Been working some crazy hours at health care company, deemed essential.

They sent me home today with my computer and a couple of monitors. I get the feeling that Texas is about to lockdown, either by order of the state or from the Feds.

I hope everyone is healthy and safe.

---

San Antonio, TX (in the old city)


"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
“Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." - Eli Weisel

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." - Theodore Roosevelt (1918)

"I don’t want to see religious bigotry in any form. It would disturb me if there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. The hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it." - Billy Graham 1981

"Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise" - Barry Goldwater

You ought to lock-down anyway if you can, the roll is coming east to west. Get what you need done before the time comes you can't.

Safe at home here to for the time being. Two of us and a Shiba Inu. I dont have food hoarded, I hope that stores stay somewhat stocked.

Here in Anaheim CA.

Retired so self-quarantine isn't so hard. Have several projects:

• Replace batteries in all my UPS systems (d@m you USPS - where's my orders?)
• Preparing cMP Dually 12-core to become my daily Mac.
• Setup current cMP 6-core to resell or repurpose.
• Lots of old tech I could put on eBay.
• ...and then there's always laundry I could do

Haven't had any issues getting food or essentials & freezer is full!
Several spare carts for the water filtration so that's not an issue either.

Glasgow DE

---

39°36'17"N 75°44'43"W

DuckDuckGo
The search engine that doesn't track you.

DemComm Records 2021 Greatest Hits
includes:
Taxman by Joe & Nancy's Rich Ice Cream Band
The Humpty Dance by The Harris-Brown Hookup
Lets Spend The Night Together by The Fang-Swalwell Gang
Díaz-Canel Is A Friend of Ours by The AOC Squad
My Old Kentucky Retirement Home by MitchMcC & The Soggy Boxer Boys
Burning Down The House by Merrick & The Goons
Back In the USSR by Bernie's Red Square Trio

A little stressed - weathering the virus in VA while the SO is up in NJ. Working remotely because of parent in memory care. Her facility is closed down (as it should be) but she’s not doing well at the moment (unrelated to the virus). It’s hard.

On the other hand, the HOA here is providing some highly entertaining drama.

Many if not most HOAs ought to be subject to the same entertainment fees charged to theaters or movie houses.

We're retired and tend to do things that aren't near people--golfing, kayaking, bike riding--so our lives have just gone on. We have plenty of food and bought some extra milk and froze it (it turns yellow!) when all this began so we don't need to go to the store. We saw our grandchild and kid last weekend just as the world was starting to lock down so we're good there. The biggest change for us is no choir practice and no church until Easter, at least. That was our biggest social interaction outside of the family. But, again, that's an announcement that was just made this week so we haven't yet missed anything. If there is really a relaxing of the restrictions, along with a smoothing of the curve, in a couple of weeks it will really have been pretty silent for us. If substantial restrictions do go on for an additional 6 weeks or more, I assume my wife and I will get rather tired of seeing just each other!

Managing... also in healthcare, also working more hours than I can believe, from home. My other half still goes to work in the ER - that doesn’t work as a remote job. We should have everything we need for quite a while, and are somewhat self sufficient.

We are allowed to go out, but don’t want to. We’ll get takeout here and there to help out little restaurants...

My mom is really struggling mentally.

Last Wednesday was our last 'Esme day' where we looked after our eldest blessing's 21 month old daughter. No more face to face contact with her family for the foreseeable future which is sad for all.

Youngest blessing has a 20 month old son but is also due to produce our third grandchild in the middle of April. We had decided to self isolate for a while and then if we don't develop the symptoms then we will keep contact with them as they don't drive and with a toddler and a new baby soon they will need help. We will try and keep our two family units separate from everyone else as much as possible.

The grandchildren are managing to communicate.



Paul

Retired so my contact was limited to grocery store trips, chatting with neighbors while walking my dog, and search and rescue training/searches. I think my brother and I have finally convinced Mom (84) to stay home. Last week she still did her one day volunteer job at a hospital in their day surgery and went to Macy’s on Tuesday to return something. We told her she can drive around as long as she doesn’t get out of her car.

