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shadowkat1. Crazy workplace
So today we get the memo that they are putting things in place to make it possible for people to work at home or remotely if necessary. You have to move all your files over and get a Duo app that provides a second layer of security protection.
ME: Okay, how do I get the Duo app security activation code?
Manager: well, you're part of a union there may be a conflict because of this, you have to ask Mike.
Me: Mike, is there a reason the Union won't let me work from home or get remote access to my files, etc?
Mike: Oh yeah, the union is not allowing its representatives to work from home at this time. There have been no negotiations with management and no directive that this is changing. IT called and asked the same question - we represent them to.
ME: So, because I'm part of a union, I can't work from home?
Mike: Well, you could, but no.
Ugh. They are protecting the assholes who make time and a half off of overtime, which I've never gotten anyhow. And I did work from home once - I sent all my work home to myself and did it. I don't frigging care about the union. The union has no power over me. So I put in a request with IT to set something up for next week.
I can't afford to stop work.
In the midst of trying to figure out the Duo thing or how to ask IT to provide me with what I need. I called them, but so did everyone else at the same time. Anyhow in the midst of this..
Project Manager: So, our consulting team that is creating the designs for the fire alarms -- their organization closed all their offices. They are still working but remotely.
Me: Smart move. What's the problem? Can they still work on site?
Project Manager: more or less. However, I wanted to know if this posed any contractual issues?
Me:Such as?
PRoject Manager: well, it will most likely delay work and not be as efficient.
Me: And..
Project Manager: Will it be a problem if we don't meet our schedule?
Me: I don't really care about your schedule, neither does the contract. And at this point, I'm pretty certain the Governor and the State Legislature and the Board don't care either. You should be fine.
Project Manager: I just wanted to check.
Me: No problem. But let's cross this bridge when we come to it. Considering we've extended contracts for far less important reasons..I don't see a problem doing it here.
Cubical mate's daughter got sick.
ME: Is she okay?
Cubical Mate: Yeah, it's just a cold. Or so the doctor thinks. She has no respiratory issues. And no fever right now. Just sneezing, and a sore throat, and sniffles.
Me: Yeah, keep her from touching things.
Cubical Mate: Very hard to do.
Me: Yeah, I find hard not to -
Cubical Mate: No, you don't understand, she feels the need to touch everything in site.
Me: Well, at least she's young - apparently this doesn't hurt the young. Just those over 70 and the immune impaired.
Cubical Mate: And I'm immune impaired with diabetes and high blood pressure.
Me: You and me both.
Which is concerning my mother. She keeps reminding herself that I rarely get sick any more and haven't gotten the flu in years. For all I know, I may already have it - and think it's allergies. Of course the doctor sees it as allergies too.
Another co-worker had his family vacation cancelled by the tour company. They were to leave for Ireland in two weeks - the tour company cancelled it. The tour company wanted to reschedule for the summer, his mother-in-law for Thanksgiving - which he blatantly refused and he fought them all to reschedule for March 2021. Smart. I'd have done the same. I told him so.
Everyone is obsessively washing their hands. I kept using hand sanitizer on the way home. Whether it's working or not is up in the air.
2. There is a frustrated opera singer in my building. He sings intermittently. He's not very good, just slightly better than the cats, which is saying something. I don't know if he's Bengali or Russian. It's hard to tell. He could be a ghost, I've yelled at him a couple of times and it stopped. Which is odd.
3. The entertainment industry is closing down as we speak. ABC and Disney have stopped production or rather, suspended production on all their series and films for the next few weeks, until April 19. General Hospital is the first soap to do so.
NCAA cancelled both the women's and men's tournaments. Soccer has been cancelled on the island. The NHL - National Hockey League cancelled their games. NBA has cancelled it's season. Major League Baseball cancelled spring training and is pushing their season back. All talk shows are doing it without live audiences.
Broadway shut down all shows. In an email entitled "Who's Afraid of the Corona Virus" - DS emailed me to let me know that we won't be seeing Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolfe? She did however receive two vouchers and 10% off of any shows she got tickets for from that venue in the future.
The New York Public Library System has shut down the libraries.
Duchess County shut down its schools, with Columbia county to follow. Colleges are doing online learning or online classes. The NY rule is if a kid is found to be infected with the virus, you shut the school down for 24-48 hours to clean it thoroughly before resuming classes, and quarantine anyone with direct contact.
