(no subject)
May. 4th, 2020 09:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Struggling with the whole focusing thing again. Had to stop myself from compulsively buying food online - via Foodkick or Fresh Direct, who had delivery windows. I don't need more food. I have plenty and another delivery due next week.
Walk did help - but kind of wired afterward. I'm a night-owl - I get my second wind at 5PM.
2. Mother told me what her church is up to. My parents are Catholic. My brother and I were both raised Catholic - it didn't stick. We're varying degrees of Agnostic. I'm Unitarian, and he's well nothing at the moment. We both believe in something greater than ourselves, we're just not exactly certain what, if anything to call it.
Anyhow, The Catholic Church where mother lives in South Carolina - has been shut down. Now they are opening up again - because South Carolina is...but they are being careful about it. They've been doing mass and worship by streaming. Now, they Church is telling folks that they should tell them when they are coming, and kind of reserve a seat. They'll have assigned seating and only so many people can come. My parents aren't certain how this will work - for one thing how do you social distance in a pew? Also how do you disinfect the entire church between services?
My father isn't sure it will work for him - nor is my mother - he's kind of decrepit and likes to sit on the aisle, so he can get out easily and go to the bathroom when needed, and get past a crowd.
She thinks they'll have no troubles getting a dispensation, although she's not really sure she cares.
ME:Wait dispensation?
Mother: Yes, a dispensation for not going to church. (Pause). If you don't go to church every Sunday, the Catholic Church considers that a mortal sin.
I burst out laughing. The Catholic Church and its' priests have done so many worse things. And talk about scams to get folks to go to church on Sunday. If you don't go to church every Sunday, you are committing a mortal sin and going to hell. LOL!
Me: And one of the many many reasons -
Mother: Not that we really care that much about it. I mean if you remember correctly whenever we went on vacation we skipped church even if it was available.
This is true. My parents kind of take the church's silly rules and dictates with a hefty grain of salt.
However..
Mother: Your father is wondering if we should have mass at his funeral or ours, since most of our family aren't Catholic and can't do it. (You can't participate in the communion if you aren't Catholic. Although technically most of us were all baptized Catholic, we just have left the church.)
Me: I don't care if you have mass, just tell him to find someone other than his hypocritical Trump supporter brother to oversee it.
Mother: No, no, your father wants him to oversee it.
Me: Why?
Mother: Because he's your father's brother.
Me: Right.
Mother: I told him that of course we should do a mass, we're Catholic.
3. New York vs. the Corona Virus
Apparently New York has managed to test one million people now. More than anyone in the world. Now that is dedication. How did they manage that? Have you met our governor? Trust me when he decides he wants something - he will makes sure it happens. I've disliked him for six years because of this bull-dog tendency - but now I'm down on my knees thanking the heavens for it. Also, I kind of appreciate and understand that pit-bull persistence - I have it, and so does my brother. Pragmatic, logical and tough minded and persistent - that's our Governor.
So, we just have, what? 18 million to go?
This is of course also the reason NY has more cases than the rest of the country and more deaths confirmed, because they've tested 1 million people. Poor Maryland is trying to catch up with 550,000.
They've also figured out a few things - such as that the virus that hit New York, Chicago, and New Jersey, along with Massachustus, came from Europe. Not Asia. It came in February and January, when everyone was busy paying attention to China. It was in China in November and December. It was in Europe after that. So while everyone was testing folks from China at JFK, Newark and Chicago, folks with it from Italy and Europe were passing right on by.
Our lovely Governor has basically killed the politicians attempt to spin this as the China flu or as China's fault. He's also kicked the politicians in DC again, specifically the President, by stating leadership is problem solving not posting stuff on social media. In other words - evil marketing folks can't spin this. And our Governor isn't going to let them.
He has a following - there's people from other states popping up in the comments on FB every morning. He's become must-see TV. Mainly because he's the only giving anyone any facts. And he's been able to build a bi-partisan coalition with the Democrat and Republican Governors of six states in the Northeast or the Northeast Corridor - Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Conneticut, Mass, Rhode Island and New York. Go team!
