1. As the pandemic stretches on, is your mental equilibrium deteriorating or are you able to stay in balance? Is your sense of fear, dread or panic getting worse, or are those beasts staying in their cages?
2. How frequently do you leave your home?
3. How frequently do you leave for reasons that are not absolutely necessary (examples of necessary trips might be shopping for food, commuting to/from a job or getting medical attention)?
4. Are other members of your household doing a good job following precautions?
5. What is your level of comfort with being around other people?
6. Are there people in your life whom you would like to see but are not currently able to visit, for example because they are in a nursing home or similar institution which restricts visitors?
7. How frequently do you forget to bring a mask when you need to go somewhere?
8. Is your tolerance for mask-wearing when in public getting better? Getting worse? About the same?
9. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 = "Nobody is compliant with safety recommendations" and 10="Everyone is perfectly compliant with safety recommendations", how are people in your local community doing with social distancing, mask-wearing, and other basic precautions to minimize the spread of the virus?
Here are my own answers:
ReplyDelete1. Is my mental equilibrium deteriorating or am I able to stay in balance? sense of fear, dread or panic? - On the whole, I'm doing fairly well mentally with this. Because I had worked from home prior to the onset of the pandemic, my work routine hasn't changed, beyond a lack of travel (which was becoming less frequent in any case). I'm not feeling any panic, but I'm certainly becoming more concerned as the numbers apparently continue to move in the wrong direction, especially in the South and West. They're also moving in the wrong direction again here in Illinois, although not to the point (yet) where our governor has felt compelled to impose new restrictions.
2. How frequently do I leave my home? Pretty frequently I go 3-5 days without leaving home to run errands. 2-3 times per week I hop on a bicycle and go for a ride. That helps me both mentally and physically. In general, I'm gone more on weekends, mostly because of church duties, than on weekdays.
3. How frequently do I leave for reasons that are not absolutely necessary? As I mentioned, I get out for bike rides. But beyond that, we have been getting out a bit to resume old activities. We've visited my parents a couple of times - that seems to be good for them. We've gone to restaurants a couple of times with the family, sitting outside. We went to a local cabaret to celebrate our wedding anniversary - it happened to be the night they reopened. There were only 3-4 other tables that were occupied, so we didn't feel too unsafe, and we left as soon as we felt we could.
4. Are other members of my household doing a good job following precautions? Yes, from what I've observed, my wife and my kids are following the rules. I have no worries about my wife. The kids all are young adults, so I guess I can't vouch with certainty what they're doing when they're out of sight of the parents, but they seem like they're being pretty responsible.
5. What is my level of comfort with being around other people? I'm fairly comfortable. In the normal way of things I'm pretty extroverted. During this pandemic time, I really do try to socially-distance myself. I think I'm more cognizant of it than most other people I interact with. I find that I'm saying something about it pretty frequently to others - hopefully I'm not being a total nag about it, but I find that people need lots of reminders. Human nature and habit take over quickly.
(Continued on next comment)
My answers continued ...
ReplyDelete6. Are there people in my life whom I would like to see but are not currently able to visit? There are some parishioners whom I'd like to visit when they are hospitalized, but I don't have any close relatives or friends in nursing homes at the moment.
7. How frequently do I forget to bring a mask when I need to go somewhere? I'm ok but not stellar about remembering a mask. The two vehicles I'm most likely to drive, which are shared by my wife and some of the kids, typically are littered with used disposable masks, so in a pinch I'll put one on. I'm sure it's not a recommended best practice, but at least I'm fulfilling the "mask theater" social requirement.
8. Is my tolerance for mask-wearing when in public getting better? Getting worse? About the same? I guess it's about the same. On the one hand, I'm more used to it now than I was at the beginning. On the other hand, it's a pain in the patootie to have to wear it everywhere. I want to see people's faces. But I recognize the necessity and I'm willing to do what is required.
9. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 = "Nobody is compliant with safety recommendations" and 10="Everyone is perfectly compliant with safety recommendations", how are people in my local community doing with social distancing, mask-wearing, and other basic precautions to minimize the spread of the virus? People around here are doing really well. I have seen virtually no instances of mask resistance in this local community. It was the same on our little getaway last week in Wisconsin - saw lots of families out and about with all the children maked up. When we drive to Iowa (I have children in college there), I see a lot more mask resistance. Although Iowa is among the states not doing so well, and I haven't been there in a month or two, so perhaps they are doing a better job of embracing reality.
A couple of user-interface notes:
ReplyDelete1. Using the new post editor, I wasn't able to find how to do auto-numbering. I thought that was a feature in the old editor? I had to manually number my questions, and then manually re-number them as I revised the draft.
2. I hit a character limit when I tried to comment just now - had to break it up into two comments. I think I may have run into that once or twice before, but can't remember why it happens. Pretty sure I've posted longer comments before than that one.
I should have mentioned that in my last post, I put in a jump break, but it doesn't look like it worked. I also put the long quote from Applebaum in paragraph mode, but that isn't how it came out.
