Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

White supremacy is terrorism.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

In after Baud. Damn.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

Republicans do not trust women.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Books are my comfort food!

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

Everybody saw this coming.

The willow is too close to the house.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / Wednesday Morning Open Thread: One More Day

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: One More Day

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I don’t blame Maggie; some shepherds keep a llama or two with their flocks to deter coyotes, and it seems to work! (Video is from a private post-Harvey ‘sanctuary’ for abandoned livestock.)

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Reader Interactions

216Comments

  1. 1.

    Jeffro

    Kids are the worst.

    “CORONATOUCHYOU’REIT!!!NOTAGBACKS!!!”

    Y’all know you’d be doing it too, if you were eight… =)

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    some shepherds keep a llama or two with their flocks to deter coyotes, and it seems to work!

    Burros/donkeys are hell on coyotes too.

  6. 6.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @WereBear: Funny how some things stick in the brain and never change. Of course singing that a few thousand times when I was a kid has something to do with it.

  10. 10.

    raven

    So I ordered a part that I need for my truck bed rebuild. It came in and the place is about 80 miles away and they have curbside pickup. We’re thinking about loading up and just driving there and back. The pups love to ride and with gas $1.75 a gallon, why not?

  14. 14.

    NotMax

    Sorry for being so repetitious and hope y’all understand why. FYI for those who may not have seen them; others scroll downward.

    1) Pattern for home-sewn masks

    2) Links which might be of aid to those experiencing strain from the new regimen.

    How to keep your sanity when you feel like the world is going crazy

    How to Work From Home Without Losing Your Mind

    3) The family that plays together, and all that. “Best” is in the eye of the beholder, and skipping past the party games subsection probably a wise choice just now.

    The Best Beginner Board Games for Adults

    The Best Board Games

  16. 16.

    raven

    @Baud: I thought I’d put my gloves on, go fill up and come right back home and wash up. We have a case of Costco disinfectant wipes and a gallon of disinfectant  gel too.

  20. 20.

    raven

    In other great news my wife’s nephew was arrested for drug, gun and burglary charges in Lynchburg and my reading of Virginia law is not good. It looks like it gun owner paradise but if you get popped like this it’s very bad news.

  21. 21.

    Ohio Mom

    Zhena@7: For me, untreated situational depression ran wild until it became chronic. It interfered with the simpliest parts of daily functioning.

    I resisted medication because even as sophisticated as I like to think I am, I had internalized what in retrospect is a lot of bunk about brain health.

  23. 23.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @raven: That’s a tough one. (a cousin I grew up with did 7 years in CO for fraud) He’ll have plenty of time to ponder the error of his ways.

    ETA: then again with Covid… Not a good time to be in jail. I really feel for the parents in these situations. I don’t know how Brunch smiled thru it all.

  24. 24.

    Patricia Kayden

    Trump isn’t to blame for the coronavirus but he is at fault for the fact we’re now regarding an outcome where 200,000 Americans die as a victory. No other country is facing a death toll anywhere near that number.— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 1, 2020

  25. 25.

    zhena gogolia

    @Baud:

    That means I have to leave BJ. I have no other source of news. I don’t even glance at NYT or WaPo. I used to enjoy reading the NYT obituaries, finding out about war heroes and inventors I’d never heard of. Now every single one of them is a Covid victim.

  26. 26.

    raven

    @OzarkHillbilly: And he is a non-hodgins survivor. My cousin’s kid did 7 for a gun charge in Arizona and I don’t know how he’s doing since he got out 4 years ago.

  29. 29.

    Soprano2

    I’m feeling better today, totally normal, thank goodness.  I think my out-of-sorts was from being overly tired and stressed.  I’m going back to my new habit of trying to listen to more music in my car and less news.  Right now the news is often so grim, it’s easy to get down about it. Still no state-wide stay-at-home order for Missouri; our governor says it isn’t time yet even though we had a 600% increase in diagnosed cases last week. At this point it’s going to be too little, too late.  Luckily all the major cities were smarter than the governor, and issued stay-at-home orders sometime in the past two weeks. The cities will be recovering when this is ravaging the countryside. I think in the rural areas many people are still fooling themselves that it isn’t going to get them.

  31. 31.

    MattF

    I tried one of the easy-at-home youtube instructions for a face mask, and it worked, kinda. But the resulting mask, made from a handkerchief and two rubber bands, was quite flimsy, so I beefed it up. Sacrificed a shirt that I’ll never wear to get a larger, heavier base, doubled the rubber bands, and in the end got a pretty good mask. So, mask Mark I. I expect that there will be further versions.

    Also, went to the supermarket this morning, scored TP, so I have ‘way too much now. Other things were generally there, but in low supply.

  32. 32.

    Baud

    @zhena gogolia: You can go without general news for a month or two if that improves your mental health.  You can also stick to respite threads here. You shouldn’t suffer unnecessarily.

  33. 33.

    Baud

    @germy:

    I can’t believe there’s another country out there that makes Trump look good by comparison.  That’s … hard to do.

  35. 35.

    WereBear

    @zhena gogolia:

    I was perfectly fine and cheerful until the pandemic hit.

     
    But this isn’t a situation where we CAN be fine and cheerful, either. Anxiety is a perfectly normal response, sadly.

    Hopefully, we all have people to worry about, as well as ourselves.