Meanwhile people in NYC are wondering when the Mayor and School Chancellor will shut down the NYC Public Schools - it's not the Governor's decision to make, it's a local decision.
Disney closed all amusement parks around the world - for the first time in history.
And closed it's cruise line. It's the first to do so. It's taking this seriously.
Various tour groups, airlines, etc are cancelling tours and flights.
It's a mess. And yes, it will tank our economy.
4. Everyone is upset that the Doofus didn't get tested or take precautions around infected diplomats or follow the guidelines of the CDC. I, on the other hand, am kind of happy about this turn of events -- with any luck he'll contract the illness, as will Pence, and we'll end up with Nancy Pelosi finishing out his term. Except she could also get it along with Congress - most of Congress and the Senate is over the age of 70...this could get interesting.
5. Sigh. Grocery shopping the last two weeks has become increasingly traumatizing.
I've developed an irrational fear of not being able to get food when I need it or supplies (such as toilet paper, tissues, disinfectants, soap, and medications). (I live in frigging NYC. It's not exactly like there's a shortage of venues for these items. For example? I've gone to at least five different grocery stores in the last two weeks - and that's not all the ones available.) People are raiding the grocery stores as if they'll not be able to shop again for months.
Mother: They are shopping in case they get quarantined for 14 days.
ME: No, they are shopping in case they get quarantines for months. You don't understand. It's crazy.
Union Street Grocery - a gourmet grocery on Court Street near the Cobble Hill Cinemas in Brooklyn, was almost bare in places. There were shelves that looked as if they'd been raided by crazy people. Or well picked through. I did find what I needed though. (I'd gotten the canned items earlier. I was looking for frozen. And while the frozen section had been raided - they raided stuff I didn't want. So I got my extra gluten-free mac n cheese, frozen pre-cooked shrimp, blake's shepard's pie, pragers Kale treats). Also the line was long. It was like shopping on Black Friday but twenty times worse - and all week long. The health food store was the same - they'd cleaned out the bean section - except for black beans and garbanzo beans and chick peas for some reason. The kidney beans, and salad beans were gone. (I wanted the salad beans but settled for chick peas). They also cleaned out the rice, ramen, quinoa, and other dried food packets.
I talk to my co-workers and they give me the same bizarre stories. One co-worker described how a woman in a friends apartment complex went around and stole all the hand sanitizer from the dispensers in the building. The apartment was providing them for the residents. And she took all of it. Also, there was a kid in the UK suspended from school, according to cubical mate, for selling drops of hand sanitize to people.
6. Yet, no one appears to actually be sick. It's not like the fall or December and January, where people are coughing constantly. Or the height of allergy season. Now, if someone coughs they do it in their jacket or try to hide it. (I saw a man coughing into the interior of his jacket today on the train.)
Yesterday saw two kids with face masks on the train. I keep seeing people here and there with face masks. I want to tell them that it won't protect them from the virus. It only protects people from catching it from you.
Overall traveling by train has become oddly better than before - they are less crowded. The commuter train has been providing longer trains the last few times.
And people seem to give each other more space.
7. My mother told me that one of the news shows she watches had reminded her of the Polio epidemic...which reassured her. She remembers it clearly. This was in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and according to my mother, kids were kept home during the summers - activities were suspended, and pools locked or shut down -- due to fears of spreading. It didn't stop until roughly 1955 - when a cure was discovered. This is by no means the first epidemic we've seen - and this somehow comforts my mother, who is more worried about me getting the stupid virus than anyone else.(Possibly because I live in NYC, have recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure - and I live alone. If anything happened to me - there's nothing she could do, and she doesn't think anyone would help me, if I got really ill, but well me. Then she reminds herself that I haven't gotten sick in years. I've only taken three sick days in the last five years.)
My brother and I agreed that the best we could do right now was to continue to touch base with one another from time to time.
8. What's unsettling about this...is the uncertainty. Which the Governor of NY touched on. He basically said we have no control. That we will be affected, that someone we are close to or know, will be. That it's not bad for everyone - most recover. The facts show that 87% of the cases, possibly more recover. There's 2-4% death rate in most cases. In fact, many people may have it and not know it.
Not to pay attention to the numbers which are misleading.
