Strange Times

I think for some it'll take some coaxing to get back to normal.

 

The best medical advice now:
Be an off-gridder. Mary, Mary quite contrary. How does your garden grow? All the flowers, all the colors. All in a perfect row. First the seeds. And then the water. Keeping a little space.... a 6 foot space....

 

As someone who works in an essential industry, I appreciate everyone that is doing their part .

For those that are being nonchalant about it, their moment in the sun is upon them and if Louisiana is any indication, it's going to hit hard.

We have been practicing physical distancing for over 2 weeks now in the counties around where I live, and longer where I work.

While it is different, we have found ways to stay connected with the "non-essential" personnel and enjoy one another's virtual company.

Whatever the new normal will be, we all will make the most of it.

Stay safe, stay home and do it for those that have essential functions to keep the various necessary industries turning during this time with less potential exposure concerns.

 

we go for a walk twice a day, avoiding congested areas. not as easy in some cities.

a drive doesn't do it for me. around here, there are a lot of cars on the road. construction is at an all time high, and they are all working.

 

A drive is the only saving grace for me. I can go north to the Canadian border, east to eastern Washington, Yellowstone & on to Superior, Wisconsin, south to California, southeast to Idaho, Colorado, on to Texas without problems.... & with a drive around, I can get to Washington state Pacific coast.... all without problems.
Except this ccp coronavirus causes BIG problems. There is no place to drive to avoid ccp coronavirus. Any small town may have it. The ONLY problem solver is to STOP in your place.... & hope you & your family members haven't got it already.

Probably the best place to be is Taiwan, who did NOT believe the communist chinese (always small letters) & started severe endeavors as soon as they heard about the ccp coronavirus, on December 31, 2019.

 

One specific incident has stuck with me: late February or early March, we were just returning home after evening dog walk, a women of Asian descent walked past us, with an N95 mask, wearing a hoodie.

 

kinda like looking out your window and seeing owls all over the neighborhood

 

Took this March 17th. Pretty sure it's the same Owl we'd seen a few times before, down a nearby trail. I was able to get so close because he was at deaths door. About 20 minutes later he was gone.

 

still beautiful

 

I drove to work the other morning to grab a few things I needed. Traffic was definitely much lighter than "normal".

HOWEVER, the open space without any rush hour back ups just meant that the morons who normally drive 20 over the limit are now doing 40 over. Or more. I had two almost sideswipe each other right in front of me because one passed me on the right shoulder at the same time another one passed me on the left. But the guy on the left had to move back into my lane to pass a guy in his lane (to my left). Luckily I hit the brakes when I saw the moron move onto the shoulder, I new it wasn't going to be pretty.

I think I have a better chance at survival as an over 60 year old at contracting COVID-19 than I do driving these days.

 

Slight correction: "Towns" don't have the pathogen, PEOPLE do.

You actually can travel anywhere you please and not aggravate the problem.......as long as you don't come in contact with any people along the way. It is not the actual travelling that hurts, it is the stopping and cross-contaminating other people.

I have a fishing cabin on a lake. Nobody lives there right now.
Even though my whole state is now under what is commonly called a "travel ban", I fully intend to visit my cabin to fish, where I will come nowhere near another human being. Fishing is allowed under the "rules". The odds of my contributing to the problem by doing that is a bit less than zero.

Then...........
Two things can happen that aren't being talked about:
The virus mutates into a much more lethal form.
It takes a LONG time to formulate an effective vaccine.......and convince the masses that they need to get the shot.
If both happen at the same time, we could have results similar to the 1918 Spanish flu.

Without an effective vaccine, there will always be enough hard headed and stupid people to keep spreading it around among all the world population until everybody has "natural" immunity or is DEAD. That could be a problem for years. And the longer it lasts, the more likely there is to be a mutation.

There is no guarantee that science and technology can fully "fix" this problem, at least not in the short term.

 

As much as I am believer in vaccination, I still remember the whole polio bit, where they rushed a vaccine into production and use -- and we had a lot of kids severely crippled.

They finally got it right a few years later, but there is a reason that scientists want to have a few years of fine-tuning before they release a vaccine.

 

Yeah...but they deposit the pathogen (virus particles, in this case) onto surfaces all over a town.

I recently heard somebody describe 'statistics and probabilities' of getting infected based on how many people he might encounter based on population density.
Thaaaaaat's not entirely accurate!!!!
It's more like the chances of encountering a surface (in a town) that somebody who is shedding virus particles has come near enough to leave something behind.....and how many of those particles you have to get into your snot locker to turn you into a carrier for a couple of weeks before you're promoted to victim.

AND......when you live in some parts of this country.......in springtime.....during OPS Normal you will notice that a lot more people are struggling with allergies and sinus trouble.


If you have a town with virus particles dusted all over public places....then as far as I'm concerned...the town has the pathogen.

 

With added "physical distancing"...

I find the purple gloves used at work... fit just as good off work...when logistics require.

 

Oregon police are reporting less traffic, fewer total citations, but increased citations for 31+ over the limit:
Fewer drivers on the roads, but Oregon law enforcement agencies see more people speeding | KOMO

In the Seattle region, my ears are hearing increased numbers of speeding race motorcycles.
-------------
P.S. more:
130+ mph?!? Troopers note alarming trend of speeding drivers amid empty freeways | KOMO

 

Have not been doing too much away from the house, but seems two extremes -- more folks than usual driving significantly slower than the limit and more going significantly faster. Still though, most are going about the posted limits

 

Technically true.
But if those surfaces are not "refreshed" with new infectious material every.......say 8 hours, just guessing at an outside number for all the kinds of surfaces involved.......then "the town" will not continue to be contagious very long.

 

Possibly just the warmer weather and nothing else to do, but we've also been seeing and hearing large 20+ groups of crotch rockets speeding around for the last two weeks. You can walk outside and track their location across town just by listening. Lots of Ducati's, Buell's, and a couple of Suzuki GSX 1300's.

 

Donorcycles