How is everyone doing? Hanging in there?
I’m on day three of my sort of pseudo quarantine. I did go to the post office today, and I carried a lysol wrap with me, wiped down my box before opening, got my mail, went home, and went directly to the laundry room and threw my clothes in the washer.
Also, this is a really shit time to have hypochondriacal tendencies. I cough or get the slightest bit winded and want to bathe myself in rubble alcohol and rush to the emergency room then realize “You’re breathing heavier because you just climbed three flights of stairs you fat bastard.”
This made me laugh:
Parents are coming home from SC tomorrow. I don’t think they understand that all four children have decided they need to be locked into their house for the next months and there is a new boss in town.
dmsilev
At work, we’re starting to emerge from headless-chicken mode. More and more undergrads are gone; we should be down to the remnants who can’t leave for whatever reason by the end of the week. Everyone seems to be adapting to the new videoconferencing lifestyle. Next on the to-do list is figuring out how much of our research work can be done when/if we get something similar to San Fransisco’s shelter-in-place order. At least I’m not in the biology department, where “my experiment just died” is not a metaphorical statement.
Major Major Major Major
My husband made it back from San Francisco on a redeye last night. Looks like he got out just in time!
Out of the frying pan and into the other frying pan, of course, but at least we’re together.
He has a very occasional cough that we’re both being paranoid about but he usually gets one after flying, and doesn’t have any other symptoms.
Today was my first productive day since this all started. And I figured out the right way to make rice & beans in the Zojirushi. Got my new PC mostly set up. Haven’t started writing again yet, but I think that’ll be doable any day now…
lamh36
The only change for me is that my classes are ALL online now. So I no longer have to drive to and from the lakefront campus. I now just come on home and group conference with my teacher and classmates for each class.
At work, it’s just busier due to the number of folks coming through ER w/flu-like symptoms, and the slowness of getting Coronovirus testing results from the state.
Lyrebird
Thus far “distance learning” for preschool children is a bad joke but I am able to eke out enough work hours at home with friends’ help to thus far not be in terrible trouble at work.
We are very fortunate though in having plenty of food water wifi etc… so many are in worse straits.
Kent
Day 1 of in-home quarantine with the kids. Totally counting my blessings that they are ages 13 and 16 and not toddlers or younger when they need more supervision. Took them about 3 hours to get through whatever online work their teachers had posted up on google classroom so by noon they were done and off connecting with their friends around the world on on Discord.
Got the piano lessons coming up in a couple minutes via FaceTime. We will see how that goes.
The big worry is my wife who is a front-line physician with Kaiser Permanente here in the Vancouver WA area. She’s late 40s so there’s that. But it is getting scary. They have diagnosed 4 in her clinic so far.
At least we have a big suburban house on a greenbelt with trails so we can get out and move about without running into close contact with anyone.
HumboldtBlue
The silence in downtown is deafening.
The sadness can be oppressive and the anxiety of simply not having a sense that the world will look very similar in two weeks (think back two weeks to what we were doing) comes in waves.
So I’ll repost this lament from an Irish lad whose angry he can’t go down to the pub.
lamh36
Folks complaining bout the harsher restrictions here in NOLA. I mean it’s obvious folks refused to care about public safety. The Mayor tried to allow folks to socially distance themselves on their own, but mofos shitted on that…so yeah…now ya got newer harsher restrictions to ensure public safety and health. Get mad at yo fellow residents, not at the Mayor…
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3a536569c2e3e50f24b280bd525ca9f43aa6e644df590596b3f0f47d836df53a.gif
trollhattan
Now that her school hiatus has gone from three days to two weeks (plus, secret bonus weeks) the kis’s teachers are filtering in via email to assign…dun-dun-dun work!
Days ahead of the rest: the German teacher. Everything German encapsulated. (And she’s a German German.)
Spent much of the day getting remote access to work and trying to convince Microsoft that yes, I have a goddamn Office 365 account. Them: “Maybe yes, probably no. Show your wallet.”
Two months of this, I figger.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Major Major Major Major:
That’s my mother right now. It could just be seasonal allergies, but I’m going to watch her just in case
cain
@lamh36:
Any word on your job interview???
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@lamh36:
People can be so selfish and stupid.
Poe Larity
Question: Are reported deaths only pre-diagnosed patients? If we aren’t testing the living, are we testing the dead and accurately reporting those numbers?
Annie
I live in San Francisco and so far I haven’t had any huge hassles, just very long lines in the grocery store. But everyone in the lines was good humored and polite about it all — my line was in the ice cream aisle and all,of us were joking about how long we could resist temptation. I lasted almost til checkout but the call of chocolate peanut butter ice cream was too strong.
i was home today for repair work and have been told not to come in tomorrow—office is organizing things so we can work remotely without getting hacked.
RSA
It’s okay to stay in your cave for now, Cole.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
At home mostly now except for work, trying to heed the social distancing orders Restaurants in my state are all closed now except for takeout and deliveries. Ca$inos were ordered closed a day or so ago as well. Regal Cinemas announced they are closing theaters nationwide. And there are now 50 confirmed cases in Ohio. Dropped off some absentee ballots at the county BOE. It’s a waiting game now, watching for any symptoms. We have plenty of frozen and canned foods to last us for a few weeks
mad citizen
I had work meetings in NOLA next week; finally cancelled my travel today and the stakeholder meetings are all webex now. My state has us state workers working from home starting tomorrow.
Occurs to me to ask from time to time to no one in particular : Whatever happened to Trump’s annual physical? You know, Part II after that one Saturday when he was rushed away from the WH
“I don’t take responsibility at all”
Major Major Major Major
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I mean most of of the time when a person coughs it just means they coughed.
My Side of Town
And yet you live in the only state that has not reported a coronavirus infection. I live in a populous county in Florida that has not reported an infection, too. I get not trusting the local health department.
eemom
Of all kinds, to be sure….but as an OCD person it occurs to me to worry about compulsive hand washers. ?
MomSense
Finally convinced oldest kid to come home. His anxiety about all this was off the charts and I didn’t like where that was heading. He’s really afraid he will get us sick, but we saw him Thursday and he stopped working Saturday. If he got us sick it already happened.
Meanwhile I’m still working and now only 2 degrees of separation from a confirmed case. I think we’ve all been soaking in it for at least a month.
Makes me wonder about the cold I had. Anyway, we’re keeping oldest kid separated, but I feel like if he’s been exposed I certainly have.
Hopefully tomorrow will get a little easier.
BellyCat
“Rush hour” traffic in Pittsburgh this morning was as if the Steelers were playing in the Super Bowl, with everyone glued to their teevee.
The streets were almost entirely deserted.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Major Major Major Major:
Yes. Like I said, just something to monitor for now
japa21
Just got home for election set-up for tomorrow’s primary in Cook County, We have 3 precincts in one location and I am the go to guy for any technical problems for all three precincts. Each precinct has 3 judges (the normal is 4 and the optimum is 5). All 3 (myself included) showed up for 2 of the precincts. None showed up for the 3rd. We’ll have to see what the morning brings.
Additionally, they have a special call-in line if you are experiencing technical difficulties. Everything went fine except that we had difficulty getting a wireless connection for 3 of the 6 computers (two for each location). One location worked fine for both, one was fine and one was not for another, and neither worked for the third.
So no problem, all you have to do is call and get the security code to hook-up again. Except after a total of 68 minutes on hold, and being dropped twice, I was right where I started and the special call center was closed. This means extra work tomorrow. Hopefully we can get everything done before the polls open. And if the other judges don’t show up, it will mean two judges at each precinct. Hoping the voters have a lot of patience.
CaseyL
Today was one of my go-to-the-office days, though in Washington we’re wondering if Gov. Inslee will also tell us to shelter in place for a while – I guess it depends on how many new cases crop up, and seeing if the voluntary sequestering is working. It seems to be, at least in the U District, where there’s hardly anyone walking around.
It reminds me some of Seattle many many years ago, before everyone in the world started moving here. Is it awful of me to like that? I don’t wish sickness or tragedy on anyone but Republicans, but the underpopulated streets make me nostalgic for when Seattle was a much smaller, more livable place.
I did get a lot done at work today, and am feeling good about getting stuff done teleworking tomorrow. I go in to work again Wednesday, and among other things will be moving into my office now that my coworker has moved out of it into her new office. (I have an office! So cool!) Going forward, absent further restrictions, I’ll be going in on Wednesdays and teleworking the rest of the week.
Morzer
This seems strangely on-brand for Cole, although heaven only knows what rubble alcohol actually consists of.
Hang in there, JGC.
dmsilev
@BellyCat: Same here (LA area). I’d guess that local traffic this morning was about 1/4 normal.
debbie
That feisty Mike DeWine has overridden the mean judge and has ordered the Health Director to order voting places to be closed tomorrow due to a health crisis!
He’s definitely a one-termer.
Brachiator
I spoke with a couple of people who are now working from home.
I reminded them that Trump’s new tax law eliminated deductions for office in home expense, etc, for people who are employees.
