The Chaos Diaries - A New Wave

And when I say 'new wave', I'm not talking about around new round of 'rona.  I'm talking about the insanity surrounding the 'rona.

So, Wallyworld has mandated masks nationwide with people who'll be standing outside to enforce the rule.  Why?  Because there are like loads of places in the nation already with mask rules, so why not make all the stores in the non-totalitarian places enforce those rules, too?  Umm.  Yah. 

Today, all Dollar General stores follow in Walmart's locksteps.  Because it's what they do, I guess. 

Okay, here's the thing.  Yesterday, I tried the mask thing.  I had heard the USPS was enforcing a mask rule, so before I went into the post office to mail bills and pay for my PO Box, I put on a mask.  I walked from my car which was parked in front of the door, to the outgoing mail slot which is about 8 feet inside the store and by the time I dropped my mail into the slot I was hyperventilating and sliding into a panic attack.  I walked the few steps to the postal jail and slid my money for the PO Box through the tiny slot to the mail chick.  When I tried to talk to her, all that came out was croaking, so I ripped the damn mask off.  She looked at me kind of weird and I apologized saying "I'm sorry but I just can't wear it' and explaining how I'd heard it was mandatory masks in there.  She said she hadn't heard it was mandatory there yet. 

I'd also heard that masks were already mandatory at DG, so I girded my loins and went off to DG, telling myself it was something I was going to have to do if I wanted food, so I just needed to get over it.  I put the mask in my purse and headed for the doors.  No signs of any kind saying I had to put on a mask, so I didn't, but I was prepared to do it if someone said something.  No one inside was wearing masks, so my stress level went way down and I shopped, thinking perhaps my info was wrong.  When I was done, I talked to the cashier who told me the mask rule would go into effect the next day.  The guy behind me overheard us talking and was all like 'what?', so I explained it to him.  And he WENT OFF.  Can't say I disagreed with anything he said, although I might've said it quieter and with fewer expletives. 

The manager, upon hearing him, came out loaded for bear and totally on the defensive. With me.  I talked her down and the dude left, muttering additional worthy comments about America, freedom, and communism.  After she'd calmed down, because I assured her I was on her side and didn't have any intentions of taking my own righteous anger out on her or her staff, she told me that DG's new rules are to be enforced, no questions asked and no room for dissent.  Employees don't comply or enforce the rule, they're fired.  Period.  Then she told me she has the same phobia I have about things over my mouth and nose.  And she has to suck it up or lose her livelihood. 

That's where we're at in America, folks.  Follow the rules to avoid the chance you might catch a disease that, at the worst projections, is only slightly deadlier than the flu, or lose your job, be unable to shop for necessities, potentially face jail time...  The original guidelines were to stay 6 feet away, wash your hands, and stop touching your face.  I haven't heard anything that says 'those didn't work, so we have to wear masks now'.  We just have to.  No logic.  No rational.  Nothing.   

As I've said before, I have no problem with people choosing to wear masks.  If you feel like you're in the risk group, and you feel safer wearing a mask, go for it.  It's the difference between choice and force, folks.  And the underlying goal behind it?  Control. If they can get you to wear a mask by scaring the hell out of you, they can get you to do anything.

I have to go out again later this week.  While I was at DG, I bought a big handkerchief which I hope will be easier to deal with than the mask I had.  The new masks I ordered arrive sometime this week.  We'll see what happens.  If I totally spazz out inside a store because of the mask thing, I'll have Hubs drop a line here while I'm in jail.  (Not seriously concerned about that.  Well, maybe a little.)

Thursday This n That - Chaos Edition

Ir may sound silly, but I've been drinking tonic water as a kind of prophylactic measure.  Not sure if the quinine is helping stave off the 'rona, but hey, it can't hurt.  Plus, it's yummy.  Two-thirds OJ, one-third tonic.  It's like a gin and tonic without the pine.  I wonder if there could be some kind of study to see how tonic drinkers rate in the 'rona numbers.  :shrug:  No worries - I don't think this makes me invincible against the crap.  I'm just hoping it helps tamp the shit down a bit.

Well, they finally did it.  Wallyworld caved to the fearmongers and, starting Monday, everyone everywhere will have to wear face masks to shop there.  And so I caved and ordered face masks.  I'm tempted to write things on the outside of mine, but I don't want to smell permanent marker on top of the whole 'I know I'm not suffocating, but I'm suffocating' thing.  I get panicky when I'm breathing my own air.  And then I start to hyperventilate, which isn't good on any given day and can't be good while wearing a face mask.  Bastards.

