Day #123

[shadowkat]

End of another week. It's getting hotter here...a heatwave is on the way, and the humidity is high. Was sticky with sweat after my walk, so took a dip into the shower. Feeling much refreshed now. It was about a two and half mile walk - not quite as long as yesterdays. But worth it - the tension melted away, and it was peaceful. Soft light filtering through the leaves of various trees. And lovely flowers along the path.




New York vs. the Coronavirus

New York reminds me of a traumatized child afraid to go into the water after a piranha attack. It ventures partly in - then jumps back slightly.

Ack! Piranha! Or ..ack, Shark!

We're in Phase #4 right now, but with serious caveats - no re-opening of malls, movie theaters, museums, or any "indoor" activities. No group gatherings indoors. Also out of desperation - they've changed the rules on outdoor dining and bars - you can only serve alcohol with food, and it has to be sit down, with evenly spaced tables. No serving alcohol individually with 100 people hanging out on a street for happy hours. Must serve alcohol to people who are seated - and six feet apart. They are increasing the number of closed seats and outdoor seating for restaurants across the city.

But, most of the restaurants and bars in my area won't be able to do this. My heart breaks for their owners. I don't go to them - but I feel for them. I wonder if they've closed Courteylou? Because there's a lot of eateries on that street that won't be able to receive patrons without outdoor seating.

NY has also gotten tired of worrying about getting it from the other States in the US, so its doing an advertising campaign - "Wear a Mask America! Be New York Tough!"

We launched a national PSA campaign to urge Americans to wear a mask. As states across the country see a surge in COVID cases, it's more vital than ever that we spread this message. Science has proven again and again: Wearing masks is one of the most important things we can all do to reduce the spread.

The #MaskUpAmerica campaign will consist of 8 ads produced by Jane Rosenthal of Tribeca Enterprises and the Ad Council in partnership with Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow, and will be aired on donated media time throughout the country. Watch the first video below.

Poor traumatized New York, it's beaten back the virus to the point that it's hospitals aren't overwhelmed, body bags aren't put in freezer trucks daily, and there aren't 700-900 people dying a day. Ninety-Five percent of the population is wearing masks, and instead of 1,000 to 3,000 new cases a day, we have about 700-900 new cases per day, and only 10-15 dead. It's far from perfect, but it's progress. And the best NY can hope for is to keep the hospitals from being overwhelmed.

But alas, it has two threats...which are making it huddle terrified in it's corner - feeling just a tad under seige. One is the rest of the United States is refusing to follow the protocol and wear masks, etc. The other is that various of its own citizens are being nitwits. How to combat this? More advertising on the effectiveness of masks, and more restrictions.

NY is also reaching out to impacted areas around the US offering its help in beating back the virus. Like I said previously, NY is a tough little state - it ain't taking this sitting down, it has its dukes up and it's going to fight that virus, or die trying.

Outside of Georgia and Florida, it's now sent aid to Houston, Texas. " To help Houston handle COVID, NY has established two testing sites at local churches." Go Team#New York!


Family

Mother talked to her youngest sister today, and only remaining one, who resides in Chelsea, Michigan - mostly farmland. Her sister is a bit annoyed. Chelsea was doing fine. But apparently a bunch of parents up there chose to host "COVID THEMED" proms for their kids, with about 50-100 people in attendance, which resulted in an outbreak in their area. All the kids and adults at the parties got the virus. My Aunt hasn't seen her grand-daughter, who she's helped raise, in over four months. And the poor girl is struggling with ADD. Also in my Aunt's area - there's no good WiFi - it's limited. So thankfully, my cousin's kid is living in an area with good wifi, but like most kids, is bored and isolated.

My other cousin, Aunt's daughter, is working 12-15 hour days remotely from her basement, while her mother-in-law, three kids, and hubby wander about upstairs. Along with the dog.

