I feel the exact same way as you do. These are scary and uncertain times and we have the absolute worst person in charge to deal with it.

If Obama were in office I don't think I would worry so much, but All Trump thinks about is how he is going to look... and He will use the BEST words ever....no, not reassuring

If the President had been Obama or Clinton, I would be worried, but careful. However, I would know that there was a smart person at the rudder.

We are rudderless with this fool, and while I am deeply worried for my family (don't really care about myself), I AM OUTRAGED at this idiot. WHAT A COMPLETE PIECE OF SHITE HE IS.

I have a slight sense of being powerless since we can't do anything for several months. Then I realize we ALL can do so much right now to make sure Trump and Rus-publicans are voted out on November 3.

LET US DO THINGS NOW TO GET THESE CRIMINAL FOOLS OUT ON NOVEMBER 3!

Similar to after awaking from an intense dream or nightmare.

Surreal is right.

Now I have a word for the daily doom that occurs after the split second of sleepy well-being.

a nightmare. 😴 😫 😭

I hope they will be safe. We're going to look like northern Italy in the USA very soon.

He said they don’t even go outside anymore and suggested we take vitamin c and other immune support supplements They’re about 10 days ahead of us I figure

They’re in a house with a garden so they’re going out there but no one is going for walks etc like we still are.

Eta. I have a puppy so if I can’t take her out it’s a real problem 😛

Last edited Sat Mar 21, 2020, 05:59 PM - Edit history (1)

Not knowing when it will end, or if it will ever end, is a "come-to-Jesus" moment.

I go outside for a walk or into the backyard to pull some weeds and I feel better. But then I come back in and the reality hits me again. Maybe I should just stay outside looking at the sky, the trees, the birds, and even my yard full of weeds.

I can go out and walk all day if I want to without coming anywhere near civilization. Can't imagine what it's like for people in apartments during this.

to walk our dogs, etc. just maintain a safe distance from others. fortunately we're usually the only ones out on our walks.

near the center of town. There is a postage stamp size of lawn behind the building that might pass for a yard. But, to go outside for a walk, even down the block on the sidewalk, also means touching elevator buttons and doors that are commonly used by everyone.

Same for washing and drying clothes in the commonly used laundry rooms.

I have gloves, hand sanitizer, Lysol spray, and Chlorox wipes, as well as a supply of bleach, isopropyl alcohol, and peroxide. But not knowing how long this will last, I use everything as sparingly as possible, without scrimping to the point of taking risks. Do not want to run out and have to go out in public to try buying what is probably no longer available.

My apartment is on the 5th floor where I have a good view of 2 main streets in town. Our governor, Cuomo, has ordered non-essential businesses in NY state closed. There are 12,000 confirmed cases in the state and who knows how many untested ones? This is Sunday. Churches are closed. So why do I see cars driving by on both streets? Not as many as usual, but more than expected for a Sunday in these circumstances. So who are those people and where are they going?

Or going somewhere open, to get out and walk or jog.

Foraging store to store for TP ?

A break from a noisy household ?

If so, there are a lot if people in town who felt a need to get out.

shared laundry room, I am not going to count on just washing my hands with every load. I wipe the parts of the machines that I need to touch, e.g. the coin slots, lid. I can wash my hands when I return to my apt.

When I go to the lobby for my mail and have to touch elevator buttons and two doors going there and returning, plus the mail boxes stacked together in the lobby, I am giing to protect my hands first and then wash them afterward.

Thanks for your info but I will do what I feel is necessary. I am too high risk to take chances.

Oh, and you're weird. Only weird ocelots are velveteen.

and that 1% may be thinking they will come out this clean but they won't, even if they think they are entitled and we are not.

in 14th century Europe, too, during the Plague. Depicted in poetry and art of the times.

If you didn't, well I'm sorry but have you just been complaining on DU for the past 4 years instead of actually preparing for the worse?? Of course Trump and his republican asshats were going to run this country to the ground, bad things ALWAYS happen when they're in charge!

Did you hoard food, now well past its expiration date? Or were you the reason all the stores are now devoid of toilet paper and hand sanitizer? Please do enlighten us!

Keeping a food store isn’t hoarding. It is smart. My grandparents did it. They were WWII era folks and always had stores if food that they kept. Old stock in front new stock in back.