Employers may reimburse necessary expenses.
Jess
Someone probably already shared this bit of brilliance for those of us frantically trying to shift all our classes online, but here it is in case anyone missed it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCe5PaeAeew
Cole, you in particular will enjoy this, I think!
FlyingToaster
Reposting from below:
Up heah in the Commonwealth of
MassachusettsQuarantine, we had our “go pick up your shit from school” day (as in we stopped by HomeDepot en route and bought a bin and emptied WarriorGirl’s locker into it).Virtual Middle School starts at 8:45am. She is SO NOT READY, which is fine. The school-issue Chromebook has a broken camera, which leaves her with the vastly superior 11th Birthday Chromebook, complete with stylus and touchscreen. She hasn’t cleared the table, she hasn’t moved things to the new bin… sigh. Tomorrow morning will really suck.
This is going to suck. There’s absolutely no way on earth to avoid the essential suckage of the next 3 weeks. Various of our normal suppliers are closed (sob, Ranc’s), all of the diners are shuttered, we’re hoping not to get a total lockdown so that places like our bakery and coffee roaster are still able to operate.
HerrDoktor’s set up in the basement; I’ll be supervising the middle schooler, doing the provisioning, and laundry and dishes and whatnot.
Deep Breath…
Leto
@MomSense: I mentioned this yesterday but I went to urgent care and was diagnosed with bronchitis. Didn’t think I had it, as I don’t fit the symptoms, but also I’ve been sick for a week, and Avalune was THIS CLOSE to smothering me with a pillow because of my cough.
Hope your sons anxiety calms.
Kristine
We set up the voting site this evening. The building provided a portable handwashing station that they placed at the entry. We also have disinfectant wipes. I’m bringing vinyl gloves and my own hand sanitizer.
I will be very glad when tomorrow is over and I hope it proves better than today, which included unexpected vet visit and not so unexpected car repair.
The word for the week is “unsettled.”
Percysowner
I have a cough, but it’s just a hangover from having Influenza type A a week ago. I’ll be coughing for a long time. no fever, so I’m not worried. I’m still watching my granddaughter while my daughter and her husband work from home. She was told she could work from home, but is afraid she’s going to get blowback from her boss, because the city she works for hasn’t made it mandatory.
I’ll ask her tomorrow, if we get a shelter in place order (no indication we will, but who can predict the next few weeks) does she want me to shelter at my place, or pack up my dog and my cat and shelter at hers. I can bring a blow up bed and we could combine forces. OTOH, it would be awfully close for a couple of weeks.
I’m probably just borrowing trouble, but I like to plan ahead for the bad stuff.
Brachiator
@lamh36:
BTW: Did you see that Idris Elba announced that he had tested positive for the corona virus?
Sister Golden Bear
@Annie: FYI, my SF friends report that the corner grocery stores are generally well-stocked and not crowded, albeit with higher prices.
Mandalay
Hoo boy……
BeautifulPlumage
This was a nice respite, and the whole youtube channel sounds good. The twitter replies are great!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@debbie:
I’m conflicted on this. Overall, I think he’s done an excellent job trying to mitigate this disease. I do think that simply extending the primary for a few more weeks and encouraging voters to vote absentee would be a good solution
cintibud
A bit nervous about volunteering at the St. Vincent DePaul food pantry tomorrow. Folks need our services – especially since there is no large grocery stores close and shelves may have been bare when they were able to catch a ride. We have already packaged up the food and will have our clients stay in their car. No ID’s, no signatures, will just take names – we’ll recognize most folks. Someone else will bring the food and send the folks on their way. Will wear gloves and keep my distance. Still I’m the baby of the crew at 64. The highest risk folks we are telling to stay home but my wife was alarmed when she was helping packaging up the food with the other volunteers this afternoon at the general lack of concern. Older folks not being all that careful.
But folks really need the help
Brachiator
@FlyingToaster:
I hear that it is very easy to switch from one Chromebook to another. Is this correct?
Adam L Silverman
@Sister Golden Bear: Great, would you hold a place in line for me. I’ll be there in four days if I drive it like I stole it!//
Brendan in NC
I went from being told last Thursday to start working from home on the 20th; to being told Friday to pack up my desk and head home.
Weekend still had too many people out and about for my taste.
Took everything i had to get out of bed and start work this morning, but traffic sounded a lot lighter than normal.
I bet one of my workmates that we’d be out for 1 month, not just the 2 weeks they said. Looks like it may be longer than that.
We’ve got 38 cases in NC, and the vast majority of them are in Raleigh near David Anderson – I’m 3 hours SW of him.
BellyCat
@dmsilev: Didn’t know there were that many Steeler fans in LA. ;-)
Adam L Silverman
@Mandalay:
What’s never been done before in this country is having him as president.
The Dangerman
Numb, mostly; I think this is something comparable to the shock of, say, an auto accident (chosen because I came within a fraction of a second of being maimed (at least) or killed (more likely) April 4, 2018). We are near the 2 year anniversary and the courts are still going through pretrial motions; last continuance is to almost September and who the hell knows how THAT might be pushed back. So, initial shock, followed by the shock of this BS going on for who knows for how long.
When I’m not numb, my panic attacks can kick in fairly severely; in case Folks have ever wondered why I left LA (and Seattle), it was because of the panic attacks on the road with traffic. Instead of taking Paxil (I tried it; hated it), I took off and have done the best I could do in the Not Big City. About the only thing I could compare it to is the panic that set in the first night after surgery to have my mouth wired shut for 8 weeks. Maybe it was 10 weeks, I forget. December, 1984.
Anyway, that first night sucked, but the lesson is, one step at a time. Don’t think about the 8 weeks or 16 weeks we’ll have to deal with this shit. Think about tomorrow, work back to today if necessary, and if that doesn’t work, chill out and meditate on the next breath, or pray, or whatever else falls into your Belief (or non-belief) system.
I saw a cool bumper sticker someplace a few days ago in town (think it was Costco; my favorite store):
“Love is the lesson; Life is the classroom”
Perfect; I may have to find and order it. In the store today (emergency not Costco run; I fucked up with my stock of low dose aspirin), everyone was as chill as could be, extremely polite, no being rude or pushy, all trying to be extra helpful (me included; I’m 6’7″ and less height advantaged Folks, mostly older women, come and find me for that top shelf with regularity and I don’t mind in the least). It was kinda fun. Kinda reminded me of an old practice of mine of starting my Christmas shopping about Noon on 12/24. Everyone has that look in their eyes as 12/24 winds down and … again, it’s kinda fun. Maybe I’m a masochist.
I think the common emotion is everyone is fucking scared out of their minds … it’s interesting to observe and experience. Didn’t want to do this but it wasn’t my choice. So, might as well … observe and learn.
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: He’s definitely going to wind up with his tuchas in jail because that judge is going to hold him in contempt.
lamh36
@cain: naw…I don’t expect to hear anything for at least a week, especially with all the coronovirus stuff going on.
Thanks for asking though!
Kent
Here’s my 1918 pandemic story and the story of the worst shipwreck in US history that you most likely have never heard of. The sinking of the SS PRINCESS SOPHIA in Juneau Alaska on October 25, 1918. There have been books written about the sinking and you can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Princess_Sophia The short story is that this was one of the Canadian Pacific Railway steamships traveling between Vancouver BC and Skagway AK. The ship was on its return voyage from Skagway, coming down the inside passage towards Juneau in an early fall snowstorm when it ran up on a reef outside Juneau about 1 mile from shore. Numerous Juneau area fishing boats arrived on the scene to help rescue passengers but they were turned away by the ship’s captain who had telegraphed ahead to a sister ship that was going to arrive the next day to take off all the passengers. But during the night a storm came up and together with the rising tide lifted the ship off the reef and slid it into deeper water. All 364 persons on board perished in the freezing water and storm. Dead bodies were washing up along the shore for days later. Reportedly:
During a younger period of my life I lived in Juneau and owned a dive boat. A group of friends and I dove on the Princess Sophia numerous times. The wreck is still there, mainly intact, but pretty picked lean of artifacts which are illegal to remove. There is another steamship that shipwrecked nearby in Juneau in 1952 called the Princess Kathleen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Princess_Kathleen_(1924) that we also dove on and numerous more obscure shipwrecks up and down the inside passage.
To bring a long story short. The reason that likely none of you have heard of the wreck of the Princess Sophia which remains the worst maritime disaster on the Pacific Coast in US history, is because it happened during the height of the Spanish Flu epidemic and just weeks before the end of World War I. World events just overtook it and it never seeped into any sort of collective memory outside perhaps Juneau. I knew all of this history but I didn’t really understand the meaning of a flu pandemic until this month. It consumes all in terms of news.
If you are interested in more history on the PRINCESS SOPHIA here is more: https://princesssophia.org/history/the-sinking/
Gin & Tonic
Also reposting from downstairs:
My employer has gone to “largely” work from home. Limited technical staff may remain on site for support purposes – since I was practicing “social distancing” long before it was cool, I’ve elected, for now, to go in. I’ve tried working from home and it’s not for me. Now I get to go to a mostly empty office and have even less likelihood of contact with other humans.