DeleteTom, I had the same experience with the jump break.
Delete1.I don't see any signs of deteriorating in myself or Marilyn. I get out. She doesn't. We probably both sleep more, but, at our age, we probably would,
ReplyDelete2. I go to the grocery on Tuesday, the men's group (sometimes I stay home and Zoom) on Wednesday, Jon Smith Subs on Friday, Mass on a moveable weekday and the library every three weeks. M has been off the property twice for a MD appointment and once for a small (5 of us) birthday party in the neighbor's driveway. Period.
3. Aside from groceries and MD, none of that is essential.
4. I sort of covered that.
5. We're OK, I guess. Our neighbor comes over on Saturdays to watch her 7th Day Adventist service on our computer, and we all wear masks while she is here. The few minutes before and after the service are the most sustained personal contact we have with others.
6. No. We talk to the kids longer and oftener on the phone.
7. There are two masks in the car at all times. I have gotten out and had to reach in to get one with a last-minute thought, but I haven't walked off without one.
8. I am not comfortable in the Mass. After 30 minutes I am desperate to get back to the car and breathe.
9. I would say it is about an 8, maybe a 9, where I go.
Not comfortable in the mask. Not in the Mass either, toward the 30-minute mark, which means I end up in a dead heat with the end of Mass and the need to breathe at the weekday Mass.
DeleteTom, I hear you about the mask and wondered if it was tolerable for you. Dad had COPD, and I have some lung issues. The masks can be claustrophobic. Hang in there.
Delete1. Gardening takes up a lot of my time so I am outdoors quite a bit. I am an intellectual and solitary person so I do not miss people. My friend Betty is staying with me for the duration of the pandemic, however many years that will be. She still has her apartment which she visits about once a week. Although she shares my spiritual and intellectual interests she is an extravert who misses other people.
ReplyDelete2. I shop Giant Eagle by way of the internet, and go there twice a week to pick up my groceries. You pick a half hour time slot, identify yourself by phone, they come out and place the groceries in the trunk of my Honda CR-V. Other than that Betty and I go to our many medical appointments. I have rescheduled all those to be early morning ones. I also moved my annual physical exam from August to October so that I can get my flue shot then. Betty sees a woman who used to live in her apartment complex about once a month. She has a lot of phone contact with her daughter in Montana. We occasionally speak briefly with our neighbors outside with social distancing and no masks. I have a corner lot with 3/4 of an acre so I am not very close to them.
3. I left the house once to check out Headlands Beach. Interesting they have closed off with tape about half the parking space areas. So you can park in one area and walk in the next area while easily maintaining social distance without masks. I prefer to walk along the maintenance road that follows the Lake and has a better view, but I would encounter more people then. About the same number of people as usual were out walking (i.e. not very crowded) but I could avoid them all.
4. Betty spent about thirty years as a medical technician though the AIDS era so she has all the habits for maintaining good hygiene. The AIDS era was a nightmare that changed a lot of medical practice just like the virus is doing.
5. I am very cautious because most people do not have my natural shyness and intellectual bent which keeps me out of trouble in many ways.
6. Not really. All my relatives are back in Pennsylvania. I ceased to travel for health reasons long before the virus. In many ways I see the virus as just accelerating the isolation of old age, e.g. not going to Mass, etc. However because Betty is living with me, I am really far less isolated than I have been most of my life. When my family used to ask me when I was going to get married, I would answer something like “when I am 55 and need someone to take care of me” Well the age number kept getting higher. Betty arrived about age 75 (three years ago) and I decided I finally needed someone to take care of me. She had all the skills and shared many of my interests. My gift to her our first Christmas was a bunch of Merton’s books so she would understand that she was choosing to live with a solitary.
Betty herself has numerous health problems. She had already started to live with me for stretches of time as she dealt with them, e.g. three months in a body brace. So I am a caregiver as a well as a care receiver. Both of our families are far away and not of much help.
7. My neighbor gave me four N95 masks. They are the kind used in workshops (he built a large garage workshop where he restores cars, etc.) So I have them in reach anytime I need one. I also have a large supply of cheap brown gloves which I use instead of plastic. I put them on anytime I handle anything that could possibly be contaminated. The virus can survive plastic and mental for several days but cardboard for less than 24hours. I presume cotton gloves have the same destructive power as cardboard. After wearing them I put them in a safe place, reuse them several times allowing several days between use, and wash them after several uses.
8. I have not used masks enough to know.
9. I am not really sure about other peoples compliance since I don’t go to stores, or church. Only to doctor’s offices and interactions outdoors where they are not required.
1. Mentally we are doing pretty well, especially since I am mostly recovered from my previous injury, and am able to resume going walking. The doctor recommended working up to distances gradually, which I am doing. We have been able to go back to our favorite route, the lake north of town. That is always a mood elevator.
ReplyDelete2. How often do we leave home? Every day. We go to daily Mass to the church which isn't our parish, about six blocks from our house.