My daughter stopped by yesterday as did a friend who does therapeutic massage on my dog. I made both of them come around to the back and interactions were on the screened deck. I told them they had cooties

We’re still trying to figure out if groups of 10 applies to our outdoor search and rescue training.

Quote
SKYLANE
Safe at home here to for the time being. Two of us and a Shiba Inu. I dont have food hoarded, I hope that stores stay somewhat stocked.

Theres plenty of food, just trying to catch up after the purge. The supply just needs to catch up to demand. Grocery stores dont have a back room, all of the inventory is on the shelf...
[www.politico.com]

I work from home, no change. Wife will start working in the County Health department Monday, not sure what yet. Maybe doing tests, maybe just keeping people in an orderly line, maybe fitting masks.

Kids are home, doing homework, but limited. Not sure how my magazines will fare... first one is in and same page count as last issue -- so thats good.

---

Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

Pretty normal here. Wife and I are working at our work places, she might get moved from her nursing job to working overnights at the call center, as there are thousands of calls coming into the hospital and they are overwhelmed. I got a letter from my boss that was issued by the Department of Homeland Security which allows me to travel to work, as well as allows me to purchase gas. Daughter is doing district encouraged but non-mandatory remote learning, as well as bike riding and rowing on her erg; and cleaning and redesigning her room.

---

The arts are not luxuries but assets that give way more than they cost.
--Ronald Tucker on YouTube

A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it is not open.
--Frank Zappa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/2020 06:05AM by Sam3.

Quote
RgrF
Many if not most HOAs ought to be subject to the same entertainment fees charged to theaters or movie houses.

I know right? It was really, really, really hard not to go to an "informal" meeting Monday with a HUGE bag of popcorn a la Gilmore Girls.

Also people should wait 24 hours before sending out emails...one I got this morning from a board member had me snorting coffee.

And we won't get into the Nj condo board - cleaning dryer vents, need I say more????



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/2020 06:33AM by Lizabeth.

I'm semi retired so not too bad but my wife is younger than me (I robbed the cradle!) and she has some projects that she had to put on hold. My work is mostly from home anyway. I print and sell note cards and I have a couple of clients that I print images-yes! actual photographic prints-that they sell. So I work at home anyway.

Plenty of supplies-we stock up when we shop and have plenty of non-perishable goods. And t.p.!

Unfortunately, as my wife reminded me, this is a good opportunity to get going on the list of household chores...

---

A little break from the grief...






Disclaimer: This post is checked for correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Any attempts at humor are solely the responsibility of the author and bear no claim that any and all readers will approve or appreciate said attempt at humor.
My name is DP, and I approve this message.

We're doing ok and have plenty of food and gas. Our local Costco here on Kauai is fully stocked and has few customers at dinner time. Never any lines to enter. Im a full-time caregiver for my wife with Alzheimers. The Day Care she attended two days a week is closed now so I have no respite and am going a little crazy having no social contacts. We do jig saw puzzles, I read to her and we watch tv to pass the time. We've had torrential rains and strong winds the past week but we're cozy inside. I could see about 20 waterfalls coming off Waialeale yesterday with a raging Wailua River below us ... quite beautiful.

We're ok just north of Chicago. Since Mr. Prym and I have already been working remotely with the majority of our clients, there's not much change there. Missing my health club workouts but trying to exercise regularly at home. Ok for food and paper products for now; hoping the "new normal" helps supply-and-demand at grocery stores. Feeling so much less pressure than friends with little kids or those taking care of elderly parents.

Quote
RgrF
Many if not most HOAs ought to be subject to the same entertainment fees charged to theaters or movie houses.

??? Am I the only only one who has no clue as to what this means???

Quote
testcase

Quote
RgrF
Many if not most HOAs ought to be subject to the same entertainment fees charged to theaters or movie houses.

??? Am I the only only one who has no clue as to what this means???

I had to look up HOA but after finding out it was homeowners association I'm still none the wiser.

Paul

Quote
Lizabeth

Quote
RgrF
Many if not most HOAs ought to be subject to the same entertainment fees charged to theaters or movie houses.