I will have to put on pants, though.
mrmoshpotato
@Mandalay: “I rate myself at 12 out of 10 at being tremendous!”
Jess
@Brachiator: It should be, because everything is in the cloud. The Chromebook is just the receiver for the signal, so to speak. That’s the theory, anyway.
West of the Rockies
@Kent:
Stay safe and sane. Your situation sounds better than most. I always enjoy your comments.
Adam L Silverman
@lamh36: Have you consider telling them that you’re the preferred infectious disease laboratory specialist of one Idris Elba? That should move you to the top of HR’s list of potential hires!//
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Adam L Silverman:
Such a simple fucking question too. All he had to say was, “Yes, absolutely. I take full responsibility for the failure of getting enough testing kits produced. I and my administration are working closely with state governments and private companies to quickly increase testing capacity.”
That’s it. But his ego won’t let him
lamh36
Great thread from Jason Johnson on the subject of the OH gov cancelling the primary tomorrow
check the thread out here: https://twitter.com/DrJasonJohnson/status/1239728649282236417
BeautifulPlumage
Lucky to have a key position in a small company. We’ve switched from event tents to medical tents. Today we set up a drive through testing tent for the local medical center, and we’re working with gov agencies. We are being generous with our normal cancellation policies, but a lot of our customers are hurting.
Meanwhile, I’m shopping for a sister in the high risk group. So far shops have been stocked, except for sanitizer. Having sunny weather today & yesterday helped!
Kent
Trivially easy. You just log in with your google account on any chromebook and everything is there. As long as you have internet access. I taught for years with a cart of chromebooks in my classroom and students would just grab whichever one to use. Didn’t matter. It’s all in the cloud. You can save stuff to the local drive if you want if you are going to work away from internet, but basically no one does that and they come with small drives anyway.
Now they tend to just issue them to the students because it is so much easier to manage them that way and you need less total chromebooks than maintaining them in every classroom. Plus the students have them at home for homework.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
just occurred to me: Did anyone ask The Beast about the report over the weekend that he tried to essentially bribe a German pharma company to limit their (still developing) vaccine to American customers?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@lamh36:
Yeah, this. We have vote-by-mail in OH. Anybody can vote absentee if they wish. I turned in some ballots today to my BOE. There’s no reason why it should completely be postponed until June, although absentee ballots are apparently still being accepted
Kelly
Mrs. Kelly and I had a nice afternoon XC skiing. Maintained our isolation, had a patch of old growth firs all to ourselves. Morning temp about 20 and 4″ of lovely new snow on very firm base.
Kent
Thanks. Counting our blessings. Living in an affluent suburban area with lots of space but also lots of stores nearby is quite the blessing for this sort of thing. Plus we have very robust FIOS so that’s nice. Just worried for my wife but aren’t we all. My kids are the perfect age and temperament for this so I know I’m very lucky.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kent:
Your wife is no longer seeing patients face-to-face, right?
Sister Golden Bear
Since I’ve been pretty house-bound since getting laid off at the end of January (Marie Kondo-ing way too much clutter and trying to catch up with various home repairs), I’ve already got cabin fever, and starting to go feral.
I definitely need to get myself back on a schedule, but feeling really unfocused at the moment. Not good, since I need to get serious about polishing my resume and putting together my portfolio, so that I can start job hunting.
I checked with the plumbing company and they’re confident that they can start the sewer repair on the 30th (plumbers are except from the shelter in place order). It was supposed to start a week ago, but ran into delays getting permits. It’s not an emergency, but it is a real pain in the ass, since I have to be fairly careful about how often I do laundry and run the dishwasher, the latter becoming more of an issue now that I’m making far more meals at home.
Foundation repair company is coming over tomorrow morning to do an estimate (they claim they’re also exempt). I’m OK with it, since the estimator doesn’t need to come into the house, just the crawl space.
My biggest concern is that I was supposed to go into the office on the 31st to sign the severance package, which apparently can only be signed on the last day of work,* and which is a hefty change of change I’m counting only. Hoping maybe they can do docusign instead. I emailed HR, but have yet to hear back from them.
*For the layoff, state law required them to give us 60-days notice, but us walking dead were encouraged to wrap things up ASAP and stop showing up for work. So I’ve been essentially been on paid time-off the last couple weeks.
Redshift
I’m doing okay. Working at home is nothing new for me, and my company already had widespread videoconferencing because we have so many people in different locations working together. My parents are being smart and staying cooped up except for taking walks a safe distance from other people. I’m going to do some grocery shopping for them later in the week, sooner if it looks like we’re going to be more restricted. I have a few elderly neighbors/Dem volunteers in the neighborhood I need to check on. I’m pretty sure they all have family in the area, but I want let them know I can help if they need it.
I’m doing hand washing and social distancing, but not going overboard with it.
Gin & Tonic
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The company has very explicitly denied that report.
FlyingToaster
@Brachiator: Since everything seems to be stored with the Google login, she just had to log out of the home account, log into the school account, and wait about 3 minutes for the apps to sync. That’s because she hadn’t used the school account on that box since last June.
It’s a pretty good system, so now that the home and school accounts are both current, she should be good to go.
Her music school is also using Zoom, so she’ll be using her home account for that. I’m just trying to figure out how to get the chromebook up to an acceptable height. We don’t have phonebooks any more…
catclub
Did the senate ever take up the House bill? Should that be news?
HumboldtBlue
@Kent:
Thanks for that link, that’ll be fascinating to look into.
Sports play a huge role in our society and with sports out of the picture the void is being felt very deeply.
Fair Economist
@Poe Larity:
Deceased are tested only in exceptional circumstances. Nobody’s nasal swabbing corpses. I think Washington has done two; I assume they’d already swabbed for other reasons. No others I know of.
Twitter is swarming with anecdotes of undiagnosed COVID-like patients, and national flu-like illness tracking strongly suggests there are quite a few. So there are certainly unreported deaths happening. As of reporting from the week before last (up to March 9) the death rate for flu-like illness was not remarkable so there is not yet a *lot* of deaths.
MomSense
@Leto:
Thanks, Leto. If we can get through the next week without getting really sick, I think we are going to enjoy this stay the fuck home thing. Right now I’m hearing really nice acoustic guitar playing coming from upstairs. My mom just applauded from her room. Pandemics are weird.
Middle kid is sending us tons of videos of puppy shenanigans.
lamh36
@Brachiator: I did. Every one on my FB and all my sisters text or tagged me multiple times while I was at work…LOL
Kent
Just the acute care cases. Everything non-critical is diverted to virtual care visits on phone or their propietary version of skype through their web site.
So she still has about 1/2 of her time at the clinic and 1/2 at home doing virtual care. They still basically have no test kits so are still flying blind. They are only testing patients that actually get hospital admitted and only if they test negative for flu
The testing clusterfuck brought on by this President is just beyond belief.
debbie
@lamh36:
Bullshit. He’s only delaying it to June so people can vote absentee.
lamh36
@Adam L Silverman: Believe me if I could I WOULD!!!
lol
Adam L Silverman
@catclub: Not yet.
The Dangerman
@Kent:
Will check it out. You might be interested in the wreck of the Brother Jonathon (near Crescent City, CA). Fascinating event. Shortly after the Civil War and some of the heroes of the event were African American (I think they were all crew; maybe mostly crew, I forget). Heavy loss of life, with high profile victims (there was someone connected to Lincoln on board) and the lower end crowd (a bunch of “working women” going North to provide their “services”).
Regine Touchon
@Brachiator: So he got a test . The plot thickens.
Brachiator
@FlyingToaster:
Thanks for the info. A relative is thinking of getting a Chromebook for her son. I like to relay real-world experiences about devices whenever I see how other people are using them.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Adam L Silverman:
Unconscionable
Jeffro
Home: everyone’s totally fine…even Fro Jr. seems to understand that just because his school is closed for the next three weeks (and likely for the remainder of the year, although he doesn’t know that yet) that learning will still be taking place at the Jeffro Academy.
Work: everyone’s mildly freaking out…higher ed is not happy about having to move totally online for the remainder of the year. Oh, the sacrifice! Oh, get a grip.
Other: one of my college roommates opened his first restaurant this past December, a lifelong dream of his. All was well…until…um, yeah. I’m trying to think of how I might gently offer him some advice on how to pare down operations, go takeout- or delivery-only, etc. We’ll see how it goes.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@debbie:
What part of Ohio do you live in, out of curiosity?
West of the Rockies
@The Dangerman:
I got hit by a second-time drunk on I-5 on January 31, 2005. I was in a Honda del Sol, southbound at 65. He was in an F150, northbound at 65 until veering through the oleander divide and over my engine compartment. I had cracked ribs, bruises, and a TBI (and PTSD). Took two years to go through court. He was, of course, uninsured.
Other than some loss of memory from the ensuing two years, I’m all good. But, yeah, such an accident is numbing, terrifying, and takes a long while to emotionally recover from. Stay strong.