3. How often do we leave home for reasons not strictly necessary? A lot (see #2 above). But other than that, not much. Occasionally to Dollar General or Ace Hardware for some needs that aren't available at the grocery store.
4. My husband does very well at following precautions.
5. My level of comfort being around other people...it depends. If I see them not following precautions I get pretty uncomfortable.
6. Are there people I would like to see? Yes, my dad and my older son ( saw the younger one last night, more about that later). Also my brothers and sisters. The son is a 90 mile road trip, as is one sister. Dad, and the other sister and one brother are a 280 mile one. I find myself daunted by either Omaha or interstate traffic. We have not been out of town since March 1. I hope I am not losing my confidence for driving away from our town. I am much more uncomfortable with my husband's long distance driving (but that's a subject for another day.)
7. How frequently do I forget to take a mask with me? Never. 100% never. We have some KN95 masks, and that is what we use. I treat it like buckling my seat belt, it's just a habit now.
8. As far as my tolerance or comfort wearing the mask, yes, it is physically uncomfortable at times. But it's the price I am willing to pay for doing the things I need to do.
9. On a scale of 1-10 about how other people are compliant, it depends. In the parish where we go to daily Mass the people are 100% compliant about wearing a mask and distancing. It's a huge building with about a 50 foot ceiling at the highest point. I don't feel at all uncomfortable there, especially at daily Mass. At our own parish, it depends. My husband has had to take on some extra duties in our pastor's absence, and I feel that some people are not considerate of him, or others besides themselves, which makes me mad. But more about that later.
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ReplyDeleteJim, I don't really care, but what are you going to do with this survey?
ReplyDeleteI am hoping we are a 'pilot" for a survey that he might use in his parish.
DeleteHow would those questions be helpful to a parish? Wouldn't the parish be more interested in learning about unmet spiritual needs and not mask compliance? Or is Jim fishing for "faith in adversity" stories to share in homilies?
DeleteNo ulterior motive, just curious as to how we're doing. Wondering if I'm sort of "within the boundaries" in how I'm handling things. Not fishing for homiletic material - I don't wish to exploit our group that way.
DeleteYesterday evening our youngest son and his family came to visit. They live in Omaha and we hadn't seen them since around the first of March. He called me ahead of time and asked if we were comfortable having them come, and said they would stay outside or wear masks inside if we would rather. We said of course go ahead and come. It was pretty warm outside and we didn't want them to have to stay out in the yard. They have been pretty careful all along. Neither did we insist on masks for them or us. I just turned the ceiling fans on full blast and opened the back door. We had pizza and watermelon for supper. The girls had grown at least a clothing size taller since I had last seen them. Our old cat is a patient and good natured, and put up with them petting him. We did "air hugs" hello and goodbye. I think they were doing a kind-of road trip before school starts in the middle of the month.
ReplyDeleteOur older son and daughter in law have not felt comfortable traveling or having visitors yet, though we talk to them often on the phone. They were both working from home, though she has had to go back in three days a week now. They don't have kids, I think it makes you get out more when you do.
The difference between our parish and the other one is that their pastor said mask wearing was mandatory, and ours said it was strongly recommended. That's a loophole big enough to drive a bus through. The 9:00 Sunday Mass is pretty compliant, and I feel safe enough. The Sat. evening and the 10:30 AM Sunday one, forget it. The non mask wearers are younger people. I can't know their thoughts but it just seems like they think they are bullet proof, and thge heck with everybody else. I can pick and choose my time, but my husband or the other active deacon assist at all the Masses, since we have a guest priest every time. There are also still people who receive Communion on the tongue, since receiving in the hands was just strongly recommended. The deacon or the priest has to sanitize their hands after the tongue recievers. I think our pastor thought if he got too "mandatory" about things, some people wouldn't come back at all.
Alive, well & kicking in one of the hardest-hit counties in Northern California (Alameda). Staying home except to shop for groceries twice a week. Haven't had a haircut since early March and haven't bought any gasoline since about a month ago. Otherwise, having a heck of a good time vegetating.
ReplyDeleteJim, if you don't mind my asking: do you normally keep your hair pretty long, or is it more or less out of control? I've had two haircuts since early May and was looking critically at my hair last night.
DeleteI have been mowing mine down with Raber's Wahl clippers and a #10 guard. It's cheap, tidy and easy to take care of. Raber doesn't find it attractive, but my loveliness has always been secondary to my comfort.
DeleteGas was $2.12 a gallon near Camp Nowhere, where we have gone twice! That looks like the only thing that's gotten cheaper since the pandemic hit.
ReplyDeleteOur grocery bill each week is at least 10% higher than pre-pandemic.
DeleteSoftsoap is still not always easy to find. And maybe the Clorox wipes. Just about everything else we buy, there don't seem to be shortages of.
Jim, if you have a Dollar General there, check them out for soft soap and sanitizing wipes. It might be a brand you never heard of, but they often have things the grocery store is out of. Back during the toilet paper shortage, I could get it there if I timed my visits right.
