Well, let’s see, what happened today?
Alan, on furlough next week, originally planned to work on the boat, get it ready to launch on a date TBD. But the boatyard is closed. Then he thought he’d go fishing, but the hotels up north, ditto. So he decided, instead, to paint the living room.
Today the governor extended the stay-at-home order, and extended the list of non-essential businesses to paint stores. This led to an explosion of activity downstairs, lots of loud phone calls, debit card numbers read, arrangements for pickup made (I’M GONNA SEND MY DAUGHTER IS THAT OK?) and then the two of them peeling out of the driveway in separate cars to get…paint.
Paint. This is such a weird period. My editor went to a Seder-on-Zoom last night. He complained there wasn’t any food, other than the matzo-ball soup he made himself. Tomorrow I’ll record a podcast about the week’s events, and I’m not sure what I’ll say, other than: Well, that was weird.
Me, I went to the grocery store. I bought Oreos. Fuck all y’all, OREOS. Because why not. Then I came home and wrote a column about the governor’s fashion choices of late.
Yesterday it was 65 degrees. I just looked outside and saw snowflakes driving down. Kill me now.
Thank god we have wine. Although it’s…the last bottle. And lord knows what will close next.
ON EDIT:
You’ll want to read this, as ghastly as it is:
Medical workers at Detroit Medical Center’s Sinai-Grace paint a grim picture of the hospital’s emergency department these past weeks as they scrambled to care for coronavirus patients: patients dying in hallways and nurses searching for body bags and places to put the dead.
Horrifying.
I wish I had more to say. We’re fine, we’re healthy, stay safe everyone.
jcburns said on April 9, 2020 at 10:15 pm
The world looks better after you’ve huffed paint fumes for a few hours.
And I’ll tell you, Tab and Oreos got me through a lot of late nights of television production.
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Connie said on April 9, 2020 at 10:27 pm
Kroger pickup includes wine and liquor etc. I have the Baileys and the beer to prove it.
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alex said on April 9, 2020 at 10:37 pm
The world smells like B.O. when it’s acrylic latex. And no buzz.
Home Depot’s still open here, so we can buy the Behr and PPG brands, not the excellent Davis and Pratt & Lambert brands that we prefer.
Liquor’s now a drive-up thing.
And Facebook has become an even stinkier sewer now that Bernie dropped out of the race. Not only am I getting into fights with Forever Trumpers but things are getting testy with the Never Bideners. And I’m a fucking snowflake? My hackles never go up like they do for these nutters.
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Ann said on April 9, 2020 at 11:35 pm
I had one of those “duh” moments recently when I realized that probably the reason that FB becomes so obnoxious later in the day is because more people are drunk. It made it much easier for me to step back from the fray. My rule has always been that you can post anything on your own wall, but if you come over to mine and act stupid I’m not going to engage, I’m just going to delete. It was about this time last night when someone told one of my fellow mods in the haiku group to fuck off, thus earning herself the distinction of being the first person banned from the group. On the other hand, it’s a hell of a lot easier moderating the haiku group than it was running a page in support of changing the high school mascot to something other than “Redmen” so I’m not complaining.
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Deborah said on April 9, 2020 at 11:45 pm
I read online just now that Billy Barr was on fox tonight saying really alarming things. I haven’t the whole story yet, I’m kind of afraid to. There is some serious nefarious shit going on.
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colleen said on April 10, 2020 at 7:20 am
I just can’t with Trumpers any more. And some Bernie supporters are just as obnoxious. I have a nephew who is a full on Bernie Bro and he was going on and on yesterday about how his vote for Biden isn’t automatic and Biden sucks and Bernie rules and blah de blah. That’s how we got Trump, people. These idealists who have to have every box checked to vote for someone. I like the bus analogy….it’s not going EXACTLY where you want to go, but it’ll get you closer than you are now….
Our home improvement project for the weekend will be tiling the front of the island and doing a backsplash in the kitchen. And installing a Simplisafe alarm system. Though why we need one when we never leave the house, I’m not sure at this point.. .
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David C said on April 10, 2020 at 7:35 am
This is a very entertaining Fran Lebowitz interview.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/fran-lebowitz-is-never-leaving-new-york
Has this crisis shown us anything about Donald Trump that we didn’t know before?
No. Every single thing that could be wrong with a human being is wrong with him. But the single most dangerous thing about Donald Trump is how unbelievably stupid he is. It’s not the most dangerous thing in someone who has no responsibilities, but in a President it’s the most dangerous thing.