Jeffro
@Lyrebird: Have you checked out Khan Academy’s stuff yet? Lessons AND a schedule!! :)
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kent:
Oh, that’s rough! I hope you and your family stay well during this crisis
Adam L Silverman
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Part of the delay is actually on Congressman Gohmert who ate up a bunch of time today by demanding that the technical corrections be read into the record.
Gin & Tonic
@catclub: Louie Gohmert prevented the House bill from getting to the Senate.
Sister Golden Bear
Unfortunately the first Q&As are faaarrr too wordy, but at least San Mateo County now has a FAQ to explain the shelter in place order, instead of asking people to read the actual order itself.
(I’ve signed up to get emergency alerts, so I just a got text message with a link to it.)
Jeffro
@mad citizen: I agree, he really should finish “Part II”…
…how has the national snooze media failed to throw out even an occasional question about that?? It boggles the mind.
Stroke out, Orange Moron, stroke out soon.
Adam L Silverman
@Jeffro: If he needs some rock solid desert recipes for his takeout/delivery options, have him send me an email.
Brachiator
@Kent:
Makes sense. My niece and nephew had laptops from middle school on, but I think that these were Windows PCs (I think).
Kent
Only way to go for kids and education. I’ve taught with PC laptops, iPads and Chromebooks and Chromebooks are by far the superior educational platform for so many reasons it would take paragraphs to list them. Plus they are ridiculously cheap.
Old school parents sometimes don’t like them because their kids aren’t learning MS Office. Screw that. MS Office won’t even hardly exist when they finally get to the working word in 10 years or so. Everything will be cloud based. Google Docs do everything you could possibly need up through the HS level unless you are getting into some very advanced AP type classes and doing very sophisticated spreadsheets and graphs.
JanieM
@MomSense:
Me too.
I got sick on Weds. 2/19 after walking around the Eastern Prom in Portland in a bitter cold wind on Monday 2/17, then going to trivia night at a bar. Bad, bad cough for a few days (and it still hasn’t totally tapered off, but then coughs can linger), achy, tired, just wiped out for 4 or 5 days. Don’t know if I had a fever because I didn’t have a working thermometer, but if I did it wasn’t very high. But then again, some people get sick mildly, some severely, so who knows.
I’ve kept thinking it couldn’t possibly have been COVID-19, but on the other hand I’ve thought for weeks, partly thanks to Anne Laurie’s fabulous coverage, that the virus was probably already circulating, and now I see from the CDC website that the first confirmed cases in the US started to have symptoms on 1/14.
I also had sneezing and a runny nose, and until today I hadn’t seen a symptoms list that included those as possibilities.
At 70, I’m staying home regardless, and luckily my son is nearby and can get groceries for me.
Mary G
Most of my housemates’ caregiving clients are Fox-News-only watchers who have ignored everything as a fake news hoax, seen the party line switch on a dime today and are freaking out, demanding trips to the store to stock up on toilet paper and hand sanitizer, claiming that going out to lunch at Duke’s in Newport Beach is safe because it’s a high-end restaurant, and otherwise making their lives miserable. They are both ready to quit.
FlyingToaster
@Brachiator: I’ll recommend getting the best one in the preferred price range. As much memory as possible; USB-C ports, headphone port.
We got WG the touchscreen/stylus/fold the keyboard under and use it as a tablet version because she likes to do art as well as music and science and math and watching YouTube.
Schools really like them because if a camera or mic or whatever goes defective, they are like, “oh, hold on, here, take the cover off and switch for one with a working camera — meet me in the school driveway!”. I’m sure I’ll get that e-mail from [redacted] on Wednesday.
Aleta
@The Dangerman: Thanks. That helps. ? (Today was rough.)
Aleta
@The Dangerman: Thanks. That helps. ? (Today was rough.)
Emma from FL
As of tomorrow, I am on a three days home/two days work week for the foreseeable future. After extended spring break ends, classes will be completely online. The only good thing is that once we are down to skeleton crews and virtual reference only it will be easy to keep away from most folk. Pantry stocked and extra flash-frozen veggies in the freezer. I’m good. For a while. We have a nice big yard so I am planning to spend long hours outside under the mango tree.
Kent
I had carts of Dell laptops before that and they were a NIGHTMARE compared to Chromebooks. Endlessly long startup sequences, always getting software upgrades and bloat pushed onto them. Kids are always stupid and save their work to the local drive rather than their network drive then you have to chase down the exact laptop they had 2 days ago in some other teacher’s classroom to find their work. All of that is completely seamless on chromebooks and they start up in seconds. Plus will pretty much do anything you can possibly want for education.
lamh36
The situation in Ohio RIGHT NOW, is why you don’t wait until the day or so before a primary is supposed to happen to try and cancel it. Either you extend it, allow more folks to vote absentee, or allow for ALL mail in voting. NOT just canceling wholesale.
We can all agree, that confusion causes Chaos…and chaos can be just another way to suprress votes!
Steeplejack (phone)
As reported earlier, I changed my reservation to fly from Las Vegas back to D.C. tomorrow afternoon instead of Wednesday. I feel very good about that decision, since the pace of things happening is accelerating drastically.
Friday or Saturday I was able to visit my mother at her new assisted-living place, go upstairs and check out her little suite, but by Sunday they were not letting visitors inside. Then this afternoon they announced that their residents can’t go out except for serious medical appointments, etc. Aand I think they’re even trying to keep them in their rooms. The manager told me they were probably going to close the dining room and deliver meals to their rooms.
More and more of the casinos are closing—maybe all of them by now. (Not that I went to any.) Clark County schools finally were closed for the next few weeks. The supermarkets have been chaotic, as elsewhere. It’s high time to head home, shed the tactical gear (pants!) and hole up in Threadkill Lane.
The Sighthound Hall mob got home safely this evening, so that’s good. Bro’ Man texted me that he’s going back into the trenches at his HMO clinic tomorrow, where it’s business as usual. Very little (visible) advance planning for the emergency.
lamh36
@lamh36: So DeWine is closing the polls anyway…still this could all end if Bernie dropped out, but we already know, he won’t!
Fair Economist
I’m remarkably calm, considering how concerned I’ve been. I’ve had a couple of crying fits over the past week, but they were IMO reasonable responses to particular pieces of news (like the Italian hospitals being overrun). I’ve done my preps, could pretty much stay home for weeks, so I’ve done what I can and am willing to accept what I can’t change.
I think Cali is now over-reacting with a *complete* shutdown in the Bay Area – the Chinese data indicated complete shutdown drives R0 to 0.3, so a milder shutdown would still exterminate the epidemic. Having *nobody* working is going to be a problem.
Hubby is fretting about his over-65 subordinates. His company is not allowing work at home, even though it’s fairly capable of doing it for most work (engineering design and office work). Ironically since the company can’t decide what to do, *nothing* is getting done because everybody is so uncertain and worried.
BBA
A terrifying thought: the only thing that could save us is Trump being in the White House.
No, hear me out.
I’m seeing nonsensical conspiracy theories, by the likes of that former Milwaukee sheriff, that the virus is a hoax and it’s perfectly safe to gather in public. Fortunately, nobody seems to be buying it. If Hillary were president, that’d be Trump tweeting dangerous nonsense, and 27% of the American public would swallow it whole. That’s enough to defeat any of these countermeasures we’re taking. Especially because the blame for delays in testing appears to be mostly on career CDC and FDA staff, so it’d be happening under any president…
So for the moment, it’s better to have Trump inside the government pissing out than outside pissing in. No pee tape reference intended.
hueyplong
Just got back to NC from (ill-timed) vacation in California.
On the way out, it was still bring called a hoax. We were self-conscious about being nearly the only people wearing masks. Apparently people like us were the ones who canceled and our fellow passengers were trumpers.
On the way back the flight attendant asked my wife where she got her mask.
A lot has changed in a week.
debbie
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Columbus
ETA: Turns out it was a group of elderly voters who filed the lawsuit. They said, more or less, that they shouldn’t lose their constitutional right to vote because of the risk of coronavirus.
The Dangerman
@West of the Rockies:
Thanks. On the accident, I’m basically fine other than bummed this is dragging out. My car was totaled (it was beat to shit, hit basically front left tire, thankfully not the door) but I walked away without a scratch. At the Hospital (the Fire Department basically insisted), the ER Doc looked at me, looked at the picture of the car, looked at me again and did one of those “are you shitting me?” looks. Anyway, I’m doing fine there, thanks again.
Adam L Silverman
@lamh36: Apparently from the most recent reporting I’ve seen, he is extending it. What they’re doing is moving the final date of the last day one can vote in person to sometime in June and will begin working the details for additional vote by mail/absentee voting and early voting. And I’m sure the plaintiffs who won in court today will be back in court to ensure that the judge is involved in ensuring there isn’t any actual shenanigans here.
glory b
@BellyCat: I saw the same. I drove from the east end of Pittsburgh to Butler County, hardly any traffic.