Delete1. Our neighborhood is very masked. The exceptions: males, white, '20s and '30s.
ReplyDelete2. In the town where our cabin is, everyone is masked, the supermarket is socially distanced. At the farmer's stand, you can call and they will bring your order to your car, or you can stand by your car, order from the list, and two healthy looking farmers (masked) hand you a bag.
3. In the city, I go out almost every day for a walk. Obviously lots of people have left the city and except for week-ends the walking is socially distanced with most people masked.(Yes, at times, I have to pull the mask down when no one is near so I can take a couple of gulps of the amazingly fresher air.) People coming in the opposite direction move to the far side of the walk and I move to the other; I have meditated on how much this looks like a shunning gesture--hope it leaves with the virus.
4. The people in both our local market and chain store are masked and distanced; plastic frames around the checkers. The guy who runs the market (a cross between a fruit stand and grocery store) is super. He should get a medal when this is over. The place is organized, the checkers and stockers are cheerful and careful, gloves and wipes on offer at the entrance. One-way aisles.
5. Some restaurants are open and have sidewalk tables with umbrellas, etc. Some have taken over the street and frontage of unused nearby stores. You may not believe this, but it is beginning to look a bit Parisian! We had lunch with our grandson in the first week they were open; plenty of room; and not crowded. He biked to and fro from downtown; very happy to see him. My neighbor reports that week-end evenings are not socially distanced and very crowded. The governor is rescinding liquor licenses when restaurants don't enforce the rules.
6. I have had a few PT appointments (after doing tele-health sessions through April and May). Sparsely populated, everyone masked, everything disinfected between patients. I go for my wrist and shoulder (which I have self-diagnosed as corona-virus of the right arm). A young fellow who precedes me for wrist etc. lost a tire on his bike in April, raced into an intersection and the bike smashed into a curb (foot, leg, elbow and wrist injuries). The emergency room did what they could but couldn't admit him to the hospital because of the pandemic. Here's hoping that PT will do it for him. He is masked and can still joke about his condition!
7. This may seem totally unsafe, but I have been on the bus a couple of times and the subway twice. The bus is definitely a social-distancing issue though everyone wears a mask. (On one trip, the driver hopped off and announced in his lilting Caribbean accent that no one could get on the bus if everyone on the line didn't put on their mask right then. Cheers for the driver!) The subways have never been cleaner or emptier! You could do surgery if you had to!
8. I haven't thought I was anxious or distracted, but when we got home last week, two items I ordered on line came in multiples I didn't order! Me? or Them?
9. While I am cursing out the president, my ever-active neighbors are carrying on their protests: two are standing on the corner (Broadway) holding signs "Justice for all." much honking of horns. The other neighbor who hasn't left her apt. since March is steamed about the Cardinal (Dolan) and his support for Trump. She is going to get a reporter at the Daily News on the case!
10. The city that never sleeps isn't dead yet!
Per No. 8: The Container Store will take back two boxes with 6 garage containers each. I will keep one with the 6 I wanted. My daughter has graciously agreed to take the fourth box while urging me to pay attention on-line--stop multi-tasking!!
DeleteHow 24 containers (in four large boxes) showed up here is a mystery to me!! AND NO, I was not multi-tasking.
My kids are convinced that my wife and I have Old People Disease when it comes to anything faintly technological. They're only right about 75% of the time.
DeleteAs it happens, both my wife and I have worked in high tech our entire careers (she's way more techie than I am). But this consumer stuff, which presumably is designed to allow any idiot to order something on line or watch something on television, is way over my head at least half the time.
My mail lady said that she sees multiple orders for two reasons: a) The mail is running slow, so people thing their orders didn't go through and order again. b) Mail order places are hiring a lot of new people, and orders are getting filled twice.
Delete1. I have to preface this response by saying that my own attitude about my personal mortality has changed quite a bit since my mother passed. My anxiety about death hinged on what would happen to her if I predeceased her. Now, I feel expendable. This is not depressing to me but is a source of equanimity. I miss the dancing but I have a lot of distanced face-to-face socialization. It is enough for now. I don't FEEL like I'm going nuts, anyway. Apologies to Jack Rakosky for my unprofessional self diagnosis and terminology.
ReplyDelete2.I leave my house several times a week. Groceries, gym, some physically distanced socialization. Recently got my teeth cleaned and a haircut. Now I need to arrange my overdue yearly checkup and an eye exam. I obey all the rules. my goal is not necessarily to have confidence that I will never contract the virus but to try to do my civic duty and reduce the R0 to less than one.
3. Is gym necessary? Maybe not but if I don't work out, I'll lose everything. 71 year old bodies are not very forgiving of lack of exercise. But I consider gym to be my greatest risk since nobody but myself seems to mask up. I just completed a trip to NH with hiking and other activities. People seemed rather compliant. But, no doubt, it was not totally necessary. Nor was my excursion to Erie, PA two weeks ago.
