-d.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@PenAndKey: Wonder if we can get a special pie filter image for this guy? I think Thanos would be appropriate.
NotMax
@PenAndKey
Trying and failing to transplant a seedling of reality into their bubble is better than not trying at all.
Fair Economist
@zhena gogolia: Anxiety now is normal but not unavoidable. I am not getting it. I have done my preps (knowing this was coming from Jan) and I know bad and sad things will happen. But I have done what I can, and life is necessarily both good and bad. As QE2 says, grief is the price we pay for love. I have gotten a lot of great love in my life, and if I have to pay some now, so be it.
Just half an hour ago I was talking my son down from quitting his job because one of his coworkers drives Uber part time. He was pretty anxious but got better when I pointed out what he could do. He does have a generally low contact job.
Marigold
@zhena gogolia: Please stay. So often, I find you say what I’m thinking, but much more eloquently.
trollhattan
@8 man shell:
Hi Thanos, it’s an honor to have you here.
zhena gogolia
@Marigold:
Oh, thank you.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Thrasius:
Andy Beshear at least acknowledges it in ways that no Trump, Mnuchin or Kudlow can do. This is what he had to say:
The governor said he realized the impact that the decision would have on those establishments, most of which are small businesses whose owners have invested time and perhaps even their life savings.
“We’re going to be there for you. I want you to know that I realize the impact that it’s going to have,” he said. “But we have to take the steps to make sure we are protecting our people — and this is a necessary one.”
Beshear said he will waive the waiting period for unemployment benefits for workers who lose their jobs as a result of the virus’ impact, including eliminating any work search requirements.
“We want you to be able to qualify for unemployment and we don’t want to create impediments from keeping you from getting through this,” Beshear said.
Thing is, Kentucky doesn’t have any real tools to put the businesses back together with – that has to come from the Feds and the Fed, and loan underwriting protocols and those motherfuckers at the rating agencies will absolutely strangle any effort if it is left to the bankers.
Brachiator
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Man, you are a panicky cuss.
Government is going to have to get creative. And they already trying. I think that Los Angeles county is banning eviction and taking other measures to try to prevent severe dislocation.
The government is going to have to abandon the simplistic either/or that you only help business or workers. The economic contraction affects everyone.
Some businesses would take out loans on their projected receivables so that they could make payroll and keep employees during slow periods. Cutting interest rates, expanding the pool of available money and other policy will help many small business owners and their employees.
And in addition to unemployment Insurance you may have to put cash in people’s hands. Maybe tax cuts, and also direct cash payments.
We subsidize farmers, on the idea that we have to help them through slowdowns so that they can bounce back when times are good. We may have to apply the same principles to the larger economy.
The right wing may balk. And liberals will whine that they only want to help families and the “most vulnerable.” Or maybe just workers.
If this virus thing continues for any length of time, the more we will need innovative answers.
And I think we can do it. We may not have a choice.
Ohio Mom
Sister Rail Gun: Yes, I think there is a medical term (that I don’t remember) for patients whose subpar psychiatric functioning convinces them they don’t need their meds. It’s an eternal problem.
I’ll note that while word “patients” may seem condescending, to the medical field, that’s what we are.
BobS
@Brachiator:
“Man, you are a panicky cuss.”
You know who’s at the helm, right?
Brachiator
@Calouste:
The Dow is unimportant. Even for people just worrying about their 401K plans. We are undergoing a deliberate economic contraction. We will get through it, and there may be some pain, but there will be a strong recovery.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Brachiator:
“Banning eviction” sounds great, unless the landlord depends on rental money to service the loans, pay tax bills, maintain common areas, run utilities to the common areas or to supply the units themselves. A number of smaller, noninstitutional landlords will quickly go under in that sort of scheme.
Every single one of these measures has a ripple effect, and the big brains simply haven’t even bothered to think about it.
Nelle
@BobS: Having lived under a national healthcare system (New Zealand), I became familiar with limitations as well as advantages. It was there that I needed to understand that, if resources were limited, I need to be at the back of the line. I’ve had a great go of it and sure, I hope to continue. But not at a younger person’s expense. What is done here is insane.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Brachiator:
Some businesses would take out loans on their projected receivables so that they could make payroll and keep employees during slow periods. Cutting interest rates, expanding the pool of available money and other policy will help many small business owners and their employees.
