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shadowkatFinally able to take another long walk around Greenwood Cemetery - and indulge in my hobby of taking photos of stuff, then playing around with them on my phone - so I can post the pics to social media and thrill you all.
What can I say? We all need a hobby - and if it makes others happy, even if it is just one or two people? Huzzah!
Plus the walks calm me. One of my social media friends calls her walks "rage walks" (since she can't take them at the moment - she's making rage pie. Hmmm, I wish I could have a slice of her rage pies, they look amazing.)
The New York Times and my Union at Crazy Workplace tried to terrify me today. I spent two hours this morning fretting and raging at imaginary ghouls.
Me:My Union or Crazy Workplace decided to scare everyone again today. They've made it into a weekly habit..
Mother: Oh, what did they do this time?
Me: Well, they sent us an email - that said Crazy Workplace was monitoring everyone's work on their computers and phones, to determine how much work people were really doing - and who to lay off. And how they were fighting that - and making sure enough heads in the office and on and on..it just scared and confused me.
Mother: I don't know that sounds incredibly expensive and difficult to do.
How they going to monitor everyone's work from home computers - particularly with all the connection issues and variations in software. I mean it's not like they gave you computers to work off of - your working remotely off of a remote computer..
ME: I know, I realized that after two hours of quietly fretting over it. Also Office Admin obviously got concerned too - and sent us all links to the Telecommuting Agreements - which provided her with answers and the correct questions to ask.
Mother: I think they are just trying to scare you...because that sounds time consuming and expensive and kind of beyond your nutty organizations capabilities.
Me: Yeah. Also I'm already filling out a weekly work log and doing mid-afternoon checkin's each day. Can you imagine reading everyone's work from home logs?
Mother: They'll never do it. I don't think you need to worry about it.
Meanwhile...the New York Times decided to tell us that the Doofus is threatening to send Federal Troops into all of the US cities and impose martial law - so he can get re-elected. [I honestly don't know how imposing martial law is going to get him re-elected. If anything it's going to be the exact opposite. 98% of Americans tend to like their personal freedoms. He's also apparently threatening to contest the election if he doesn't win - he should watch it, that's how President's get themselves impeached and tried for treason - by fiddling with and contesting elections. You'd think he'd have learned from the last impeachment go-around, but apparently not. ]
Facebook Neighborhood Community Group: Oh no, the sociopath in the White House is going to send in Federal Troops to NYC. Stay Safe neighbors!
Me: Somehow I think our Governor will put a halt to that, and tell him that it's Unconstitutional and no, he can't just impose martial law on States. Lovely thing having a Constitutional Lawyer as Governor.
Facebook Poster: And an Attorney General of NY on our side.
Me: That too.
Our Governor has already put a halt to it way back in June when there was looting and riots in the streets, there isn't any now. Our Governor is a Pit-bull with Fangs. And he's chomping at the bit to get his grabby paws on the terrorist in the White House and throttle him.
Mother: How'd he get them into Portland?
Me: I think Portland allowed it?
Mother: Isn't Portland Democrat?
Me: No, Oregon is fairly conservative - that's where all the crazy ass survivalists live.
Mother: No...hmmm, oh, I think he got around it by sending them to protect the Federal Buildings.
ME: Well, he threatened to do it in NY in June and didn't get anywhere. If he was going to do it - that would be the time. Our Governor told him, no thanks. (I honestly think the NY Governor said a lot more than that and not that nicely, our Governor knows the Doofus very very well and - The Doofus seems to be scared of the Governor of New York.)
Team#NewYork!
Me: I want a vacation.
Mother: Don't we all.
Me: Some people appear to be taking them...but I don't know how..
Mother: Your brother has chosen not to visit the Finger Lakes. They are staying home this summer. No visits or retreats.
ME: Interesting. I think he's scared too.
Mother: Yup. Like the rest of us.