4. I live alone.
5. i'm pretty comfortable about others. I was a bit annoyed during my last visit to the gym because a group of young jocks weren't wearing masks and were yakking incessantly without pause like a bunch of valley girls.
6. I have no friends or loved ones in nursing homes.
7. I always have a mask and never forget to wear it. I wear a mask while lifting weights. If a 71 year old can do it, young punklets can do it, too.
8. As above, I have no problem with it besides a little heat around the face. I wear procedure masks and throw them away after a while. I have an N95 and may use it if the gymsters stay stupid.
9. In general public places, I'd say 10. At my gym, one. And I'm the one.
Glad you are keeping up the exercise. I miss my yoga class but continue at home and have my bike to nowhere. It is hard to care some days, but I do feel it if I slack off. Plus, I can rig the bike up so I can read on my Kindle at the same time.
DeleteStanley, you might want to take a look at the risk chart put out by the Texas Medical Association
Deletehttps://www.texmed.org/TexasMedicineDetail.aspx?id=53977
Anne, I love that Texas chart. I downloaded it and forwarded it to my wife. I'm definitely rethinking my haircuts! ... and visiting my parents :-(
Delete1. As the pandemic stretches on, is your mental equilibrium deteriorating ... Is your sense of fear, dread or panic getting worse, … Not fear, but anger. Anger at the man in the WH because this time his ignorance and narcissism have caused Americans to have to stay so close to home for so long. Few countries in the world allow Americans in these days. Anger at those who are just as selfish as he - refusing to mask, or social distance or think of others. Anger at losing a year or two of our active lives (not gym etc, but travel) because of the sheer incompetence of Trump. My husband is 79, and I am 72. We can see the horizon. We are losing a significant percentage of whatever time we have left at our ages.
ReplyDelete2. How frequently do you leave your home? We walk 2-3 miles most days in our general neighborhood. Grocery store about once every two weeks. Other than that, we seldom leave. Since March, I count a dozen or so non-grocery store trips (drugstore, Lowe’s for outside pickup, pick up the cooked lobster order at the seafood shop for Father’s Day, emergency clinic).
3. How frequently do you leave for reasons that are not absolutely … We don’t . Drugstore, supplies for my husband’s home projects, once for carryout food (the lobster) and three trips to a local emergency clinic for me – I cut myself rather badly – needed stitches + two follow-up visits to rule out infection. It was a very nasty cut.
4. Are other members of your household doing a good job following precautions? There are only the two of us. So, no problems.
5. What is your level of comfort with being around other people? Fine in the town’s village where I shop and do errands. I choose my grocery shopping times carefully. Everyone masks willingly, follows the directional arrows, and the store is mostly empty except for staff. Other than that, I am not around other people. We walk on neighborhood streets, and go through a couple of neighborhood parks. Everyone keeps a distance if passing, except the kids who roar down the paths on bikes, skateboards and scooters. So then we move over to the grass. Few people wear a mask while walking (some carry them), but everyone keeps a good distance away from others. We have only traveled more than 5 miles away 3 times since March, so I don’t know what it’s like in the outside world.
6. Are there people in your life whom you would like to see but are not currently able to visit … Not in nursing homes. We cancelled a trip to Oz in late March – we planned to go with #2 son to see #3 son. We cancelled a trip to Denver in May to see #3 son and family, as they planned to spend a month there looking at potential future home communities. They couldn’t go of course. They will not be moving to the US in December as planned (he has lived overseas for 9 years now). Even if the pandemic ends, the Trump admin shut down visa processing last spring, and are now slowly resuming the process. Our d-i-l (French, with a PhD)will probably not get a visa to live here with her husband, our son, and their two sons until about 18 months from now. We cancelled a trip to LA to visit #1 son’s family and meet our new granddaughter (almost 5 months old now). We usually go north in the summer, Cape Cod or Maine, but can’t do that this year - they require a 14 day self-quarantine. We plan to drive west in Dec and spend the winter in Calif. so that we can see our sons/grandchildren. That’s assuming it’s safe enough to drive then. The pandemic is costing us a lot of time with our family.
7. How frequently do you forget to bring a mask when you need to go somewhere? Never
8 Tolerance for mask-wearing when in public … No problem. I only wear a mask for an hour or so, once every couple of weeks.
9. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 = "Nobody is compliant with safety recommendations" and 10="Everyone is perfectly compliant …", how are people in your local community doing … At the local shopping center where I do everything (groceries, drugstore, seafood carryout) everyone is compliant. They get a 10.
Anne, I'm sorry to hear about your cut. I know it's painful, hope it is healing.
DeleteYou are right about years lost from one's active life, and time lost with family.
Anne, reading about your inability to see your family, it gives a window of insight to begin understanding your anger.