Will give NY credit - they took the initiative and stepped up on testing, when they released the Federal government didn't know what to do. Now the Feds are copying NY and setting up drive through testing and private labs to do the testing. It's hilarious. NY's telling the FEDS how to handle the virus by stating, this is what we are doing and how we are doing it - here's the information, do with it whatever you want, by now!
I love NY. It's interactions with the Federal Government during the Doofus' term have been an endless source of amusement.
"The single most important thing we can do to combat and contain the novel coronavirus is test for it, and while the federal government was caught flatfooted in the midst of this crisis, New York has stepped up to fill in the gaps and ramp up testing capacity," Governor Cuomo said. "We're partnering with Northwell and BioReference to run the state's first drive-through testing facility and ensure the highest-risk population gets the tests they need to help us contain and combat this pandemic - in an efficient, safe, smart way. As we run our own test and test more people, the number of people that we find with the virus is going to keep going up, but New Yorkers should continue to remain calm and remember that the more positive tests we find, the more we can limit the virus and reduce its spread."
This new testing facility builds on the Governor's aggressive efforts to ramp up testing capacity in New York State. While the federal government has been a bottleneck for the nation and slowed down the country's ability to initially respond to the outbreak, New York State has stepped up to fill in the gaps in testing.
Summary of NY Press Conference Today
NY had announced what they were doing with the testing on March 10, and had put things in motion before that. Then called and shared it with Trump. Today, Trump announces it and shakes everyone's hands, after he's been exposed to the virus, more than once. I refused to watch the Doofus, I don't trust him. He's a sociopathic pathological liar and marketing guy, and yes, I realize that's an oxymoron.
9. Was debating going to church this weekend, but received email - and apparently my church (the Unitarian Universalist Congregational Society of Brooklyn or First U) decided to close the church to all activities and worship. It's going online kind of like the colleges. Services will be broadcast via FB and Zoom (an interactive meeting site) only. Also, all committees, small group convenant groups, etc will be done via Zoom. All activities suspended or cancelled until April 19 or thereabouts. Even outside activities - such as concerts held in the church are cancelled. They are permitting the 12-Step substance abuse group to meet - but only until it becomes unsafe for the staff.
So, not going. Which is okay, it's not like I've gone much recently. Actually, I might be able to handle the covenant groups now...
10. Bright side? I have an excuse to stay home and vegetate. (I may do more laundry though - which means human contact. And using that damn elevator - which is also becoming traumatizing - it's a frigging death trap in more ways than one. Also takes forever and I live in fear of getting trapped with my laundry in the basement or my laundry getting trapped in the basement, one or the other. I can't wait until the new elevator is operational. On the fence about that one. It's the down side of not having my own laundry machines. Oh well, maybe we'll bond over this?)
I'll watch Netflix and movies all weekend.
Maybe get some writing done. I know I can go back to writing the apocalyptic sci-fi novel.
For all the closures, and warnings against social interaction? Or direct social interaction? There was a lot of it on the way home from work. People were out frolicking in parks, sidewalks, etc. Kids playing with other kids and parents.
Outside of raiding grocery stores, hoarding disinfectant and hand sanitizers, people seem to be taking this in stride.
So am I. Even though viruses fascinate me. And I have a weakness for books and shows and films that feature them -- I've read and seen a lot of them. Contagion got it right, The Stand did not. The Headspace Meditation App has really helped me. As has diet -- staying away from caffeine, alcohol and sugar. You'd think alcohol makes it better? No, the opposite. And no, drinking alcohol doesn't kill the virus, it does however weaken your immune system. CBD also helps - takes away anxiety better than anything I've tried, besides meditation.
So today we get the memo that they are putting things in place to make it possible for people to work at home or remotely if necessary. You have to move all your files over and get a Duo app that provides a second layer of security protection.
ME: Okay, how do I get the Duo app security activation code?
Manager: well, you're part of a union there may be a conflict because of this, you have to ask Mike.
Me: Mike, is there a reason the Union won't let me work from home or get remote access to my files, etc?
Mike: Oh yeah, the union is not allowing its representatives to work from home at this time. There have been no negotiations with management and no directive that this is changing. IT called and asked the same question - we represent them to.
ME: So, because I'm part of a union, I can't work from home?
Mike: Well, you could, but no.
Ugh. They are protecting the assholes who make time and a half off of overtime, which I've never gotten anyhow. And I did work from home once - I sent all my work home to myself and did it. I don't frigging care about the union. The union has no power over me. So I put in a request with IT to set something up for next week.