He's also the only thing keeping my anxiety in check at the moment. Here's the latest daily email from my Governor's Office:
As we begin to reopen, we will approach the process on a regional basis. New York State is made up of diverse regions and each region is now facing a different set of circumstances. To guide the decision as to timing, we will look to four core factors: the number of new infections, health care capacity, diagnostic testing and contact tracing. As areas reopen we will continually monitor these factors throughout the days and weeks and rely on them to prevent a second wave of the virus. The path forward is reliant on the data, metrics and personal accountability. Reopening our state is far more complicated than shutting down was; if you open too quickly you can immediately have a backlash, as other countries have seen. We must be smart.
Fire engines in Times Square.
Photo of the Day: Today is International Firefighters Day — thank you to all of our firefighters for their dedicated service (Photo by Jon Bush, Engine 54)
Here's what else you need to know tonight:
1. Businesses and industries will open in a phased approach. Phase 1 includes construction, manufacturing and select retail (with curbside pickup). Phase 2 includes professional services, finance and insurance, retail, administrative support and real estate/rental leasing. Phase 3 includes restaurants, food services and hotels. And Phase 4 includes arts, entertainment, recreation and education.
2. Upon reopening, businesses must implement new safety precautions to help lower the risk of spreading the virus. These include strict cleaning and sanitation standards, restricting nonessential travel, adapting the workplace to allow for social distancing, and requiring masks to be worn if employees are in frequent contact with the public. Read all the requirements here.
3. The special enrollment period for health insurance will remain open through June 15, 2020. New Yorkers without health insurance can apply for a plan through NY State of Health.
4. New York continues to lead the country in testing. To date, more than one million New Yorkers have been tested for COVID-19. That's more than any other state (or foreign country). We are working tirelessly to increase testing capacity even more.
5. The number of total hospitalizations continues to fall. Yesterday, total hospitalizations fell to 9,647 from 9,786 the day before. How quickly we bring this number down depends on all of our actions, which is why we must remain vigilant and continue taking precautions to protect ourselves and others.
6. Thank you to New York's National Guard for their efforts to increase the state's testing capacity. The National Guard has made nearly 300,000 testing kits to collect samples, 60,000 of which are being sent this week to labs and hospitals across the state.
Tonight's "Deep Breath Moment": The iconic sounds of a busy New York City have mostly dissipated. To help bring New Yorkers together, the New York Public Library has released a "Missing Sounds of New York" album to reconnect with the familiar city sounds.
He also laid it all out during the briefing. Explaining exactly how it works and why. Also how they came up with it - and what lessons they'd learned from the past.
Makes me happy I voted for the guy in the last election, albeit reluctantly. Right now there's a movement to elect him President, even though he's made it clear that he is NOT running and has endorsed Biden.
Walk did help - but kind of wired afterward. I'm a night-owl - I get my second wind at 5PM.
2. Mother told me what her church is up to. My parents are Catholic. My brother and I were both raised Catholic - it didn't stick. We're varying degrees of Agnostic. I'm Unitarian, and he's well nothing at the moment. We both believe in something greater than ourselves, we're just not exactly certain what, if anything to call it.
Anyhow, The Catholic Church where mother lives in South Carolina - has been shut down. Now they are opening up again - because South Carolina is...but they are being careful about it. They've been doing mass and worship by streaming. Now, they Church is telling folks that they should tell them when they are coming, and kind of reserve a seat. They'll have assigned seating and only so many people can come. My parents aren't certain how this will work - for one thing how do you social distance in a pew? Also how do you disinfect the entire church between services?
My father isn't sure it will work for him - nor is my mother - he's kind of decrepit and likes to sit on the aisle, so he can get out easily and go to the bathroom when needed, and get past a crowd.
She thinks they'll have no troubles getting a dispensation, although she's not really sure she cares.