    For myself, with a brain affected by an undiagnosed genetic condition that went untreated for a long time, I am using therapeutic niacin as outlined by Dr Abram Hoffer, Canadian psychiatrist, who treated Japanese POWs successfully. And I’m not dealing with that level of stress, thankfully :)

    The other thing I do is follow the Tao. Which has taught me that control is an illusion. I handle what I can handle and the rest is all quantum physics, which is way above my pay grade. Ironically, realizing that all I can do is be in the moment, making each moment as good as I can, is very soothing.

    As I wrote in a recent cat post, Cats live in the Now:

    Living in the Now isn’t about a five second attention span. It means not trying to live in the past as though that is something we can go back to. It means not trying to live in the future before it comes.

    We choose paths informed by the past. We take actions mindful of the future. But it is in the moment that we take each step.

    We are only alive and awake in the Now. Because this is when, moment by moment, the Path supports our weight.

  38. 38.

    Baud

    @germy:

    That ban applies only to state officials in their official communications.  Obviously, both silly and disgusting, but not the same as what Turkmenistan is reportedly doing.

  39. 39.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @germy: But it will all be over by Easter/May 1st/June 1st/pick a day.

    Until (if?) we get a viable vaccine, this ain’t over till it’s over.

  40. 40.

    NotMax

    @zhena gogolia

    Easy for me to say from thousands of miles away but mental distancing as vital as is physical distancing. Finding something to occupy your mind to replace your disrupted or impacted regular routines important. It’s no sin to treat yourself to something just for yourself even when amongst the chorus of bad news. Do a crossword puzzle, listen to opera and reminisce about when you saw it, begin reorganizing crowded drawers or photos or files on the computer, cull the wardrobe for dropoff at Goodwill, polish the silver. Heck, even get started repainting a room. It doesn’t amount to ignoring or dismissing what is going on, rather to determinedly deciding to shift focus elsewhere for an interval.

    Hang in there.

  43. 43.

    rikyrah

    Can you use almond milk for oatmeal?

    Peanut brought some over, but I have never had any, yet I don’t want to leave the house for some regular milk??

  44. 44.

    Baud

    @OzarkHillbilly: A vaccine, or treatment that makes Covid less life threatening.  That’s what we have with HIV.  I’m not sure which is easier to develop when it comes to Covid.

  46. 46.

    A Ghost to Most

    @OzarkHillbilly: My wife said the cops stopped a couple of people she works with yesterday, to insure they belong on the road. She now has to carry a letter from the college, stating she is essential. But this ain’t GA. Enjoy the trip.

    Eta should be to raven

  50. 50.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @rikyrah: Yes, you can use almond milk for oatmeal. It’s not as creamy as milk, but works just fine. We used to use almond milk but switched to oat milk after a discussion on BJ a while back about the negative environmental impact of almond production.

  51. 51.

    Immanentize

    @Baud: Probably the treatment/theraputic drugs will come first.  Something like tamiflu?  Then the testing and approval and finally manufacturing of the vaccine. If one is found to work.

  52. 52.

    Just One More Canuck

    @zhena gogolia:

    I start every day listening to Rubenstein playing Chopin (on youtube) – reminds me of the true beauty in the world.

    If you’re on FB, Patrick Stewart reads a sonnet each day

  53. 53.

    WereBear

    @OzarkHillbilly: And many experts are saying that with such a long horizon, many aspects of Life as we knew it will change.

    And since some of that did suck like a black hole, I’m guardedly optimistic the curve might bend toward justice.

  55. 55.

    zhena gogolia

    @NotMax:

    Thanks for the advice. The problem is that we are supposed to still be teaching our classes. That means that my workload is increased, not decreased, and the tension associated with it is also increased. My students are all over the place, including China, and they are dealing with huge amounts of stress themselves, which I get to hear about every day. Yes, I do crossword puzzles and watch movies, but that’s a fleeting moment in a sea of anxiety — while I’m supposed to also be performing at a decent level via Zoom, which is FAR MORE EXHAUSTING than teaching in person. No comparison.

  56. 56.

    kindness

    There’s a ranch on the outskirts of my town that breeds alpacas that I go by when I take the dogs to the river to run.  There’s always about 40 of them in 3 small pastures.  Alpacas unlike llamas are typically very sweet and demure where as llamas are more camel like.  Llamas bite and spit if they don’t know you.  The wool from alpacas is really really nice too.  Around Xmas they open up a gift shop every year and sell alpaca goods.

  58. 58.

    Betty Cracker

    @Soprano2: Same here in FL. From The Tampa Bay Times:

    TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday said he had no plans to issue a statewide stay-at-home order, partly because he says he hasn’t been told to do so by the White House task force…
    That deference to the White House was later applauded by President Donald Trump, who lauded DeSantis, a close political ally.
    When asked if Florida needed to issue a blanket order, Trump replied that DeSantis is a “great governor who knows exactly what he’s doing.”

    Jeebus. I expect DeSantis will get on board soon, perhaps in response to an engraved invitation from Dr. Birx or Trump himself, but barn doors, horses, etc.

    The most consequential messaging fight in modern history will occur when Republicans — from Trump on down to the most obscure imitator on a board of commissioners — try to Jedi hand-wave away their catastrophic early mismanagement of the pandemic. We cannot let them get away with it.

  59. 59.

    zhena gogolia

    @satby: Nothing. I can’t tell if I’d feel better if I didn’t have to teach. On one hand, teaching is a distraction from the horror. But on the other hand, it’s enervating and exhausting, and I think I’d be coping better with the pandemic if I didn’t have to perform.