His absolute belief in himself, that is something that is not going to ever change. And he doesn’t care. When people say he’s not showing enough empathy—he doesn’t know what it means. Whenever he uses the word “love,” which he does occasionally, I think of the word “algebra,” because I don’t know what algebra is. I took Algebra 1 four times, because I failed it four times, and I still don’t know what algebra even means. I know the symbols. And that is what love means to Donald Trump.
She’s also spot on about Bernie.
I think the popularity of Bernie Sanders just has to do with his shouting, which people seem to mistake for some sort of intellectual energy.
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4dbirds said on April 10, 2020 at 9:32 am
Yes Oreos. I like the vanilla frosted mini ones.
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Dorothy said on April 10, 2020 at 9:42 am
David C – YES! I just shared that article on Facebook. I enjoyed reading that very much. And as much as I enjoy reading Fran Lebowitz’s words, I think perhaps she might not be so much fun to sit down with. She is brilliant but sounds cranky as hell all the time. Cranky is okay if it’s balanced with something to laugh about. I try to laugh as much as I can when it’s appropriate.
I did laugh out loud at the last sentence in this section about Bernie Sanders:
I agree with him. I agree with these ideas. But if you’re asking me if he would be a good President—he’s not even a good senator! He just yells. Also, I’ve always thought, What kind of person leaves New York when they’re eighteen? People should come to New York when they’re eighteen. And many of the things that are wrong with New York that prevent many people from coming—which is how psychotically expensive it’s become—should be changed. He’s seventy-eight, right? That’s the age you should go to Vermont. New York’s a very hard place to live, and I understand if, by the time people are seventy-eight, they can’t take it anymore. Go to Vermont, and, when you get there, take an eighteen-year-old and put them on a bus and send them to New York.
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ROGirl said on April 10, 2020 at 10:14 am
With the extension of the stay at home order late yesterday afternoon, I have been waiting for my company’s email about their response. They have furloughed some employees until May 1st, and I’m not one of them. I’m still working from home and getting a paycheck.
Went out grocery shopping this morning, there are still quite a few people not wearing face masks — mostly young.
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Julie Robinson said on April 10, 2020 at 10:25 am
Yay, ROGirl! My husband and his coworkers are all working from home with full pay until April 30; after that we don’t know. They project revenue down 80%–no one is staying at hotels right now or traveling at all.
Still, I spoke with a couple yesterday who have been laid off from three jobs between the two of them, so no complaining here.
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Peter said on April 10, 2020 at 10:28 am
Ann #4:
“We’ll all get through this”
“except liberal snowflakes”
“that’s it – you’re banned bro”
I know someone who worked at the Nabisco plant during college – he said he can’t eat Oreos anymore, because he used to take some off the line and eat them – he said once you’ve had the warm cookie and the really cool cream you just can’t go back to the stuff that’s on the shelf.
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David C said on April 10, 2020 at 10:33 am
Peter, my wife used to work QC at Keebler (they made Pop Tarts for Kellogg’s, now they’re part of Kellogg’s) and couldn’t eat Pop Tarts after that. She saw too much. I think most people who ever worked in food manufacturing feel the same way about it.
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jcburns said on April 10, 2020 at 11:22 am
So that’s kinda two different vectors. “I can’t eat them because they are so extra good warm coming off the line” and “I can’t eat them because the process of making them is just so disgusting.”
Hm. Maybe I should microwave an Oreo and warm it up a bit.
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alex said on April 10, 2020 at 11:31 am
All it took for me to recognize that Pop Tarts are inedible was to try one again after maybe 40 years. Disgusting. As are Spaghetti-Os and anything served at Fort Wayne’s Famous Coney Island.
Mary Kitchen Corned Beef Hash (now a Hormel product) is also much worse than I remembered it, having tried it again recently.
Despite the relative ease of prepared foods, we’re doing a lot of cooking from scratch, although it means going out to buy meat every few days and fresh salad greens as well.
Canned salmon (which I’d have refused not so long ago) has actually been a great help in the kitchen. I’ve made salmon cakes and salmon loaf recently that were better than any I ever made from fresh fish.
St. Bitch, we were talking food in the last thread and you asked about the pizza sauce from Fresh Thyme. It’s jarred stuff and the brand is Rao’s, nothing special but it’s our fave in terms of flavor and consistency on homemade pizza. I love Fresh Thyme’s meat section also.
For a while we had a place called Earth Fare across from the Kroger and I was going there constantly whenever Kroger didn’t have what I needed, which despite being a ginormous store has always been the case. It folded and now if I go to Kroger I’m fucked so I figure I might as well go well out of my way to Meijer, where things are generally better stocked. Supposedly we’re getting a new Kroger and a new Meijer across the street from each other at Dupont and Tonkel in the near future. It will be less of a drive even though I’m not all that happy with the increasingly dense development around here destroying the rural character of the scenery.