I slowly built my supply up over time. And now I have what I need. I decided on election day that this turd would put me and my family in danger the first time he had to handle a real crisis and look where we are.

Preparing fir the worst and managing your food supply is NOT hoarding. It is smart household management.

Good thing we are social distancing.

Im so sick of Corona and its not even started.
My wifes an FNP and see`s walkin`s in a minute clinic setting.
Im 60 with health problems and probably will die.
Its like a damn horror novel in real life.

Everything's fine, then something odd happens. More odd things happen. People get concerned. World leaders get concerned. Military called out to enforce desperate measures and 6 months later we're wearing rags roaming the countryside killing each other and looking for food. A dystopian novel cliche.

God what a mess we find ourselves in. Sailing into a typhoon with a stupid child at the helm.

I and everyone I know works directly in or related to healthcare. My sister, an ER nurse in Atlanta just told me that her hospital, part of Emory, just brought in an ER nurse coworker of hers and intubated her husband--both with COVID-19. She and her coworkers seem to think he was the source-- from his work, rather than the hospital, but...

Now I just got a text from a good friend who is now fully symptomatic 12 days after sitting next to a coughing man on a flight back from Houston. She has lots of risk factors though is not beyond her 60s, both autoimmune factors, and past pneumonia. Her husband is on chemo for malignant cancer, so I'm waiting to hear if she's going to need me to don one of my two remaining N-95 masks and transport her to the hospital. Of course, she is freaked out.

Frankly, although I'm hardly new to any of this-- so am I.

the last two weeks. My goal today is not to cry.

be a good thing long term.

my self imposed exile, aka "social distancing". I still hop in my car and run errands, pick up takeout, visit my daughter.

For the past 2 weeks traffic has decreased on a daily basis. It's eerie.

When I allow myself to delve too deeply into our new reality, I tend to freak out. Not just for myself (being in the high risk category) but for the world in general.

the last two times I have gone to my small grocery store there has been less and less, no potatoes...? I live alone and family is estranged, limited resources so even if there is availability of supplies I can't afford to "stock up" for long....very scary times....spending my time on tv binge or playing guitar, reading, surfing DU...I know we'll be ok but....

We will indeed be okay. Keep playing your guitar. I bet it sounds great.

feeling better today, all my best to you and all of DU in this unsettled time...

two middle aged black women who are always friendly, they went off on how many customers are now rude and racist, open with their distaste for black people, after I paid with my cc I broke out a small bottle of sanitizer, the clerk helping me stuck out her hands for some, they had no protection, I went back to my car and grabbed some medical gloves and some wipes sealed in a bag, I wish I could've done more.

filling up with water, and realizing that Katrina was completely destroying the city that held so many memories for me. How could this be happening? How is this possible?

Now I wake up with that same sadness. How can this be real?

Not weird at all. Just when I talk myself off the ledge and start to convince myself that everything will be okay, I stupidly turn on the television and see the menacing yam and I panic again. Of all the people to have running the show at a time like this, we get him. That turns my mind on again, and I start thinking about what could happen, and the cycle begins again.

My husband works at a cash register, ringing up liquor bottles for sale all day, in a heavily-trafficked area near the capitol of our state. They have provided them with gloves, but the counter is only 2-1/2 feet wide, so he's breathing in everyone else's air all day. There are people buying 8 and 10 bottles at a time....worse than toilet paper!!! They're busy from the minute they open the doors.

He won't quit his job and come home. He says he can't...but he can!

I don't have much hope. I was a heavy smoker for many years, even though I quit many years ago. But I'm older than the danger zone they've been talking about.

It's hard to comprehend. I think my mind is doing some trick to protect me from deeply experiencing how dangerous and insane this is. It's not that I'm not terrified and depressed, but it should be a lot worse than it is. It's like watching "Apocalypse Now" for the first time, or something. I'm too busy taking it all in to know what I feel about it.

I almost feel like I am having an out-of-body experience and I am watching this all happening to somebody else. I have been feeling calm and going through the motions, but like you, I am sure my mind is working overtime to protect me from the sheer insanity of what is happening right now.

I just can't quite wrap my mind around it yet. It hasn't really hit me.