ME:Wait dispensation?
Mother: Yes, a dispensation for not going to church. (Pause). If you don't go to church every Sunday, the Catholic Church considers that a mortal sin.
I burst out laughing. The Catholic Church and its' priests have done so many worse things. And talk about scams to get folks to go to church on Sunday. If you don't go to church every Sunday, you are committing a mortal sin and going to hell. LOL!
Me: And one of the many many reasons -
Mother: Not that we really care that much about it. I mean if you remember correctly whenever we went on vacation we skipped church even if it was available.
This is true. My parents kind of take the church's silly rules and dictates with a hefty grain of salt.
However..
Mother: Your father is wondering if we should have mass at his funeral or ours, since most of our family aren't Catholic and can't do it. (You can't participate in the communion if you aren't Catholic. Although technically most of us were all baptized Catholic, we just have left the church.)
Me: I don't care if you have mass, just tell him to find someone other than his hypocritical Trump supporter brother to oversee it.
Mother: No, no, your father wants him to oversee it.
Me: Why?
Mother: Because he's your father's brother.
Me: Right.
Mother: I told him that of course we should do a mass, we're Catholic.
3. New York vs. the Corona Virus
Apparently New York has managed to test one million people now. More than anyone in the world. Now that is dedication. How did they manage that? Have you met our governor? Trust me when he decides he wants something - he will makes sure it happens. I've disliked him for six years because of this bull-dog tendency - but now I'm down on my knees thanking the heavens for it. Also, I kind of appreciate and understand that pit-bull persistence - I have it, and so does my brother. Pragmatic, logical and tough minded and persistent - that's our Governor.
So, we just have, what? 18 million to go?
This is of course also the reason NY has more cases than the rest of the country and more deaths confirmed, because they've tested 1 million people. Poor Maryland is trying to catch up with 550,000.
They've also figured out a few things - such as that the virus that hit New York, Chicago, and New Jersey, along with Massachustus, came from Europe. Not Asia. It came in February and January, when everyone was busy paying attention to China. It was in China in November and December. It was in Europe after that. So while everyone was testing folks from China at JFK, Newark and Chicago, folks with it from Italy and Europe were passing right on by.
Our lovely Governor has basically killed the politicians attempt to spin this as the China flu or as China's fault. He's also kicked the politicians in DC again, specifically the President, by stating leadership is problem solving not posting stuff on social media. In other words - evil marketing folks can't spin this. And our Governor isn't going to let them.
He has a following - there's people from other states popping up in the comments on FB every morning. He's become must-see TV. Mainly because he's the only giving anyone any facts. And he's been able to build a bi-partisan coalition with the Democrat and Republican Governors of six states in the Northeast or the Northeast Corridor - Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Conneticut, Mass, Rhode Island and New York. Go team!
He's also the only thing keeping my anxiety in check at the moment. Here's the latest daily email from my Governor's Office:
As we begin to reopen, we will approach the process on a regional basis. New York State is made up of diverse regions and each region is now facing a different set of circumstances. To guide the decision as to timing, we will look to four core factors: the number of new infections, health care capacity, diagnostic testing and contact tracing. As areas reopen we will continually monitor these factors throughout the days and weeks and rely on them to prevent a second wave of the virus. The path forward is reliant on the data, metrics and personal accountability. Reopening our state is far more complicated than shutting down was; if you open too quickly you can immediately have a backlash, as other countries have seen. We must be smart.
Fire engines in Times Square.
Photo of the Day: Today is International Firefighters Day — thank you to all of our firefighters for their dedicated service (Photo by Jon Bush, Engine 54)
Here's what else you need to know tonight:
1. Businesses and industries will open in a phased approach. Phase 1 includes construction, manufacturing and select retail (with curbside pickup). Phase 2 includes professional services, finance and insurance, retail, administrative support and real estate/rental leasing. Phase 3 includes restaurants, food services and hotels. And Phase 4 includes arts, entertainment, recreation and education.