I can't afford to stop work.
In the midst of trying to figure out the Duo thing or how to ask IT to provide me with what I need. I called them, but so did everyone else at the same time. Anyhow in the midst of this..
Project Manager: So, our consulting team that is creating the designs for the fire alarms -- their organization closed all their offices. They are still working but remotely.
Me: Smart move. What's the problem? Can they still work on site?
Project Manager: more or less. However, I wanted to know if this posed any contractual issues?
Me:Such as?
PRoject Manager: well, it will most likely delay work and not be as efficient.
Me: And..
Project Manager: Will it be a problem if we don't meet our schedule?
Me: I don't really care about your schedule, neither does the contract. And at this point, I'm pretty certain the Governor and the State Legislature and the Board don't care either. You should be fine.
Project Manager: I just wanted to check.
Me: No problem. But let's cross this bridge when we come to it. Considering we've extended contracts for far less important reasons..I don't see a problem doing it here.
Cubical mate's daughter got sick.
ME: Is she okay?
Cubical Mate: Yeah, it's just a cold. Or so the doctor thinks. She has no respiratory issues. And no fever right now. Just sneezing, and a sore throat, and sniffles.
Me: Yeah, keep her from touching things.
Cubical Mate: Very hard to do.
Me: Yeah, I find hard not to -
Cubical Mate: No, you don't understand, she feels the need to touch everything in site.
Me: Well, at least she's young - apparently this doesn't hurt the young. Just those over 70 and the immune impaired.
Cubical Mate: And I'm immune impaired with diabetes and high blood pressure.
Me: You and me both.
Which is concerning my mother. She keeps reminding herself that I rarely get sick any more and haven't gotten the flu in years. For all I know, I may already have it - and think it's allergies. Of course the doctor sees it as allergies too.
Another co-worker had his family vacation cancelled by the tour company. They were to leave for Ireland in two weeks - the tour company cancelled it. The tour company wanted to reschedule for the summer, his mother-in-law for Thanksgiving - which he blatantly refused and he fought them all to reschedule for March 2021. Smart. I'd have done the same. I told him so.
Everyone is obsessively washing their hands. I kept using hand sanitizer on the way home. Whether it's working or not is up in the air.
2. There is a frustrated opera singer in my building. He sings intermittently. He's not very good, just slightly better than the cats, which is saying something. I don't know if he's Bengali or Russian. It's hard to tell. He could be a ghost, I've yelled at him a couple of times and it stopped. Which is odd.
3. The entertainment industry is closing down as we speak. ABC and Disney have stopped production or rather, suspended production on all their series and films for the next few weeks, until April 19. General Hospital is the first soap to do so.
NCAA cancelled both the women's and men's tournaments. Soccer has been cancelled on the island. The NHL - National Hockey League cancelled their games. NBA has cancelled it's season. Major League Baseball cancelled spring training and is pushing their season back. All talk shows are doing it without live audiences.
Broadway shut down all shows. In an email entitled "Who's Afraid of the Corona Virus" - DS emailed me to let me know that we won't be seeing Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolfe? She did however receive two vouchers and 10% off of any shows she got tickets for from that venue in the future.
The New York Public Library System has shut down the libraries.
Duchess County shut down its schools, with Columbia county to follow. Colleges are doing online learning or online classes. The NY rule is if a kid is found to be infected with the virus, you shut the school down for 24-48 hours to clean it thoroughly before resuming classes, and quarantine anyone with direct contact.
Meanwhile people in NYC are wondering when the Mayor and School Chancellor will shut down the NYC Public Schools - it's not the Governor's decision to make, it's a local decision.
Disney closed all amusement parks around the world - for the first time in history.
And closed it's cruise line. It's the first to do so. It's taking this seriously.
Various tour groups, airlines, etc are cancelling tours and flights.
It's a mess. And yes, it will tank our economy.
4. Everyone is upset that the Doofus didn't get tested or take precautions around infected diplomats or follow the guidelines of the CDC. I, on the other hand, am kind of happy about this turn of events -- with any luck he'll contract the illness, as will Pence, and we'll end up with Nancy Pelosi finishing out his term. Except she could also get it along with Congress - most of Congress and the Senate is over the age of 70...this could get interesting.