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Deborah said on April 10, 2020 at 11:42 am
Oreos are addicting for me, I can’t eat just one, it’s the whole bag in one sitting or nothing. I’m not that way with any other snack food, I don’t eat that much of that stuff in general. Having said that, I do find myself buying cookies now when I make my two trips to the grocery store a week. I tried to whittle it down to one trip a week, but so far haven’t accomplished that. When I’m at the store I find myself in a manic state, wearing my gloves and mask, shoving things in my cart that I wouldn’t ordinarily think of wanting. My choice for cookies right now is Walkers shortbread (not that many in a box, but yes pure butter) and Belvita cookies which come in individual packets of 4, my husband and I usually share one of those packets so we each get 2, that seems sufficient.
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Peter said on April 10, 2020 at 12:05 pm
JC at 14 – the problem with heating the Oreos in the microwave is that it will heat up the filling as well – my friend said it was the really warm cookie and the really cool cream that made it special.
Deborah, that’s why I don’t eat Oreos anymore – in for a couple, in for the whole bag. Let’s just say it doesn’t end well.
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Suzanne said on April 10, 2020 at 12:15 pm
I can’t eat Archway cookies, made in Fort Wayne. Our son worked there very briefly one summer. When he got motion sick at one of the work stations, the supervisor wouldn’t move him to a different spot but pretty much told him to try to not barf on the cookies. Son made it through the day and never went back. Every Time I see a package of Archway, I wonder if anybody barf on or near them.
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Dorothy said on April 10, 2020 at 12:35 pm
Interesting observations about the cookies. I can’t eat Chips Ahoy or any other packaged chocolate chip cookies. Probably because I have the Toll House recipe memorized and eating a warm one 3 minutes after it’s come out of the oven is my idea of heaven. I love Oreos, too, but a whole package of them?! Never. Three or four with a cold glass of milk though – now you’re talking.
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Jim said on April 10, 2020 at 12:44 pm
Hilton just published the Doubletree chocolate chip cookie recipe on its website.
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Scout said on April 10, 2020 at 12:59 pm
I loved loved loved the Fran Lebowitz piece. Nothing like a crusty NYC crone with opinions.
Not a fan of Oreos. My processed cookie of choice is Fig Newtons. I could definitely put away a whole package of those in a sitting.
Here in AZ we have >3k confirmed cases of COVID & 97 deaths. Phoenix is the 5th largest city in the US, so I credit our Mayor’s early shelter in place order a month ago with flattening the curve here. Also, our city is not dense and upward, it sprawls, so I think that could be a factor too. We’ve had a much cooler spring than usual, so we can’t credit heat with keeping the numbers relatively low. Of course, nobody can get tested, so who knows how many people actually have it.
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Julie Robinson said on April 10, 2020 at 1:04 pm
Peter, I believe you are experiencing a crisis of imagination. I have no Oreos, but I could envision a series of experiments involving scraping the filling off (maybe freezing them first would make it easier?). Then how long to nuke the outsides and at what power. All the different variations. I can see where it might take a package or two to get it just right.
And I just noticed that Nancy said Alan is being furloughed next week. My best wishes that it’s short-lived and involves still getting health insurance.
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Jeff Borden said on April 10, 2020 at 1:32 pm
Deborah at #5
Here’s today’s take by Paul Krugman in the NYT. It is quite terrifying.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/opinion/wisconsin-primary-democracy.html
As much as the Magats proclaim themselves to be freedom-loving ‘Muricans who don’t want none of that there socialism –unless it’s a bailout check, of course– it’s pretty clear what they really want is an authority figure to tell them what to do. . .so long as he’s the same shade of skin color and hates the same folks they do. And the Republican Party has been subsumed by tRumpism, so we cannot count on anyone in D.C. to stand up to him. As we’ve seen in Wisconsin –where Democrats won a large majority of the votes but only a handful of seats thanks to insane levels of gerrymandering– the only GOP mantra is what Al Davis used to say, “Just win, baby.” If low turnout in Tuesday’s election, which was an absolute clusterfuck, allows a highly conservative justice to remain on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the stage is set for the purge of 600,000 voters. . .overwhelmingly urban, of course. And might well give our feckless Orange King those electoral votes.
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Jakash said on April 10, 2020 at 1:38 pm
Yeah, the Lebowitz interview is swell.
People don’t really wanna hear this right now, and I don’t want to, either, but she’s not wrong —
“I have always really disliked Joe Biden, mainly because of the Anita Hill hearings, which I did not have to be reminded of during the Kavanaugh hearings. I remembered it very well and I was appalled. And because he turned Delaware into a cesspool of usury. But I was so happy when he started winning. And that to me was sad. I thought, This is what it’s come to. You’re happy that Joe Biden is winning.”