Like you, my reaction to this is similar to 9/11 (as an aside, I had an international flight that day and landed shortly before the first plane hit). For me, my first thought on 9/11 was - well, something like this was bound to happen sooner or later. That's the way I feel now.

It's my firm conviction that an escalating series of "emergencies" is baked in to our future. We've arranged the global economy in a way that hurts (and pisses off) people - raising political tensions - and is overshooting multiple ecological boundaries. This particular crisis isn't related to that, but the failure of the US system to deal with it effectively is.

So, yes, life feels very strange right now, but I see it as a bit of reality crashing into a long collective habit of denial.

I was gently warning someone the other day that this talk about getting past it, or it being "over" were probably unrealistic, as there will be something else by then. In fact, terrible things will probably happen during this epidemic, like wildfires, hurricanes, earthquakes, man made disasters and other negative force multipliers. It's going to be scary as hell. Resources are going to be spread too thin to handle it. And the cost is inconceivable.

It's terrifying, but the sooner we confront some of these realities, the better.

Fortunately or unfortunately i had a reason to follow Chinas trajectory in January. I had sent all my technical packages dec 12 because chinese new year was early this year. The factories close so if you want a 1st sample in 6 weeks that was the date. We then had some issues, then it was clear there would be noone in our overseas offices end of January--- then i started to fear for those colleagues health & well being. It was like watching a slow moving wreck. & they locked down Wuhan solid.

I started a convo w my husband. (Same industry) Can you imagine locking down NYC as a comparison? Its coming yet we are "free" here. With a clown in charge. Im honestly mentally on month 3 i think? Probably sounded so chicken little to my family. Prepped in February best i could. Am my moms caregiver so those "extra" thoughts were happening too.

Its not important but product sampling cadences are wrecked. My sisters company is prioritising other counties for production. BUT, the fabric and raw materials are China. So it doesn't matter if US or Vietnam or whoever can make it. No materials.

I felt sick to my stomach as I listened to him struggle through his victory speech, realizing that this "man" would be leader the Free World for four years of my life. I knew he would damage the country -- I had seen the kind of people who attended his rallies -- but I never imagined he could completely disassemble the national structure and destroy the world economy.

I would rather have a six-year-old child as president right now. At least he'd listen to the advice of people smarter than him.

I blame the Senate Republicans for not removing Trump from office when they had the chance. The blood of each person who dies from this pandemic is on their hands.

...you knew it was just a matter of time. You just didn't know when? That was the first hint of what was to come.

The Women's March in January helped.

But yes, I still remember SNL's rendition off Hallelujah afterward
Eerie, how yes, WE KNEW and felt the worst was to come


wellness to you,
kp

I didn’t go to work the day after the “election”. I knew. I just knew!

financially. I guess we were unlucky.

blinding disbelief, morphing into despair. Suffice it to say, nothing has happened since then to make it any better.

In the years since, she’s sold some artwork and has a following, got engaged (although with Trump president he may not be able to move to America).

I’m 56. I feel that Trump has stolen much more than our money and democracy from all of us. He’s stolen our personal hopes and dreams. My husband and I always dreamed of rv’ing and traveling in our retirement, going up/down the coast doing craft shows - my jewelry, his custom Halloween props. Building a beach box on a piece of property we bought in FL that we could rent out 6 mo out of the year. Can’t see any of that happening now. Told hubby we need to have a talk with the kids about what happens if we die during this. What would they would need to do, how things need to happen. At 26 and 19, they shouldn’t have to be thinking like that. We thought we were getting through the rough times and looking forward to enjoying our life as travelers, retirerees, future grand parents, but Trump and his cabal of greedy bastards has put ours, and all of Americans hopes/dreams for the future in jeopardy.

I wasn't concerned at first. I'd felt cautiously optimistic that day until about 8:30 when I had a sudden feeling of dread. I spent the rest of that evening hoping my gut feeling was wrong but knowing deep down it wasn't. Went to bed in early morning hours and didn't sleep a wink. Was hoping we'd get through his presidency relatively unscathed but it wasn't to be.

I have a friend who had heart surgery .

She is getting depressed.

It is raining today so outside.

She talked to.her kids and grandkids today it didn't help.

It took me a little time to digest the ramifications. But, Boy howdy, it got real real quick.