Mallard Filmore
@Adam L Silverman:
Well, the Race Across America bicycle riders did it in 5 (going the other way with the wind at their backs). Then the race organizers decreed that sleep was required in their daily schedule.
Mnemosyne
@Leto:
Dude, I’m pretty sure that’s the #1 symptom of bronchitis.
debbie
@Adam L Silverman:
The plaintiffs lost. Then the governor ordered the health director to declare a health emergency to close the polls.
NoraLenderbee
I’ve been working at home lately–fortunate to have the kind of job that is suitable–and we’re kind of homebodies, so not much has changed yet. The other half has been stressed out by the grocery shopping and other people’s panic buying. His job is closed, but we don’t depend on that income.
Mostly, I’m exhausted from absorbing other people’s anxiety. Sitting at the computer and reading updates every other minute is wearing me out and I really should stop, soon, after I just read this one thing …
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
It’s official. Biden 37.85% Bernie 36.44%
MoCA Ace
I am probably the most optimistic person I know and more than once have been told I am annoyingly positive. That’s my baseline. Anyhow, I was texting with my son earlier today and face timed my daughter and grand kids a few minutes ago. The stress and fear in both of them was palpable. My son actually texted that he missed us for Christ sake… what 22 year old does that. Maybe it was mostly stress for them and the fear was from my end, but after saying goodbye to my grandson I had to get up and leave the room so I wouldn’t break down crying in front of my wife. That’s how I’m fucking doing.
The stress of this whole fucking decade of Trump is finally breaking me down.
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: If the judge ordered the polls to stay open, how could the plaintiffs have lost?
Lyrebird
@Jeffro: Hey thanks, I only knew about their acquisition of Duck Duck Moose, had not seen all that!
FWIW I spent several years living in NoVa and enjoy hearing of your family’s adventures when I run across them here.
debbie
@JanieM:
I’ve heard that there’s high fever and no sniffles with COVID-19.
I had a 13-week cold over the winter (Sept — Jan), but it was definitely a cold. I have a very naive belief that dealing with that amped up my immune system that will help me avoid this crap.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Adam L Silverman:
Because the state were the plaintiffs and wanted the polls closed
NVM: Saw debbie’s comment at 119. I thought the state had to file the lawsuit to stop the polls?
debbie
@Adam L Silverman:
The plantiffs were the citizens who wanted the election delayed.
Brachiator
@FlyingToaster:
@Kent:
Great info and tips. Thanks very much.
I think I will also pass along some of this to a retired buddy who has an old laptop that he is not very happy with. Something with a little more ease of use might appeal to him.
Lyrebird
@MoCA Ace: Good thoughts from a fellow commenter coming your way!
I hope this doesn’t come out wrong… I wish my mostly 20 yr old students had at least a dollop of this concern. A few have had health issues and are scared, the rest seem to have no concern at all, and that makes them a risk to everyone else.
I’m scared for my own parents, have to admit…
mrmoshpotato
Ahhh….the joy of realizing that Faux “News” has been taking a shit into your skull since 1996.
JanieM
@debbie:
I heard the no sniffles thing, then read this article today, which cites WHO:
If you can experience anything from no perceptible symptoms to death, then the lack of a high fever doesn’t seem to mean much.
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: Never mind, I finally saw the reporting on what happened in court. I’m tracking now!
Jess
@Brachiator: The annoying thing about Chromebooks is that it’s hard to get them to play nicely with printers. Things may have improved, but initially you needed another (regular) computer to get them set up to print. I had to try several different printers (all claimed to be Chromebook friendly, but they lied!), and battle for hours with tech support, to get my mother’s Chromebook to print. And even then, it was highly unreliable. They’re good as a second computer, though.
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: Got it. I finally pulled the reporting. I’m tracking now!
James E Powell
@BellyCat:
Didn’t know there were that many Steeler fans in LA. ;-)
Judging by the gear I see and the crowds at dedicated football bars, I would guess that the Steelers are the 3rd, maybe 4th most popular NFL team in Los Angeles after, in order, Raiders, Cowboys and maybe the Packers.
Kent
Cromebooks are the way to go for old folk unless they are absolutely wedded to some PC apps that they can’t do without like Quicken or Photoshop or something like that. For the typical older retiree like my 80-something parents who only do email, facebook, web surfing, online shopping, etc. they are perfect. Only people who aren’t going to like them are those boomer types who are absolutely wedded to the MS office apps, or creative professionals who need more powerful platforms and apps.
Plus, the are virtually disposable these days. Costco web site has 11.9″ Samsungs for $129 these days, delivered.
Mary G
MoCA Ace
@Lyrebird: Thanks
Son’s fiance is high risk due to compromised lung function from a genetic issue. To make matters worse they are currently at different schools. He also works in a nursing home as a CNA as he prepares for medical school so yeah… he gets it!
He’s one of the most well-grounded kids I know but parents worry.
Kent
I have a Brother WiFi printer and it took some doing to get everything setup. So you are right. It’s not super intuitive or easy unless they have improved things since. One work-around is to use a flash drive if you printer has a USB port for printing off a flash drive (many do). But the you pretty much have print your chrome stuff to a .pdf file and then print the .pdf on the printer.
Mnemosyne
@The Dangerman:
If you have the money or really good insurance, see if there are any psychologists near you who offer EMDR for post-traumatic stress disorder (which, frankly, it sounds like you have — barely surviving a car accident is fucking traumatic!) It’s a specialized therapy specifically designed to treat trauma, and it has scientific evidence going back to the 1980s showing that it can work. It’s not a quick or easy fix, and it sounds like woo when you read about it, but it does seem to work.
Kelly
From Mrs Kelly’s social media:
“Your grandparents were called to war. You’ve been called to sit on the couch. You can do this.”
Getting out for a ski today really boosted our morale. My morale had been spiraling down for several weeks and rebounded Friday. I’ve prepared as best I can and that knowledge is calming.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Kent:
I used Chromebooks in high school. These didn’t really start appearing until around 2012/2013 in my school, at least as far as I remember. I still prefer an actual laptop and like the MS Office programs. Still, I only really use my laptop to occasionally game, do work, and web surf.
Like you said, those Chromebooks are definitely the way to go for 80+ folks because they’re relatively simple
Suzanne
I have a sore throat (not bad) and both Mr. Suzanne and I have occasional dry cough. I am alternately freaking out and remembering that it’s allergy season and that I am allergic to every damn thing. SuzMom is at the grocery store, because of course she is.
debbie
@JanieM:
So much for something definitive.
Suzanne
I should also note that I am Suzanne +1 and see how long it takes for a certain special someone to call me a junkie and pothead and a drunk, takeyerpick.
Momdino
Here with spouse and recently widowed mother in-law, aged 86, who suffers from advanced dementia. Daughter in Philly, server in high end restaurants, anticipates no income for the duration; trying to arrange her relocation back here temporarily. We will self isolate for duration.
debbie
@Adam L Silverman:
It’s all still sketchy, but I think what they’re doing is canceling in-person voting and extending early voting and absentee voting.
sdhays
@BBA: This only makes sense if you believe that everything that the Dump political appointees have done since January 2017 don’t matter. The cutting of the CDC budget doesn’t matter? The elimination of the Pandemic Response Team doesn’t matter? Shitting on China and our allies for 3 years doesn’t matter? We aren’t where we are because of a few mistakes made by the career staff that are still there.
This reminds me of false assumption made with regard to 9/11. The assumption accepted by the media is that 9/11 would have happened even if Al Gore had been President. It was just too well-planned and the bureaucracy was just too compartmentalized. But that’s not even close to a given. The W Administration didn’t consider terrorism a serious national security issue. Period. No one paid attention to the red flags until it was too late. The Clinton Administration wasn’t perfect, but they took it seriously, and Gore and his people would have too. It’s at least 50/50 that bin Laden would have been thwarted if Gore had been President, and I think the odds are better than that. We just don’t want to admit it.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Apple May Acquire Disney Due To Coronavirus Stock Crash Says Analyst
debbie
@Kent:
I got a Chromebook so I could work from home. I didn’t want my company anywhere near my Mac laptop. It’s fine for what it is.
JanieM
@The Dangerman:
@Mnemosyne:
I did some work with a counselor years ago and one tool in her kit was EMDR. It helped me a lot.
Kelly
@Kent:
Second that. I’ve had my 83 year old Mom on one for 6~7 years. Been easier for both of us.
Tdjr
I feel like someone on the edge of war. But I don’t know if I’m a soldier or a civilian.
ziggy
Another day in paradise here–there’s a rabid raccoon running around, he was on the next-door neighbor’s deck for a while this morning, then took off. I can’t let our crazy chihuahua mix outside until we figure this out. A guy drowned at the boat launch nearby today. The kitchen and pantry are ripped apart because the floor is getting redone. My back is tweaked and I need it for work, for as long as I can work. Tomorrow should be better I hope!
dmsilev
LA Times story on restaurants who are transitioning to delivery:
James E Powell
@catclub:
To our press/media, the only things that count as news are whatever Trump says and whatever other people say about what Trump says.