  62. 62.

    bemused

    Is there any covid 19 screening such as temperature checks on domestic fliers or international passengers? So far I’m not finding any federal coordinated virus protocol for all airlines operating in US. Asking because two idiots who drink a lot plus probably use other substances from my area spent a week in Florida just as some restrictions on restaurants and beaches were happening and two other people decided last week to fly to Florida because tickets were only $35. First couple home and isolating for two weeks after being reluctant to do so but their more rational family insisted. I just don’t know if they were advised by any authorities or checked in any way.

  63. 63.

    kindness

    @WereBear: I used to think Ashes to Ashes was the title to the Grateful Dead’s Throwing Stones.  Wasn’t until they released it on an album about 4 years after playing it at shows that I learned the song’s real title.

  66. 66.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Oh gawd, from Governors Fight Back Against Coronavirus Chaos: ‘It’s Like Being on eBay With 50 Other States’ (NYT)

    “President Trump has taken an unprecedented approach to communicating and working with our nation’s governors,” Judd Deere, a White House spokesman, said in a statement when asked about the criticism of Mr. Hogan and others on Tuesday night. “During these difficult times, Americans are receiving comfort, hope and resources from their president, as well as their local officials, because this is an all-of-American effort.”

    It certainly has been an unprecedented approach Judd, I’ll give you that. But among the things we have received from trump, there has been very little comfort, hope or resources. There have however been an abundance of lies, damn lies, and gawd damned lies.

  67. 67.

    Baud

    @OzarkHillbilly: A while.  I don’t know why HIV is more difficult to vaccinate against or treat than other viruses (even accounting for the anti-gay bias that delayed taking it seriously).  People seem pretty confident that we can produce a coronavirus vaccine within 2 years.

  69. 69.

    Geminid

    @zhena gogolia: I hope you can find a way to get your sleep, because lack of sleep generally destroys quality of life, and I know from experience that it can cause and perpetuate depression. I myself usually get 7 hours, but that’s down to 4-5 lately. But I know that if I got off the internet at 8pm and picked up one of the good books I have lying around I’d get more sleep.

  70. 70.

    Elizabelle

    @zhena gogolia:   Listen to public radio’s Performance Today.

    Today’s show begins with beautiful baroque music by Matthew Locke, composed shortly after the great plague of London in 1666 or so.  For when they finally reopened the theaters. Locke had escaped to Oxford.

    I find baroque and classical music soothing.  The great composers lived through eras filled with TB and all manner of peril and turmoil.

  71. 71.

    satby

    @zhena gogolia: well, I hope that the courses you teach end soon then. So many colleges seem to be just ending the year early. And take naps. Whenever you can get even just 1/2 an hour for one, lie down and rest even if you don’t fall asleep. Unplug if you need to.

  72. 72.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @WereBear: Were I to strike it rich I would live on my own alpaca farm. With a cat rescue. And fast broadband.

    You forgot the magic pony. ;-)

  74. 74.

    Mai naem mobile

    @germy: there’s Dr. Mark Green a Rep from Tenn who is or was an ER doc and an anti vaxxer. I want to know if he will get a vaccine when it is finally developed. He is also against soshulism until COVID19 came along and now wants Trumpov to hurry up and send federal aid to Tenn.

  75. 75.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @rikyrah: yes, I think that it should work.  I use almond milk on microwaved oatmeal all the time (dairy allergy). I personally like putting cinnamon, allspice, or ginger  and a little bit of margarine in as well. Sometimes adding raisins if I really want to splurge.

  76. 76.

    Spanky

    @NotMax: What NotMax said. Create something. Get outside, get your hands dirty. Watch Spring bring things to life.

     

    (Edited for stiff fingers.)

  77. 77.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: They do seem to think that and I too am unsure of why. There are a number of viruses we have no vaccine for (to my knowledge) and the only reason I can come up with is the disease is not common enough to make a vaccine profitable.

  78. 78.

    satby

    @Baud: @NotMax: also HIV mutates rapidly, making it a constantly evolving target for drug development.

    Edit: so far researchers have noted that this coronavirus mutates in only minor ways, and they seem confident that a vaccine developed would work potentially longer than a flu vaccine (for instance) because the changes year to year in the virus wouldn’t make a vaccine less effective.

  80. 80.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I opened a cabinet in my laundry room this morning and found a package of two N95 masks left over from Mr DAW’s last business trip to China. I don’t know if you can see this on FB, but wearing my Harry Potter round glasses, I look like an alien.

  82. 82.

    p.a.

    Not the #1 priority now, but I wonder if there are studies as to why some (apparently) healthy young people are dying while others are asymptomatic?  Simply the variability of the virus?

  83. 83.

    evodevo

    @WereBear:   LOL Old joke:  An old man won a lottery worth a couple mil, and when asked what he would do with it, replied he would “keep bees till the money ran out”.  I have the feeling that alpacas are probably a lot like that.

  84. 84.

    Ohio Mom

    Um Zhena, I seem to recall you were pretty wound up about the  possibility of Bernie winning the nomination as well, that you weren’t “just fine” until the pandemic.

    We are all pulling for you, and hope you find something among all the suggestions offered here that works for you.

  91. 91.

    NotMax

    Phew. Place I order cigars from still operating. All they do in more normal times is mail order so crossed fingers and took a chance phoning them to place a reorder.

  92. 92.

    WereBear

    @OzarkHillbilly: Yes, we are all still in evolutionary states and with the latest on how our genome adapts in real time, it’s not always a millennium of time required.

    That op-ed on the FNYT about how Americans are metabolically challenged, even in young adulthood, with high rates of diabetes and high blood pressure and the like; it was chilling.