2. Upon reopening, businesses must implement new safety precautions to help lower the risk of spreading the virus. These include strict cleaning and sanitation standards, restricting nonessential travel, adapting the workplace to allow for social distancing, and requiring masks to be worn if employees are in frequent contact with the public. Read all the requirements here.
3. The special enrollment period for health insurance will remain open through June 15, 2020. New Yorkers without health insurance can apply for a plan through NY State of Health.
4. New York continues to lead the country in testing. To date, more than one million New Yorkers have been tested for COVID-19. That's more than any other state (or foreign country). We are working tirelessly to increase testing capacity even more.
5. The number of total hospitalizations continues to fall. Yesterday, total hospitalizations fell to 9,647 from 9,786 the day before. How quickly we bring this number down depends on all of our actions, which is why we must remain vigilant and continue taking precautions to protect ourselves and others.
6. Thank you to New York's National Guard for their efforts to increase the state's testing capacity. The National Guard has made nearly 300,000 testing kits to collect samples, 60,000 of which are being sent this week to labs and hospitals across the state.
Tonight's "Deep Breath Moment": The iconic sounds of a busy New York City have mostly dissipated. To help bring New Yorkers together, the New York Public Library has released a "Missing Sounds of New York" album to reconnect with the familiar city sounds.
He also laid it all out during the briefing. Explaining exactly how it works and why. Also how they came up with it - and what lessons they'd learned from the past.
Makes me happy I voted for the guy in the last election, albeit reluctantly. Right now there's a movement to elect him President, even though he's made it clear that he is NOT running and has endorsed Biden.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-05 03:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-05 12:26 pm (UTC)FB does have a nifty option of hiding comments, deleting ones made to your own post, and hiding others posts. So that helps.
There are Trump Supporters in my work place but they are quiet about it now. Mainly because they are out-numbered by the folks who hate him. So, they'd prefer not to get ripped apart hourly. A lot of them are kind of shocked by the fact that so many people hate Trump, they thought everyone should hate Hillary. Now when they bring up Hillary - they get a barrage of Trump hate fired at them, in detail. And back off disgruntled. One whined back in the fall about not being able to discuss politics any longer. It's amusing in a way, because they are now in the position all the Hillary supporters were in during the 2008 and 2016 elections, but a hundred times worse. And it's only going to get worse for them as we go. They aren't going to be happy campers going forward, assuming of course they make out it out of 2020 alive - Trump and Pence appear to be trying to kill them.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-05 05:31 am (UTC)Being Catholic didn't stick with my father either. (My mother was Protestant.) When my father was dying he confessed and took communion to make his family happy. At his funeral we had both a priest and a minister. No mass or communion, of course. All the religious folks on both sides seemed satisfied. (I have a couple cousins who are nuns, but there aren't any priests in the family.)
no subject
Date: 2020-05-05 12:16 pm (UTC)To be clear my parents have never taken it all that seriously - my mother likes to make fun of her church at times. Which is kind of what she and I were doing in the above conversation. Also, confession? My parents haven't been to confession in over twenty years. They don't see the point of it.
They really aren't that devout - they question most of it. But they see themselves as Catholic and the church has given them comfort in times of stress.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-05 06:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-05 12:09 pm (UTC)Catholicism has never made a lot of sense to me. Some of the dictates seems sort of...
But to be clear, my mother was raised Episcopalian and My Father is kind of a lax Catholic in some ways. They sort of handwave all of that anyhow. I mean they are Catholic, but they ignore the stupid dictates.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-05 05:56 pm (UTC)At least now I feel confident that we've got someone capable in office and who actually wants to solve problems.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-06 01:48 am (UTC)Michigan has a problem - the idiotic legislature wants to remove the Governor's power and open up the state. My Aunt who lives in Michigan was telling my mother about it, apparently. The Conservative/Libertarian Republicans are proving they are soulless monsters who aren't redeemable. History is not going to be kind to them.