Genine Tyson
I’m in the Bay Area and it’s creepy around here. I’ve been under the weather since Friday so I’ve been home since then. I have to give props to where I work. A lot of employees are working remotely, those who can’t still get paid, and they’re giving us a few days to prepare for the 3-week directive. It’s not, officially, a lockdown yet.
I have enough food until the end of the week and I’m getting an Instacart delivery Wednesday. Amazon Fresh and Prime Now are done. People went crazy at the supermarkets today. I’m going this weekend to give them time to re-stock.
lamh36
@Adam L Silverman: So now I’m confused again and I don’t even live in Ohio. So ai can imagine if I did how much mire frustrating it would be ??♀️
Im off to bed but please post about it if you can and Ima was it in the morning.
SMH. this shit is cray!
Good night BJ
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@dmsilev:
Eww, lol. Must be the beans
James E Powell
@The Dangerman:
@Kent:
If we’re talking shipwreck stories, I recommend Ashes Under Water: The SS Eastland and the Shipwreck that Shook America. 844 passengers and crew died in the largest loss of life from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes. Not just a shipwreck story, but a Clarence Darrow trial story.
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: I just read the Secretary of State’s order. The problem seems to be that neither the governor, the director of public health (or whatever the title is in Ohio), nor the secretary of state have the authority to actually adjust anything. The public health director can close the polling sites down, but only the Ohio legislature can actually adjust the election dates, parameters, rules, and/or protocols.
Major Major Major Major
@Suzanne: according to my handy checklist I downloaded, you may have a cold.
Adam L Silverman
@BBA:
The Dangerman
@JanieM:
@Mnemosyne:
Thanks, I’ll look into that when things calm down. I’ve seen it in passing and I’m very much into “healing the brain” stuff. I think EMDR qualifies although I haven’t read too much about it.
Also, I have no issue if it’s a little out there. Over the years, I’ve done sensory deprivation tanks (way cool, I mean EXTREMELY cool), binaural beats (kinda cool), and more traditional, not out there stuff. There’s a guy named Dave Asprey (who is a bit of a bullshit artist) who pointed me towards this place in Canada that does some serious reprocessing of the brain stuff. It’s on Vancouver Island. And expensive as hell. Don’t even ask about insurance.
Anyway, thanks again for the tip.
Adam L Silverman
@ziggy: Have you called animal control?
Suzanne
@Major Major Major Major: Yep. I may also have post-nasal drip from the allergies I’ve struggled with for 25 years.
ETA: I may also be tired. That narrows it down.
Major Major Major Major
I think moving an election is totally justifiable right now. A week ago I doubt a Congress would have supported it; the public health crisis only really dawned on a lot of people a couple days ago, and many still haven’t realized.
I agree it causes confusion and smells faintly when it comes from a republican governor, but if the governor were a Dem I would for sure be fine with it. People will get sick and die.
Adam L Silverman
@dmsilev: That isn’t an emergency taco kit. That’s my standing order.
MisterForkbeard
@JanieM: I have a Trumper friend who is convinced that the thing exists but is media hysteria and only exists to hurt Trump… and is triumphantly reposting every story about someone who got COVID-19 and wasn’t very sick.
He doesn’t understand that we know and it’s part of the problem – people who don’t think they’re re very sick are spreading it around. And that 15 of people who get it are seriously I’ll. :(
Adam L Silverman
@James E Powell: Gohmert held it up.
Major Major Major Major
@Suzanne: highly likely!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Major Major Major Major:
Ah, so you consulted Dr. WebMD? ; )
?BillinGlendaleCA
@James E Powell: Raiders make sense since they played in LA and the Cowboys had summer training in Thousand Oaks for a long time.
Leto
@Mnemosyne: Her wanting to smother me is the #1 symptom of everything :P
debbie
@Adam L Silverman:
Yeah, voter registration has been over. I heard they will hold all onto of the votes they’ve gotten so far, in whatever form they were received, and then count them in June.
And yes, only the legislature can actually change the date. This will be interesting because they’re pretty Tea Party-ed up.
Searcher
I’m now on “recommended” WFH and have therefore cut my 4.5 hours of commuting from my daily schedule to self-isolate on my 40 acre woodlot, where I WFH from the accessory cottage on the opposite side of the property from the house, which to my toddler is indistinguishable from me going to work, except that I come home for lunch.
It’s been so, so hard on me.
Adam L Silverman
@Major Major Major Major: If the governor were a Democrat and it was a Republican primary, he’d have been dragged out of his house and killed by now after 8 solid hours of Fox News and Rush Limbaugh screaming for his head on a pike.
Suzanne
I just cannot bear to wear pants any longer. I didn’t even make it to a bra today. #workfromhomelife
Major Major Major Major
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): it’s a little chart of relative symptoms for flu, cold, and coronavirus. You may have seen it going around! It’s handy
debbie
@debbie:
Ned Foley has a more recent tweet which clarifies that the votes already cast were never in peril and that this is an extension, not a delay.
Fair Economist
@JanieM: WHO says runny nose and congestion are symptoms, but every clinical paper says they are rare, only a few percent of cases. Rare enough that they might be co-infection with colds, sinus infections, and allergies in many cases.
There is an anecdotal report from Singapore that the nasal symptom patients may be superspreaders. They did environmental testing of confinement rooms for two without nasal symptoms and one with. The two without had little contamination. The one with had contamination EVERYWHERE – walls, floors, worker’s outfits, you name it.
Major Major Major Major
@Adam L Silverman: and that would be wrong!
ziggy
The neighbor was taking care of it, I’ll check with her. Now after some research I think it had distemper. Anyone have any ideas how to track it down?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): If Apple acquired Disney, they’d fuck it up. They have no core competence in Disney’s business.
Kent
Yes, of course. I have an ASUS Windows laptop myself. For working professionals you gotta use what you need for your organization and tasks. But then working professionals generally don’t need computer advice.
Chromebooks are for education and old people who are going to mess up the software updates, anti-virus scanning, and lose their work. And they would also be what I’d take with me on some big international trip or something where I was going to write a lot and not be too worried if it got lost or damaged. If not an iPad with a keyboard.
debbie
@Adam L Silverman:
Heh, I think I’ll listen to Glenn Beck tomorrow to enjoy the pumped up outrage.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Major Major Major Major:
I’m just messing. I’ve wanted to use that “Dr. WebMD” joke for awhile ever since I saw this CollegeHumor video
Brachiator
I tried to go to the supermarket yesterday evening, but they were closed early. I hear that they were having a meeting on how they would deal with idiot panic shoppers, clean the place and other matters.
I didn’t have time to try to go today, but on the morning news I saw long lines and people still going overboard with their shopping.
If push comes to shove, I can go a week before I have to get some essential items.
I am wondering whether I can just order from Amazon (not sure how much they have been affected by idiot shoppers).
Kattails
At work today, heard that there was some kind of altercation in the grocery store next to us. At first it was reported as “the old girlfriend punching the new girlfriend”. Next guy through had the correct information– an off-duty nurse, wearing her scrubs and shopping, was literally cold-cocked by some fucking moron because “you people are the ones who are spreading this”. Something about wearing the scrubs??? FFFS.
I’m praying the state shuts us down soon. They’re working on us being able to get unemployment without the usual hoop-jumping. Meanwhile wearing gloves, changing clothes at home etc.
James E Powell
@Adam L Silverman:
Curious how a minority member of the house can hold anything up.
Are Democrats crying havoc! or just letting the process play out?
lamh36
@Major Major Major Major: I’m no conspiracy theorists, but even I ponder of this is a trial run for November…so I’m def watching how this plays out
The primaries in other places are stilll going on though so we’ll see what turnout is from those and
With these extensions til June, extend the process longer, but Bernie Sanders could end this after Tuesday by dropping out, but we already know that won’t happen.
Major Major Major Major
ziggy
@James E Powell: That sounds interesting, I have a morbid interest in shipwrecks. and diseases.
Soprano2
Our city council passed an emergency decree giving them powers to do things like limit groups to 50 or less and stream meetings rather than having them in person. Bars and restaurants are supposed to have 50 or fewer people in them. I don’t know how they can enforce that. The governor is going to have to order things closed, that’s the only real solution. What would happen to my employees in that situation I still don’t know. The city is supposed to make an announcement tomorrow about how they’re going to handle their workforce, since the city can’t close down and a lot of people can’t work from home because of the kind of job they do. I could, but really don’t want to. I told my boss that if they temporarily eliminate all field work except for call-ins and any emergencies, after a couple of weeks I wouldn’t have much work to do anyway. He asked me if I could work from home with a laptop and Citrix – I said I might be able to, but from what I’ve heard Citrix sucks balls to use, so I’m not enthusiastic about trying it. If they let us use sick leave to take off, I could take a couple of months without breaking a sweat – after over 27 years there I’ve accumulated the maximum amount of sick leave we’re allowed, 1,440 hours. This is where people who have not been careful with their paid leave are going to be sorry, I think. What would be ideal for me is to be able to continue to come in to an almost empty building until I get caught up on the TV inspections I’ve been behind on since July (long, boring story). It pisses me off, because I’m finally gaining on it!!