    We might have a somewhat different pattern of illness, which makes the complacency all the more chilling.

  93. 93.

    Diceros Bicornis

    @NotMax: You posted a recipe for Beer Bread back a ways.

    I made it this morning for my daily-bread-eating French SO. We have been in lockdown since 17 March here in France but he manages to finagle delivery of a hearty, last-for-several-days loaf from the local boulangerie about every 4 days. (They don’t usually deliver so he has to negotiate with the grocery delivery guy, or one of his kids, who delivers it to a bag hung on the gatepost…)

    We timed the Beer Bread trial for today, when the previous loaf became tooth-threatening crouton-fodder and the boulangerie is closed. Did it work? DID IT WORK!! My French-bread-eating guy approves! It was super easy to make and came out beautifully. Thank you for sharing the recipe! We’re good for the next day or so…and I still have enough beer, left over from some party or other,* to make it again next week.

    *We’re really more wine drinkers. Don’t think you can make bread with wine…

  95. 95.

    A Ghost to Most

    @p.a.: I read an article that said that an extreme overreaction of the immune system is killing some otherwise healthy people.

  96. 96.

    mali muso

    Mentioned this yesterday on a dying thread, but the whole C-19 situation just got a lot more real. My mom (who is in her early 60s) was exposed to a confirmed case, although thankfully she was wearing a mask and practicing social distancing. Now we wait to see if any symptoms develop. Oh, and the parents of my toddler’s best buddy definitely had C-19 and are recovering. Thankfully, they know when and how they were exposed and we haven’t had any playdates or contact since that point, so probably no risk to our family, but it’s all feeling pretty close and real.

  98. 98.

    germy

    A Brooklyn man has been arrested at the Rotterdam Walmart for allegedly coughing on people and stating he had COVID-19, police said Tuesday night.

    The incident happened just before 8 p.m. at the Walmart at 1320 Altamont Ave., police said.

    Officers responded there for a report of a man inside the store “stating he has COVID-19 and intentionally coughing on multiple customers,” police said in a release.

    Arriving officers found the man and identified him as Marvin Herring, 23, of Brooklyn.

    He was charged with one count of making a terroristic threat, a felony, and third-degree menacing, a misdemeanor.

    dailygazette.com/article/2020/03/31/police-man-intentionally-coughed-on-customers-at-rotterdam-walma…

  103. 103.

    zhena gogolia

    @Ohio Mom:

    Oh, God, I look back on my Bernie anxiety as a halcyon period. That didn’t interfere with my sleep or enjoyment of life one bit. I was being hyperbolic. (I now realize.)

  104. 104.

    Ramalama

    Family members in Chicagoland (different spots) have received text messages:

    “State needs licensed healthcare workers to sign up at Illinoisehelps.com to fight COVID-19.”

    Are there other municipalities elsewhere doing this?

  105. 105.

    Fair Economist

    @zhena gogolia: There’s a couple of interventions for stress – exercise, meditation, and social interaction. Taking some action against your stressors, even if minor, helps some. I’ve been spending a lot of time doing mental planning and that helps me.

    Sending hugs – (((zhena gogolia)))

  109. 109.

    Immanentize

    Speaking of producing something, I finished and filed a brief in SCOTUS yesterday.  On a double Jeopardy issue.

    Talk about stressing over details — you should check out the rules regarding briefs! Must be a century type font, 12 pt for body and 10 or for footnotes with at least 2pt distance between lines. The only differing font that may be used is on the cover page when the second line (after the case number) is “In the Supreme Court of the United States.”

    I thought seriously of using comic sans — demonstrating how little sleep I got or brainpower I had left after the last week.

  110. 110.

    mali muso

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Yeah, I’m not so much nervous for myself as we’re pretty much in our own little quarantine, but I worry for my parents.  And having people in your circle who have come into contact with this is scary.  I suppose pretty soon we will all be in that position.

  112. 112.

    Robert Sneddon

    @germy: There have been several cases like this, people coughing and sneezing at people and saying stuff like “Now you’ve got coronavirus” in the UK. At least one person arrested and convicted has been sentenced to a year in jail (I think he tried it on some police officers).

    I’ve seen reports of acts like that are being prosecuted as Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH for short). This is the level of assault just below attempted murder in the British legal system.

  113. 113.

    satby

    @Ramalama: yes, IN is as well. They’re also temporarily relaxing license requirements to let people like retirees who have lapsed licences (within 5 years) or are licensed in other jurisdictions to practice under limited circumstances (routine non-covid care, mass screening, etc)

  114. 114.

    Barbara

    I have decided that I can make face masks. I actually have everything I need already, including a sewing machine (indestructible Husqvrna that I used mostly to make my own maternity clothes). For the person who was looking for elastic for the tie backs, you can use shoe laces, which are actually preferable because they can be sanitized without breaking down, whereas elastic can’t. I have also seen a very simple model that uses hair ties. I might make a few of those with the lifetime supply of HEPA vacuum bags that I managed to unintentionally order a while back. If you do need vacuum cleaner supplies, don’t go to the mega sites, go to Ristenbatt Vacuum, near Lancaster, PA, which was able to give me replacement belt for the head, for $15, instead of the whole replacement head for $250.

    For the first time, I really couldn’t sleep last night. It was the idea that the federal government was hoarding protective equipment and making preferential deliveries as a political favor that finally got to me. Given what’s going on in Florida, it sounds like they are going to need everything that comes there way, but still, that abandons a lot of people in New York City to die. The only consolation with ventilators is that once you have reached that stage, your chance of survival is low. But it’s not what we expect as a society, particularly since we spend more than any other nation on earth, by a wide margin. It’s utterly galling.