DeleteDon't disagree with you at all about Trump, but while it makes some sense to make him the focus of the problem, he's not the whole problem, not by a long shot. His presidency is itself a symptom of social dysfunction and breakdown which is enabling the virus. I don't think we'd be much better off if Mrs. Clinton were in the White House. And when (if?) Biden assumes the presidency, I don't think it will make much difference. By then, perhaps vaccines will be getting mass-produced and we'll be, if not over the hump already, at least within site of the summit. Happy thought, anyway.
Jim, Trump's election was a symptom of deep problems in the US electorate. However, his handling of the pandemic is due to his narcissism - his ignorance is hard to fathom at times. But even worse is his unwillingness to learn. He ignores expertise in countless arenas, and, most relevantly now, especially that of the medical experts in relation to COVID. Why? Because they make recommendations that he doesn't want to hear. He is 100% focused on the economy because of the election. He cares not one whit for science, for facts, nor for the victims of COVID, who are disproportionately among poor people who don't have white skin. They aren't his voters anyway - they are those who are out working the service jobs, and living in multi-generational homes where COVID spread rapidly.
DeleteHe was,and still is,focused exclusively on his own re-election chances. He spends hours every day watching Fox - their commentators are essentially the key policymakers of his administration. Apparently his tweet storms often follow Fox shows like Hannity, Carlson and Ingraham, and he echoes what they have said, often using even nastier language than they use.
Unlike previous presidents who spent hours every day reading the briefing books, he does not read them. Apparently even the bullet lists they were reduced to are often ignored. He frequently leaves the daily oral briefings because he is bored. I suspect that he is both ADHD and has a learning disability. His unloving niece confirmed that suspicion in the excerpts of her book that I read - he has both deep emotional problems (obvious throughout his 2015-16 campaign) and an un-diagnosed learning disability. He stumbles when reading teleprompters but can go on and on and ON forever in the mostly incoherent speeches that his fans love, even though they seldom make any sense. Just diatribes against his enemies, and they love it. Had he paid attention (as a president Hillary would have done), he would have read about the looming possible disaster of COVID-19 in the January briefing books. Our CDC members embedded at WHO headquarters in Geneva became aware of what was happening in Wuhan last December. They alerted the White House. Even Navarro, allegedly a trade expert, included the warning in a letter that Trump claims he never read - it was in the briefing books. I did not like Hillary Clinton, and if anyone had told me in 2014 that I would hold my nose and vote for her in 2016 I would have laughed. Well, I voted for her. I had no choice. She was knowwledgeable, experienced in diplomacly and international issues, intelligent, and educates herself. None of those applied to Trump then, nor do they apply to him now. The US COULD have learned from a number of countries - what not to do from Italy and Spain, what to do from S. Korea, Denmark, Norway, Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia and many others. Trump is now claiming that the US has handled better than most countries. Then why does the US, with 4% of the world's population have more than 25% of cases and deaths?
We would have been much better off with Hillary managing the pandemic response. And we will be much better off when Biden comes in also - the pandemic will likely still be with us, and there will be challenging questions related to the potential vaccines. I trust Biden with this far more than Trump, because Biden knows what he doesn't know - he will listen and evaluate the input of experts. Trump disdains expertise - after all, his gut is the smartest genius on the face of the earth!
Anne, I agree with you that Hillary Clinton would have handled the Covid 19 crisis better than Trump (she could hardly have handled it worse). However if she were president we'd still have to deal with the nearly half of the voters who supported Trump; what Jim said about "...the social dysfunction and breakdown which is enabling the virus."
DeleteI don’t think it would have been nearly as bad as it is now. Trump actively encouraged protests against the masks, social distancing, and closings of businesses. He openly disdained wearing a mask himself. His cries of “liberate Michigan and Virginia and wherever threw fuel on the flames. His cult will do anything he asks. The protests were apparently also fueled by trump supporting billionaires who got the word out on the internet.
DeleteAnne, I agree Hillary probably would have acquitted herself better than Trump. But I don't think the pandemic outcome would have been much different. The nursing homes and meat processing facilities still would have been petri dishes for the disease, and much of the country still would have reopened too quickly.
DeleteI doubt the country would have reopened nearly as quickly under Hillary’s watch. She’s more of an Angela Merkel than a Boris Johnson (or Trump). Unfortunately we are paying a hard price because of Trump. Unnecessary levels of deaths and far more damage to the economy than if managed better. But, as someone said yesterday about the death rate - it is what it is.
DeleteDue to the tropical storm, COVID testing sites closed, and people were asked (and obeyed) to stay off the road Sunday. On Monday Gov. Goofy announced victory because there was a big drop-off in new cases on Sunday. You can't make this stuff up.
DeleteI am so worried for the people of Florida. It is really up to individuals to hunker down and mask up with that Howdy-Doody-looking dimwit spouting erroneous info.
DeleteAnybody who thinks Trump has had no impact on COVID19 cases is sad and misguided. He has given governors permission--in fact given them a way to curry favor and endorsements--by taking a hands-off approach to public health and to ignore significant statistics that would inform swift action in hot spots. You have Trumpite governors suing mayors for trying to take in response to local crises, for pity's sake.