One good thing could be, if I’m home, I can send in some pics from our trip to Maui in December. I finally ordered some prints yesterday, and looking at them made me want to go there again.
HumboldtBlue
@James E Powell:
Gohmert initially held up its movement to the Senate but has now agreed.
Fair Economist
@James E Powell: House is recessed so there is not a quorum to tell Gohmert to go to hell. They need unanimous consent, and it only takes one to stop that.
Kent
Yeah. If this is possible, then why the fuck didn’t Dems gum up the works like this when the GOP house was running all their horrible shit through form 2016 to 2018?
Or is this another broken norm? Still, I would think Pelosi would know how to rule him out of order or some shit.
Mnemosyne
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
True story: an urgent care doctor once complimented my accurate use of Dr. Google when I looked up the right way to buddy splint my broken toe and taped them up before I headed over to urgent care.
CaseyL
@JanieM: Well, Jeez, those are symptoms for everything and anything.
@Kent: Some friends of mine, who were running a B&B, had a Chrome in their tea room, for anyone to use. I remember not liking it very much from a tactile point of view; didn’t like how the keys felt when I typed. Too shallow or soft or something.
But for $129, if my MacBook goes south (please never ever!) I might give a Chrome a serious think.
Original Lee
The agency for our exchange student has decided all of their students in the US need to go home ASAP. They sent the email around 6 pm EST, so our student’s parents were asleep and therefore not checking email. We thought maybe we could get a jump on the process and tried to buy a one-way ticket for him online. Because he qualifies as an unaccompanied minor, the extra hoop to deal with that meant the tickets were being scooped out from under us before we could finish filling out the info. Hopefully his mom will wake up soon and be able to book something from her end. It looks as if we might have to drive him either to JFK or O’Hare, though, to catch one of the flights designated for stranded nationals, which would suck.
Ruckus
@dmsilev:
Always good to eat at a place with a sense of humor.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Fair Economist: That would make sense, with nasal congestion you’d get sneezing and hence enhanced spreading of the virus.
Mnemosyne
@Leto:
Well, you know the old Jack Benny joke:
mrmoshpotato
@Major Major Major Major: Don’t ask WebMD.
We’ll all have cancer of the heebeejeebees, boneitis, a case of woob woob woob .
Adam L Silverman
@Major Major Major Major: I’m not saying it would be right. I am merely pointing out reality.
Kent
So they went home too early then? If the had waited until unanimous consent was achieved and ruled on before adjourning then all would have been fine?
Mary G
Adam L Silverman
@James E Powell: As long as he is recognized and holds the floor, provided it isn’t one of the one minute speeches, then he can hold things up. As soon as he leaves the floor, then they can move.
danielx
Couple across the street have three girls 6, 9 and 11 or so. Mom has only been stuck at home one day and is already going nutzoid – kids are probably thinking oh, here we go, Baroness Buzzkill taking flight…
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Major Major Major Major: I’ll cling to any piece of news that isn’t awful at this point
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
I tell the VA docs that I am an internet doc. They seem to be amused that I admit this and often ask where I look up stuff. They like my answers.
Also tomorrow I’m talking to my boss about taking time off and hibernating till the curve starts downhill. I figure it won’t be long till everything other than necessities is shut down anyway.
Kent
There are about 100 different chromebook models from all the major laptop manufacturers so today you can get about any version of keyboard and screen size and format (2:1 vs traditional laptop). The cheap ones they buy for schools are just that….cheap. Because kids abuse them. But then they cost the school about the same as the average math or biology textbook. But you can buy much nicer ones for personal use.
Don’t judge chromebooks by the $100 ones that your kid brings home from school. Get something more like this for your own use: https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Chromebook-C434TA-DSM4T-Touchscreen-Processor/dp/B07Q2RB6BY
Mnemosyne
@Brachiator:
A lot of the local supermarkets are closing at 8 pm so they have time to restock the shelves. I was in a Pavilions today and they were decently stocked — some things were totally gone because the herd had decided they MUST HAVE CANNED TOMATOES NOW but they apparently had more stock in the back that they didn’t have time to put out yet.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Mnemosyne:
Cool! Also, ouch. I’ve luckily not broken any bones yet.
The internet can be really useful when learning how to do something. Plenty of Youtube tutorials to do all sorts of crap
mrmoshpotato
They’ll change the height requirement for theme park rides every 3 months.
“Waddaya mean I have to be 48 meters tall now for the roller coaster?”
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
No doubt. That’s why I’m hoping they don’t take this opportunity. I really want there to be a Zootopia 2
dmsilev
@Ruckus: Pasadena had a second case today, and LA County’s case count is growing fast. I’m guessing we’ll be in a full shutdown by the end of the week, maybe early next week.
mrmoshpotato
@debbie: Social distancing apparently causes self-hatred in some of us. :)
Why not just liste
Mnemosyne
@Ruckus:
There are cases in both Pasadena and Glendale now, so I think it’s a good idea. I had to go into work for a few hours to clean up some stuff I couldn’t do from home and pick up a loaner laptop, so now I’m at home for the duration. Hopefully it will only be a couple of weeks at most.
Suzanne
@Fair Economist:
Well, sorry about the COVID, southwestern United States and Sonora. I can’t help it. It’s the damn orange blossoms.
mrmoshpotato
@debbie: You alright? You seem to want to engage in brain-destroying activities. :)
danielx
Banner ad across top of the screen for BJ on phone:
MANSCAPED
PREVENT MANSCAPING ACCIDENTS
USE THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOB
Not looking, not looking, not looking….I may never view Balloon Juice on the phone again.
cain
@Fair Economist:
Expect a full on panic by Trumpers. They know what they did, and now they are going to scream like scared children and wanting “Daddy” to help them. It’s going to be an eye awakening event for everyone involved – both the brexiters and the trumpers.
Mnemosyne
If anyone hasn’t seen the Mel Brooks coronavirus video that he did with his son Max, it’s pretty funny.
http://www.gaynrd.com/mel-brooks-and-his-son-max-team-up-to-make-the-ultimate-coronavirus-psa-watch/
James E Powell
@ziggy:
I’ve been reading about shipwrecks since the Edmund Fitzgerald. I also read NTSB reports on plane crashes. The engineering and the reconstructions fascinate me.
dmsilev
@Mnemosyne: We’re doing contingency planning for 2-3 months of social-distancing type operations. Hopefully it will be shorter, but the thing with the whole ‘flatten the curve’ idea is that the peak isn’t nearly as sharp, but it lasts a lot longer…
CaseyL
@Kent: Oh, I am an idiot. It wasn’t a Chrome; it was an MS Tablet. I’ve never used a Chrome at all. Forget I said anything.
Top of the line Chromebooks still about half the price of a MacBook Pro, if not less. Worth thinking about, though my job is all Mac; I don’t know if IT could configure a Chrome for WFH.
Mandalay
Even serendipity is ramming Trump hard up his ass right now. A 7-11 in Oklahoma City is selling gas for $1.21 gallon, and nobody knows or cares.
Not that Trump had anything to do with it anyway, but at any other time he would surely be claiming all the credit and glory, and he can’t say a word about it right now without seeming indifferent to his own national emergency, and the stock market meltdown.
Too bad, so sad.
mrmoshpotato
@cain: “Daddy, daddy, we punched ourselves in the crotch, and it hurts! Waaaaahhhh!!!!!!”
trollhattan
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
iMovie will finally mean something.
And the Disney software will all suck.
Anotherlurker
@The Dangerman: Since we are talking shipwrecks here, check out the story of the loss of the USS San Diego, lost on July 18, 1918.
She was the only Capital Ship we lost during WW1. I have about 20 dives on her.
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne:
This makes sense. I may try to stop by the supermarket tomorrow if I can work it into my schedule. But I would not be able to deal with any long lines, either to get into the store or to get to the registers.
But it could be worse.
Ruckus
@dmsilev:
That’s my guess as well.
Was on the phone with a friend in NorCal and she said that her county is probably going to full lockdown within a day or so. The county just south of her is in lockdown, that’s where my bike/triathlon shop was.
Martin
Good news is that there is increasing evidence that Italy is coming off of their trendline. We’ll see if its an inflection point or an issue with reporting. Their first lockdowns were on Feb 21, so 25 days ago, so we should be seeing evidence of that, but it wan’t a huge region. The big lockdown in Italy was 8 days ago.
No sign of the US changing. Today was a bit worse than expected, actually.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Major Major Major Major:
I have an occasional dry “kennel cough” that gets exacerbated when I fly (dry airplanes), so I am paranoid about that for tomorrow. Gonna load up on Ricola or something so I don’t freak out my fellow passengers.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Martin:
What do you see in store in the next two months for the US
I know some on the r/coronavirus subreddit have tried to use the Princess Cruise docked in Japan as a guide. A problem with this though is that people who go on cruises are going to be healthier on average
James E Powell
@Adam L Silverman:
@Fair Economist:
Thank you for the explanation. Not sure why such things are built into the system, but there it is.
