No Virus is a Good Virus.
16/02/20 07:06
So now, with all of this coronavirus stuff going on, Nancy doesn't want to go into any stores where she might come into contact with the virus. She insists that I go in alone not realizing or not wanting to know or understand that if I get infected that she too will be infected sooner rather than later. It's hard to know what to make of this new global scourge other than to say that it started ostensibly in China and has apparently now found its way around the world in short order. There may be as many as 12 cases here in the U.S. and maybe one known death associated with the virus. I'm not scared. Not in the least. No siree, Bob.
Nancy says that we should go out and buy "plague" food. By that she means sufficient food stores to hold us over if there is a run on the stores hereabouts and the shelves are emptied leaving little to nothing for those of us looking to add to their meager and perhaps even declining or decimated food stocks.
Millions of Chinese are under lock and key this very day in the larger cities throughout China while officials try to manage an unmanageable crisis. So what in god's name makes us think that this yet to be labeled "pandemic" won't reach our shores and bring with it the kind of pandemonium that results from such a crisis? Make no mistake about it. I'm making a shopping list and I'm checking it twice.
I'll discuss with Nancy what we should buy and how much of this and that we should purchase. How much is too much? What are we likely to grow tired of if we are forced to eat it day in and day out? And while there may not be a run on the stores it makes total sense that the very act of going out to the stores might well expose us to the deadly virus so we might as well head this baby off at the pass and get while the getting is good.
I used to think that having a few extra cans of food around the house might come in handy in the event of this or that coming along. After a period of time I've found that those cans of food have outlived their usefulness and disposing of them becomes a pain in the ass. That's probably not the right attitude. It's better to have them than not? And then there is Evan's glycogen thing to consider.
It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to do a little research before I go headlong into this chore I've been assigned. Better that then going up and down the supermarket aisles without a plan, I suppose. Do you think that our government is deliberately downplaying this coronavirus business so as not to alarm the populace? I think that's entirely possible. It's even more possible if I'm really wanting to be cynical that during a presidential election year there is no one in the administration who would deliberately throw the election into a cocked hat by raising the red flag and panicking the populace.
I've not seen one person in my travels wearing a mask so I think I feel good about that. They say that a mask doesn't prevent you from getting infected but it does minimize the infections you can spread by sneezing, coughing, etc. I heard a U.S. senator say the other day that he thought this particular virus came out of a bio lab somewhere in China despite initial reports that it had passed from animal to human in one or more of the open markets in China where bat soup, snake meat, etc are served up as delicacies to a questionably discerning public.
It's unlikely that we'll ever know the god's honest truth but the Chinese government cannot be trusted to tell the truth and they are not allowing in heath experts from the West to isolate and identify the virus so you can draw your own conclusions. All airline traffic in and out of these cities in China have been shut down until further notice. Cruise ships with infected passengers sit idle off shores around the world no longer welcome in ports that once enjoyed the commerce they brought. In isolation, these stories are not in and of themselves a cause for concern. Right. I think I need a bigger freezer.
Evan gave us a call late in the morning on Saturday and said he was coming over to visit and maybe even spend the night. Nancy and I stayed on course with our plans to visit Mrs G later in the day and extended an offer to have Evan join us which he politely declined. We discussed dinner and we planned to stop and pick up burritos on the way home.
Mrs G was in good spirits despite her latest complaints having to do with mobility issues mostly but she was not letting any of it it slow her down. I worked with her to update a few of her chess apps on her iPad and Nancy stood over her shoulder while the two of them discussed iPhone issues.
I keep telling Nancy that when she calls her mom that she should be calling her on her iPhone so she can become more familiar with how it works. Remembering to do that can be a challenge and more often than not Nancy forgets to do just that. One thing we arranged to do was to turn up the volume on her iPhone so she could hear it from her bedroom when it rings.
"Just carry it with you when you go in and out of your other rooms, Mrs G", I said. It may be a bridge too far but we'll see. She never used her Virgin Mobile flip phone very much so not sure why we think she would use her new iPhone any more frequently. And finally, I talked Nancy into going into Starbucks after a long day of working with Dr Rosman down in Massachusetts.
