Today is Saturday, and I attended my studio rental recert, then went to do laundry, then went on a mission to find any cleaning supplies available at area stores.

There's no one out on the road today except a handful of people doing only necessary life stuff. On the freeway's, ODOT reader boards display signage instructing drivers to leave room and give space to other drivers and to obey the speed limit (our roads are rapidly giving way to surveillance technology) and to warn people to not be in groups.

I didn't have much luck finding any cleaning supplies or paper supplies. But I did happen to stop by a merchant discount retailer and found a few bottles of Clorox, so I bought them, since the store was nearly devoid of shoppers. I went by Target, and in my frantic state of mind, I had no idea that I left the sun roof open or a side window down, but I did lock the car with my key fob. When I came back to my car with what few supplies I could buy (razors, Listerene, anti-bacterial handsoap and regular hand soap), I discovered I had left my car with the windows down and the sun roof wide open. I cried. I cried because no one stole anything from my car. I had a bunch of valuable merchandise in the back seat and my big bag with all my irreplaceable insurance papers and relevant ID, was sitting untouched in my car. The nearest parker was a handicapped gentleman who was sitting in his car smoking, and he didn't even realize that my car was open to theft. He tooted his horn at me and waved and yelled out if I was alright. I was just so grateful that I wasn't the victim of theft. That is the *first* time I have ever forgotten to lock my car or make sure all the windows are up and that the sun roof was closed. It's absolutely spectacular weather we have today, so I am sure that the combination of fury to find what cleaning supplies I could buy and being forgetful can be attributed to the brilliant sunny weather we have today. Ordinarily, we have 'Pearly Skies', but as climate change affects each corner of the globe, we increasingly have less cloudy weather and terrific stretches of sunshine, which is drying up the trees and all green fauna to the point that, I worry about tinderbox conditions and all of us going up in smoke (if not co-equally the Co-vid 19 virus too).

I wore my beautiful pale blue leather gloves and took a handful of sanitizing wipes with me in a little plastic baggie, in case I needed to wipe of the surface of any terminal at any store or wipe off an entrance door handle. People smiled at me and thanked me for being considerate and kind, in the face of coming under stricter lock-down mandates, which will surely come by first thing Monday morning or by late afternoon that day.

It's like the proverbial End of The World scenario here.

And today I am guilty of eating like it's the end of the world. After the Target fiasco, I dropped by an small independently owned vendor stand to buy some Teriayki (sp?) chicken with stir fried veggies and extra sauce and a big order of Korean Bulgogi Fries. I'll find out Monday, when my primary doctor calls me if my A1-c blood labs were in safe range or if I am going on the 'sinners' list for the rest of my life. :bigcry:

I'm steadily frightened by the situation we all will be facing in short order, but I also try to cheer myself up by having lots of things that I can stay focused on and plan to build up my strength to ride my bicycle, because one day soon, we will be perilously close to a war on any resource that affects being able to get around. I need to be able to bicycle not only for health reasons but for reason of conserving gasoline I already have in the car and commit to being able to get where I need to go without being fully dependent on my car. So... today the car stays parked and it's walking or bicycling to get where I need to go (and time, gotta incorporate time to that picture).

It feels like that 1990s movie with Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio: The Titanic. We all know we're going to be going down, but we race to stay alive and be one of (Many, hopefully) the survivors of this apocalyptic scene in social history.

<<<<<~~ committed to Social Distancing, and all tenets of Safety First.


Oh, and I bought the last 4-pack of Aloe facial tissues at one store. I will use them sparingly. And share a box with a neighbor, if necessary.

I'm sitting here watching my daughter making masks for her job ~ there aren't any at work so in order to work and take care of her patients she needs to make masks …. she would never not go into work under these circumstances I'm a proud and nervous mom w/ her out there lil man ( Jonathan ) is a very proud son. :) and I hate Donald Trump ~ me fickle naaaa just an American ~~

If you must go out ...practice social distancing.