    There is no coordination, no unified response and seeing Dr. Birx trying to put a positive spin on a higher and higher death rate makes me want to vomit in her direction. Come on, be brave, there is no way Trump is going to fire you now for telling the truth.

    Meanwhile, my daughter hasn’t been out of her NYC apartment in 10 days and assures me that she has enough food and is doing fine. And my daughter in NC is freaking out a bit because her friends are losing their jobs and she feels completely unmoored, though she herself remains employed in an infrastructure occupation.

    And I am a little peeved here in Virginia that we have some of the lowest rates of testing, even though our schools were among the first to be closed for the rest of the school year. So with all these negative feelings, I think sewing face masks will probably be therapeutic.

    Sorry for the rant like post.

  115. 115.

    satby

    @mali muso: the reality is we probably all have people near to us who may have it, be asymptomatic, and because screening is so far behind the spread we’ll not find out until someone becomes more seriously ill.

  116. 116.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Immanentize: Some rules for submitting stories are like that too. You just know you’re going to find one you violated right after you hit “submit.”

     

    @mali muso: I think certainly by fall, we’ll all know someone personally who had COVID19. It will be hard for the folks still scoffing to keep on doing that. Or maybe not. Reality doesn’t seem to penetrate sometimes.

  117. 117.

    danielx

    It’s been interesting, in the sense of the Chinese curse, to live through four “before-and-after” events so far in my lifetime: 9/11, the Great Recession, the election of the shitgibbon and a global pandemic. I could have happily lived without any of them, in particular item #3.

    ETA: okay, I’ll throw in the Cubs winning the Series.

  119. 119.

    NotMax

    Hmm. 520 error. Blog apparently stepped out to wash its hands.

    @Elizabelle

    Only things I can think of which might matter are using a brand that’s very hoppy or one of those flavored types (lime, etc.). It’s a great use for el cheapo brands.

    @zhena gogolia

    NY and CA as well, IIRC.

  120. 120.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @satby: They’re doing much the same here in CA; OTOH, they were asking for volunteers to reduce nursing staffing in the OR(no elective surgeries), so the kid is taking one day off a week w/o pay.

  121. 121.

    Immanentize

    @Ramalama: The Boston area is calling for nurses and others (doctors, care workers, etc.). Because school is out, there are a bunch of school nurses answering the call — my neighbor is one such.

  122. 122.

    Nicole

    I got a call from my over-80-years-old 3rd or 4th cousin (her grandmother and my great-grandmother were sisters) because she’s concerned, us being in the heart of NYC. :)  Awww…  we had a nice chat.

    I have to give a huge shout out to the educators who are doing so much work on the fly to make distance learning a thing.  My son was kept pretty occupied with school work all day yesterday, and his teacher has set up Zoom meetings with the 4th grade class in the morning and afternoon.  It’s really kind and maintains a sense of community.  I’m so impressed with everything the teachers are doing.

    My kid is doing Art now- the teacher has assigned them to make a self-portrait out of found objects in the apartment, photograph it and upload it to a slide show for the class to see.  I kind of want to do it, too…

  124. 124.

    CindyH

    @Barbara: I too am making facemasks for personal use (not good enough for health care workers) and saw the bit about not using bleach on elastic, so I may make ties out of cotton.

    However, I read early on that washing with regular laundry detergent kills the virus, so not sure if bleach is needed?  Anyone have a source?

  125. 125.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    Was watching some mental health counselor on CNN worrying about kids grieving the loss of friends and lifestyle without extrapolation to adults on that score. She was also touting online counseling and doing socializing electronically.

    That sucks, and sounds about like a kazoo at a funeral. They need to acknowledge that it isn’t a long term substitute and be aware that there are many of us who aren’t doing OK with the ersatz.

    I had come into possession of a few  Xanax tabs a couple of years ago (saving a client who had issues and was having to do scheduled urinalysis) and tossed them in a drawer. Dug them out yesterday. Broke one in half last night; had my first decent night’s sleep in weeks.

    They should be OTC for the duration of this…..

  126. 126.

    Scout211

    Re: masks

    The masks that I sewed for us is from a pattern (available on the internet in many places) that uses two layers of fabric with an opening on both sides of the mask. You then slide a filter into the opening between the layers. I had several boxes of vacuum bags in my closet which I cut up for the filters.  You can use any non-woven material, but vacuum bags with HEPA filters are recommended. The person posting the pattern used hand wipes that had been air-dried. Elastic from hair ties (ponytail holders) are tied together make to ear holders or bands to go around your head. You then wash the mask after each use and insert a new filter.

  127. 127.

    Barbara

    @Immanentize: Even we use a service that takes your electronic document and formats it, and then prints it out.  Because it still needs to be printed.  They do relax the format if you petition them as a pro se litigant.

  128. 128.

    Haroldo

    @Elizabelle:

    First of all, many thanks to @NotMax: for the recipe – it’s everything that was advertised: easy and delicious.

    We’ve made two batches so far, using two different types of beer we found in the cupboard: Miller Lite and a highly spiced microbrew.  Both work very well.  My feeling is this recipe is a great springboard for experimentation.

  129. 129.

    jeffreyw

    @Spanky:

     Get outside, get your hands dirty.

    I’m rereading the Doomsday Book by Connie Willis.  That’s a plot point in the novel.  Actually, I’m rehearing it as an audio book.  Hearing it again for the first time?