5. Sigh. Grocery shopping the last two weeks has become increasingly traumatizing.
I've developed an irrational fear of not being able to get food when I need it or supplies (such as toilet paper, tissues, disinfectants, soap, and medications). (I live in frigging NYC. It's not exactly like there's a shortage of venues for these items. For example? I've gone to at least five different grocery stores in the last two weeks - and that's not all the ones available.) People are raiding the grocery stores as if they'll not be able to shop again for months.
Mother: They are shopping in case they get quarantined for 14 days.
ME: No, they are shopping in case they get quarantines for months. You don't understand. It's crazy.
Union Street Grocery - a gourmet grocery on Court Street near the Cobble Hill Cinemas in Brooklyn, was almost bare in places. There were shelves that looked as if they'd been raided by crazy people. Or well picked through. I did find what I needed though. (I'd gotten the canned items earlier. I was looking for frozen. And while the frozen section had been raided - they raided stuff I didn't want. So I got my extra gluten-free mac n cheese, frozen pre-cooked shrimp, blake's shepard's pie, pragers Kale treats). Also the line was long. It was like shopping on Black Friday but twenty times worse - and all week long. The health food store was the same - they'd cleaned out the bean section - except for black beans and garbanzo beans and chick peas for some reason. The kidney beans, and salad beans were gone. (I wanted the salad beans but settled for chick peas). They also cleaned out the rice, ramen, quinoa, and other dried food packets.
I talk to my co-workers and they give me the same bizarre stories. One co-worker described how a woman in a friends apartment complex went around and stole all the hand sanitizer from the dispensers in the building. The apartment was providing them for the residents. And she took all of it. Also, there was a kid in the UK suspended from school, according to cubical mate, for selling drops of hand sanitize to people.
6. Yet, no one appears to actually be sick. It's not like the fall or December and January, where people are coughing constantly. Or the height of allergy season. Now, if someone coughs they do it in their jacket or try to hide it. (I saw a man coughing into the interior of his jacket today on the train.)
Yesterday saw two kids with face masks on the train. I keep seeing people here and there with face masks. I want to tell them that it won't protect them from the virus. It only protects people from catching it from you.
Overall traveling by train has become oddly better than before - they are less crowded. The commuter train has been providing longer trains the last few times.
And people seem to give each other more space.
7. My mother told me that one of the news shows she watches had reminded her of the Polio epidemic...which reassured her. She remembers it clearly. This was in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and according to my mother, kids were kept home during the summers - activities were suspended, and pools locked or shut down -- due to fears of spreading. It didn't stop until roughly 1955 - when a cure was discovered. This is by no means the first epidemic we've seen - and this somehow comforts my mother, who is more worried about me getting the stupid virus than anyone else.(Possibly because I live in NYC, have recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure - and I live alone. If anything happened to me - there's nothing she could do, and she doesn't think anyone would help me, if I got really ill, but well me. Then she reminds herself that I haven't gotten sick in years. I've only taken three sick days in the last five years.)
My brother and I agreed that the best we could do right now was to continue to touch base with one another from time to time.
8. What's unsettling about this...is the uncertainty. Which the Governor of NY touched on. He basically said we have no control. That we will be affected, that someone we are close to or know, will be. That it's not bad for everyone - most recover. The facts show that 87% of the cases, possibly more recover. There's 2-4% death rate in most cases. In fact, many people may have it and not know it.
Not to pay attention to the numbers which are misleading.
Will give NY credit - they took the initiative and stepped up on testing, when they released the Federal government didn't know what to do. Now the Feds are copying NY and setting up drive through testing and private labs to do the testing. It's hilarious. NY's telling the FEDS how to handle the virus by stating, this is what we are doing and how we are doing it - here's the information, do with it whatever you want, by now!
I love NY. It's interactions with the Federal Government during the Doofus' term have been an endless source of amusement.
"The single most important thing we can do to combat and contain the novel coronavirus is test for it, and while the federal government was caught flatfooted in the midst of this crisis, New York has stepped up to fill in the gaps and ramp up testing capacity," Governor Cuomo said. "We're partnering with Northwell and BioReference to run the state's first drive-through testing facility and ensure the highest-risk population gets the tests they need to help us contain and combat this pandemic - in an efficient, safe, smart way. As we run our own test and test more people, the number of people that we find with the virus is going to keep going up, but New Yorkers should continue to remain calm and remember that the more positive tests we find, the more we can limit the virus and reduce its spread."