Coronavirus Updates
 

My oldest son came over tonight and shared these links to help me stay informed. I found them useful so thought I'd share them.

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashb...23467b48e9ecf6

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Explanation of Various Types of Masks
 

I just wanted to chime in and agree with everything that Theo is saying, for myself and some others the only thing I’ve been able to find is bleach which can also act as a good disinfectant if used and diluted properly. To that end I found a good resource for all things bleach.

Do you think ethanol ( rubbing alcohol @ 95 % alcohol ) is as effective as isopropyl ?

I work and do my field placement in Pennsylvania. Both of these places are life sustaining businesses so I have to go in. I am hoping we limit the staff coming into our admin building for my work to just a handful of us as there are too many people coming in and out. My field placement has a lot of kids doing groups and therapies via zoom but there are still a lot of kids being brought in for live partial hospitalized programming from 9 am to 7:30 pm. I am in a room for an hour at a time with these kids running group therapy and these rooms are small. I wish we could at least go fully online for my placement so I don't have so much exposure to people. Plus, we are getting new admits all the time.

I am stressed about work because as the Risk Manager my job is to try and mitigate risk to our staff and employees with the CEO and head of nursing. I think they are finally understanding what I have been telling them in that we cannot create a plan that will be all encompassing. Every possible exposure, possible positive or actual positive will have to be dealt with individually which means this will be a daily battle with different variables. No two will be the same. It's overwhelming when I think about it.

Add to that the lack of medical equipment that we need and staff who are not taking the physical distancing seriously. I am at a loss at the willful ignorance.

Please pay attention, please don't purchase items that you don't need, especially medical equipment and think of others. It really isn't that hard.

That is so stressful and I hope it gets better over time, for you.

And... in addition, the reason I went on a search yesterday for cleaning supplies is that a good many of my neighbors, in my building, don't have jobs (they've been laid off and/or on disability) so I've been sharing my food supplies and cleaning supplies with people who have no money to buy essential things that can make all the difference in helping one's neighbors deal with not being able to afford the necessities during a critical time, such as now.

I'm not a money tree: But I am socially conscious of not only my needs, but needs of those who live around me. I know they appreciate the hand-up. Leaving no one behind is central, in my mind, in caring about ones self as well as the people who live closest to me.

Thanks for your timely message and I do hope your situation improves greatly, tantalizingfemme. :bunchflowers:

Cellphones and cars
 

I trust everyone has wiped down your cellphones (I saw a video on TV where someone did this with a soft soaped-up cloth very carefully, which removes most bacteria, germs - she then measured with a device how clean it was and it seemed to be quite effective, etc.). Also, for those who have cars, I saw a video on CBC News Network where a guy showed how to use sanitary wipes to wipe down everything you touch in your car - door handles, steering wheel, dashboard, etc.).

OK...wipe down everything in your house, wipe down everything in your car, wipe down everything in your building ( stairwells, rails, elevator buttons etc)..and then stay home, cause the minute you go out into the world and touch anything ( the street, whatever you go out into) and return into your house/car you best start all over again...and frankly, it's hard to keep track of all the things you've touched even as you are removing those blue sterile gloves and your COVID N95 mask with sterilized forceps.

Do your best, but frankly "don't go nuts"...maybe the Grim Reaper just wants you.

BTW...don't eat bats.

Well, do you think Russians would feel reassured if USA sent 8 military brigades of "medical " personnel to Italy?

At some point we have to take the paranoia and tribalism out of human co-existence. Work together, help each other or just whither and die together.

I'm sure there's another species all lined up and ready to take over once we finally keel over.
.

ok, be a "realist"...see if i care but, frankly, projecting a paranoid negative outcome is not "realism", it's just projecting a paranoid negative outcome with a shot at being ultimately able to say "see, I told you so"...maybe a better course would be to not give in to that and work for a different more positive outcome...or at least believe there can be one even if it means dying disappointed.

Tokyo Olympics
 

Both Canada and Australia will not be sending athletes to Tokyo this summer because of the Coronavirus, unless the games are postponed...