  131. 131.

    Barbara

    @CindyH: Even hot water and detergent degrades elastic.  Mostly, it makes it less stretchy so that you end up with a non-stretchy product.  Hopefully we won’t need to use them long enough for that to happen.

  133. 133.

    satby

    @CindyH: regular detergent in the laundry will also degrade the lipid layer of the virus, destroying it. Bleach shouldn’t be necessary. But be sure you use a commercial laundry detergent, not any of the diy homemade ones. Every recipe I’ve seen for those is garbage, hardly enough soap to wash your hands and mostly borax or washing soda (or both) and those condition and soften water, they don’t clean.

  134. 134.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Immanentize:

    You appellate dorks have my sympathy. I hate the goddamned things – the margin measurement, font minutiae, binding and color requirements….

    Kentucky’s El Supremo saw the emergency and broke the glass, though – and it may stick and become long term. They approved electronic filing, at the discretion of the relative appellate clerks….

  136. 136.

    NotMax

    @Haroldo

    Nice to hear the Miller lite worked. Had doubts and happy to sit corrected.

    Can mix it up by also adding shredded cheese or the like as well. Recipe is pretty forgiving.

  138. 138.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Barbara: My NOLA son told me last night his MiL is making masks and selling them thru a few quickstop stores down there. I have no idea how much money she makes but it’s better than sitting around waiting for all this to end.

  141. 141.

    Barbara

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I am really sorry you are having such a tough time.  I don’t know about taking Xanax, it won’t hurt, but other things that might help are Benadryl or its generic equivalent.  I’ve been taking it because I managed to get poison ivy on my face and neck and there is no way I could get sleep without it.  But it does help bring on drowsiness in most people.

    When I get too anxious, I try to take myself back in time when my father had a nervous breakdown and lost his job and we were all locked inside the house because it was the coldest, snowiest winter in decades and schools were closed for weeks because barges couldn’t get through the iced in rivers and every school had their own coal powered heating plant.  So my dad, with mania expressing itself as anger, not euphoria, my mother crying non-stop, and four teenage kids scared and isolated.  It seemed like end times.

  142. 142.

    Immanentize

    @Barbara: Oh, I use Cockle Legal Briefs printers in Nebraska, they are fabulous.  But I try to do the “camera ready option” which saves me hundreds off dollars.  Or more.  Still, I had to pay extra for typesetting two documents in the appendix.  Ones saves lots of money but loses time.  And yes, IFP petitions are just put on 8,1/2 x 11.

    But I will say the SCOTUS e-filing is easier than PACER.

  144. 144.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    In other society-adapting-to-lockdown news, our local Comedy Sportz franchise (it’s competitive improv comedy, along the lines of Who’s Line is it Anyway?) has finally gone online with their shows and classes. We signed up for a show Saturday night and a drop in workshop tonight.

    I’ve been taking classes and watching shows with this group for years. I’m very curious to see how improv adapts to Zoom since it’s so interactive. I imagine so are they (curious, that is). It’s all about performers feeding off other performers.

  157. 157.

    Ohio Mom

    Barbara@141: Wow. That’s something to have lived through. I am stunned just visualization it.

  165. 165.

    Suzanne

    One cool little fact: Saskia Popescu, who is an epidemiologist and infection control expert atted in Kenji Lopez-Alt’s tweet up there, is a former client of mine. She’s been quoted in a lot of news pieces in WaPo, Vox, and others in the last month. Very smart lady.

  167. 167.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    happy sad interlude from Colbert and John Prine, featuring one of my eleventy-fifteen favorite Prine songs. If you’ve seen Prine live, you probably get the Happy Enchilada thing, it’s a scuse me while I kiss this guy moment from one of his fans

    The Late Show @colbertlateshow

    A special thank you our friend @JohnPrineMusic for creating this magical moment with @StephenAtHome. Please enjoy this performance of “That’s the Way the World goes Round.” #JohnPrine

  170. 170.

    WaterGirl

    @Immanentize: I am not physically brave enough to do that, even if I had the skills.  But then, I am so very much not cut out for any medical field so it may be that field self-selects?

    But I do what I can do, however small.  I had a crisp shiny new $100 bill that was a Christmas gift, and every year I save it to buy flowers in the spring.  Yesterday, I washed my hands, put it in a plastic bag, and gave it to the UPS guy I have had for 3 years.

    He started to fuss, you don’t need to do that, and I said, of course not, but I will not be talked out of this.  This is to thank you for delivering to people like me so we can stay home and be safe.

    He took it, and said thank you and when he got halfway down the driveway he turned around and said “my wife got laid off from her job so we can really use this… this made my day.”

    That made my day, too.

    Every tiny thing we do can have ripples.

  171. 171.

    Elizabelle

    Thinking out of the box.  Red Roof Inns: use our (empty!) hotel rooms with wifi and flat screen TVs to day work.  You can even bring one well-behaved cat or dog as a co-worker.

    Says rates begin at $29 plus tax.  Not every location, so call first.

    I am glad to see that some hotels have started offering lodging to healthcare professionals, and maybe first responders too.

    The owners cannot sell their rooms right now, so why not be altruistic (and maybe even get a healthy tax break that is deserved, for this).

    Some hotels are also offering a break to students who no longer have dorm rooms (although I think you might still do better through Priceline — I was seeing Hiltons for $50/night a few weeks ago).  A lot of hotels no longer offer communal breakfasts or use of pools and sports facilities/other amenities, though.  So be it.