Definition of pandemic (Entry 1 of 2)
: occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population
pandemic malaria
The 1918 flu was pandemic and claimed millions of lives.
pandemic noun
pan·​dem·​ic | pan-ˈde-mik

Definition of pandemic (Entry 2 of 2)
: an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population : a pandemic outbreak of a disease

I think that is to be expected. In fact, the more you expect and realize it, the less impact it has.

When your way of life is perturbed and and does not align with your expectations of how things should be, that kind of dissonance puts you into shock and that's kind of dream/nightmare like and is very disconcerting at first, until you settle into the reality of it more.

A good metaphor is that your mind/life is like a calm, clear pond on a Spring day when, all of a sudden, a big ol' branch falls into it, stirring up the mud and sending ripples flying out in all directions. It will calm down, clear up and smooth out eventually and you can help it along.

Yes, there's something to this.

Taking off into the night to rain death and terror on people in tiny villages. Those people never knew if any given night was the night they and their families would get hit.

They just knew it was out there, in the dark, and it was coming.

It's similar to the way I felt when I got my orders to the Gulf in 1991. As active-duty Army, I knew it was a possibility, but being hit with the reality of going, and the underlying risk that I might not come back, was just a little unreal...

Felt that way since sometime in 2016.

and nothing to get hung about
strawberry fields forever

felt this way since 1967

They offered a rent free room if I answered the phone and night and forwarded messages. I was not required to pick up bodies, but if I was willing to they would pay me. The one night I stayed there I had the following dream: I was in a church on my knees in front of an alter, there was a rack of candles burning on my right. I kept repeating in prayer, "What is real?" An answer came that I understood with such profoundness that I laughed and cried at the same time. The answer: "It's All Real." I got up and went out a side door which was small, and a few steps in an alcove led to the sidewalk. I sat down on the steps laughing and crying and leaned against the wall of the alcove. Many of my friends and family walking down the sidewalk would come up and ask if I was alright. I answered I was fine, thanks for asking, all was OK through my laughter and tears. When I awoke from that dream I thought I wasn't ready for religion and took the job out of town, helping milk cows on a dairy for a place to stay.

Best Wishes DU,
ADW

...to sleeping in a mortuary. 🐮 🐄

We all react in our own way. You’re fine. To be honest when I want real news or a dose of optimism I don’t come here. I’ve been leaning hard on BBC News. Here, It’s like a contest on who can create the most apocalyptic melodramatic scenarios possible. A cauldron of doom.

“WE’RE ALL GONNA DIES!111”

and disregard what you don't. I guess a lot of people do that. That's not my thing.

Not people turning up here after a visit to their local market proclaiming we’ll all be eating our pets by July because they couldn’t get hamburger meat. But hey, you do you.

I needed to read this and giggle a little.

pretty much every expert is predicting our economy is going to be seriously fucked up after this. Many more jobless, a sharp gdp contraction, lower DOW, etc. Plus the human toll from this virus is going to be a tragedy. It’s no exaggeration to suggest that a million might die in this next year from the virus. Hopefully, we’ll get ahead of it soon and it won’t be that dire. These are very uncertain times and we have the worst asshole in the universe “leading” us.

There does seem to be a preponderance of posters over-hyping a situation that requires none and who believe that their personal anecdotes are representative of the entire country. But that's really nothing new here.

DU is just another source. It's not the best; it's not the worst. But, like most sources, it requires some filtering to get past those who seem intent on disrupting more than providing context or accurate information.

Some of it clearly should be disregarded, just like hyperbole or false info from any other source. That doesn't mean that we hear what we want to hear. It means that we're capable of deductive reasoning and independent verification.

Everyone of course means well - except for the maleficent actors, who as usual aren't very good at hiding themselves. But you raise good points.

I read some of DU posts and take a lot of it with a grain of salt, and recall that little nursery tale "Chicken Little" from my elementary school days. But this has always been my personality, so I can actually pity the people who are having panic attacks and fixating on this 24/7.

The reason I say "kind of" is because I believe that the virus is deadly, and is going to wreak havoc on our society, but right now it seems like American life is in a denial state. Social distancing is important, and I have a firm belief in it being an effective way to flatten the curve, but it seems like others aren't paying attention to the advice at all. I question if I'm taking the advice too seriously.