Note: After thirty minutes of trying to find face masks that were made in America that didn't cost me a tit and a half, I caved again and bought a 50 pack of China masks that are sold and ship out of Dallas.  Only $19.99 and free shipping.  Amazon, of course.  They're due to arrive around the 23rd.  Until then, I'll just avoid Wallyworld - which isn't that hard since I'm pretty stocked up from the last run.

The Kung Flu is still on the rise again here.  Hubs is keeping track of it all and giving me updates.  As I said before, if I wasn't worried about bringing it home to him, I wouldn't give a rat's ass.  At this point, I'm so over it all.  Bring it on.  Except no.

For the record, I don't have a problem with individuals choosing to wear face masks.  You want to wear one, more power to you.  You have to wear one because you're in a high risk group, you do what you have to do.  The problem I have is people, myself particularly, being bullied into wearing one.  America - the land of the kinda free when there isn't a virus about and home of the no-so-brave anymore.  =o(

By the way, even if you're wearing a mask, stay six feet away from me - even after this is over.  I don't want your cooties.

The Chaos Diaries - 4/28/20

I'll be glad when I no longer have reason to do another Chaos Diaries post, but the foreseeable future looks bleak, so here we are again.

Not sure if you've heard, but farmers are getting hit hard by this shutdown crap.  People aren't visiting restaurants, so that whole section of their market isn't buying produce and meat.  Individuals aren't buying fresh produce very much right now either.  Not sure about the meat, but I bought a freezer full early in the month, so it's not like I'm contributing to their sales right now either.  And when meat sales go down, the grain to feed those cows see sales tank.  It's a vicious cascade.  I won't be able to judge availability for myself until the next time I hit Walmart, which'll be either next week or the week after.

In Michigan, Halfwit decided it was okay to do some things outside, but everyone has to wear face masks.  Mom has been getting in her car, driving it to the back of her apartment complex to get her mail and then driving back to her parking space.  Other than that, and one short trip to the office to take care of pressing issues, she hasn't left her apartment for over a month.  Her library is closed, so no books for her - which is a definite hardship for a woman who regularly picked up a bag of 20-30 books from the library.  I'm tempted to box up a bunch of books to mail to her, except she has nowhere to store books and no way to donate them to anyone else.  I really wish she was open to the idea of an ereader, but she's not.

Our mailman is now wearing surgical gloves to deliver mail.  The thing about surgical gloves is that you should change them frequently.  As in, if he was doing it conscientiously, between each mailbox he touches.  Otherwise, the germs he picks up from one mailbox travels with him to the next mailbox, and so on so on.  Purell your hands, my friends.  If you're really concerned about the spread of germs to yourself and others, it's the way to go.  And if you can't find hand sanitizer, alcohol.  And if you can't find alcohol, just don't touch your face until you're somewhere you can wash your hands.

Personally, I hate hand sanitizers.  They're hard on my skin and I have this neurotic thing about dry hands.  But I use the stuff every time I go out.  When I get home, I wash the crap off and then lotion the hell out of my hands.  Oh, the stuff we have to roll with these days.  Let's not even get into my neuroses about having something covering my mouth.  I haven't been anywhere where a mask is required.  I dread that day.  I mean, I know rationally that I won't suffocate, but I still feel like I'm going to suffocate.  Imagine trying to make it through a grocery shopping trip while feeling that you're going to suffocate the whole time.  Yep.  Dread it.  Mightily.

All in all, we're still all fine here.  Owl is getting a little lonesome for the outside world - mainly shopping, I think, since she's keeping in touch with her friends online and taking walks.  I have shot appointment on Friday.  I really need to call the doctor's office to see if they have any rules in place so I know ahead of time whether to bring a mask or wait in my car or what have you.  Hell, I'd be willing to wait on their back porch and have the nurse poke me in the doorway.

On the bright side, Hubs and Owl are getting a chance to connect that they never had when Hubs was working.  Gotta find the bright sides in all of this.  They're there somewhere.

Got any bright sides for me today?  How are things going where you are?  Have you been to the store lately?  How's the produce and meat selection where you're at?

Oh, I forgot to mention... During this chaos crap, my internet is obscenely slow, so if you don't see me on FB, your blogs, etc., I'm wading along as best as I can and I'll get there when the internet allows me to.  This also goes for approving comments, since it's hit or miss whether Gmail will come up at all.  Blerg.

The Chaos Diaries - 4/21/20

Yeah, I know I already had a post today, but I thought this warranted posting, too.