  175. 175.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @danielx: I’ll see you those & raise you JFK, One Small Step, the first oil embargo, Watergate, Challenger, & the collapse of Communism. That’s 10 without the Cubbies.

    Make that 11  when we throw in a world-changing event of unalloyed wonderfulness: The polio vaccine, announced 26 March 1953. (And fuck the antivaxxers with a rusty chainsaw. All across the USA, parents wept for joy.)

    I thought my folks had seen a shitton of change in their lives – born before the Great War when aeroplanes were glorified kites with tiny motors, lived to see men walk on the moon – but y’know, 11 world-changing events in 67 years, jeebus. 8^O

  176. 176.

    L85NJGT

    Adam Schlesinger is hospitalized with Covid-19.  I’ve always enjoyed his pop work, including songs for a bunch of TV and film.

  177. 177.

    Sab

    @Scout211: I am out of elastic. What do you think of bias tape (or home-made bias tape) as binding plus tie across the top and bottom of the mask as an alternative?  Instructions I saw did not say how long. I am guessing a foot on each corner is more than adequate.

  178. 178.

    Barbara

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I think it was scarring though it wasn’t always evident.  Once when I used to read Ta Nehisi Coates’ blog as an everyday thing, I remember him saying that at one point he had a revelation that many of the coping mechanisms he used to survive his childhood were counterproductive and actually holding him back as an adult.  That was a revelation for me as well, and I could see it in myself and each of my siblings, how survival skills you learn as a child can actually sabotage you as an adult.  But I did survive and I tend to focus now more on the things we did to get through it, like long walks in unbelievably deep snow, or endless card games.

  180. 180.

    Caphilldcne

    @OzarkHillbilly: regarding a treatment for HIV, the disease was first discovered in 1981. The official GFA announcement of highly active anti-retoviral therapy (HAART) was announced at the international AIDS Conference in 1996 (although the outline was somewhat understood earlier). The film, How To Survive A Plague has some of this history although it’s very East Coadt/New York Centric.

  181. 181.

    Barbara

    @Sab: Anything that isn’t too uncomfortable and that can be tied will work.  Bias tape can probably be folded and stitched to make it thinner.

  187. 187.

    trollhattan

    Costco finally caught a clue and starting Friday, will allow two people per membership card into stores. No more family gaggles clogging the aisles? Here’s hoping. Leave me-maw and the young’ns in the Suburban. It’s April, they won’t broil.

  188. 188.

    Scout211

    @Sab:

    I started using the limited amount of elastic that I had in my sewing kit.  It wasn’t enough (since my husband has hearing aids, his has to be around his head).

    I then started making ties out of fabric, folded and sewed.  They had to be a lot longer than I thought they would.  I kept making them longer and longer.  I then went searching through the vanity drawers in our guest bathroom and found enough hair bands to tie together.  I can’t remember the length needed to tie a bow around the head, but it was more like 24″ for each of the four ties.  I started cutting 18″ and they were too short.

    The fabric ties don’t work well around your ears, they have to be long enough to tie around your head.  I do think bias tape would work.  But I would guess that sewing the ties might make them a bit stronger.

  189. 189.

    sherparick

    A reminder that not only do our Republican elite have no limit to their greed, but also no shame.  See the article below, but has not kept Senator Kelly Loeffler from twitting shameless attacks on Democrats and defenses of Trump on twitter.  From LGM, “Always be Closing” lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2020/04/thirty-seconds-after-the-challenger-blew-up-hes-on-the-phone-sellin…

    U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s most recent financial disclosures show that millions of dollars in stocks were sold on her behalf at the same time Congress was dealing with the impact of the coronavirus.

    The largest transactions — and the most politically problematic — involve $18.7 million in sales of Intercontinental Exchange stock in three separate deals dated Feb. 26 and March 11. Loeffler is a former executive with ICE, and her husband, Jeff Sprecher, is the CEO of the company, which owns the New York Stock Exchange among other financial marketplaces.

    During the same time period reflected on reports filed late Tuesday, the couple also sold shares in retail stores such as Lululemon and T.J. Maxx and invested in a company that makes COVID-19 protective garments. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution got the first look at these reports, covering mid-February through mid-March and shedding new light on Loeffler’s financial transactions during the pandemic. Previous reports — which have put Loeffler in the national spotlight — covered her trading during the first six weeks of 2020.

  190. 190.

    germy

    Schiff tells WaPo that his staff has already started working on a discussion draft modeled after the 9/11 Commission. And he said the House Intelligence Committee, which he chairs, has begun reviewing the committee's intelligence materials on the pandemic. t.co/eanzdn9Csm
    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 1, 2020

  191. 191.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Baud:

    HIV is a very, very strange virus.  It attacks exactly the part of the body that a vaccine teaches how to fight.  It’s like a werewolf that eats silver bullets.  All the normal rules for how medicine and the human body fights viruses are thrown out the window with HIV.

    I’ve heard nothing to indicate that Trump Virus is unusual in any way except the complete lack of immunity because of it being new.  It’s more deadly than most, but not weird.  It doesn’t imbed itself in your nuclei permanently or anything.  It would be very, very obvious by now if the natural antibody immunity process wasn’t happening, so the odds are overwhelming that a vaccine can be made, and that doing so is straightforward.

    just not fast.

  194. 194.