There was a thread on a local facebook group about where everyone is going to order takeout from this evening. I can't help but think of all of the surfaces where the virus can reside (cardboard pizza boxes, foil wrappers for burritos), and then bringing potentially infected materials into their home. Why would they risk it?

My husband and I have been sheltering in place since Wednesday. That's when I last went to the grocery store. But we haven't hermetically sealed ourselves in, as we probably should. We have ordered some things from Amazon (cardboard boxes that can transfer the virus with items handled by people that may have the virus).

What is coming is so big that I can't wrap my mind around it -- the sickness, overcrowded hospitals, continuing fall of the markets, elections in the midst of all of this... it's a surreal time.

It is all too fucking real. We will be infected in the first wave. I hope we pass through this filter. I hope at least one of us does, for our child's sake. We are mid-40's. She is healthy. I have moderate hypertension, and am on an ACE inhibitor, which leaves me with hard-to-guess choices. But I am otherwise in ok condition. We shall see, I guess. I know that I couldn't possibly be more proud of her. I know that the only thing which could cause me to hate Republicans more is if something were to happen to her or my son.

It's very real to me. I am filled with anxiety, alternating with resignation, and always filled with rage. The anxiety may pass, the resignation may give way to horror and sadness, and, holy shit but I do hope, relief. But the rage, well, that one will stay with me till the day I die. Whenever that may be.

ONn the opposite corner of the country, I’m in a rural area, 18 miles from the commercial and medical hub of the region which has become a hot spot over the last 8 days.

The community is mostly poor and/or elderly.

We own the community pharmacy and can’t close, we’re trying our best to keep our staff healthy. It’s getting quite stressful.

in an effort to save lives. And not to scare you but I'm sure you are aware of this already. There is some anecdotal evidence out of China that repeated exposure to the virus by health care workers who are otherwise healthy can tend to wear their immune systems down over time and cause them to become more vulnerable.

And this hits home for me too. My younger sister is an RN in Skagit County, Washington doing home health care visits so she is on the front line as well.

youthful, partying, shitfaced, with whatever judgment wiped away, obviously having the time of their lives. They look happy, got their whole lives ahead of them. Except that there's a pandemic lurking that no one can see. We look at them live, and it's like we're already a few scenes ahead of them in the story. It's like waking up into a horror movie with a sort of predictable ending.

Trump and his crew (exceptions to some scientists) will look for an angle to deceive people during this preventable tragedy (as Bush/Cheney did after 9/11...another preventable tragedy, but with fewer deaths than this will cost) I have doubts about how this will impact the census, the election, and the future of trial by jury (and McConnell pushed through scads of conservative judges), but I believe in science.

I'm sure they are spending much time strategizing how to make this a political coup for themselves.

With traditional systems broken down there is ample opportunity for someone to take advantage of the gaps and deficiencies to their own advantage if they concentrate on that instead of helping people.
Trump at least has certainly made that his number one priority and has ordered his underlings to help him.

When you go outside the world is still there.
It's not like England in WWII where you hear bombs and see buildings destroyed.
Physically nothing has changed and you can't see the enemy.

At least for those of us that aren't in the medical profession.
For the noble medical service providers I'm sure it's as real and concrete as you can get.

I'm acutely aware of what you are feeling, though.

I've had no trouble recognizing this is real. But, I'm an outlier and have lived a life where events are always very real. I think it's due to the fact I experienced several existential crises at a very young age. Which, I survived.

There's probably the key. I survived.

And, we will survive this.

Stay helpful, hopeful, and healthy.

While there are thousands and thousands of people out there, working on the front lines, risking their lives in hospitals and clinics, people delivering the stuff I need because I'm not going out, the people who are keeping the wheels turning as well as they can in jobs they can't do from home, I just sit at home and fret. I want to do something but I guess my only contribution is a negative one - shelter in place and help flatten the curve, and contribute some money where it can do some good.

Especially, for intelligent people who have empathy and compassion.

However, the best thing you can do and the biggest contribution you can make at this point in this situation is taking care of yourself. Because, if you are caring for yourself, it frees up resources for the care of those who can't care for themselves.

So, pitch in by not rushing into the fire.

