So here in Illinois, the shelter-in-place order kicked in yesterday, and I’m sheltering the fuck in place. How are you all doing in The Time of Social Distancing? Are you officially or unofficially on lockdown? What are you doing to keep anxieties at bay?
Here at the Tiny Mammoth Institute we’re … getting by, with the help of video games, breathing exercises, and my oblivious cats. Hope you’re all holding up ok.
Anyway, here’s an open thread to discuss all this or whatever else you want to talk about.
And here’s another cat, a famous one, in a box.
–DF
@Naglfar: We have always been at war with Coronavirus.
I wondered why Fox News did an about-face.
@Snowberry
I saw a montage of clips from a few weeks ago vs last few days showing just how much of a change in view. They’re still blaming Democrats though last I checked (I don’t watch FOX other than clips people send me to mock, so idk).
The thing about what he said is that if he supposedly knew there was going to be a pandemic yet kept telling people it was going to be fine, that implies he was lying and threatening the health of millions of people deliberately (which would be on brand, but usually he wouldn’t admit to it).
Several left wing news organizations have now scaled back coverage of Trump because they don’t want to inadvertently spread his misinformation through quotes. There have been other liars in politics, but few lie enough that newspapers have stopped reporting on them for safety reasons.
@Snowberry
How so? Last I checked they had changed their narrative from “Coronavirus is a democrat hoax because they couldn’t impeach Donald Trump” to “Coronavirus is a serious threat and we should all come together in supporting our president”.
Hoping they are sticking with the latter, because if they are still denying anything a lot of people are going to die.
@Naglfar
Yeah, over here if you are caught outside curfew you’ll be detained by the military or the police. No freedom of transit unless in exceptional circumstances (going to stores, pharmacies or the hospital). Measures like these are necessary in the US, but then again there is the problem that if you give Trump all these powers he will never give them up.
@Diego Duarte
The main change seems to be that now that Trump says he knew all along, they’re pretending they knew all along as well and no longer trying to pretend it isn’t real (though I think they still blame Democrats).
That’s why I don’t want to give him that power. If he is given the ability to suspend habeas corpus, he’ll detain anyone he doesn’t like then start removing other liberties one by one. This is how presidents become dictators.
I meant on the virus being a hoax issue, not their political views. I didn’t even mention their political views.
California is in unofficial lockdown meanwhile the Dems continue to fucking use means testing -_-
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.commondreams.org/news/2020/03/18/refusal-pelosi-consider-universal-cash-payments-response-coronavirus-pandemic%3famp
Can’t have the Undesirables and Unworthy able to receive aid /s
Oh and politicians are still pumping trillions into the economy ether instead of getting us all the healthcare, education and housing the people desperately need in this time.
Greetings from Croatia! We’ve been going into lockdown in stages here. Everything closed except for the essentials. Now the police are patrolling the streets with megaphones telling people to stay inside, which is dystopian as fuck. Luckily the social demcrat party was elected here in december and they are handling everything competently. The cases are rising slowly and we’ve only had one death, despite being so close to Italy (my region used to BE Italy). Then this morning Zagreb suffered a bad earthquake, damaging a hosital and critically injuring a child. So yeah, needed a lorazepam today. On the upside the only item that people are panic buying is garlic!
I spend my days working on the next installment in my graphic novel series. From home. Working from home sounds like a good idea until you try it for yourself. Oh, the dishwasher is done. Now the cats are hungry. Mail’s here, maybe my package came. Someone’s got to fix dinner. Guess who. I miss my friends, and my workspace. Lately, I’ve been talking (briefly) to pretty much everyone I meet. Just small talk like “hi”, “nice day for a walk”, and so on. Since I do walk a lot, it adds up and keeps the cabin fever in check. It may be selfish to say, but this couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Being without the stability that come with work and friends is, well, destabilizing. All I wanted was to finish my project and invite my friends over for tea and hot cross buns. I’ve never had those before, but they look so yummy. With lots of raisins. Maybe I’ll even spring for that fancy cherry jam this year. I love Easter.
It’s not all bad news. Rand Paul is infected.
Here in AZ it’s this uncomfortable mix of MAGA disbelievers and the people who think science is real and this pandemic is scary AF. I was terrified when the hoarding went hardcore and grocery stores were cleaned out all over Phoenix for a week. I don’t have a car, so I hadn’t been able to maintain a reasonable stock of food. I relied on grocery delivery. When my delivery order of 125$ of staples was pushed back a week I was sanguine. When it arrived with only 25$ worth of my order because they were out of EVERYTHING I panicked hard. I had to call a friend to take me to the store in person at 5am to queue up for food.
I swear to god it was this bizarre mash up of soviet Russia putting on Supermarket Dash. People were running to the few food stuffs on the shelves. The Governor called up our National Guard to help drive the stock to the stores. All this in the time of distancing. I can state that goes out the window in the face of food scarcity. Thankfully it seems to be helping. This morning’s food run meant I actually scored potatoes (no TP though) and enough food to take care of the kitteh gang for at least a few weeks.
Our numbers are just starting to spike and I expect it will be bad here with the MAGA defiance of “please shelter and practice social distancing”.
Thankfully I WFH full time, but all my normal duties working as a SIEM engineer have been taken over building last minute remote VPN solutions for way unprepared companies. It’s shocking how unprepared the US business infrastructure is to move the workforce out of communal offices.