Personally, I haven’t disliked him that much, but I was not shy in dismissing his candidacy. Fortunately, I think most Americans find him more likeable than Fran does. Now that he’s gonna be the nominee, I just hope that plenty of those impressionable folks who voted for G. W. Bush because he was “a guy you want to have a beer with” go back to using that as their rationale, rather than deciding to vote for the obnoxious, rich prick who hates Mexicans the most.
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Andrea said on April 10, 2020 at 3:27 pm
Her rage is palpable and I share it. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/trump-coronavirus-american-carnage.html
Separately, cooking here with two teens and a husband. I am interested, willing, and able to get creative in the kitchen and work with the available items. The other three, not so much. Really trying to keep the grocery trips down to once a week or less. We are at about every 6 days, and that is with me pitching a fit. The problem is that the kids have gone somewhat nocturnal, so their eating habits and times don’t always synch up with ours. They eat dinner with us, but it is kind of a lunch for them. And they want to eat things that are either pre-made or easy, like bagels.
I have a good friend who works at a Trader Joe’s. She gets enraged when people come in for a cucumber, or a pint of ice cream — can’t believe people are risking their health and hers for something they can obviously do without or wait to purchase in a larger shopping trip.
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diane said on April 10, 2020 at 3:29 pm
Jakash, my brain screamed “exactly!!” when I read that Leibowitz comment about Biden. I love/hate it when someone perfectly expresses what I had been thinking and feeling when all the while I’ve been floundering around trying to figure out words.
Back when there were a bizillion Dem candidates and they couldn’t even fit on one stage, Biden was my last choice. (Yes, I would have voted for Andrew Yang over Biden.) I will never forgive him for Anita Hill. But I’m all in now. It is not the time to let the perfect become the enemy of the marginally adequate.
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LAMary said on April 10, 2020 at 4:05 pm
Not a big Oreo fan, but Trader Joes(or Costco) peanut butter filled pretzels are calling my name.
Fran nailed it as far as I’m concerned. I never loved Biden. Too toothy. I’ll vote for him though. We need this monster out of office asap.
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St Bitch said on April 10, 2020 at 4:14 pm
Dang, Fran Leibowitz is priceless! First I had to unconfuse her with Annie Leibovitz. Then…hah!…*laugh*…yeah, of course!…*laugh*. Then I had to send the link to everyone I could think of.
Yeah…Biden…with lingering resentment over the Anita Hill Hearings, plus plenty of up to date complaints…gets his slate wiped clean in my book. Nothing to gain from holding on to past and present transgressions under these circumstances.
I was so tickled by Nancy’s Oreo-fueled governor’s fashion coverage, that I had to check out Iowa’s sartorial statement. Gov Kim Reynolds showed up to today’s C19 briefing in a hot pink blazer over a white button-down blouse. I couldn’t get a glimpse of what was going on below the podium, even though she stepped aside (off camera) several times to let her statistics expert answer questions. Was it a pleated skirt, maybe? Or a fully pink pants suit? Finally I checked out an earlier presser when she was sporting a black blazer over a black & white blouse; and a different camera angle revealed cream colored skinny slacks. Phew! Acceptable.
My cookie addiction used to be Jules Destrooper Belgium Butter Almond Thins…before going GF saved me from that and many other temptations.
Thanks, Alex, for Rao’s…it’s on my list.
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Jeff Borden said on April 10, 2020 at 4:24 pm
The tRumpy the Clown Show aka the daily coronavirus “briefing” ran for more than two hours this afternoon and was packed with gooey, chewy goodness. It appears our Fearless Leader is up against a genius virus. . .and the virus is winning.
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/04/watch-trump-pontificate-on-his-brilliant-enemy-during-long-winded-coronavirus-briefing/
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David C said on April 10, 2020 at 4:25 pm
Peanut butter pretzels. Now we’re getting somewhere.
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Deborah said on April 10, 2020 at 4:26 pm
OMG yes! Trader Joe’s peanut butter filled pretzels! I have ODed on those on road trips. I try to convince myself that they’re healthy, but I don’t really think so. I’ve had other brands but TJ’s are the best. There was a time at the TJ’s in Santa Fe that they weren’t available and then I could do without them for a long time, even after they were available again. My eating habits are kind of cyclical like that.
One of LB’s friends works at Whole Foods in SF and she complained about how lots of people come in to the store and use it as their social hour every day. That’s pretty sad and dangerous.