Yesterday morning, I read a news story about a man in Florida who was so wrapped up in the fear and the chaos, he threatened to take a gun to Publix* and shoot anyone not wearing a mask and gloves. Of course, he did this publicly and is now in jail.  But what if he hadn't posted his urge to FB and had followed through?  

In comments to that news story, folks were saying how they understood him, which to me is almost as scary as the idea of him shooting up a Publix.  The fear is making people crazy and making people willing to accept the crazy. 

Also, I saw what I thought were perfectly rational people posting screeds against the re-opening of America.  As if that's going to kill us all. 

Early on,. I heard it said this was going to be no worse than the flu.  Then they ramped it up and it was going to be way worse than the flu.  Now they're saying it won't be worse than the flu.  The only way this is worse than the flu is that we aren't all terrified of the flu.  I don't think I've ever seen or heard of anyone threatening to kill people who might be spreading the flu. 

Also early on, I said I was more afraid of the economic impact of this thing than of the virus itself.  Yep, still am.  Unemployment is HIGH, small businesses are closed and may not be able to recover from this, we're looking at a huge down turn in the economy the likes of which make take us years to recover from. 

In other news, Half Whitmer announced she may extend Michigan's lockdown because of the protests.  Why?  :shrug:  I'm thinking spite.  Sort of an "I'll show you not to mess with me."  She's on a huge power trip and I hope the voters in Michigan do something about that. 

I heard the other day that journalism is taking a hit.  Well, what passes for journalism these days.  I think the article was in The Washington Post.  Personally, I don't think it's the virus that's hurting them as bad as the lies they've been printing for years.  They're responsible for part of this fear that's making people nuts. 

I do feel bad for the people who are so terrified of this they'd happily kill people and watch the economy fail.  They're trading liberty for the illusion of security.  Like the gal who went off on a tear calling anyone who wants to see the lockdowns lifted 'dumb asses', because her husband is a police officer and could, I don't know, catch this from people who aren't staying home.  I suspect she's spends every day afraid she'll get that call telling her that her husband will never come home.  Forcing everyone to stay home won't make her husband any safer, except from the chance he might catch this.  The criminals he deals with every day won't be paying attention to the stay-at-home order any more than they pay attention to any law.  Perhaps that's part of why this virus is so rampant in the areas where crime is high.

Now they're saying like 80% of the people who catch this get over it without medical intervention, many without even knowing they had it because their cases are so light. 

I also feel bad for the people who are dying from this.  And I feel bad for people who've died of any other contagious disease.  And I feel bad for people killed by drunk drivers.  You do what you can to avoid it, but sometimes death wins.  And it sucks.  Every time.  But we don't shut the world down for any other disease.  We didn't shut it down for Swine Flu, Ebola, Bird Flu, AIDS, etc.  Why this?  Why now?

Election year, perhaps?

Anyway, we're still all fine here.  I still don't know anyone who has it and I haven't heard any more stories of anyone I know who knows someone who has it.  An old dude in my pay job's office building was quarantined because he had a fever and a cough, but no word as to whether he actually had it, and he showed up at his office on Friday, so he must have gotten over whatever he had.  He's around 80 and in poor health anyway, so if he can get over it, I'm even less worried about it if I do catch it.

How are you and yours? 

*If you don't know Publix, it's a large grocery chain I used to shop at in FL.  I think it's elsewhere, too, but we didn't have any in MI and there aren't any around here either.

Sunday Update - Week 13

Well, that was a Week 13 if I ever saw one.

Still no writing, editing, or marketing.  I keep telling myself I'm going to do something writerly, but then when the rubber meets the road, I can't get any traction.  I need to do something because it's been about a month since I sold any books.

My reading week was weird.  A bunch of DNFs and then I read two books in a series back to back, which I almost never do.  Good series, though.  I wish I had the budget to buy the next three books, but I have other things I need to spend that $12 on right now.

You've already heard about life in the chaos this week, so I'll skip that.  There'll be another Chaos Diaries post tomorrow.

I made another chocolate oil cake this week.  And another batch of granola bars.  I have just enough ingredients to make another batch of granola bars, but I'm out of baker's cocoa, so no more of that cake for a while.  I might make applesauce bread this week.

They will be shutting down Missouri effective tomorrow, but they left a nice wrinkle - we can still outdoor recreate (as long as we follow the chaos rules), which means I could conceivably go fishing.  You know, if it ever stops raining and warms back up because I have no urge to freeze my ass off right now.  Maybe today.  Perhaps tomorrow.

