All things COVID-19

[Phoebe]

At the same time, this article pisses me off in an almost visceral way. Keep in mind, ok, I've been reading this guy's pieces for years and taking issue, so maybe my distaste was readily built on a pre-existing foundation. But really, asshole? You love America when it is the best place for the young and talented, even as other people are getting screwed over, and you stop loving it when bad (and still short-term and temporary, so far) leadership makes bad decisions about a virus that reduces everyone to a similar set of difficulties? Even as you see evidence of all the incredible efforts, dedication, genius innovation, and compassionate loyalty that our health care workers and local leadership, and people in general, are showing now? I would venture to say you never loved America in the first place. Bitch. I'm not a "go back" kind of person but I think we'll be okay if this guy goes home to Germany.

[DMDarcs]

Slowly going insane. Downloaded Neverwinter Nights and started playing it. Learning banjo.

[Phoebe]

That sounds kind of awesome though!

[Stan]

It could have been 40,000 deaths in Wuhan.
I don't know the source but it was linked by Dan Rather.

[akiva]

First distance learning training today (more than 2 weeks into the shut down). Not implementing it until mid-April.

[Phoebe]

Recent events sure have had an amusing way of highlighting the difference between "Republicans" and "Capitalists", particularly at a time when they're hoping that stoking nonsensical fear of "socialism" will be a winning campaign message. Capitalists are people who think that wages turn out to be what the market will bear; Republicans are people who think that workers should get f***** over no matter what the market will bear! So different, as it turns out.

[Ronster]

[Phoebe]

[Phoebe]

For myself I wonder: How offensive would it be if I just asked the teacher to give me a copy of the mandatory assessment they give at the end of the year, and I promise that I will make sure my kid can get 100% on it by then? In exchange I get to ignore everything else that they send us. This method would actually work. The school would benefit because they would have a kid getting a perfect score, upping their average. The teacher would have more time to spend on other kids who actually need the teachers help to figure this s*** out. And then kid and I would be free from this hell of workbooks written in a non-native language for me. This really gives a window on what it must be like for parents who have children who have to learn in English when English is not their native language. Something is going in and out of a mystery black box...

[Phoebe]

Different question, and sorry to focus on the negative, but do you ever experience moments of vertigo where the gravity of what is happening really freaks your s*** out? It's very surreal to feel like you're safe in the house... until you're not, and I don't see how any of us can get sick here without all of us getting sick. I do my best but there's just no way we're not sharing germs all the time.

Anyway, here we are going through a normal day, trying to make everything as good as possible for everyone here, trying to help people out with things, and meanwhile somewhere in the back of your mind are these trucks full of bodies in other places. Meanwhile you're thinking, in two weeks this is going to be exponentially worse. And maybe in 4 weeks, since we still keep fumbling the testing ball and nobody has protective equipment. Sometimes I can think about this and sometimes it's just a nauseating vertigo ... all the people who are going to die because of a hundred thousand collective dumb decisions, large and small... people die every day but they didn't need to die like this.

[Phoebe]

We know a nurse who was fired because she did not want to stop wearing normal masks. It is absolutely horrid. She was in frequent close contact with patients. Why can't we let experts do their jobs in this situation?

[Stan]

Most of the world is just staying home, eating snacks, and watching TV. 4/20 is the most 420 time the world will ever have.

(can't believe I haven't seen more 420 jokes this month.)

[Eliahad]

(Because, sadly, 4OVID-19 doesn't have the same ring to it.)

[DMDarcs]

Looks like our county is moving to only allowing people out to go shopping or to county parks only on alternating days, dependent on birth year. I am not convinced schools will open this month.

[akiva]

Boris Johnson is in the ICU.

[Tahlvin]

The Wisconsin GOP deserves to burn in hell.

[Phoebe]

Laying in bed because I don't know whether I have the magical combination of a hot flash with allergies, or whether I am a hotbed of toxic spores that will be responsible for killing my entire family, as well as the neighbors on both sides of us when our dog breathes the toxic spores onto their dogs and the transmission continues. What the f***.

It sure sounds like a bad illness to get, so I'm not saying I would want it, but all of my fears are really focused on somehow being the inadvertent agent of destruction of my loved ones, rather than being the one who gets it. I keep telling myself that if I had to be intubated again I would do a better job helping them, and so with magic irrationality I surmise this would prevent my death. It's just more than I can process.

[Phoebe]

[Tahlvin]

[akiva]

Not having a good day, and it's only 10:15.