Me: I told my cousin that he was having people come up and visit his barn. He put them up in the barn, and hung out - outside, social distancing. Cousin isn't traveling either - she's staying home. Although she agreed that her FB wall was filled with people's vacation photos. But she can't go anywhere. (Very painful for her - she'd had a European Vacation planned this summer that she had to cancel. Also she'd contracted COVID and got really ill and it took her about forty days to recover. Actually I think this is why most if not all of my extended family is not taking any vacations this year and staying home. We're scared of the virus. Why? Because various family members have either tested positive and had it, had it and got back a false negative or were sick with something very similar and don't know if it was the virus. My brother, myself, and sis-in-law all came down with something really weird between November and February. That is long gone now, but we do NOT want to get again or anything close to it. Hacking my lungs out for three-four months is not an experience that I want to revisit, thank you very much. You can do it - but do it VERY far away from me, preferably on the moon.)
Me: I'm tired of being on this roller-coaster ride, I want to get off.
Mother: Never in a million years did I envision going through anything like this. I've never seen anything like this or imagined living through anything like this.
Me: I don't think anyone has. My boss keeps stating that at staff meetings. Then he thanks us all for being such troopers. One day at a time.
The above photo kind of fits how I've been feeling lately. Actually all the photos in this post do. They aren't randomly selected. Like I said, we all need a hobby.
New York vs. the Coronavirus
Some good news?
As infection rates increase in 41 states, our numbers remain low, thanks to the hard work of New Yorkers and our cautious, data-driven reopening process. Yesterday, we suffered 2 COVID-fatalities in New York, our lowest death toll since the pandemic began — with zero fatalities in New York City.
Considering a scant two-three months ago, we were having 700-900 deaths a day, this is wonderful news. It means that New York has managed to contain the spread of the virus. What New York did - worked.
Now if only the Federal Government and the rest of the United States would get with the program. According to my mother, the Missouri Governor has decided that sending kids to school isn't an issue. They get the virus? Big whoop, they'll go home and recover. Sigh. The Governor of Missouri needs to contract a bad case of the virus...from an asymptomatic child. The Mayor of Atlanta and her husband caught it from an asymptomatic child and changed how they did things as a result. She called NY for help, because her own Governor is an idiot. Savannah and Houston and Miami did the same thing.
Facebook Church Friend (posts the Federal Government's task force for re-opening the US - not a scientist or epidemologist or anyone who knows anything on it): We're doomed.
ME: Not quite. We still have New York - which is blatantly ignoring the Federal Government as incompetent and is battling this on their own. Team#New York!
Actually, I think New York would very much like to retreat to Canada and build a wall between itself and the rest of the US.
The virus can and will cross state lines and one state can only do so much to protect itself from COVID. It takes community to stop community spread.
Ten additional states have been added to New York's travel advisory list. The newly-added states are Alaska, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Virginia and Washington. Minnesota has been removed from the State's travel advisory. Individuals traveling to New York from the following states must quarantine for 14 days: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. More information about the travel advisory can be found here.
Hmmm...they took Delaware off the list then added them back again. Poor New York and the North East - "we're surrounded! Help! Help! Canada! Save us from our pesky neighbor states and idiotic Federal Government."
Seriously, who needs terrorists when we have one in the White House?
Oh well, at least we can fix the internal issues...
The State Liquor Authority suspended the liquor license of four bars and restaurants — three in Queens and one in Suffolk County. From the beginning, outdoor dining has not meant outdoor drinking and partying. The state will suspend the liquor licenses for businesses not in compliance. Since the start of COVID, the State Liquor Authority has brought 410 charges against establishments for violating the Executive Orders and suspended 27 licenses for violations.
And..with the help of the city, a neighborhood cafe around the corner.. now has "outdoor dining" with social distancing...
If college sports resume in the fall, no fans will be allowed. Just like with professional sports, college athletics can resume but no fans or spectators will be permitted at stadiums. - [This is from our Governor's email.]
I guess we'll finally get an answer to the time old question - can there be sports without on-site fans? They've managed to do Major League Baseball - although it should be noted that it's easier to social distance with Baseball. It's not exactly a high-contact sport. Football on the other hand has proven to be a problem - they've already had 17 players come down with it. I'm more concerned about the college teams - a lot of those kids have athletic scholarships. Also, I kind of like college football and would miss it. So too would my poor father - who really doesn't have very much to look forward to these days.