Hubs and I are in discussions as to who's going shopping this week.  He says him because he can get in at 6am on Tuesday.  I say me because I know where everything is and can get in and out quicker.  I really wish I could trust the local grocery store to not poison me, so I could have an alternative to Walmart.  Oh, in case you hadn't heard, Walmart has new shopping guidelines that went into effect yesterday.  There's a set number of people allowed into the store at any given time and once that number is reached, you have to wait until someone leaves before they'll let you in.  Should be interesting. 

Lastly, everyone here is well.  And everyone I'm related to is well as of Friday when I talked to Mom.  I hope all the people I care about beyond that are healthy as well, but since I only communicate with most of them online or face to face (which I can't do anymore), I only know about them if I hear from them.  If you're reading this and you don't usually comment, drop a quick 'Fine here.' in the comments so I know you're okay.  Okay?

What went on in your week last week? 

The Chaos Diaries - 4/3/20

Not really that chaotic a post today.  Just life as we now know it.

I'm dropping into some kind of stasis where I just get over it.  Music too loud?  Get over it.  Noise at night?  Get over it.  News all bad and not getting better?  Get over it.  My little corner of the world not as tidy as it used to be?  Get over it.  Out of milk?  Get over it.

Okay, that last one is something I can do something about.  Kinda.  I have to go out today and get cigarettes* so since I'm already breaking self-isolation protocols, I'll see what the Dollar General has available for milk and eggs and other things we're getting low on already.  Food stores purchased for two now stretching to feed three and all that. 

The Night Owl made dinner the other night.  Chicken alfredo.  It was really good.  And all I could think of afterward was how the meal had depleted my cheese stores.  Yesterday, she asked if she could make herself an egg for breakfast and I was all like no.  Maybe if I find eggs at the store today, she can have one for breakfast tomorrow.

I lost seven pounds last month. 

Recently, I read an article wherein I learned this isn't stress.  It's anxiety.  Cool.  Always good to have the right name for the thing. 

Right now, we have extra channels on Direct TV.  From the Premium line up when we only have Choice.  I've been watching a lot of DIY and Oxygen and Destination.  They're also throwing us bones of pay movie channels here and there, but there's never anything to watch on those.  Still, nice to have other options.

And that's about it for now.  This weekend, I'll do the usual Saturday Reading Wrap-up and Sunday Update posts.  We'll see what the weekend brings and whether I do another Diary post on Monday.

Meanwhile, how's the chaos treating you lately?

* Don't go there.  Seriously.  Quitting is not an option.  The safety of mankind depends on my continuing to smoke.

The Chaos Diaries - 3/31/20

Hubs and I were talking yesterday about, you guessed it, the chaos.  He's been watching the actual data and by his reckoning, the peak of this crap will coincide with the end of our food supplies.  So we decided the best bet would be to try and pick up some things now while the number of infected in our area is still low.  Since I had to go out anyway - bank stuffs - I extended the trip to include the closest dollar store.

Unfortunately, the mail with my paycheck didn't arrive until late morning.  I figured by that time anything really good would be gone, but I had to try.  Still no TP on the shelves.  No eggs.  No flour.  No evaporated milk*.

I did manage to get apple juice.  A necessity here since we don't drink soda anymore and a necessity for the digestive system.  Also purified water - for the cat.  And cat food - the last two boxes of Fancy Feast pate** which is the only kind she'll eat.  With what I already have, that'll last her until I can get more.

The thing that struck me as I shopped was the shell-shocked look on everyone's faces - probably mirrored in my own.  It was like footage you see after a disaster or a bombing raid.  

As I got into the checkout line, I noticed the guy in front of me had TP in his cart.  Then the gal who got in line behind me had TP, too.  I swear, I searched the store for it and came up empty.  So I asked the gal behind me.  She said you had to ask the checkout gal for it.  I stepped up to the register and the smiling cashier, made the usual polite conversation, and then mentioned the TP.  A thunder cloud came over her sunny disposition.  "If you want toilet paper, you're going to have to get out of line because I have to go to the back and get it and I'm not making all these people wait on you."

I collapsed in on myself and mumbled my apologies.  By this time, there were easily six people behind me, so I began to get out of the line.  That's when the gal behind me offered me her toilet paper, saying she'd be happy to go to the back of the line.  And then the gal two people behind her offered her toilet paper up to the first gal with the same idea.  The checkout gal relaxed and told me they have to be strict with the TP because people from out of state have been swooping in and raiding their shelves. 

We had also planned on hitting Walmart at 6am this morning because Tuesdays Walmart opens an hour early for anyone over 65 - and just those people, not their spouses.  After yesterday's run, I didn't have the heart to do it again today.  Sure, it would've been Hubs shopping alone and me waiting in the car, but I couldn't take the idea of another trip so soon.  So, we decided against it.  Which is good because it's after 6 and he's still sleeping.  And I'm letting him.