Hang in there! Stay aware of the situation and eventually you'll find your niche.

I know the best thing I can do is just hunker down and try to wait it out, but I feel so guilty because I'm not out there doing something - I'm just letting other people wait on me by delivering things I've ordered. Yes, that means they have jobs so I guess that's something - I'm contributing in a small way to the economy, at least until I run out of money too. Good thing I'm already on a diet.

that was one small way of giving back.

I want to be able to do something. But I am a senior with health concerns. The best I can do is to avoid getting sick, not just for myself, but to avoid further burdening the system.

But I'm thinking that another way we can help ourselves and each other, within our limits, is to create some balance in our lives by sharing positive news, anecdotes, and humor. Take more breaks from it all at the DU Lounge on threads totally unrelated to the pandemic, economy, and politics.

That is not a refusal to face reality. It is a recognition that mental AND physical health require a balance through R & R. I have a wooden plaque that I could not resist buying when I saw it. It says, "Life is not about waiting for the storn to pass. It is about learning to dance in the rain."

I've been a teleworker for years, part of a virtual team spread across the country. I interact with colleagues all day long, and literally everyone continues to do their jobs and act like total professionals, as if nothing catastrophic were happening. The sense of normalcy is at once comforting and disconcerting; I find myself sometimes wondering if I am weak or overreacting. Because no one mentions breaking down and crying now and then. I don't mention it either, but it happens.

So far though, most of what I feel is gratitude. For my job, my family, and for the decisions I made in the past few years (like trips we took that seemed extravagant at the time). I'm glad for the times I listened to the voice that said "you only live once".

And there is nowhere. I'm in WA and been focusing on our state, am aghast at what's happening everywhere.

The majority of people will come through this OK. A minority won't. There are risk factors, but for each of us as individuals, we don't know if we will be OK. What we do now will not show an immediate effect, but will in 2 weeks. This is hard for many to comprehend.

As far as the economy? IDK.

You are not alone.

i also find myself emerging from isolation as in "On the Beach" and finding no one in sight. Well, maybe a few walking dead. Then, I listen to Governor Cuomo and find the world righting itself, again. I appreciate his measured tone, fact based presentations and humanity while sharing his personal struggles with the pandemic, like family decisions about where it is best for his mother to be. I wish Trump could be muzzled and the true scientific experts would be allowed to lead without having to correct his lies.

For wild fires a couple times in the last few years. This feels similar in mood to that.

I don’t know if it’s good that we’re prepared or bad that we’re becoming accustomed to this kind of crazy

The best part of my day is dog park time. We have a puppy so she has to get out. Attendance is light but steady, we’re grateful to still have something pleasant to do

Be well everyone

a few weeks ago, or even yesterday. I would say you are 100% normal! Of course, I'm not a Psychologist, but since I'm the same way, I say we're good!
Quote from another poster: "All we got were lies. Saying it’s fake, by saying this is a Democratic hoax. There are still people today who believe that, to their detriment. Speaking as a public health person, this is the most irresponsible act of an elected official that I've ever witnessed in my lifetime".

Everything that I used to be able to do now seems like a pipe dream. And I too keep staring at the news hoping that something will show a sign of things getting better. And then it seems to get worse, which only amplifies my anxiety.

There are several forums out there with dedicated discussions of good news and hopeful news, like reddit. And of course you can do a search for good or uplifting news. That has helped me. I hope it might help you.

while we are trying to process this - not good.

is sky high, they will add to it with bailouts to rich companies. Then when it settles down, the SS fund and Medicare funds will be depleted, so then they get their wish of ending both. They likely have stock in medical supplies, so all is well for them. Meanwhile, their pensions will be secure. Why do we have to ensure their pensions, when they all retire as millionaires? Not only that, their pensions increase with every raise the working politicians get. I use "working" loosely, since they hardly "work". Their healthcare is ensured, too. Imagine that! Screw taxpayers over for a living, then retire and do the exact same thing.

And by 'wrong time' I mean when the hospitals are overwhelmed.

I am almost 2 years without a cigarette and prior to that day, I was in the hospital on average every 8 months for the previous 5 years for serious COPD attacks.

I know I am high risk. I've been thinking about it quite a lot, and the fact is, if it comes on for me in a quick way, as I have read that some people do experience the worst of it, I'm fucking doomed.