This only works if you line every banking risk officer and credit rater against a wall, and then use the underwriting manuals and credit reports for a celebratory bonfire afterward.
I like the notion of treating everyone like a farmer, but that would never work because soc!alism and coloreds, y’know.
Tony Jay
@Brachiator:
It would be absolutely smashing if that were in any way hyperbole or an exaggeration, but it’s not. He really doesn’t give a crusted winnet what happens to the now-irrelevant electorate. He’s just the front-man for a cowed Party that can always count on a subservient Media to tidy up whatever guff he spews out, and five more years during which to flick anyone who objects a two-fingered response.
Well done, Britain. You should be so proud.
Nelle
@zhena gogolia: What do you teach? I taught online composition classes for about four years (very few in Montana knew that one state employee was in New Zealand the whole time) and then tutored New Zealand students for another four years after returning to the States (Skype and Google docs). Hmm, probably could pick up some tutoring students now in the States….
Thrasius
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Words are all well and good. I still expect many plan to remain open and defy any government orders until there is assistance incoming. That’s not my plan. However, I know others that plan to remain open as long as people come through the doors. And frankly, I don’t blame them.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Ohio Mom: I thought my mother’s concern about her meds to be very sensible after watching my grandmother for the last decade or so of her life. I didn’t really mind that Mom’s remaining anxiety latched onto side effects of her meds; it was fairly easy to reassure her.
lofgren
@Johnny Gentle (famous crooner): This is why we haven’t made any (or minimal — Thanks Obama!) progress on any of the many catastrophes that are looming in the next 20-30 years. Literally every four years we have to put out a fire started by Republicans. Then as soon as it’s even slightly contained Americans decide to give them back the matches.
Tony Jay
@zhena gogolia:
Isn’t he just? Every day with him ‘in charge’ is like a great, big hug from the fluffiest old vanilla and chocolate scented bunny-wunny in the whole wide world.
My God these peyote and absinthe suppositories are amazeballs. If I can figure out how to get them under my eyelids the next five years are going to fly by. 8-)
MelissaM
@WaterGirl: Well, Champaign was open over the weekend. Urbana wasn’t. I think we’re in the same general community. And not IT.
Ksmiami
@zhena gogolia: I love your comments and commitment to the Democratic ideals. Please take care of yourself.
Luciamia
@burnspbesq: “Contation” one of the current popular films on Netflix. Glutton for punishment.
Ksmiami
@lofgren: we actually need to denazify (de GOP) the country and ban fox etc.
Brachiator
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
This is already happening. There just needs to be more of it. And even the dumbass Trump administration has moved towards this in some of their proposals. So you are already wrong.
Isn’t hyper capitalist Singapore doing some of this already? Or at least considering handing out cash. These ideas, and more are already out there and being discussed. Even if you can’t see it.
gvg
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: There is no time to discuss sensible mitigation……..sure it could have been different, but it’s not. Discussing takes time. A few days faster start to various quarantine measures will save a lot of lives. Now insisting on a discussion about how to mitigate the effects right the day after protective measures …yeah, that is a good idea. Which mean the GOP will resist it, but what’s new about that.
There is not perfect response at this point, Fast is better for now.
Mitigation plans will also have to be revised several times as we find out more about what needs to be mitigated. We have a lot of people who don’t believe anything till after it’s happened to them.
Bitterly attacking closure measures that hope to save lives is as shortsighted as the actions of those you complain about. You sound almost Trumpish worrying about the stock market instead of lives when you complain about the income affect of containment measures. Yes we all know this will hurt the poorest the worst. Our democratic elected officials and even some competent GOP’ers will try to solve that after we have a few health saving processes in place.
opiejeanne
@zhena gogolia: I am well, thank you for asking. I hope you can stay safe in these scary times.
I am worried about a lot of things right now that don’t amount to a hill of beans, stupid things, like whether the garden centers are all going to close down soon and we might not have tomatoes this summer as a result. Yeah, tomatoes, that seems really not so important right now, but it’s helping to distract me from the fear.