Hope however, does spring eternal..
The number of total hospitalizations continues to remain low. Yesterday, there were 724 total hospitalizations. The State conducted 66,169 tests, of which 855, 1.29% were positive. We lost 2 New Yorkers to the virus — the lowest number of fatalities since the first day of the pandemic.
And... Oxford University is very close to developing a vaccine - that doesn't have dangerous side effects - it does have them, though.
Finally...Several outdoor NYC venues are opening this week. The Bronx Zoo, the Central Park Zoo, the New York Botanical Garden, the Empire State Building observation deck and outdoor sections of Liberty Island are among the iconic spots opening this week, with capacity limits in place.
Okay, while I understand opening most of these venues...The Empire State Building Observation Deck gives me pause. I mean, they do realize that the only way up to it is in a small cramped elevator, correct? I know my mother and I took it way back in 1992 - and afterwards, decided okay, not doing that again. We should be congratulated however since my mother is afraid of heights, and I'm not crazy about them myself.
Anyhow, I don't know about anyone else? But I'm rather proud of my adopted home state. Not only that - it gives me hope. As I told my mother - I'm putting my Faith in New York. I've decided to trust the Governor of NY and his team, I'm ignoring everyone else.
View of NY City Freedom Tower and One World Trade through Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn.
It's not a great picture, but it works for the above. In other hopeful news? Netflix's The Witcher is Reportedly Resuming Production on August 17, so too is Whedon's The Never's according to Twitter. General Hospital is slated to resume production this week, assuming LA doesn't lock down again.
Baby steps. Although it feels more like touching ones toe to the water then leap-frogging back again.
Actually got some work done today. Felt productive. This was after fretting for two hours, and checking my bank accounts to see if I had enough saved to survive another lay-off. I've been doing that since I was hired by Crazy Work Place - 12 years and 9 months ago. You'd think I'd feel safe by now. But honestly? I have not felt safe or secure since 2000. The 21st Century has been a bit of roller-coaster ride, that I kind of want to get off of, because enough already. Not that the 20th was that much better.
What can I say? We all need a hobby - and if it makes others happy, even if it is just one or two people? Huzzah!
Plus the walks calm me. One of my social media friends calls her walks "rage walks" (since she can't take them at the moment - she's making rage pie. Hmmm, I wish I could have a slice of her rage pies, they look amazing.)
The New York Times and my Union at Crazy Workplace tried to terrify me today. I spent two hours this morning fretting and raging at imaginary ghouls.
Me:My Union or Crazy Workplace decided to scare everyone again today. They've made it into a weekly habit..
Mother: Oh, what did they do this time?
Me: Well, they sent us an email - that said Crazy Workplace was monitoring everyone's work on their computers and phones, to determine how much work people were really doing - and who to lay off. And how they were fighting that - and making sure enough heads in the office and on and on..it just scared and confused me.
Mother: I don't know that sounds incredibly expensive and difficult to do.
How they going to monitor everyone's work from home computers - particularly with all the connection issues and variations in software. I mean it's not like they gave you computers to work off of - your working remotely off of a remote computer..
ME: I know, I realized that after two hours of quietly fretting over it. Also Office Admin obviously got concerned too - and sent us all links to the Telecommuting Agreements - which provided her with answers and the correct questions to ask.
Mother: I think they are just trying to scare you...because that sounds time consuming and expensive and kind of beyond your nutty organizations capabilities.
Me: Yeah. Also I'm already filling out a weekly work log and doing mid-afternoon checkin's each day. Can you imagine reading everyone's work from home logs?
Mother: They'll never do it. I don't think you need to worry about it.
Meanwhile...the New York Times decided to tell us that the Doofus is threatening to send Federal Troops into all of the US cities and impose martial law - so he can get re-elected. [I honestly don't know how imposing martial law is going to get him re-elected. If anything it's going to be the exact opposite. 98% of Americans tend to like their personal freedoms. He's also apparently threatening to contest the election if he doesn't win - he should watch it, that's how President's get themselves impeached and tried for treason - by fiddling with and contesting elections. You'd think he'd have learned from the last impeachment go-around, but apparently not. ]
Facebook Neighborhood Community Group: Oh no, the sociopath in the White House is going to send in Federal Troops to NYC. Stay Safe neighbors!