In Canada, many Canadians are ignoring the warnings and are not practising social distancing (wilful ignorance... smh). I am not surprised, considering how wilful many people are. Provincial leaders and health officials are warning that this is unacceptable... and are saying that they may very well enact stricter measures (i.e. significant fines and even imprisonment! - btw, imprisonment would only come into force nationwide here if Trudeau declared a national emergency which he has not done yet, even though provincial leaders and mayors have done so).

on 3/24/2020 at 12:00 pm ~ the state of Massachusetts where I live will be on shut down. The numbers of infected w/ COVID-19 are escalating . That makes Calif., Washington , New York, Massachusetts.

Are you going into a full lockdown?

~
 

we can go to stores ~ grocery and pharmacy Walmart too cause it has a pharmacy and u can get gas and have your car fixed but other than that nothing ~ only essential personal. My daughter has a special form she has to keep w/ her being a CNA and Hospice Care. How r u doing and your daughter ?

so many people that are positive DON'T know how they caught the virus ~ had to be airborn ~ the droplets they say can live on surfaces... I am so confused … they just don't know yet ~ my daughters co workers son caught the virus cause he was domestically traveling ~ he said he was masked and gloved both times ~ and yet he's ill. This seems beyond our understanding ~ or mine anyways.. ohhh btw Jonathan and I came up w/ a new dance called the "elbow floss / bump " lololol

So, Governor Kate Brown signed an executive order today making it mandatory for social distancing and not going anywhere, unless you are part of the work force that supplies critical support to keep the state infrastructure from collapsing. We have a fragile economy in Oregon, especially outside the metro area. Coastal communities depend on tourism. Guess what people did this past weekend? They flocked to coastal communities, putting fragile communities at higher risk of catching the virus. Oh, the Governor was upset that people are not exercising personal responsibility in face of a deadly virus that is claiming lives, left and right. So people will comply with this order or there will be severe consequences. For everyone.

I can't stay long, but I did work 9 hours today. I return to work tomorrow. Our work campus is virtually down 80 percent in on-campus attendance, but we still won't know how much longer our campus will be open. Our situation is heavily monitored by fed/state governing agencies, so we're not sure how long too many of us will hang on to our jobs. If we do lose them, we will always be on-boarded once the moratorium is lifted. But how long the moratorium lasts, depends on people following instructions and not violating the moratorium set in place.

We now join the ranks of several other states in adhering to a strict moratorium that includes social distancing, and not going anywhere and staying home, unless you are required to be on the job.

I found a link the other night, if anyone is interested in looking at it. It gives you an idea on how covid 19 is possibly being spread. Like I was saying last night, after talking with my mom by phone yesterday, my mom is convinced that this virus is airborne. She's no expert, but she was born during the depression, she's been an RN for over 53 years, and it made me sit up straight when she shared her ideas on how this is being transmitted. She might not be correct, but on the other hand, the scientific medical community is leaning toward the possibility that covid-19 is an airborne disease. Check out the link and see what you think and if it helps you to better see how difficult it is for anybody in the medical community to narrow in on whether it is or is not an airborne disease.

Link ~~>>>> VIRTUS

On campus, we are sanitizing and sanitizing repeatedly, and maintaining social distance. We take this crisis very seriously. My heart goes out to all the communities in metropolitan areas as well as those affected in smaller rural communities and for those down on the coast in our state.

:vigil: :vigil: :vigil:

Just got a PSA from the county:

“The County has issued an amended COVID-19 public health order giving it the discretion to close down beaches if social distancing rules aren’t enforced. County Public Health Officer Wilma Wooten made the announcement during a news conference Monday.

Gatherings larger than 10 people have been seen at beaches in recent days. Wooten said if local cities and municipalities cannot enforce social gathering orders, the public health order will allow the shutdown of city parks and beaches.

Social distancing requires staying six feet away from others who are not in your immediate family to reduce the risk of transmission and slow the spread of the disease.”