ME: What's the mother-in-law doing there?
Mother: Well, she's visiting from St. Louis.
Me: Visiting?
Mother: She visits them each year at this time, she's 81 -
Me: During a pandemic?
Mother: Well, St. Louis wasn't hit that bad -
Me: Yes it was. So is Pennsylvania.
Mother: Yeah, well he was going to fly her up to Michigan but they cancelled that, so instead he brought her to PA to stay with them -
Me: Why do I feel there's more to this story?
Mother: Well, all I know is your cousin is fed-up and wishes her mother in law was not there.
Me: That I understand. What doesn't make sense is why she is there to begin with. Maybe she's lonely and doesn't have anyone -
Mother: No, her other son lives nearby in St. Louis
Me: Okay...
Mother: Yeah I don't understand either.
Me: Nor does my Aunt obviously.

Mother told me this story after she told me about her community removing lovely blue spruces around their house. I told her that she really needs to stop telling me about people murdering trees.

Mother: Well, they are in the way
Me: The trees were there first.



Crazy Workplace

Well, we got another person to retire. This is a good thing. If more people retire, less potential for job cuts.

Moscow Co-worker (basically he immigrated from Moscow to the US in 2000): Per Fox News Article - NYCT Chief can't figure out what they are doing and half the workers are being paid for doing nothing.
Lando: And they've decided to merge us with them? Really?
Me: Uhm, no. We're being merged with the other Railroad - per our staff meetings. Also Fox News is NOT a reliable news source - it's owned and operated by Rupert Murdoch, a yellow journalist who came from operated Australia and UK's equivalent of the National Enquirer. Relying on Fox for any information is kind of like relying on The National Enquirer.
Lando: Well, merging with the other railroad and using their protocols is even worse - they are horrible.
ME: No, they are merging into us, they will be adopting our protocols - you really aren't listening during our staff meetings, are you?

This little email exchange made me realize that a)I do not miss my co-workers at all, and b) it's lovely do be working remotely from home and only have to deal with them all via email and phone. My anxiety and irritability is way down as a result.



They appear to be moving furniture above me again. Either that or holding races up and down the steps.

Going to be really hot this weekend, and into the beginning of next week. (I feel for my brother's friend - whose going to be staying in a non-air-conditioned barn. Unless, of course, my brother ever got around to installing air conditioning in the barn. I doubt it. The air conditioning in the house was broken up until last week.)

I've managed to cope with the pandemic and the US's crappy (if predictable) response to it - by doing the following: 1) writing in this journal, 2) meditating every morning, 3) taking long walks around Greenwood Cemetery...and taking photos to post in written blogs on said journal.

So far it's worked very well. Far better than expected. But like the rest of the world - I dread the fall.

I leave you with my favorite flowers...

Comments

[rose_griffes]

Those lilies are lovely!

[yourlibrarian]

I can see why they're favorites. Gorgeous!

[wendelah1]

Your pictures as always are lovely and soothing. I look forward to reading your entries every day, even if I don't comment on them. (My hands are really bad now.)

It's the same here in California. Although, I think many of our COVID hotspots are related to prison populations, meat packing plants, and factories.

Mother talked to her youngest sister today, and only remaining one, who resides in Chelsea, Michigan - mostly farmland. Her sister is a bit annoyed. Chelsea was doing fine. But apparently a bunch of parents up there chose to host "COVID THEMED" proms for their kids, with about 50-100 people in attendance, which resulted in an outbreak in their area. All the kids and adults at the parties got the virus.

Why are Americans like this?

[shadowkat]

Thank you. I'm glad I'm pleasing someone other than just myself. ;-)


I don't think it's just Americans though? From what I've read, Barcelona, Australia, Great Britain, Sweden, etc have had similar issues. Also apparently there are a higher percentage of Americans wearing masks than those in Canada and Australia.

A lot of people have the attitude that if it doesn't personally effect them in a dire way - it doesn't exist. That they should be allowed to live as they wish regardless of who they hurt. I don't know why though. Not everyone, just a few...