I had a nightmare last night that the eggs I have in the fridge actually expired*** last week.  Woke me right up.  Good thing, too, because I had forgotten to switch the thermostat back to heat after last week's AC usage, and it was freakin' cold in here.  I wonder if The Night Owl (the Kid) was shivering her buns off in her room.

Now, I decided to write all this out as a way to reach out to other people who may be experiencing similar stuff as a way to let them know they aren't alone.  Not as a 'woe is me' thing.  Looking at it this morning, I probably could tackle Wallyworld today.  Obviously not in time to do the Senior Shopping thing since it's almost 7 and it takes a half-hour to drive there, but I could do it.  I bounced back.  I always do. Some days the bouncing takes longer than others, but I do it.  You can, too.  :HUGS:

How are things with you?

* Evaporated milk can be reconstituted into milk.  Use a one to one ratio of water to EM, then taste it.  Add more water to thin it to your tastes.  It's not the best milk ever - like I wouldn't drink a whole glass of it  - but it works for having a bowl of cereal and using in recipes.

** When I checked Anazon yesterday morning, it was on back order until the middle of next month.  

*** Expired eggs can be checked.  If you drop an egg in water and it sinks to the bottom, it's good.  If it sits up, use it soon.  If it floats, throw it out.

Sunday Update - Week 12

Well, there went another week in 2020.  Week 12 of the year, Week... what?  2?  3?  of the madness. 

Still unable to think about writing or editing.  I had hoped that once I got the Kid here and settled in, the flow would start again.  Umm...

Also, no marketing.  I can't seem to bring myself to jump into the fray of 'hey, your world is falling apart, but here's a book to entertain you while you wait'.  I know books help take everyone's minds off this, but...  :shrug:

Speaking of reading, I finished three books last week with no DNFs.  Which is kind of amazing since for the first half of the week, I couldn't seem to focus on anything.  Actually, I finished two of those books on Friday, so if not for the last half of the week, my reading would've been sad.

In other news, you might have seen that the Kid is living here now.  So far, so good.  She's spending most of her time doing her college course work and keeping in touch with friends online.  Yesterday, she baked us up an apple Bundt cake that was pretty good.  I keep having to remind myself that while she is MY child, she is no longer A child.  She's been living on her own for 7 years.  If she doesn't do dishes the way I do dishes, so what?  "Chill out,you control freak,," I says to myself, "at least she's doing the dishes." Which is what I'm doing - chilling out.  =o)

In case you haven't guessed, we're now under self-isolation.  It really sucks not being able to go anywhere.  Sure, I've had 7-10 day stretches where I didn't leave the house.  But that was by choice.  And sure, we're able to take walks and junk.  But not being able to get in the car and scoot over to the store is driving me crazy.  I did manage to finally see my bestest in-person friend on Thursday.  It was through the drive-thru window at the bank, but it was better than nothing.  We chatted until someone pulled up behind me.  She and her husband and their extended families are well.

So far, I still don't personally know anyone who's sick and only know two people who know people who are sick.  Fingers crossed it stays that way.  Of course, the number of people I communicate with on a regular basis dropped precipitously in 2016, so my numbers are only anecdotal.

Got a call from Mom on Friday.  Which is weird - she never calls here, I call her and we'd spoken that morning.  She's fine.  She was making my chocolate oil cake and I forgot to put in the recipe whether to grease the pan.  You can, but you don't need to.  

Okay, that's probably enough out of me.  Hopefully, I'll have more interesting and writerly things to talk about next Sunday.  :fingers crossed:

How are things with you?

The New Normal

Man, my internet is slow today.  I think in this time where internet usage is up like 70% (per something Hubs read) that the big sites like Facebook should scale down their bells and whistles so the sites actually load again.  Of course, it might just be me.  This is like our usual summer slow down.  Loads of typically summer people and weekenders are here for the duration.  Why not?  If they have to shelter in place, it's better to do it here than whatever city they live near.  Also, now we have 3 computers sucking bandwidth on the modem in the house.  :shrug:  So if you see me less, that's why.  Kid needs the internet for her classes.  Hubs needs the internet for his work.  I rarely need the internet for more than to entertain my brain.  I can read or watch the tube for that.  The few times I have to do stuff, I can wait until one or the both of them are done for the day.

This is the new normal.  I'd really like to go back to the old normal.  Please.