Great, asshole teenagers just have to screw it up for everybody else…

Guess I’m just a pissed off old fogey :badmood:

Well you're in good company then.

The Transmission of Covid-19
 

While on my walkabout yesterday, I sat down for a few minutes and saw a car pull up and two young people get out, and then they put on these "surgical type" gloves and walked into Timmy's. They came out 5 minutes later and went back into their car, still wearing the same gloves, opening up the car doors with their gloves on and they drove off. I could see the guy had put both hands on the steering wheel with their gloves still on. And, I thought, oh, how stupid, the same gloves that had touched god knows what (like opening doors, counters, etc.) now touching their steering wheel etc. and probably everything else that one normally touches while in a car, and they drove off. So, all the germs that they may have touched now transferred to their car. Apparently, as I have seen explained on TV by various doctors, the virus can last on hard surfaces up to several days.

I have seen on TV doctors explaining how even when talking with someone = since the virus lodges in the lungs - that the breath may carry microscopic particles, and of course, the breath will spread these particles, hence the necessity of social-distancing - 6 feet (2 metres). The doctor said that even a slight cough can push these particles in the air and they can hang several feet and float in the air for more than a few seconds.

So, I can understand easily that there are various ways that the virus can spread.

For several weeks, every time I have left any place to buy stuff to store up with I use hand sanitizers immediately - all the stores I have used all have automatic door sensors which open up automatically when you pass in front, so I don't have to touch public handles - also washing my hands when I enter my home. At one point, when picking up a basket in a store, I used hand sanitizer to wipe down the handles and edges of the basket (which I later explained to this really old couple who walked in the store and who stared at me and what I was doing - I wasn't the only who did this, btw - fortunately, this supermarket had these hand sanitizers in a container right by the baskets), I have been careful to keep my distance when talking with anyone.

I have become a germophobe - 'abundance of caution'.

I think that is where we are headed in NY too unless Trump actually succeeds in making it all about money and lifting the shelter in place.

We are okay, thank you for asking. Just exhausted. I'm still working every day all day and on call most evenings. My daughter just did a few 7am-3pm shifts and now has to switch over to working overnights 11pm-7am. We lost a lot of people who could cover shifts because we had to remove our usual allowance for bringing our children to work when school/daycares are closed.. Last week was really lightened up by the laughter of children and some joint effort homeschooling. It was nice.

Stay safe, all.

I saw on CNBC that the CDC has said that COVID-19 survived on surfaces in the Princess Cruise ship cabins for up to 17 days after the passengers had left. I saw in another article (sorry, don't remember where) that COVID-19 survives better on some kinds of surfaces than others - like, metal as opposed to paper. It's going to take longer than Trump's 15 days for susceptibility to die down.

I too switched over just to see what they were saying on the propaganda news station this morning! Of course they were bashing and blaming the Dems in regards to the lack of a passed stimulus bill!

Coronavirus symptoms may include loss of smell or taste..
 

There’s an unusual addition to the list of possible COVID-19 symptoms: A sudden loss of smell or taste may be a warning sign a person could be infected by the new coronavirus, European and U.S. experts said. The American Academy of Otolaryngology on Sunday announced “rapidly accumulating” anecdotal evidence showed anosmia — the loss of smell — and dysgeusia — an altered sense of taste — were “significant symptoms” associated with COVID-19 when a patient had no other respiratory disease. Many people, including Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert who tested positive for COVID-19, are reporting these unsettling changes in their bodies.

The World Health Organization has seen "quite a few reports" of people losing their sense of smell and taste, and is looking into whether this is an early sign of the disease, said Dr. Maria Kerkhove during a WHO briefing Monday. “Our senses of smell and taste are closely linked together and changes in these senses may occur from inflammation in the upper airway,” Dr. Kris Jatana, associate professor of otolaryngology — head and neck surgery at Nationwide Children's Hospital and Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University, told TODAY.





https://www.today.com/health/coronav...-taste-t176597