This new testing facility builds on the Governor's aggressive efforts to ramp up testing capacity in New York State. While the federal government has been a bottleneck for the nation and slowed down the country's ability to initially respond to the outbreak, New York State has stepped up to fill in the gaps in testing.
Summary of NY Press Conference Today
NY had announced what they were doing with the testing on March 10, and had put things in motion before that. Then called and shared it with Trump. Today, Trump announces it and shakes everyone's hands, after he's been exposed to the virus, more than once. I refused to watch the Doofus, I don't trust him. He's a sociopathic pathological liar and marketing guy, and yes, I realize that's an oxymoron.
9. Was debating going to church this weekend, but received email - and apparently my church (the Unitarian Universalist Congregational Society of Brooklyn or First U) decided to close the church to all activities and worship. It's going online kind of like the colleges. Services will be broadcast via FB and Zoom (an interactive meeting site) only. Also, all committees, small group convenant groups, etc will be done via Zoom. All activities suspended or cancelled until April 19 or thereabouts. Even outside activities - such as concerts held in the church are cancelled. They are permitting the 12-Step substance abuse group to meet - but only until it becomes unsafe for the staff.
So, not going. Which is okay, it's not like I've gone much recently. Actually, I might be able to handle the covenant groups now...
10. Bright side? I have an excuse to stay home and vegetate. (I may do more laundry though - which means human contact. And using that damn elevator - which is also becoming traumatizing - it's a frigging death trap in more ways than one. Also takes forever and I live in fear of getting trapped with my laundry in the basement or my laundry getting trapped in the basement, one or the other. I can't wait until the new elevator is operational. On the fence about that one. It's the down side of not having my own laundry machines. Oh well, maybe we'll bond over this?)
I'll watch Netflix and movies all weekend.
Maybe get some writing done. I know I can go back to writing the apocalyptic sci-fi novel.
For all the closures, and warnings against social interaction? Or direct social interaction? There was a lot of it on the way home from work. People were out frolicking in parks, sidewalks, etc. Kids playing with other kids and parents.
Outside of raiding grocery stores, hoarding disinfectant and hand sanitizers, people seem to be taking this in stride.
So am I. Even though viruses fascinate me. And I have a weakness for books and shows and films that feature them -- I've read and seen a lot of them. Contagion got it right, The Stand did not. The Headspace Meditation App has really helped me. As has diet -- staying away from caffeine, alcohol and sugar. You'd think alcohol makes it better? No, the opposite. And no, drinking alcohol doesn't kill the virus, it does however weaken your immune system. CBD also helps - takes away anxiety better than anything I've tried, besides meditation.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-15 12:43 am (UTC)If masks were readily available - I wouldn't feel this way. But I find their actions selfish and self-centered, oh I'll give my kid a mask they don't need at the potential risk of others lives. If someone who needs a mask dies because they bought it....
OTOH - it is possible they had them already. Still when there's a shortage, it should go to those who need them the most. There's nitwits who bought them so they could go on Spring Break vacations. SMH.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-16 12:30 am (UTC)Frankly, I think the reason we're being told not to wear masks is because there are no masks to be had. If someone is infected, and asymptomatic, by wearing a mask, they might stop transmission to someone else. If everyone wore them, it surely would help slow the pandemic. Believe me, the first thing they do when a patient shows up in Urgent Care or the ER with an upper respiratory infection is slap a mask on them. Hospitalized patients in respiratory isolation have to wear them if they have to leave their rooms for tests. But there are no masks for the general public to wear--so it's irrelevant. The government has only 3 million masks in their emergency stash and Azar said we needed about 300 million. We're screwed, in other words.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-16 01:08 am (UTC)If there weren't a shortage, I'd be wearing one.
But alas there is - because people panicked and sent them to China. China got all the masks on Amazon. They sold out of them in January. As does did NYC - all the masks were sent to China by various Chinese for their families. I don't blame them. But alas, it has consequences.
In the case of your husband - he has throat cancer, that's different. And you have ashma. There's a reason you have them. But I'd stay in -- from what I've read the mask doesn't really protect you from getting the disease, it protects the sick from getting it from you. That's why surgeons, doctors and nurses where them - not to protect themselves to protect the patient.