Yesterday, I introduced the Kid to The Match Game.  "Big money Match Game 78! With your star, Gene Rayburn!"  Applause applause applause.  It's on The Game Show Network from noon to one Central.  I love that show.  It's so not politically correct.  I also introduced her to The Chase.  Love that show, too.  I wish they were still in production.  Game shows... they're what to watch when everything else sucks.  Almost total escapism. 

Speaking of The Game Show Network, they have a new commercial where they talk about watching their shows during social isolation and then the camera pans back to show 6 people all sitting on two couches watching together and having fun. And I'm all like 'where's the separation?!  they're too close to each other!'

This, too, is the new normal.


I also find myself thinking 'do I really need to eat that?' because with the self-isolation, we're staying away from stores and anything I eat will need to be replaced down the road eventually.  Yesterday, the Kid was all like 'would you mind if I ate an egg?' because eggs are hard to come by.  Before this, I would've been all like 'if you want an egg, eat an egg'.  Which I did say, but after a long pause while I calculated what I might need that egg for before I can get out to buy more eggs.

This will pass.  This isn't like the USSR where you had to stand in line every day all day for years to get an egg.  Not yet anyway.

Let's try to make sure this new normal isn't a permanent normal and get back to the old normal as quickly as possible.  K?

How are you all doing out there? 

Thursday This n That - But Mostly That

It was a gorgeous day in the Ozarks yesterday. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the tail winds way up high were advantageous.  The drive to the airport went well, her flights were all early, and the drive back was fine.  We made it home forty-five minutes early than expected. 

The roads were not as empty as I would've thought - plenty of people still out and about.  The traffic in Republic (a suburb of Springfield) was surprisingly heavy for 1:30pm on a Wednesday during the plague.  The airport, on the other hand, was creepy.  No hustle, no bustle.  Ghost town quiet.  All the little stores on the outside of the security checkpoint were closed.  The restaurant was closed.  Totally weird.  One airport worker I spoke with said he's been there ten years and has never seen it that quiet.  Lucky for me, I'm self-entertaining.  Also lucky that I didn't have to wait too awfully long.  Bored bored bored.  And the bench seating was too uncomfortable to sit and read.  I saw two people wearing masks.  Otherwise, the few people who I did see and/or talk to were social distancing. 

The only issue I had was that once I left home, there were no places to stop for a potty break until I got to the airport.  Fast food is drive-thru only and some places aren't letting customers use their bathrooms anymore.  Okay, I could've swung into the Wallyworld, but gah, who wants to go into one of those right now if you don't have to?

Purell is my friend.  (Actually, off-brand hand sanitizer is my friend, but Purell is a shorter word.)

Coffee is also my friend.

With all the rain we've gotten the river and the lake are swollen.  Not super-bad floody but definitely will make fishing interesting when I finally get to go.

In general, spirits are okay out there in the world.  I spent some time thanking people for doing their jobs amidst this crap.  The parking lot attendant was confused when I thanked him.  He sits in a box all day only interacting with people when they come out of the lot, but hey, he's doing his job. 

I hope your spirits are okay out there.  I'm doing a little better now that the Kid is safe here. 

Got any this n that for me today? 

The Kid's Coming Home

Since I have nothing writerly to talk about today, I'm posting here instead of at OTB.

About noon-thirty, I'll be heading up to the airport to get Kiley (the Kid).  Hubs checked the car out, made sure all the fluid levels are good, checked the air in the tires (which are relatively new), etc.  I gassed up yesterday, so no stops between here and there.  Might run through a drive thru on the way back because I'm pretty sure she won't have time to eat lunch along the way.  If all goes well, we should be home by 5.

I feel really bad for her.  In the space of a week, her whole world has been turned upside down.  And she was finally back on track.  But she'll weather through.  We'll help her weather through.  Patience and kindness.

Hubs and I spent some time over the last couple days moving the spare room around so it's less 'guest room' than 'Kiley's room'.  Then we cleaned the house.  Not full-on 'we've got guests coming' clean, but tidy enough for us.  She's not a guest.  She's family.  And it's not like she'll be going around with a white glove.  Then we set up an extra chair in the living room because typically, we only have two chairs because there are only two people here.  We're ready for the Kid to arrive.

The cat is adjusting already.  She's a pretty chill, little fur person.

I expect this will take some adjustment for all of us.  We haven't lived together for 7 years.  She's a full-grown adult and junk now.  We've become more set in our ways.  She's used to bustle and city life.  We're hermits.  Patience and kindness.

And once she's here, we'll be hunkering down.  Oh, there will still be outings - going to the lake, taking walks, etc.  Banking still needs to be done (via drive-thru).  Might need to get gas again, depending on the number of trips to the lake.  Everywhere else is off limits for at least the next few weeks. 