We’re back out in our peaceful, safe cabin. NM is up to 1,000 cases and the county where we are, Rio Arriba the largest land area and poorest county in the state has less than 10 as of this morning.
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beb said on April 10, 2020 at 4:40 pm
I read Nancy’s article at Deadline Detroit this morning. Came here to give her kudos for a well-written and balance piece. She points out that woman in politics never get a break for how they dress. May as well go leather-tough. It reminded me of something I’d read about the singer Debbie Harry. She had gone in for a girly-girly look at a time when other women in the music business, like Pat Benatar and Joan Jett were dressing in leather and trying to be one of the boys. Well, if wearing leather will get Gretchen Whitmer taken seriously, then more power to her.
JCBurns, try toasting oreos in a toaster oven. That might give you a warm crisp and a cool(ish) creme filling.
I’m not a big fan of oreos. Too much sweet in the filling and the crisps are too dry. I suppose my favorite would be warm Tollhouse cookies but because of my diabetes I compromise on oatmeal-raisin. It’s a nice, fulfilling chew so I can easily quite after two.
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Joe Kobiela said on April 10, 2020 at 4:41 pm
Is Fran Leibowitz any relation to Fawn Leibowitz who was killed in a kiln explosion?
Pilot Joe
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Deborah said on April 10, 2020 at 4:54 pm
One thing I don’t like about gorging on Oreos is how they wreck your mouth. Makes your teeth look and feel disgusting and takes multiple brushings to get the residue out.
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Jeff Borden said on April 10, 2020 at 5:04 pm
In fairness to women politicians critiqued on their clothing and hairstyle choices, don’t forget President Obama was slimed for days by the morons of the right for wearing a tan suit. He was also described as “wimpy” compared with the manly Vladimir Putin for wearing a helmet while bicycling, even though his predecessor, W., always wore one, too.
Gov. Whitmer comes off as a pretty strong leader. Gosh, if only we had one in the White House. . .
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Suzanne said on April 10, 2020 at 5:12 pm
Ok Pilot Joe, that made me laugh.
Peanut butter filled pretzels are the best! I buy them for long car trips (remember those?). They are addicting for sure and I wish I had some right now.
This is from Trump’s presser today:
Trump calls the virus “a brilliant enemy.” He adds, “Antibiotics used to solve every problem” but now “the germ has gotten so brilliant that the antibiotic can’t keep up with it.” He adds, “There’s a whole genius to it.” He adds of the virus, “It’s hidden, but it’s very smart.”
(https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1248697421607075840?s=21)
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JodiP said on April 10, 2020 at 5:26 pm
I don’t have a lot of time to comment here these days, but I read a lot. I appreciate you all.
I save my GS thin mints for warm spring days when I have them with an iced coffee on our three season porch.
Otherwise, I like homemade treats the best. Smitten Kitchenhas a great brownie recipe.
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Deborah said on April 10, 2020 at 5:30 pm
As Jeff tmmo knows, usually this weekend in NM there are pilgrimage walkers going to the Santuario de Chimayo which is an old, quaint little church in the village of Chimayo about 30- 35 miles north of Santa Fe. People come from all over the place, and some staunch penitentes travel the last few miles on their knees. It’s a big deal but this year they are doing everything they can to stop it because of the virus. On our drive out to Abiquiu there were digital signs set up on the highway Saying “the church in Chimayo is closed, walkers turn back”. Usually there are walkers along the side of the highway and every year one or two are killed by out of control cars speeding along. It’s a highway that scares me most every time I travel on it, which is a lot since it’s the only way to get to/from Abiquiu – Santa Fe. I have seen more stuff fly out of the back of pickup trucks, like rocking chairs and 2 x 4s, all manner of stuff. There are some very steep foothills of the mountains that the highway traverses. Anyway on our trip this Good Friday we didn’t see one walker, so hopefully everyone is staying home safely.
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Dorothy said on April 10, 2020 at 7:09 pm
Dry Oreos? Did I read that right? It’s a REQUIREMENT they must be dunked in milk!
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Dorothy said on April 10, 2020 at 8:13 pm
So I just found out my 24 year old nephew is being treated for Covid-19 but not being tested. He’s had a fever, cough and a headache. My sister says they won’t be testing him unless his symptoms get much worse. He’s taking a Z-pack prescribed after a televisit. Z-pack – antibiotics, right? I thought antibiotics are not useful against viruses. This makes no sense to me. Don’t doctors have to look at someone’s throat to help the diagnosis?