In local news, a pastor at a downtown DC Catholic church has Covid. Now the church staff and congregation are in self-quarantine. He was a rebel against the rules, although he insists he was compliant. WaPo has a story but I think it's behind a firewall. Here is another report which is essentially the WaPo story.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/dc-pastor-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-as-health-officials-struggle-to-stop-its-spread/ar-BB17u3XB?li=BBnb7Kz
Sometimes our daily walk takes us by our former Catholic parish. They have reopened, more or less. In the olden days, the daily mass at 9 am generally had a congregation mostly of older people - maybe 80% with gray hair (or what would be gray hair without Lady Clairol). I took a peek last week. About 1/3 the usual numbers, and mostly younger folk. Not too many gray heads. As far as I could tell from looking from behind, everyone wore a mask. The sign on the door of the church for Sunday indicated that attendance would be limited to about 1/3 the capacity of the church. Everyone on Sunday has to go through a side door. For a count? The restrooms are closed.
That pastor had even removed a small bench in a little grotto on the grounds where I sometimes used to sit for centering prayer. Outdoors! A long way from everyone. But, it's back now.
Anne, our "crowds" at church (several dozen at each of the Sunday masses) also are skewing somewhat younger. I work with a number of retiree-aged parishioners in our Outreach and other ministries, and many/most of them are not yet comfortable coming back to mass.
DeleteAnd then there are people like my wife, who don't like worship if it means keeping a mask on the whole time, no singing, and sparse crowds. Just doesn't feel to her like Sunday mass should feel. I feel that way, too.
Our Sunday Masses run about half and half of older people and younger families. Our parish isn't having daily Masses right now, but in the other parish the daily congregation is about 95% sixty-plus. Understandable, because the younger ones are probably at work.
DeleteHow should Sunday Mass feel? Might be an interesting topic.
DeleteIn the time away from Mass, are people hoping for improvements in their parish worship? Or are they yearning for the familiarity of the before-pandemic time?
What will change for better or worse? My guess is that Our Father hand-holding and peace-passing will die out. Will singing be relegated to cantor or choir?
Masses are now shorter by 25-30 percent. Will that continue?
It will be interesting to see if coffee hour comes back, or if people find they don't miss it.
Will it change funeral practices? Before covid, I attended several memorial Masses held a week or two after the person died, no body or ashes at the service. As families are more far-flung, getting people together for the traditional wake and burial on the third day after death is more difficult. Now it's even harder.
Glad everyone is where people are willing to wear masks. Even if masks turn out to be useless, willingness to wear one shows a concern for one's fellow citizens. Some of my own sh*tty attitude comes from the fact that there are more Trump signs in town than mask wearers. I will never shop or go to church in this town again.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, the people in the larger town 10 miles away where I get the Kroger curbside pick-up and use the drive thru pharmacy are much more compliant. These are pretty contact-free venues.
We drive to my old home town to the fresh meat and produce market once a month. They are very compliant. Raber goes in to get the items. Then we get a drive-thru coffee, drive through the municipal gardens, and take the back roads home to check on the corn fields, wheat, and soybeans. Hoping we can get to the bird sanctuary on a weekend when it won't be crowded and Raber does not feel like ranting about Trump.
The Boy called yesterday and said he has a new job at an indie coffee shop that will start mid-month. It will mean a pay cut from his old job and no benefits. These places are opening and folding fast in these times, but he understands he cannot rely upon the kindness of Congress to help him through this time. He will supplement income with music freelancing from home. Apparently everyone wants to start a podcast now, and he has made a little business doing original music segues for these ventures.
The WaPo had a good article yesterday about what a COVID19 vaccine will mean if/when one is developed. A lot will depend on how effective it is, who gets it, whether boosters are needed, what the side effects are, and how many people are willing to take it. It was a good piece of in-depth reporting. "A coronavirus vaccine won't change the world right away" by Carolyn Johnson.
A lady I know who used to dance has a vet who posted on FB about his birthday, and that he would be reopening maskless and require no one to wear one when they came to the office. She congratulated him on his birthday, wished him well and told him she found a new vet. This lady has an out of kilter immune system with alopecia, etc. Can't believe the idiocy rampant in this country.
DeleteStanley, I'll bet the vet loses a lot of business over that. Especially since a lot of pet owners are older. Not to mention that pets can actually catch the virus from humans. Mostly it's cats, I don't know if dogs get it. But some tigers in a zoo got it from one of the employees.
DeleteKatherine, a dog just died of it. But I think the kitties are more susceptible
DeleteOur vet sends a tech out to collect your credit cared and the screaming cat in the carrier it took 30 minutes to stuff it in, shoot the cat up with the requisite vaccines and check for ear mites and fleas, stuff it back into its carrier, process your payment, and bring card and cat back to you.
DeleteVet said cats can get covid19 and give it to you (probably happily after a trip to the vet), but they themselves don't get too sick with it.