But we have cake.  And the makings for pizza.  We have plenty of food that will stretch to feed three instead of the planned-for two.  We'll survive. 

I joked with her yesterday that she gets to spend Spring Break with the old folks... err cool kids.  ;o)

Patience and kindness.  And a big dose of humor. 

How are things in your world right now?  Hanging in there?  :HUGS:

Sunday Update - Week 11

Well, it's been one hell of a week in the world and here in particular.

First off, I'm fine and so are all my loved ones. Or at least none of them are sick. 

No writing got done.  I did some editing last Sunday, but then my focus went almost entirely to either virus related things or escaping thinking about virus related things by reading or baking.

Wednesday, I heard from the Kid that they were closing her university, so the scramble came up to find a way to get her out of there before they kicked her out on the street.  My sister picked her up yesterday and took her to my mom's.  This coming Wednesday, Mom will take her to the airport and she'll fly down here.  She'll stay here until Fall when, hopefully, the school will reopen. 

To that end, we'll be working on rearranging the spare room (aka Kira's bedroom) into a more comfortable space for long-term living.  We'll move the bed so she doesn't have to share a wall with our bedroom, which means moving the dresser.  I've already emptied the dresser for her clothes and moved stuff around in the closet.  Kira will have to deal with her room being commandeered for the purpose of housing the troops. 

In the realm of virus related things, I found eggs and butter and vegetable oil when I took Hubs up to get his hair cut.  He had a nice chat with the barber and I did some shopping.  I also stocked up on cigarettes because I'm not sure how long the supply chain will keep working and my supplier will stay open. 

I have been dying to go fishing.  Unfortunately, it's been raining elephants and water buffalo lately.  Six inches of sky water in the past week and it's raining right now.  This makes the river and the lake all muddy and dirty and the fish go deep to avoid the crap, so no fishing for me right now. 

Right now, I am a flaming ball of stress.  The hamster in my head runs his wheel pretty regularly anyway, but he's got his whole family up there now and they're all running on their wheels.  Sleep is like trying to catch smoke.  We're napping when we can.

The cat is unaffected (well, except for the room stuff).  So are the deer.  All they care about is whether there's food. 

Yesterday, amidst waiting to hear how the Kid pick-up and move worked out and stressing about that, I did our taxes.  Umm, yay?  Then I paid bills.  woohoo?  Then I told Hubs I was done braining for the day.  Later, I was online booking flights, so I guess I wasn't done braining.  Got a one-way from Flint to Chicago to Springfield in the middle of the day so no one has to drive in the dark.  Fun thing about crossing time zones - she leaves Flint at 11:40am and gets to Chicago at 11:59am.  Heh.

In totally non chaotic news, my crocuses are blooming.  The lilac has little leaves.  The hydrangea leaves are getting ready to unfurl.  There are green seedlets on the elms and the black cherry trees are starting to show green, too.  Spring doesn't care about no damn virus or the panicking of humans.  Life goes on.

And it'll go on for us, too.  Might be a little weird for all of us for a while, but this, too, shall pass.  Hang in there.  :hugs:

How was your week?

For What It's Worth - My Take on The Kung Flu

Just when I thought the world was already nuts, it's gone totally whackobananas.  The Kung Flu has totally taken over - not as a disease, but as a panic.  Here's what I know and what I think...

COVID-19 is not THE coronavirus.  It's A coronavirus.  So is the common cold. 

It's less lethal and less contagious than the flu.

Tom Hanks has it.  He got it while he was filming in Australia (as in totally not here), he's still there and self-quarantined, and he and Rita have mild cases of it.  From the statement he had his son read, it seems like they're in good spirits, despite the Kung Flu.

Most people who get it will have a mild case of it. 

They say the hardest hit will be the old, the infirm, and the young.  (Although I haven't seen stats on children getting it and dying from it, so I'm not sure there.)

Most of the people who have died from it in Washington state were old and were from the same nursing home.  (19 out of 28) 

Italy is getting hit harder than most countries because 1) 22% of their population is over the age of 65, and 2) the region where the most people are dying has had a huge influx of Chinese and has direct flights to the Wuhan area, and 3) they have very liberal immigration policies.  You know 'open borders' and shit. 

The way to combat it is with normal everyday 'I don't want to get the flu' procedures - washing your hands, etc.  If you're old or infirm, take extra precautions.  Everyone else?  Carry on with your lives.  Except where the panic means you can't.  You know, if you need toilet paper, or have to travel, or have tickets to an event.  (They cancelled the Players Championship this morning.  Bastards.  I didn't have tickets, but I was looking forward to watching it this weekend.)