I learned about him via text my sister sent to all of us siblings so I didn’t want to press too much with questions. But this is alarming. This nephew has multiple issues that I think would qualify him as having pre-existing conditions. He takes medicine for seizures. He was born with cloudy corneas and has had corneal transplants; the left side of his body is not as strong as the right. He’s had surgery on his left leg to correct some muscular issues in his calf, and his left hand does not work; his left elbow is permanently bent. He is the one who played sled hockey during his late teen years (some of his teammates didn’t have legs or other physical difficulties).
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LAMary said on April 10, 2020 at 9:08 pm
I’m glad I’m not the only TJ PB Pretzel addict here. I’m jonesing for some now but my son only give me the stink eye when I suggest a TJ run.
I wish I had seen today’s trump dump. I chose to use that time to take a nap. Actually I tossed in a load of laundry then took a nap. Things continue to be exciting here at Casa LaMary.
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alex said on April 10, 2020 at 9:14 pm
Debby Harry may not have worn leather biker jackets, but Pat Benatar and Joan Jett never had album covers with their faces shish-kebabed:
https://www.merchbar.com/rock-alternative/debbie-harry/debbie-harry-kookoo-vinyl-record
Wusses.
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LAMary said on April 10, 2020 at 10:42 pm
I have Debbie Harry’s high school yearbook. Hawthorne High School, class of 63.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on April 10, 2020 at 11:24 pm
Tarping loads is not a thing in the Chama Valley, I’d say.
Hadn’t thought about the Holy Week Penitentes being restricted, but of course they’d have to be. So many cultural losses large and small, and what we’ll have when it’s over, hard to say. Zeke Emanuel just said in the NYT magazine that he doesn’t think large gatherings (which would include most/many church services) can generally come back until the fall . . . of 2021.
Here’s the piece; my ministerial colleague and acquaintance William Barber is part of the round table — https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/magazine/coronavirus-economy-debate.html
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Mark P said on April 10, 2020 at 11:41 pm
Jtmmo, it looks like some big churches are putting that to the test. It will be interesting to see the outcome. A number of cases in a nearby community here in Georgia were traced to a church service.
Of course antibiotics have no effect on viruses, despite what the moron in chief thinks, and it’s not because they are so crafty. But they might be useful to treat opportunistic infections.
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Sherri said on April 11, 2020 at 12:03 am
I think the only way we could possibly have large gatherings before there’s a vaccine is if we found a treatment for the virus that was freely available. If we could treat people in a way where we weren’t overwhelming the health care system, and the death rate were not so high, then potentially we could build up herd immunity before a vaccine. Trump’s favorite anti-malarial, even if it proves effective against COVID19, is not that solution because of the significant side effects which make it ill-suited for widespread use.
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LAMary said on April 11, 2020 at 12:32 am
Tarping loads isn’t a big thing in LA. Someone’s cat tree flew off out of the pickup in front of me on the 210 freeway and took out my driver’s side view mirror a few months ago.
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beb said on April 11, 2020 at 12:48 am
LAMary, my first thought was “that poor cat” only belatedly did I realize that had to be traumatic to you.
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Sherri said on April 11, 2020 at 1:33 am
I’ve always been happy to pay my taxes. I’ve believed I should pay more in taxes. But right now, not so much.
I’m donating to my local food bank, which normally source 80% of its food as donations but had to stop taking donations because of Coronavirus concerns and switch to buying food. It went through 40% of its budget for the year in March.
I’ve contributed to numerous GoFundMe’s trying to prop things up locally. I’ve privately helped out some people.
Meanwhile, as our state has assembled the resources for one of the better responses to the the virus, and informed the rest of the country about what was going on against the wishes of the federal government, the federal government still doesn’t have a plan for supporting our ability to come out of quarantine. We’re on our own.
We have much to offer the country—Washington contributes more in federal tax dollars than we receive in federal spending—but we have nothing to offer *Trump*, and this most transactional of presidents doesn’t care about anybody but himself.
So, I’m feeling kind of resentful about the idea of sending my tax dollars off to a government that won’t do anything to support me, to instead hand my money to states that won’t even stop large gatherings. Those same states are also states which receive more in federal spending that they contribute in tax dollars.
Right now, California, Oregon, and Washington breaking off is starting to look not so crazy…
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Dexter Friend said on April 11, 2020 at 3:19 am
If I eat a few Pearson’s Bit-O-Honey candies I can stay away from packaged cookies, but I know how good an Oreo is. My brother tells me the Auburn, Indiana Walmart is completely stocked but here in Bryan, Ohio, the stuff is slim pickin’s. I am going to have to mow the front yard later today as a spurt has it very high, just out front by the sidewalk.
The Detroit body bag scramble made a big splash on MSNBC as did the gov’s crackdown on paint stores. People want to take their time away from work to get this stuff done. The Detroit sick-numbers are staggering.