If there is no where to put me - no ICU beds available, no respirator, no nothing because every hospital in a 100 mile radius is utterly packed, what am I going to do?

My job requires that I drive a different truck almost every time I get behind the wheel, and I have no idea if the guy that drove it before me was a walking test tube or not. I took a trip last night and cleaned the steering wheel off with a wet wipe and it came away dark brown! Most of our trucks do not get cleaned on the inside at all. I'm taking paper towels and a bottle of alcohol with me now, as well as my own water and coffee so I don't have to go into truck stops. I can pee alongside the road if I have to.

All this is new protocol for me within the last few days. I flew across the country last Monday and posted pics as I went and I still feel just fine, but I have a chronic dry cough anyway as a result of my 40 years of smoking as well as a sinus infection that won't clear up no matter what I do, so I'm just waiting for the first signs of fever.

My older brother lives with me and we have agreed to treat each other like we are contagious. I keep to my side of the house and he his. We are taking the precautions we can. I cleaned off the door handles and everything else I touched with alcohol when I came home early this morning.

It's all in the timing. If the cases stay below the rate at which the hospitals can handle it, and provided the medical staff stay healthy enough to work, it might work out.

But I have realized that this could very well kill me, along with possibly millions of other humans.

And there isn't a damned thing I can do about it.

So no, you aren't being too weird.

Have you ever tried snorting salt water up your nostrils?

There was a post the other day about it on DU. I have done it when having a bad cold/flu.
The salt water should be boiled to sterilize it, and allowed to cool. I made a pint the other day and gargle with some too, just to be on the safe side.

Many Blessings with your work,
ADW

i saw it rolling out quite awhile ago, but it does feel surreal at times for sure. best example i can think of is that both my son who lives with me and i agree we will probably get it, but neither of us thinks we'll die from it. Now, logically and reasonably, I know there's a real chance that we could die from it. especially me, but him too.

fact is though, acknowledging that does not mean it would make sense for us to shut the door, seal up the house, and hunker down. life goes on and it has to. worry and fear are real, but not useful.

none of us, not a single one, has lived through times like these. the rare exception would not recall what it was like. it's unprecedented.

to try to save lives, we're all alone. in this, we're not alone. I am so thankful for technology!

I am stunned that we are running out of medical devices, like a damn banana republic. The stupid bastard has killed, and will kill, a lot of Americans with his arrogance and his ignorance. We all knew we had a fool in the White House, but we are only now realizing how bad the results such an error can be. Of course, 40% of us are still making excuses and looking for scapegoats. Nothing appears to have changed there yet. I saw a suggestion on a gun forum, earlier today, that we "nuke" China over the Chinese virus from one of the lesser clowns who put the chief clown in office. The president's words have consequences.

For the time being, I have to be content that I have done everything I know to protect myself, I have no further control over the situation and I am just a spectator to the big show. I woke up this morning and I said to myself, "Good luck self." Now lets spin the wheel!

and for the most part, the rest of the world, including the USA, completely wasted that time to prepare for the arrival of the virus. Prepare in terms of having testing ready, public education, health care system resources amped up. It was not a mystery what was going to happen, the only mystery was would it happen in a month, or two months...

Feel lack of ability to react to humor, feel like I’m stressed on adrenaline every day. I would not say depressed yet just cause everyone is going through same thing and there is a sense of community rather than a sense of division now. Either way dar feeling, hard to get excited about anything. Oddly enough, for the first time in my life, I miss traffic.

There was already a long line into the parking lot. In about 10 minutes it had doubled.
I was amazed. I've lived outside this town for forty years. I used the word surreal to
a fellow line person. They just nodded. When it opened at 6am, there was no tp, no
beans or rice and almost no meat. Some cans of soup.
Was able to score some tp when Wal-Mart opened at 7. Again the line was unreal. When the doors opened people raced to the paper aisle, which had been empty the day before.
It was crazy. Cray, cray!
But I have an eight pack of tp. I hope it lasts until the madness ends.
In the mean time I stay on my acreage. Walk in the trees. I have hung out at
home for a few years now since I retired, so no problem there. But no more music
sessions with my friends...........

Who knows? It may be sooner than we think. Best to you.