I know right? It was really, really, really hard not to go to an "informal" meeting Monday with a HUGE bag of popcorn a la Gilmore Girls.

Also people should wait 24 hours before sending out emails...one I got this morning from a board member had me snorting coffee.

And we won't get into the Nj condo board - cleaning dryer vents, need I say more????

We have a condo board meeting scheduled for next Tuesday evening that is going to be done "remotely." That should be an interesting show.

Quote
voodoopenguin

Quote
testcase

Quote
RgrF
Many if not most HOAs ought to be subject to the same entertainment fees charged to theaters or movie houses.

??? Am I the only only one who has no clue as to what this means???

I had to look up HOA but after finding out it was homeowners association I'm still none the wiser.

Paul

LOTS of personality clashes and totally unnecessary drama all the in the name of "keeping our property values and morals high" Being on a HOA is a thankless task that is more a PIA than not.

If you've been a single house homeowner that's not included in a HOA then I can understand the confusion



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/2020 07:53AM by Lizabeth.

We're on day 6 of voluntary lockdown. We went to the grocery store once this week. Snow removal, puzzles, dog walks, movies and games. If the snow melts we can add in bike rides.

It occurs to me I have the Arcade Legends/Golden Tee video arcade game with 100 games in the living room, along with a refurbed N64 and a refurbed GameBoy...life could be worse.

---

“Live your life, love your life, don’t regret…live, learn and move forward positively.” – CR Johnson
Loving life in Lake Tahoe, CA

Nervous and trying to work from home. Company is still open but my department has been told to work from home (IT) mostly because we can. Trying to stay active and not be depressed. I need to try harder. And to not look at my 200.5 K. This is like '08 but even worse and weirder.

SO stuck in Fla, I'd guess, as her flight is 4/6.

staying home other than daily 3 mile walkies.
shop as necessary and when stores get trucks.
still no paper and little dairy available.
may go to the orchard today for apples.

reading, listening to music all day, then film or TV at night.

primary car decided to "check engine" the other day, so I'm driving old reliable as needed.

Work, dark for another week, at least ....

Not in a hot zone.

---

!#$@@$#!

Wife works in primary care office, about 6 inches away from coughing patients.
I'm in a higher risk group, so preparing to go to ICU at some point.

Getting to do a lot more stuff at home since being forced to start full time telework on Wednesday. Son has been on spring break all last week. They extended break for all next week, then they will start online distance learning the following week.

Since my work laptop is now sitting right next to my Mac, I've been doing some consolidating of stuff on my hard drives. I had multiple copies of stuff all over the place. Slowing bringing that in order. After that, I may finally try updating from El Cap to Sierra.

On the weekends, I usually try to find stuff to do to get out of doing yard work, but I think it'll be more difficult to do now. I may take the cover off the pool, as it's been in the upper 80s for the last couple of weeks.

Mandatory work-at-home order from my institution, and all teaching has gone online, but I don't know how well this is going to work -- especially considering that my home internet is relatively slow, unreliable, and erratic (this is common in my area), and I suspect that the same may be true for many of our students.

My main concern also is that -- since our mayor has put us all in more or less lockdown mode -- what to do about groceries. I've never used a delivery service before, but that looks like the way to go...

---

Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

Still working in the office, seeing patients. There is a mandatory order to NOT cancel any patients, but to do phone visits if possible. The wife freaks out every time I come home. The kids are getting cabin fever, wondering why there are so many stay-at-home days. The wife has to do her full time job over the inter webs, but still has to home school my eldest and get my 4 year olds ready for kindergarten.

Yeah, it's a slow boil here. Wondering when it's gonna boil over.

Doing well here. Retired from my day job, so no worries about that. Mini storage business is doing great, I have very little contact with those folks. I can go days without even a phone call about it. It pretty much runs itself. Riding out the stock market dive, but I'm confident it will bounce back.

My sister left yesterday. She was up for a few days cooking (corned beef and cabbage, chicken and dumplings) and stocking up for use. She made us beef barley soup, bean soup, and chili for the freezer. She also brought up a big pack of T.P. and other supplies. She grabbed a bunch of stuff from the Dollar store too. This adds to my already stocked pantry.