I have yet to don my masks I received in the mail, but today I wear one…I have not been in any store for a week and we need a food re-up. Canned salmon, thanks to Alex, just went on my list. I have been making salmon patties from canned fish every since I could reach the stovetop burners. Best served alongside peas from the frozen if fresh is unavailable.
Still, just one Covid19 confo here in Williams County but again, nobody can be tested.
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Cone said on April 11, 2020 at 6:12 am
I think of Z-pack as the dentist antibiotic.
It is half of an experimental treatment the other half of which is a malaria drug also used for lupus. Read a twitter post from a pharmacist who is now refusing to fill scrips for the malaria drug for anyone who is not already a lupus patient at his pharmacy, as he had received several scrips signed by dentists. Chloroquine something. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/former-fda-leaders-decry-emergency-authorization-malaria-drugs-coronavirus
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Sherri said on April 11, 2020 at 11:43 am
Why is Washington doing its own tests? In addition to the incompetence, there’s this:
Another incentive to do it themselves: The Federal Emergency Management Agency required photo identification, health insurance information, phone numbers, email addresses and home addresses for every patient tested, according to a letter the agency sent to the county that was obtained by The Washington Post. The agency also ordered county officials to ship the kits to labs with CDC contracts on the East Coast, which would yield results in as long as a week.
Federal officials did not provide a rationale for gathering personal information or their insistence on cross-country shipping, county officials said. But the demands set off alarm bells in King County, a “sanctuary” jurisdiction that has come under fire from the Trump administration for its immigration policies.
“Obviously that raises a whole different set of suspicions,” Constantine said. “A pandemic is the perfect example of why we don’t want people hiding in the shadows and being afraid to get tested. You can be infected by a citizen or noncitizen equally. Your immigration status is not relevant. And having the threat of deportation hanging over you only makes it more likely you will avoid testing and appropriate treatment.”
So King County simply refused to comply and began processing all its tests locally. The decision seemed to provoke the Trump administration.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/coronavirus-seattle-flattening-curve/2020/04/09/7313b3c0-7689-11ea-85cb-8670579b863d_story.html
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Deborah said on April 11, 2020 at 11:48 am
I read a snippet that Billy Barr said something about people “hiding under the bed” in regard to staying home to save lives but I’m unable to find the source online because I’m in Abiquiu, googling works only sometimes. Barr needs to shut up, he’s the Cheney of this administration. He’s dangerous.
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LAMary said on April 11, 2020 at 11:59 am
The flying cat tree was traumatic and expensive. Close to three hundred dollars to buy the part and get it installed. I got the license plate of the pickup and gave it to the Highway Patrol, but I haven’t heard anything back. The cat tree was not the only thing that flew off. I think another car ran over the cat tree after it hit me and that couldn’t have been good.
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Brian stouder said on April 11, 2020 at 12:58 pm
Complete non-sequitur: while watching the news (msnbc) in recent days, they speak with other journalists and guests remotely, frequently with the guests doing live remotes from their homes.
The direction seems to be to set up the remote contributor in front of their book cases…and seeing what they like to read is quite the pleasant distraction!
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Deborah said on April 11, 2020 at 2:01 pm
I agree Brian, I find it fascinating. When I look at photos people post on Facebook etc, I always look at the backgrounds, especially when the photos are taken inside. When I go to the homes of friends who have lots of books on bookshelves, I always peruse their book collections too. I like books in general, love to meander in bookstores, but alas, can’t do that for a while.
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jcburns said on April 11, 2020 at 2:14 pm
I did a virtual set back in the early 2000s for a canadian health program, and it had a totally fake bookshelf on it. The books, though, were images of actual book spines on shelves here at the house.
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Brian stouder said on April 11, 2020 at 2:17 pm
Our bookshelf is mostly Lincoln (top shelf honors)/Civil War (second shelf)/American history and biographies…..and Laura Lippman books. (I caught the Lippman Virus from our proprietress, and she supplies the only fiction on the shelves….I met her once when one of her tours brought her to Indiana, so there’s that!)
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Brian stouder said on April 11, 2020 at 2:23 pm
Jc – made me laugh out loud! The book heights are a ‘tell’, but only when you already know the shelf is fake! Some number of our books are inscribed, as many were purchased when authors visited Fort Wayne, and/or I went to Lincoln symposiums, etc
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Julie Robinson said on April 11, 2020 at 3:07 pm
Because I’m cynical, I wonder how many of those fabulous bookshelves are really Zoom backgrounds.