But I’m actually enjoying this alone time and find I’m getting more done at home now that the pressure to go out and socialize is gone. I’m enjoying decluttering my closets, deep cleaning everything, and redecorating my whole place.
Btw: here’s an article on how to pet dogs in these days of CoronaVirus.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2020/03/18/coronavirus-dogs-pets/
@Moggie.
I laughed for 15min when I read that. Then I had to apologize to the universe for 30m and make a small donation to my fave charity to help balance that karmic smirtch.
@teabug
That’s mostly been my experience (but substitute “dog” for “cat” since I have a dog instead of a cat). I struggle with the distractions at home, but it’s better than getting sick.
@Moggie
Six days after his dad claimed the whole thing is a hoax to restrict his “liberties.” Can Rand maybe have a meeting with Trump? Where they shake hands and sit less than six feet apart?
Of course, Rand Paul being asymptomatic will probably be just fine and meanwhile, he has been spreading the virus in the several days since he’s been tested.
Harvey Weinstein tested positive as well. It’s mostly not funny because it’s due to the public health disaster that is Rikers and a lot of prisoners are going to die, but well, it’s a little funny.
At least the Dems in the Senate have finally grown a bit of a spine and rejected the farcical GOP version of the stimulus.
Yeah, karma sucks for the Paul family.
Pelosi’s got the House working on its own bill, thank goodness. The rethugs want to leave 22 million out of the assistance altogether, and make sure millions more get less than the $1,200 they’ve been promising in public because they don’t make enough.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/19/trump-coronavirus-economic-plan-stimulus/
Nice way to screw people over while pretending to help.
My roommates aren’t getting better. One of them is getting worse, the one who was told she doesn’t have Covid-19. We’re starting to think she may have been exposed when she got the news she didn’t have it. The other one is just not getting better.
I’m tired. I can’t find a thermometer in the city I live in or the one I work in. A friend is sending me one from Arizona.
I have to go to work, but they know my roommates are sick so if I clear my throat everyone looks at me like I’m the Spector of Death. My supervisors have told me not to talk about my roommates at work, because this is how the post office chooses to deal with it.
My Special Person can’t spend time with me because they live with their elderly parents. I am lonely.
My routines are all disrupted, and I am a creature of routines so I am barely managing to function. My medications aren’t cutting it with all the extra stress.
I will comment here, then I will make dinner to put out on the shelves near my roommates rooms so they can collect their dinners once I retreat out of the basement where they live so that they don’t make me sick too.
I am not ok. I need a therapist. I need a hug.
@Hippodaemia
Until she knocks off with this means-testing bullshit, this is an accurate description of Pelosi’s plan too.
@Cats in shiny hats:
Long distance hugs I do with family involve hugging pillows in unison while on the phone. It’s not the same, but it’s something.
Most of my family is in Alaska, and in (so far) the hardest hit borough.
I’m in the Puget Sound area, in an ‘essential’ job, and commute via public transit. No quarantine for me until I fall ill, but I’m doing my best to isolate, wash hands, and keep myself to myself.
@Cats in Shiny Hats
Sending hugs. Hope your roommates feel better soon.
@Dalillama
From what I know, Pelosi’s means-testing crap seems to actually be worse than what some Republicans proposed. The Democratic Party needs a new Speaker.
@Cats In Shiny Hats, I wish you and your roommates the best of luck.
@Naglfar, is it bad that I want Pelosi to get sick? Simply because that’s probably the only way to replace her in the short term.
@Naglfar
The Democratic Party’s entire leadership needs to be thrown away at this point. Not only were Pelosi and Schumer initially begrudging those USD 1,000 just for the sake of opposing Trump, but they also criticized the suggestion of a quarantine.
Worse yet, their establishment candidate hasn’t said a single goddamn word so far during this crisis. Biden is a no show, and this is really gonna hurt him in the general elections. To be honest, with this virus, the lack of actual policies, and such a flop of a candidate, all of a sudden the prospects look incredibly weak. The Democrats have put far more effort into opposing progressives in the party than they have into opposing Trump. I still remember when Pelosi went after the Squad, without provocation.
Someone out there said it best: liberals don’t mind losing because they are about preserving the status quo.
The pox on both their houses.
@Diego Duarte
The most I’ve heard from anyone connected to him is that he is renovating his house because he doesn’t like the lighting fixtures. We are screwed if this is the candidate most a Democrat’s think can beat Trump.
@Moggie, yes that is bad.
For her to be sick, that means all her college interns are potential carriers. All the janitors, all the staff.
It puts all the nurses (like my mother) who end up treating her at risk.
It means one more ventilator that a doctor might have to pick which patient gets.
No matter how much you dislike someone, please do not wish them ill with COVID.
Editing to add: Sorry if it seems I’m coming on strong, but my family has 2 nurses (one specializing in geriatrics) and a current paramedic. And I’m a former EMT. Dark humor is cool, we do dark humor. But, not that particular wish.
Out of curiosity, if Joe Biden were to die before the DNC, would Bernie get the nom? He’s the only other candidate still running.
@Naglfar
I think so, never happened before so we might see some Very Interesting Times Ahead.
@Alan Robertshaw
OMFG, that black kitty pic was incredible! I haven’t stopped going back and looking at it.
~Sincerely,
a longtime black cat lover