Original Lee
@The Dangerman: Car accidents definitely dent the psyche and the memory. In December 2017, I was merged into by one of those ginormous extended cab trucks, which pushed me across 4 lanes of traffic and into the guardrail. I was in a minivan. The driver of the truck never even stopped. It was a miracle that nobody behind me ran into me either on the way across or after my vehicle stopped mostly in the far left lane but also entangled with the guard rail. All of the airbags deployed, and the one in the steering wheel stayed inflated, so I was stuck. The EMTs spent a long time cutting me out, but the airbags and seatbelt did their jobs and I only had 3 bruises and my glasses knocked off my face. They haven’t found the truck yet, despite knowing from witnesses the make and model. I still sometimes get the heebies driving past the spot.
mrmoshpotato
@Steeplejack (phone): You won’t be able to take your alphorn as a carry-on. Sorry.
Riiiiiicolaaaaaaaa!
Ruckus
@Steeplejack (phone):
You might try a saline inhaler. I used one almost every day and especially going for airplane rides and I got a humidifier not long ago, damn if that isn’t one of the best things I’ve ever done. I sleep better, haven’t had to use my work inhaler since getting the humidifier.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
A local restaurant has a digital display board next to it’s sign. The message displayed said:
What a flaming fucking asshole. The owner, not DeWine. Cares more about his fucking profits than he does public health. Smh
Kent
@CaseyL:
You probably don’t want one if you are doing any sort of professional productivity work within any kind of office system. You can always test-drive the notion by just installing the chrome browser on your Mac or PC and then running chrome apps that way. That’s all a Chromebook really is. Just the chrome browser with all the included apps. You can decide if you are fine with Google Docs, Google Pages, Google Sheets, etc.
mrmoshpotato
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I believe the proper term is “douchecanoe.”
Kent
@Anotherlurker: Where’s the wreck? I’m not familiar with that one. But then I’ve only dove wrecks in Alaska and Puget Sound.
NotMax
@James E Powell
Horrendous maritime disaster, that. Two points that have always stood out about it:
1) It happened dockside
2) Prime example of the law of unintended consequences.
NotMax
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
On the other hand the pool of people who are infectious today is smaller than it will be in June.
CaseyL
@Kent: My previous job environment was all Google apps, so I am familiar with the Google Suite (even created an internal website). But my current employer is MS Office on Mac. I am ambi-computerous :) (Except for Apple’s own office applications, which I think even Apple has given up on.)
Anotherlurker
@Kent: Sorry, I should have been more specific.
She is located approximately 13 miles South of Fire Island Inlet, NY. She probably hit a German mine. She turned turtle as she went down and she rests in 110′ of water.
Check out Dan Berg’s book “Wreck Valley” for more info on the ‘Diego and the NY/NJ wrecks, including the SS Oregon, a Cunard/Blue Star Line, Blue Riband winner.
NotMax
@mrmoshpotato
Unless it’s an emotional support alpenhorn.
Ruckus
Here is a guy on twitter who has the virus. @jwdaddy80
He did a post about what it feels like. YOU. DO. NOT. WANT. THIS.
NotMax
@Kent
Yeah, a chromebook isn’t a computer so much as it is a conduit to the cloud.
Kent
@Anotherlurker: You wreck divers out there in the NE are nuts. I’ve seen photos of some of the charter dives to the Andrea Doria that look like some sort of bondage convention with all the crazy gear. Alaska diving is actually safer I think because it is all interior fjords so worst case scenario you just blow up your drysuit and slowly kick your way to shore if you completely get blown off the wreck by currents or something. The tides and currents to get crazier in Alaska though. You absolutely have to time your dives to slack water because the tidal exchange is 18-20 ft.
We only had one wreck deep enough to require mixed gas. The rest are either on shallow slopes or way too deep in the fjords for any sort of scuba diving
In Alaska if a wreck is shallow enough to dive it is probably no more than a few hundred feet from shore or an island. The rest are too deep. Average depths of the larger fjords are in the 2000 ft depth range so only shipwrecks that are diveable are in shallow bays or perched on pinnacles or something.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@Major Major Major Major:
Link? Is it the one in the Vox article?
I have a fever about 3 degrees above (my) normal, and some aches and pains. Of course I spent the past few days hitting every grocery store in town trying to stock up to feed my family – including my elderly parents, who came over to pick up their groceries this morning a few hours before I started feeling sick. And we had a friend over for dinner last night, and I went to the gym yesterday (wiped the hell out of everything before and after I touched it), and had dinner at a friend’s house on Friday. I was careful in all those places, but now I feel like a fucking idiot. And sick.
danielx
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
All true. Flip side: a lot of people who worked hard and put everything they had (literally, every asset they had) into their businesses and are watching it all fall into wreckage. A lot of them REALLY don’t like having to let their employees go either – like a half million servers, cooks & bartenders in and around NYC for example.
So, yeah, some of them are acting like assholes. Their worlds are falling apart and they want to blame it on someone. Not admirable, but all too human.
ETA: anybody in the hospitality business who was heavily leveraged is fucked, or so would be my guess.
Kent
@danielx: Blame it on the Chinese for allowing those festering wet markets when they actually knew better. I suppose that is fair. They shut it all down now. But I was shocked to learn that the wildlife food trade was a $64 BILLION industry in China that employed hundreds of thousands.
NotMax
@danielx
For those which reopen, be sure to carefully enunciate when dining. DO NOT ask to see “da wine list.”
;)
danielx
@NotMax:
Wouldn’t dream of it (groan).
?BillinGlendaleCA
@danielx:
Anybody we know?
Kent
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I’d give even money that we are a week away from seeing Trump Doral Miami deployed as a quarantine site for only the very best coronavirus patients. To the tune of say…$10k/day/person. They will figure out how to get their hands on some of that endless coronavirus money. Count on it. That’s what they do.
West of the Rockies
@Major Major Major Major:
Dead thread, but very good news!
Steeplejack (phone)
@mrmoshpotato:
Damn it!
@Ruckus:
Thanks, good idea. I’ll check it out.
Anotherlurker
@Kent: I never got into the tec diving. However, on a dive boat I 2nd skippered/decked on, we had 2 regulars who trained and trained for the ‘Doria. They were good divers. They knew their stuff. One didn’t come back.
I’m in awe of PNW/Alaska diving. Now that I’m relocated to the Bay Area, I’d like to get in the water again. I need to purchase another drysuit, however.
Martin
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): 2 months? No idea. I expect our fatality numbers will turn down in 2+ weeks now that we’re actually doing something. Will they turn down enough? Will Italy’s? No idea.
But the epidemiologists have a lot better data than I do. Watch NY and CA and WA for what they do. If we crank down harder, then it’s not working, or at least not working enough, and we push the clock out another week. If we stop cranking down, then they probably see signs that it’s working sufficiently. Then it’s a matter of waiting for it to crest. That’s at least 3 weeks away.
If we start getting this under control, then look for a whole new phase of this, where before they let off the brakes they get really comprehensive testing going, a long term monitoring program like SKorea is doing with their thermal cameras and such, a more targeted set of policies for individual isolation and handling flare-ups (which will happen).
That’ll give governors time to self-organize since none of this shit is coming from the feds. Once they feel they can determine with some confidence who does and doesn’t have it, then they’ll start to let off the brakes. I don’t think we’ll see anything resembling normal for a while though. I’m not sure they’ll be able to get the numbers down low enough to resume large events for 6 months. And then there’s the matter of global spread – which nations are still fighting this, which aren’t – how we travel, etc.
Steeplejack (phone)
@CaseyL:
You can hook up an external keyboard to a Chromebook. That’s what I do when I take my Chromebook on extended trips. The integrated keyboard is okay for casual use and weekends, but for longer periods of Chromebook-only work I like to have a “real” keyboard. I am a fast typist and can’t really get up to speed on the Chromebook’s mushy keyboard.
Just One More Canuck
@ziggy: you should read Erebus by Michael Palin – about the Franklin Expedition
Uncle Cosmo
Stoli with an extra “b” (ruble alcohol). For medicinal porpoises only.
p.a.
@Martin:
that’s a reason to keep an eye on the countries ahead of us in the timeline. China seems to be on the downslope (assuming truthful info from them), so see what happens as they loosen restrictions, disease bounceback, or success.
debbie
@mrmoshpotato:
My job takes care of that, but thanks! ;)
Uncle Cosmo
@NotMax: Wandering near the Wasa Museum in Stockholm I came upon a small memorial for the MS Estonia, which deserves some mention here:
In the 1997 edition of Greek Island Hopping** the author explains at some length why island-hoppers should have no fear of Aegean car ferries, as the conditions that led to the Estonia‘s sinking would be essentially impossible to reproduce in those waters.
** Which in its various incarnations through 2005 was IMO one of the most useful & entertaining travel books I even encountered.