I worry that she may have been exposed though. She spent 45 minutes in the store and I estimate 100 people went in and out while she was there. She also is living in a large city and will come in contact with more people than what we will.

I am concerned that I'm exposed to the people at the med center where I get P.T. twice a week. I'm wondering if they won't close soon as the therapist said more than half his patients are canceling. You can definitely notice the lack of cars in the parking lot.

---

Mr. Lahey: A lot of people, don’t know how to drink. They drink against the grain of the liquor. And when you drink against the grain of the liquor? You lose.

Randy: What the @#$%& are you talking about?

....How.....you.....doin'?

---

_____________________________________

I reject your reality and substitute my own!

Truth be told, not good. I'm currently president of Portland's largest cab company and I've got several hundred owner/operators, lease drivers, and around 50 employees all wanting answers and assurances that I can't honestly give them. Business has dropped off substantially, to the point where the lease drivers can barely make their daily leases and the owner/ops can't make their weekly kitty.

We've cut the leases and kitties substantially but it's not enough. We're going to start laying off personnel but at least those folks will be able to get unemployment. All the drivers are self-employed, many have no health insurance and frankly, have never been astute money managers.

As for myself, my weekly kitty after the cut is still $1000. As lease revenue dries up I'll have to start draining my retirement accounts. I'm still driving every day, more to show support than anything else, and to take care of the customers who depend on us. Low income, elderly, disabled folks in wheelchairs, anyone without a credit card - none of those have the option to use Uber. I just turned 70, but I've always been extremely healthy and believe I can get through the illness if or perhaps when I get it. I'm taking every precaution I can think of.

Our general manager, who is the most important employee at the company, is overburdened, 76 years old with heart problems and perhaps early stages of cancer, is working 10/12 hours a day. I'm doing my best to get him go home, but he sees the company as his legacy after 25 years as GM. As such he's become rather fatalistic.

Yesterday PBOT (Portland Bureau of Trans) released a plan for transportation options during the COVID-19 crisis. They had extensive information about bicycles, electric scooter and links to Uber and Lyft - then nothing at all for local taxi companies, despite the fact that all our drivers have gone through extensive training to qualify for medical transportation, transporting special needs students, safety training, etc, etc. Uber and Lyft do none of that. Enough said.

Sorry to unburden all this crap on you all. Seems like here is one of the few places I can unload without stressing out my son or freaking out my constituents. Hope everyone stays safe.

Quote
Wags

Sorry to unburden all this crap on you all. Seems like here is one of the few places I can unload without stressing out my son or freaking out my constituents. Hope everyone stays safe.

that's what we are here for - sorry it's so tough...

I have taken the next two weeks off. Employer gave all FT employees 80 hours personal/sick time to use anytime between now and end of year or we could get paid for time, if we don’t use it.
My husband is 72 with underlying heart problems, so I thought it best not to expose myself to hundreds of people each day and then come home. I have also had a bad cold and sinus infection for the last two weeks, and I need to get over it completely without possibly exposing myself to another virus while my immune system isn’t at full strength.
People around here did not seem to be taking staying home seriously. Last Sunday we had so many people in the store it was just nuts.
I was going to take two weeks off, paid or not, but it was very nice that they finally stepped up with the extra paid leave. They also finally decided to close the stores earlier, at 6 pm. I generally work 1:30-10, so they really don’t need me much right now, as it doesn’t take 4 hours to close my department and I would not have much to do but busy work for about three hours anyway. Also, they always have at least one other person scheduled till after 6, so they should be good.
Daughter is sheltering in place with her BF in NYC and they are both working from home. Fingers crossed for them as it seems to be getting bad there.
88 year old mom is self quarantining herself and doing a lot of yard work. She has about acre of land, so plenty of room to roam around. She stocked up on stuff already and lives in a small town with several people who will go get stuff for her, if she needs it, or she can drive herself to the grocery store, if she really needs something. She lives literally across the street from the hospital, but I really hope her self quarantine will keep her safe.