Me: Somehow I think our Governor will put a halt to that, and tell him that it's Unconstitutional and no, he can't just impose martial law on States. Lovely thing having a Constitutional Lawyer as Governor.
Facebook Poster: And an Attorney General of NY on our side.
Me: That too.
Our Governor has already put a halt to it way back in June when there was looting and riots in the streets, there isn't any now. Our Governor is a Pit-bull with Fangs. And he's chomping at the bit to get his grabby paws on the terrorist in the White House and throttle him.
Mother: How'd he get them into Portland?
Me: I think Portland allowed it?
Mother: Isn't Portland Democrat?
Me: No, Oregon is fairly conservative - that's where all the crazy ass survivalists live.
Mother: No...hmmm, oh, I think he got around it by sending them to protect the Federal Buildings.
ME: Well, he threatened to do it in NY in June and didn't get anywhere. If he was going to do it - that would be the time. Our Governor told him, no thanks. (I honestly think the NY Governor said a lot more than that and not that nicely, our Governor knows the Doofus very very well and - The Doofus seems to be scared of the Governor of New York.)
Team#NewYork!
Me: I want a vacation.
Mother: Don't we all.
Me: Some people appear to be taking them...but I don't know how..
Mother: Your brother has chosen not to visit the Finger Lakes. They are staying home this summer. No visits or retreats.
ME: Interesting. I think he's scared too.
Mother: Yup. Like the rest of us.
Me: I told my cousin that he was having people come up and visit his barn. He put them up in the barn, and hung out - outside, social distancing. Cousin isn't traveling either - she's staying home. Although she agreed that her FB wall was filled with people's vacation photos. But she can't go anywhere. (Very painful for her - she'd had a European Vacation planned this summer that she had to cancel. Also she'd contracted COVID and got really ill and it took her about forty days to recover. Actually I think this is why most if not all of my extended family is not taking any vacations this year and staying home. We're scared of the virus. Why? Because various family members have either tested positive and had it, had it and got back a false negative or were sick with something very similar and don't know if it was the virus. My brother, myself, and sis-in-law all came down with something really weird between November and February. That is long gone now, but we do NOT want to get again or anything close to it. Hacking my lungs out for three-four months is not an experience that I want to revisit, thank you very much. You can do it - but do it VERY far away from me, preferably on the moon.)
Me: I'm tired of being on this roller-coaster ride, I want to get off.
Mother: Never in a million years did I envision going through anything like this. I've never seen anything like this or imagined living through anything like this.
Me: I don't think anyone has. My boss keeps stating that at staff meetings. Then he thanks us all for being such troopers. One day at a time.
The above photo kind of fits how I've been feeling lately. Actually all the photos in this post do. They aren't randomly selected. Like I said, we all need a hobby.
New York vs. the Coronavirus
Some good news?
As infection rates increase in 41 states, our numbers remain low, thanks to the hard work of New Yorkers and our cautious, data-driven reopening process. Yesterday, we suffered 2 COVID-fatalities in New York, our lowest death toll since the pandemic began — with zero fatalities in New York City.
Considering a scant two-three months ago, we were having 700-900 deaths a day, this is wonderful news. It means that New York has managed to contain the spread of the virus. What New York did - worked.
Now if only the Federal Government and the rest of the United States would get with the program. According to my mother, the Missouri Governor has decided that sending kids to school isn't an issue. They get the virus? Big whoop, they'll go home and recover. Sigh. The Governor of Missouri needs to contract a bad case of the virus...from an asymptomatic child. The Mayor of Atlanta and her husband caught it from an asymptomatic child and changed how they did things as a result. She called NY for help, because her own Governor is an idiot. Savannah and Houston and Miami did the same thing.
Facebook Church Friend (posts the Federal Government's task force for re-opening the US - not a scientist or epidemologist or anyone who knows anything on it): We're doomed.