Having a hot caffeinated beverage for the long ride home was just what the doctor ordered. I advised her to get our favorite drink as of late, a flat white. She put aside her fears of contracting a virus long enough to get a nice coffee for the ride home. Good stuff!
Nancy says that we should go out and buy "plague" food. By that she means sufficient food stores to hold us over if there is a run on the stores hereabouts and the shelves are emptied leaving little to nothing for those of us looking to add to their meager and perhaps even declining or decimated food stocks.
Millions of Chinese are under lock and key this very day in the larger cities throughout China while officials try to manage an unmanageable crisis. So what in god's name makes us think that this yet to be labeled "pandemic" won't reach our shores and bring with it the kind of pandemonium that results from such a crisis? Make no mistake about it. I'm making a shopping list and I'm checking it twice.
I'll discuss with Nancy what we should buy and how much of this and that we should purchase. How much is too much? What are we likely to grow tired of if we are forced to eat it day in and day out? And while there may not be a run on the stores it makes total sense that the very act of going out to the stores might well expose us to the deadly virus so we might as well head this baby off at the pass and get while the getting is good.
I used to think that having a few extra cans of food around the house might come in handy in the event of this or that coming along. After a period of time I've found that those cans of food have outlived their usefulness and disposing of them becomes a pain in the ass. That's probably not the right attitude. It's better to have them than not? And then there is Evan's glycogen thing to consider.
It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to do a little research before I go headlong into this chore I've been assigned. Better that then going up and down the supermarket aisles without a plan, I suppose. Do you think that our government is deliberately downplaying this coronavirus business so as not to alarm the populace? I think that's entirely possible. It's even more possible if I'm really wanting to be cynical that during a presidential election year there is no one in the administration who would deliberately throw the election into a cocked hat by raising the red flag and panicking the populace.
I've not seen one person in my travels wearing a mask so I think I feel good about that. They say that a mask doesn't prevent you from getting infected but it does minimize the infections you can spread by sneezing, coughing, etc. I heard a U.S. senator say the other day that he thought this particular virus came out of a bio lab somewhere in China despite initial reports that it had passed from animal to human in one or more of the open markets in China where bat soup, snake meat, etc are served up as delicacies to a questionably discerning public.
It's unlikely that we'll ever know the god's honest truth but the Chinese government cannot be trusted to tell the truth and they are not allowing in heath experts from the West to isolate and identify the virus so you can draw your own conclusions. All airline traffic in and out of these cities in China have been shut down until further notice. Cruise ships with infected passengers sit idle off shores around the world no longer welcome in ports that once enjoyed the commerce they brought. In isolation, these stories are not in and of themselves a cause for concern. Right. I think I need a bigger freezer.
Evan gave us a call late in the morning on Saturday and said he was coming over to visit and maybe even spend the night. Nancy and I stayed on course with our plans to visit Mrs G later in the day and extended an offer to have Evan join us which he politely declined. We discussed dinner and we planned to stop and pick up burritos on the way home.
Mrs G was in good spirits despite her latest complaints having to do with mobility issues mostly but she was not letting any of it it slow her down. I worked with her to update a few of her chess apps on her iPad and Nancy stood over her shoulder while the two of them discussed iPhone issues.
I keep telling Nancy that when she calls her mom that she should be calling her on her iPhone so she can become more familiar with how it works. Remembering to do that can be a challenge and more often than not Nancy forgets to do just that. One thing we arranged to do was to turn up the volume on her iPhone so she could hear it from her bedroom when it rings.
"Just carry it with you when you go in and out of your other rooms, Mrs G", I said. It may be a bridge too far but we'll see. She never used her Virgin Mobile flip phone very much so not sure why we think she would use her new iPhone any more frequently. And finally, I talked Nancy into going into Starbucks after a long day of working with Dr Rosman down in Massachusetts.
Having a hot caffeinated beverage for the long ride home was just what the doctor ordered. I advised her to get our favorite drink as of late, a flat white. She put aside her fears of contracting a virus long enough to get a nice coffee for the ride home. Good stuff!