    Barbara

    @sherparick: You see this kind of reaction with white collar crooks all the time.  Their idea of being a criminal isn’t related to whether they  engaged in conduct that add up to the elements of a crime, it’s whether they fit a preconceived image of what a criminal is.  Loeffler will never admit to wrongdoing because she has an ironclad image of herself as the kind of person who cannot be a criminal.  It’s not quite the same but similar to people who think that their faith in Jesus absolves them of every kind of wrongdoing.

  195. 195.

    Haroldo

    @Barbara:

    ……many of the coping mechanisms he used to survive his childhood were counterproductive and actually holding him back as an adult

    This is a remarkably wise and insightful thing.  Thanks for this.

  197. 197.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Costco’s open 8-9am Tuesday-Thursday for 60+ folk.

    ETA: I was just going by Google Maps’ traffic today, I went to the local Costco last Thursday and it was crowded for the 8-9 time slot with a long line, I ended up going just before closing, no crowd.  They didn’t have the frozen ramen I like so I’m going to try a different one.

  198. 198.

    MattF

    @Barbara: Also, there’s a standard libertarian argument that there’s nothing wrong with insider trading. So, how could it be illegal???

  202. 202.

    Barbara

    @MattF: If you try to follow the laws that are actually written you don’t end up having to come up with pretzel twisting defenses, like, if the theft is sophisticated enough is it really theft?

  203. 203.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Just an FYI: Those google live numbers are definitely based on pre-Covid data.  We went to TJ’s in La Canada based on a 5-minute wait go Google live, at 10:30am on Monday, but there was an hour wait just to get in the store.  TBF, that is because TJ’s was only letting people go in as other people came out (and had a line with blue tape markers for people to maintain 6-feet distance around the parking lot).  Across the street Ralphs had no line (it gets WAY less shoppers in general) so the 5 minute wait was probably not too far from the truth for Ralph’s.

  204. 204.

    Barbara

    @trollhattan: Ikea has been doing pick up for a few weeks, and allows only one customer per order into the store.  A lot of people show up before their order is ready and get peeved when they have to wait.  They probably need a bigger and bolder font when they tell you to wait for the “second” email.

  205. 205.

    susanna

    @zhena gogolia: Sometimes the overwhelming negative atmosphere seems to deny our choices.  Don’t believe that, so long as you can name 2 options.  Having a choice is huge.  And lower those Zoom expectations.  And know it’s going to be tough-going.  And that you’ll do and be fine.  Stay safe.

  207. 207.

    zhena gogolia

    @susanna:

    Thanks. I go up and down. The first look at BJ in the morning is always a low point. And we made the mistake of watching the last episode of Brideshead Revisited as our “diversion” last night. It’s fabulous, but it’s basically 90 minutes of watching Laurence Olivier die, so it didn’t conduce to peaceful sleep, at least for me.

  210. 210.

    WaterGirl

    @zhena gogolia: Just wondering whether you have had a chance to check out the No Cabin Fever For Us! section in the sidebar?

    I’m hoping there are things in there that can take you out of yourself for a bit and that you can enjoy the zoos, aquariums, mystery recommendations, a list of streaming services that are free for 30 days, and more.

    There is a new section on arts, entertainment and public affairs that might have some things that could be resources either for your or for your classes.

    Maybe some of those things could help?

    If you’re on a phone, you’ll find it at the bottom of the page, after all the comments.

  211. 211.

    evap

    @MattF:  So you used rubber bands to substitute for the elastic and it worked?  Interesting.  I was going to make some masks, but I can’t get elastic anywhere.

  212. 212.

    Diceros Bicornis

    @Elizabelle: First time I’ve ever MADE BREAD. Not only did it taste good, it was an excellent morale-lifter in these…stressful…times. Something actually worked the way it was supposed to…

  213. 213.

    Geminid

    @sherparick: Loeffler faces a “jungle primary” in November. The two top finishers will advance to a January runoff. Congressman Doug Collins the Idiot (R) is competing and has been running ads ripping Loeffler’s stock sales. A nice nasty red on red brawl. Stacy Abrams talked Raphael Warnock, senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist, into running as a Democrat. He has a real chance to be first Democratic Senator from Georgia since Max Cleland.

  214. 214.

    J R in WV

    @zhena gogolia:

    I cannot sleep at all. I am in total despair.

    I’m sorry for your sleep issues, not sleeping can make anyone dispair.

    I have that trouble too, which is why some nights I’m commenting on B-J at 3 or 4 am. One thing that works for me is to listen very closely to a piece of music I know well. Paying total attention to restful pieces by Ravel, or other French composers, who tend to create less bombastic music.

    If you are concentrating on every note of the music, you are not thinking stressful thoughts, you are thinking about beauty and calm. I also take meds which help me to stay asleep.

    Best of luck, stay safe, keep in touch !!

  215. 215.

    J R in WV

    @germy:

      And then the anti-vaxers  will get noisy.

    I think the anti-vaxers will discover that there is a newly marked lack of respect for such a stupid and dangerous cult in the immediate future.

    They should all be locked away so they can’t endanger others, and should have their children removed so the kids can be protected to the extent modern medicine can protect them. Failing to provide medical care to your kids is right there beside abuse with intent to cause great bodily harm.

  216. 216.

    J R in WV

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    I’ll see you those & raise you JFK, One Small Step, the first oil embargo, Watergate, Challenger, & the collapse of Communism. That’s 10 without the Cubbies.

    You left out the Cuban Missile Crisis, before JFK was shot, thankfully.

    I tried hard to dig a shelter in the crawl space under my parents’ house, but the ridge top cap rock was really hard sandstone, so my 10 y o muscles using a pick and shovel didn’t get very far.

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