We were out in our garden yesterday, it was all of 48F but sunny, and people stopped and talked to us from a safe distance, their dogs barking like mad at us the whole time, mainly to ask about the fence the kid drove through in the wee hours of Thursday morning.
The kid came by yesterday to apologize again, and to offer his help. He’s going to clean up the myriad bits of plastic from his car that are scattered everywhere. We showed him the piece of the gate that flew about 60 feet through the air. He was duly impressed and pretty chagrined when we showed him that we’d found the beer case and empty that his buddies had tried to hide in the bushes. His college plans for next year have changed drastically; his mom announced she was not paying for him to go to the University of Arizona, so he’s looking at Wazoo and Central Washington. The girl who needed the ambulance is fine, just needed some stitches in her head and was released the same day.
I feel like I’m living on a one acre island and the people passing by are on little boats that can’t stop, the passengers can only shout encouragement as they float past. When it’s sunny out, that’s nice but this whole thing is surreal.
Brachiator
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
This is already happening. There just needs to be more of it. And even the dumbass Trump administration has moved towards this in some of their proposals. So you are already wrong.
Isn’t hyper capitalist Singapore doing some of this already? Or at least considering handing out cash. These ideas, and more are already out there and being discussed. Even if you can’t see it.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Brachiator:
I’ll believe it when it trickles to me.
In the meantime, as an American, I see it as just a pretty collection of words that I’m not going to be allowed to do when there are tax cuts to be allocated and winners and losers in our shared economic reality….
MattF
@Tony Jay: I looked up ‘winnet’ . Autocorrect is convinced I meant to write ‘winner’.
Caphilldcne
@Rob: I often go to Hawk n Dove before my Bocce league matches (almost certainly now cancelled). I will no longer be patronizing them after this crisis is over.
Alex
@randy khan: I think you’re right– I was a kid in the 80s, so all I have seen is cranky old man Larry Kramer, but this gives a new perspective on how he got that way. No one one is rewarded for being prematurely correct.
J R in WV
@JMG:
I’ve got news for you, my last haircut was in the early 1990s. Once my new job was locked up, I gave the barber up forever, and tied it into a ponytail, and no one cared a bit. I’ve had a beard since I graduated from HS except while in the Navy’s boot camp. Not long after I got out of boot camp the CNO authorized “neat, well kept” beards based upon historical fact, that back then most sailors had beards.
I would have to shave some to use my respirator, which I would feel odd wearing around to shop — it’s intended for industrial uses but will filter 99.97% of particulates, including viruses … new filters aopear to cost about $45/pair and are not in stock locally.
But no one “needs” to go to a barber during a plague outbreak. Now the liquor store, that’s different~!!!
Tony Jay
@MattF:
Autocorrect is right to spare you the details.
topclimber
Perhaps this has been covered already, but couldn’t libraries and other establishments be open with strict crowd control methods? My local library can have up to 100 people in it at any time. Rather than close, perhaps it would be possible to limit that to 10 at a time, with close monitoring of social distancing and other safeguards. (Any book or keyboard you handle gets wiped down).
Library are probably not a good test case since they tend to attract smartish folks who follow directions (like no loud talking!). On the other hand, they are often defacto child card centers, homeless rest stops, and workstation locations for those who can’t afford a computer.
Staff would no doubt have concerns but the scenario here is probably safer for them and patrons than shopping in a super market. Unless of course we crowd control them, too.
zhena gogolia
@lofgren:
Americans and Putin, don’t forget.
zhena gogolia
@Ksmiami:
Thank you, Ksmiami.
zhena gogolia
@opiejeanne:
I know. We’ve been going for walks every day and there’s a nice couple that jogs by and says such a kind hello. Yet we can’t see our friends at all. It all feels surreal.
Brachiator
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
And, so?
I’m not really trying to convince you.I have laid out some of what is actually happening. The rest will be up to the imagination and skill of a range of people. And of course, we have to get rid of Trump, who thinks like a 19th century minor criminal.
We will see what happens.