---

Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

Quote
hal

Quote
Wags

Sorry to unburden all this crap on you all. Seems like here is one of the few places I can unload without stressing out my son or freaking out my constituents. Hope everyone stays safe.

that's what we are here for - sorry it's so tough...

What he said.

---

Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

Thanks folks. I don't want to sound maudlin, but its some comfort to hear from you.

Perhaps some take-out would brighten your day:


[www.wweek.com]

Quote
Wags
Thanks folks. I don't want to sound maudlin, but its some comfort to hear from you.

It sounds really rough.
You can vent here anytime.

---

Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

"If you've been a single house homeowner that's not included in a HOA then I can understand the confusion"

Thank you for the simple explanation Lizabeth.

Yes, for 35+ years I did own a single family house and, did not have to put up with the crap that an HOA can dish out.

Although I did know that an HOA = Home Owners' Association, I totally missed the "entertainment fees" reference.

I'm sometimes to subtle for my own good.

Quote
Wags
Thanks folks. I don't want to sound maudlin, but its some comfort to hear from you.

Hang in there. And apply for any government assistance for small businesses.

---

Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

My wife was leading a study-abroad group of 14 students to Guatemala. We got the ‘get the students home’ order Sunday morning. The students all gathered (some not wanting to leave) at our apartment and we were on a four hour shuttle ride to Guatemala City where we spent the night. Students were responsible to get their own flights home and all were on planes by Monday evening at 8PM. It was hectic. The airport closed to incoming flights at midnight.

The president of Guatemala ordered all public transport, all restaurants and most businesses to close. BTW, Guatemala had eight cases at that time and the president is an actual M.D., he doesn’t just play one on TV.

My wife and I returned by private car to the city where the program was held to participate in the process of going on-line with one-to-one language courses as well as the other classes the students are taking. The language school only has 10 Mbps down and one Mbps up so it will be a challenge to schedule to get enough bandwidth to cover all students using Skype. We will use Zoom for regular group classes.

We were ordered (mandatory) out by my wife’s director on Wednesday. We completed our move out and left Thursday morning, by private car again, for the Mexico border which was open both directions. We went through a very brief health screening (forehead temperature and a brief interview), then walked across the border until we could flag a taxi which took us to the nearby airport where we flew to Mexico City.

We are staying in the family home where we share the residence only with a maid. We maintain social distance from our relatives which seems really cold. We plan to stay here for the near future. Today we hit the supermarket hard and then went to a restaurant for supper. Half the tables were placarded ‘closed’ to help maintain social distance.

Unlike in Guatemala, there are few restrictions. Public transport is crowded and most everything is open although not schools. We have our own car which is nice. The president of Mexico is slow to act. He allowed a large, multi-day music festival to take place attended by some people who have since tested positive. Many more things will be closed beginning Monday. Mexico will be a mess once the virus really takes hold.

We can make the frontier with the USA in one day by car but we have not decided yet what we will do. My wife has dual citizenship and that provides me with a certain amount of healthcare access. So far we have the support of her college as far as staying in-place. We have better internet than we do back in Minnesota so she just might finish out the semester teaching her class from here.

---

Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/2020 04:13AM by Speedy.

Wags, I've managed Payroll for some small business. When the boss says "we're not gonna make payroll after this week..." is pretty bad news.

I'm glad everyone is physically ok. My wife works out of the house, so what hurts her is NOT being able to get out. My teenager is going stir crazy. We go to the park every few days. I think I will take her for a Sunday Drive tomorrow, she enjoys those.

I hope everyone continues to stay healthy. My son is convinced this is all a hoax to provide cover for the coming crash. I reminded him that they didn't need cover for th 2008, 2001, 1992, 1981 etc crashes.

---

San Antonio, TX (in the old city)


"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
“Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." - Eli Weisel

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." - Theodore Roosevelt (1918)

"I don’t want to see religious bigotry in any form. It would disturb me if there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. The hard right has no interest in religion except to manipulate it." - Billy Graham 1981

"Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise" - Barry Goldwater