Way back when, I helped paint a play set that had bookcases. We had a lot of fun making up book titles and authors, all related to the actors and characters in the show. Afterwards we made a donation to the playhouse and were able to cut that piece out and frame it. It was in my mom’s sewing room until she moved out of her house.
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susan said on April 11, 2020 at 3:16 pm
jc @57 – Copy/paste, copy/paste, copy/paste…x 10 to fill up those shelves with the same book spines!
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basset said on April 11, 2020 at 3:38 pm
Hmmmm, better neaten up a little before the Zoom conversation in a few hours… we cleared out our bookshelves and took the contents to a storage locker when we thought we were gonna move a few months ago, now the room I am in is the lite version of our previous clutter demonstration area. Left some framed Beatles albums on the wall, though.
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jcburns said on April 11, 2020 at 4:13 pm
Hey, we were on a budget.
I feel like I’m tripping a little when, in the course of one nn.c comment thread, I see the following phrases:
What a rich tapestry you weave.
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Deborah said on April 11, 2020 at 10:15 pm
About the time of the zoom event here we had an emergency that involved my husband cleaning out the woodburning stove, which we had to use today because it was cooler this morning. He put the ash bucket outside but didn’t weigh the lid down with a heavy rock which we usually do. He left to take a walk, then of course a fierce wind came up, blew the bucket across the area in front of the cabin and live embers were scattered. Thank goodness I happened to see it all happen and was able to stamp all the live embers out and bury them all. I sat for the next hour with a jug of water ready to run out and douse any fires. Everything was fine and I read my husband the riot act when he got home from his walk. He was very apologetic. I was stressed.
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beb said on April 12, 2020 at 1:52 am
jcburns @63 — I’d “like” this is we had a like button.
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Dexter Friend said on April 12, 2020 at 2:36 am
Do not fuck with hydroxychloroquine unless you have a long thorough review with a competent doctor. That stuff will trigger arrhythmia in anyone who has had episodes of that, such as yours truly. It was 37 years ago, and probably my heart irregularities were triggered by firing down hot coffee to sober up after large quantities of hard liquor and beer. I was wired for a week with a Halter monitor and scared shitless that I was going to have to have a pacemaker or open heart surgery, but like a Trump miracle in April, it stopped on its own…just sayin’ please make sure your cardiologist is cool with your desire to take that stuff. One doctor on TV warned of instances of sudden fatal heart stoppage with an initial dose.
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Suzanne said on April 12, 2020 at 7:31 am
Happy Easter everyone!
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basset said on April 12, 2020 at 9:19 am
Stirling Moss has died:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/sir-stirling-moss-vfsklt6rm
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Sherri said on April 12, 2020 at 12:26 pm
If we armed mail carriers, would conservatives stop hating the USPS?
I mean, I really don’t get the Republican hate for the Post Office. Private services don’t serve their rural base nearly as cheaply, effectively, or even in some cases, at all – delivery services rely on the USPS for the final mile in remote areas. Small businesses absolutely need the USPS. The USPS is in the Constitution. The USPS is the largest employer of veterans in the country.
Is it just because the employees are unionized?
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David C said on April 12, 2020 at 12:47 pm
I expect that the thing requiring the Post Office to pre-fund their pension plan for 75 years into the future has something to do with it. Some crony is probably itching to snap it up Russian oligarch style, declaring the pension fund over funded, and grabbing the money for themselves.
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Sherri said on April 12, 2020 at 1:22 pm
But why did they do that to begin with? That was obviously intended to damage the USPS; why did they want to do it?
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Deborah said on April 12, 2020 at 3:51 pm
Sherri, I think it’s because they want to privatize it, like the prisons and charter schools. One of these days they’ll privatize social security and then we’re totally screwed.
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Deborah said on April 12, 2020 at 4:03 pm
The Republicans always think the free market can do it better, more efficiently and more cost effective. Of course that’s not true. It will end up being difficult for places like Abiquiu for sure, it’ll cost us the users more and it will take longer for deliveries and be way more inconvenient to get to the locations. They will be hell holes to work in.
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Deborah said on April 12, 2020 at 4:17 pm
The Republicans always think the free market can do it better, more efficiently, more cost effective. Of course that’s not true. It will end up being difficult for places like Abiquiu for sure, it’ll cost us the users more and it will take longer for deliveries and be way more inconvenient to get to the locations. They will be hell holes to work in and pay will be abysmal.
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Peter said on April 12, 2020 at 7:33 pm
From what I remember about the USPS, it was Congress that required them to fully fund their pension system many years out, so the workers can’t get stiffed and/or the taxpayers have to bail them out (Hello, Illinois). So, now you see what a fully functioning and funded system can do to a company and/or state, and why they like to kick the can down the road.
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