J R in WV
@zhena gogolia:
Zhena,
Don’t go, just use the Pie Filter (bless cleek, Major^4 and Watergirl for making it so easy to do that!) on people who upset you past what you are prepared to tolerate!
You’re a good person, and your perspective on eastern Europe, Ukraine and Russia is really valuable to all of us who care to know things rather than just blow off steam and poisonous fumes.
In any case, take care and best of luck going forward in these very strange times!!
zhena gogolia
@J R in WV:
Thanks, yes, I will have to use the pie filter more often rather than trying to change people!
J R in WV
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
You need to get a grip on your panic. This is not the place to jump on people and blame people of B-J for this set of new problems.
People are trying to console you, to lift your mood, and all you can do is shit on people because they aren’t laying out a perfect economic policy for conditions that we haven’t seen for over a century. Get over yourself, meditate, smoke some reef, a drink, do Dervish whirling in your living room, anything, but stop blaming the Balloon Juice community for your current life.
Otherwise, the Pie Safe for you, sad Charlie… Along with “8 man shell” which is an odd nym for a guy who’s pretending to be a socialist. Aren’t 8 man rowing shells used by the wealthy leisure classes?
Brachiator
@zhena gogolia:
Just wanted to throw in that I enjoy your comments and would like to see people hang around, even the folks some find disagreeable, as we head into the elections.
zhena gogolia
@Brachiator:
Thanks. I would miss all my online friends, like you. It’s very hard not being able to connect with people.
J R in WV
@zhena gogolia:
And you can toggle people’s little pastry icon into a comment to see if their panic has let up, or they’re otherwise acting a little more human. We have all rising and lowering levels of stress, depending on things we don’t usually think about. Some people get really irritable when their blood sugar level drops a little below their “sweet” spot.
One of our cars was “recalled” years ago for replacement of bad Takata airbag equipment… but no parts; there were millions of failures. Now there are parts, but I don’t want to sit around nor take my wife (who has a damaged immune system) out of our tiny hollow into town… Won’t need that car lately, but it still drives me wild to have that undone thinking about it late at night.
I can get flashes of Obsessive Compulsive Behavior from time to time, a project will take me over and I focus on that. Lately I’ve been focused on our new reality show life, laying awake thinking of things I haven’t laid back yet, wondering how long that roll of plastic wrap will last.
How long can you keep a sack of onions, or potatoes, of carrots…
Anyways, I have no doubt that many people in my pie safe are really good folks who will before too very long be back among the rest of us. Probably not all, and that’s OK too.
It’s so easy to use the 3rd generation Pie Filter I’ll put someone in there just to leave them out of a single thread, and pull them back when I’m finished reading and commenting.
YOU GUYS, you know who I’m talking about — knock it OFF!
Lighten up, drink a glass of water and do some yoga, or meditate or read some poetry!!
Do Something !!!
PS: I twinged my back earlier taking heavy sacks of “prepper” material down to the basement, and took a muscle relaxer to keep it from cramping up. Now my typing speed is down to about 20-30 (slower than that, really — pretty frustrating!) words a minute if I just catch most of the typos. At least I’m not writing a grant application or trial brief ~!!!
Best of luck to everyone, you all take care and keep in touch.
I hope Raven and Steve in ATL and Kay are all doing OK, I think of them every day…
JaneE
I was scheduled for a routine return visit with my specialist day after tomorrow. Today they called and asked if they could do it with a telephone visit. Yes, thank you. If nothing else I won’t miss hours of driving in the expected rain. I will miss the hugs we exchange at the beginning and end of the visit, but those would have not happened this time anyway. The first case of Covid-19 in our county was tested Thursday and confirmed Sunday at that very facility. More than happy to avoid the trip for many reasons.
lofgren
In case anybody cares, my wife’s library is closing to the public for at least two weeks. Employees are still expected to report, and there was a vociferous and contentious argument today over whether or not they could still let people in to pick up holds.
My wife came home miserable and stressed and promptly told me that I seem more relaxed than she has seen me in years, because I finally have an excuse to avoid everybody outside of my family for at least two weeks. It’s a testament to her character that she was happy for me instead of hating me for it.