The liberal culture seems to be egging this whole panic thing on.  And they're actively celebrating the hits our country is taking to its economy.  Personally, the hits to our economy scare me far more than the Kung Flu. 

I think our President is handling this correctly, given the panic. 

I think the fact that our culture adores zombies and apocalypses in its fiction is making the panic worse, and has given rise to a strange mindset where something pretty basic has turned into a global freak out.  This is not THE STAND people.  Even Stephen King says so*.

All of the normal people I've talked to aren't panicking.  They might be washing their hands or using hand sanitizer more than normal or than is needed, but generally, they're just pissed about the lack of toilet paper on the store shelves. 

Yeah, I could be wrong.  Tell ya what, if I get the Kung Flu and die from it, you can say 'I told you so'.  If I get it, I'll probably be miserable and a total bitch, but considering I'm a fairly healthy gal who's already pretty much a hermit, I'm not worried about dying.  What I am worried about is the economy failing and throwing us into a Depression.  (Yeah, they're talking Recession, but I always think of the worst.) 

You know, I don't even know anyone who has it - in person or online - or have even heard of anyone who knows anyone who has it. 

Anyway, hang in there.  Keep calm and carry on as best you can amidst the panic. 

* To which some moron on Twitter replied, "How would you know?  Have you even read the book?"

Thursday This n That

Yeah, it's early (even post time change) and I'm writing this now rather than having set it up beforehand.  So, here I am, after only a few sips of coffee and one cigarette.  Be warned.

:eyeroll: :facepalm: :headdesk:  I just saw a post to one of the book marketing groups on FB.  It went along the lines of 'can someone help me find a publisher or an agent or both or is there a difference?'  I felt bad for her and I thought about commenting that she needed to spend way more time researching the industry before thinking about agents or publishing, but I know how that would go.  I'd say something and I'd be the bitch.  I don't need that kind of crap in my life.  Educate thyself.

Actually that last bit is good advice no matter what you're doing.  The internet holds a wealth of information.  Sure, a lot of it is crap, but there are a lot of good places to educate yourself, too.  Hell, Hubs taught himself how to plumb this house and then did it.  Now, he was already pretty handy, but you can do stuff like that, too.  And a lot of it is free.  Just set your buns down and put in the time to learn what you want to know but don't.

Don't get me started on COVID-19.  We'd be here all day.  Suffice it to say, I had an interesting conversation with a stock dude at Wallyworld yesterday.  He got yelled at by someone for being out of hand sanitizer.  As soon as he puts it on the shelves, it's gone.  It's not his fault - it's the fault of panicky, misinformed people.  And when I got over to the TP shelves, they were nearly empty.  I managed to get a 6-roll pack - cuz, like, I needed TP - but it wasn't my brand.  Bottled water, on the other hand, had full shelves.  Now that I think about it, the cold medicine shelves were full, too.  I didn't think to look at the Kleenex stock.  It's getting ludicrous out there, folks.  Everyone needs to chill out.  And educate themselves from somewhere other than the main-stream media and Twitter.

Speaking of which, I posted about the TP thing on Facebook.  My niece in Virginia replied that her store was also out of cleaning supplies, and she wondered whether people were just now thinking about cleaning their homes.  Personally, as a matter of course, I have enough cleaning supplies already in my house on any given day to clean for weeks.  When I get low on anything, I buy a backup.  I ended up buying enough groceries for a couple weeks - not because of COVID-19, but because I don't want to have to deal with the Wallyworld again any time soon.

Anyway, enough about that.  They've finally started mowing the cow pastures again.  I hope they'll be putting cows back in there.  They removed the cows after that horrible dry summer a couple years ago.  I miss seeing cows on my walks.  The local hawks are jazzed about the mowing.  They've been really circling those mowed fields.  The shorter grasses have to make hunting easier, so I don't blame them.

It's nearly Spring and Randy Roadrunner his singing his sad-puppy song of love again.  Yes, the roadrunner has a mating call that sounds like a puppy crying.  There's now a roadrunner hanging out at my bank.  I call him Rudy.  Not sure if that one is actually male, though.  I haven't learned how to differentiate genders on roadrunners yet. 

The way to tell the difference between a male pileated woodpecker and a female one is by the facial stripe.  Males have red in black and females are all black.  I know you guys really had a burning need to know that one. 

And one cup of coffee and three cigarettes later, that's it for me.  I'll be here all week, folks, and don't forget to tip your waitress.