I'm thinking pangolins after this bunch shuffles off their mortal coils.
My brother urged me to "just foster kittens," but now he has eight cats because he couldn't bear to part with them.
Jean! Your brother gave me the perfect cautionary tale to warn off my wife. She vacillates between two scenarios:
Delete1. After I shuffle off my own personal mortal coil, she will become a "cat lady"
2. She may not wait for me to kick the bucket before becoming a cat lady
I don't have strong opinions on the first scenario, but the second fills me with fear, dread or panic. I always tell the family that the perfect number of cats is X-1, where X=the number of cats we currently own.
Jean, great that your son has a job. But what is he doing about health insurance? Scary time not to have any
DeleteMy friend MaryAnn could have her picture next to the word "catlady" in the dictionary. But over the last five years, she's saved six dogs wandering around in the streets. One was a $60,000 Belgian Shepherd drug sniffer. She says next time she'll keep the dog until the reward posters show up. Especially since the flatfoots didn't even send her a letter of appreciation. Jerk cops!
DeleteI am glad The Boy has been able to find a job. I don't know how he will solve the lack of health care insurance. It is a worry, but when are kids not a worry? It's why nuns live longer than married women and women with children.
DeleteHow is MaryAnn?? I always enjoy hearing about her. All our cats just showed up. All's I had to do was open the door and agree to cater to them for the rest of their ungrateful lives. Our oldest one is 20. I expect the rest of them will outlive me. Raber will be the cat man.
Jean, I think your son's side gig of making music segues for podcasts sounds neat. Maybe it will develop into something.
DeleteAbout health insurance, would he be eligible under Medicaid expansion? Our state voted that in two years ago, but the governor slow walked it and it's only now being implemented. Of course a lot of people who could have had coverage during that time were without it.
I don't know what kind of health care programs are available. Possibly he can afford something through the ACA marketplace, possibly Medicare. We have suggested all of this, of course, but after seeing his unbelievable phone history of calls to Michigan unemployment when he was first laid off, we understand why he seems disinclined to deal with more state bureaucracy. He thinks all of this would be moot if we had Bernie's Medicare for All. Normally, I would go off on him about what Medicare is really like if you cannot afford more than a sh*tty Rx supplement, but we're all having a hard time, so why make him miserable?
DeleteThe Boy enjoys the music gigs. He started by doing original music that could play on a 60-second loop for people's wedding videos but he couldn't deal with the Bridezillas. They wanted it more romantic, more upbeat, more pensive, faster, slower, I'M NOT PAYING FOR THIS!!! Now he tells them that it's the groom's obligation to pay video music and asks for 50 percent up front. He says people who want music for their funeral videos are much nicer, though the funeral homes seem to have an acceptable selection of canned, royalty-free music for those slide show things.
Jean, M is teleworking. And she actually DOES work. She works in the garage sitting in a beach chair so that her talking during meetings doesn't disturb her night shift ICU nurse daughter's sleep. Being at home has exacerbated her conflicts with two neighbors and she's justified IMO. I guess some lawyer will be making money. I just returned from NH with her on a trip. Need some time to recover from the experience. Never boring, though. Though her daughter is staying with her, they seem to be getting along pretty well, thank the Lord. She's proud of her daughter and her daughter is between boyfriends so that may factor into the present peace. There are no withheld opinions on that topic.
DeleteMy lit crit theory is that the creation of all literature derives from the insatiable human need/desire for gossip about the neighbors. MaryAnn sounds like a goldmine.
DeleteAnticipatory anxieties: A neighborhood group was organizing a petition to get Columbia U. to hold off on reopening and continue with on-line classes. I don't know what Columbia is doing, or how far the petition got (and Columbia has a history of "we were here first" attitude).
ReplyDeleteCome September the neighborhood will likely be repopulated by some students and faculty, many of whom have been away since March. Will that bring on a resurgence of covid19, or will the governor lay down the law and require quarantine and lock-down measures. Stay tuned.
I am sure there are many small businesses in the area that want the students back. Bars and fast food emporia?
DeleteThe governor will take away their liquor licenses!
DeleteFood: the market I extol above will be over-run if the students come back. They have never shopped in stores with one-way aisles. We'll see how that goes. And I definitely will order-on-line until we see how the students adapt...or not.
The students are Typhoid Marys. Between the bars and frat boys at Michigan State, infection rates are high. Don't get between them and their God-given freedom to drink beer and and hook up.
DeleteMore anticipatory anxieties:
ReplyDelete"One-Third of New York’s Small Businesses May Be Gone Forever." We can look forward to future postings about this, but I was struck not just by how many small businesses have closed, but also by how many people they employ and who are likely to be unemployed, if they are not already, 520,000 men and women!!!
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/03/nyregion/nyc-small-businesses-closing-coronavirus.html
This will mean more homelessness. More hungry children. More of everything desperate we have seen from the pandemic! And Congressional Republicans prefer to do nothing--or as little as possible.