ME: Not quite. We still have New York - which is blatantly ignoring the Federal Government as incompetent and is battling this on their own. Team#New York!
Actually, I think New York would very much like to retreat to Canada and build a wall between itself and the rest of the US.
The virus can and will cross state lines and one state can only do so much to protect itself from COVID. It takes community to stop community spread.
Ten additional states have been added to New York's travel advisory list. The newly-added states are Alaska, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Virginia and Washington. Minnesota has been removed from the State's travel advisory. Individuals traveling to New York from the following states must quarantine for 14 days: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. More information about the travel advisory can be found here.
Hmmm...they took Delaware off the list then added them back again. Poor New York and the North East - "we're surrounded! Help! Help! Canada! Save us from our pesky neighbor states and idiotic Federal Government."
Seriously, who needs terrorists when we have one in the White House?
Oh well, at least we can fix the internal issues...
The State Liquor Authority suspended the liquor license of four bars and restaurants — three in Queens and one in Suffolk County. From the beginning, outdoor dining has not meant outdoor drinking and partying. The state will suspend the liquor licenses for businesses not in compliance. Since the start of COVID, the State Liquor Authority has brought 410 charges against establishments for violating the Executive Orders and suspended 27 licenses for violations.
And..with the help of the city, a neighborhood cafe around the corner.. now has "outdoor dining" with social distancing...
If college sports resume in the fall, no fans will be allowed. Just like with professional sports, college athletics can resume but no fans or spectators will be permitted at stadiums. - [This is from our Governor's email.]
I guess we'll finally get an answer to the time old question - can there be sports without on-site fans? They've managed to do Major League Baseball - although it should be noted that it's easier to social distance with Baseball. It's not exactly a high-contact sport. Football on the other hand has proven to be a problem - they've already had 17 players come down with it. I'm more concerned about the college teams - a lot of those kids have athletic scholarships. Also, I kind of like college football and would miss it. So too would my poor father - who really doesn't have very much to look forward to these days.
Hope however, does spring eternal..
The number of total hospitalizations continues to remain low. Yesterday, there were 724 total hospitalizations. The State conducted 66,169 tests, of which 855, 1.29% were positive. We lost 2 New Yorkers to the virus — the lowest number of fatalities since the first day of the pandemic.
And... Oxford University is very close to developing a vaccine - that doesn't have dangerous side effects - it does have them, though.
Finally...Several outdoor NYC venues are opening this week. The Bronx Zoo, the Central Park Zoo, the New York Botanical Garden, the Empire State Building observation deck and outdoor sections of Liberty Island are among the iconic spots opening this week, with capacity limits in place.
Okay, while I understand opening most of these venues...The Empire State Building Observation Deck gives me pause. I mean, they do realize that the only way up to it is in a small cramped elevator, correct? I know my mother and I took it way back in 1992 - and afterwards, decided okay, not doing that again. We should be congratulated however since my mother is afraid of heights, and I'm not crazy about them myself.
Anyhow, I don't know about anyone else? But I'm rather proud of my adopted home state. Not only that - it gives me hope. As I told my mother - I'm putting my Faith in New York. I've decided to trust the Governor of NY and his team, I'm ignoring everyone else.
View of NY City Freedom Tower and One World Trade through Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn.
It's not a great picture, but it works for the above. In other hopeful news? Netflix's The Witcher is Reportedly Resuming Production on August 17, so too is Whedon's The Never's according to Twitter. General Hospital is slated to resume production this week, assuming LA doesn't lock down again.
Baby steps. Although it feels more like touching ones toe to the water then leap-frogging back again.
Actually got some work done today. Felt productive. This was after fretting for two hours, and checking my bank accounts to see if I had enough saved to survive another lay-off. I've been doing that since I was hired by Crazy Work Place - 12 years and 9 months ago. You'd think I'd feel safe by now. But honestly? I have not felt safe or secure since 2000. The 21st Century has been a bit of roller-coaster ride, that I kind of want to get off of, because enough already. Not that the 20th was that much better.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-22 10:49 pm (UTC)