TOP just posted a story about how commercial TP is going unsold. So I just got a box. Over $1 a roll, but as one who, ah, uses more than most people (and I have tried to economize), I decided I’d better spend the bucks.
ACT FAST! SUPPLIES LIMITED! OPERATORS STANDING BY! etc.
I think the military has had secure remote teleconferencing for decades, but yeah, use Google Docs or whatever… 
I order printing for a client, a senior living company. At first, I thought it was weird that the printers are considered essential businesses.
But today, we had to rush out a bunch of educational materials to all their locations, for staff about protecting themselves and about how to don/doff PPE. And, the printer was able to do this, because they are considered essential. They also print for the local governments and the local hospitals so we are not their only essential client, but it makes sense when I see a bigger picture.
I was worried that my income would go to zero pretty fast, but maybe not quite zero. Strange days.
Nobody told me there’d be days like these… Strange Days, indeed…
Despite how he’s treated them? I am truly horrified. That…is sobering news.
Trauma bonding is real.
Even the secret service is not a monolith; I’m sure ALL of them can’t feel that way…
Speaking as a white dude who grew up around a lot of toxic man shit, there are things that these guys do to break any resistance to authoritarian hierarchy. You can only choose to keep your mouth shut for so long. They will wheedle compliance out of you or they will expose your “lack of teamwork” and show you the door. After four years of the Trump Body Team I’m confident they’ve weeded out anyone who might have higher concerns.
There are no absolutes; I need to believe that.
I hear that. Something in the broken mechanism of the Rump Splutterbot will provide the final kaa-PLIIING-go.
Absolutely.
I’m posting this for two reasons:
Modly charged that by having “widely distributed” a letter highly critical of the management of a coronavirus outbreak that has sickened more than 100 of the Roosevelt’s crew members, Crozier had “allowed emotion” to color his judgment and that the captain’s letter “was sent outside the chain of command” by failing to alert his immediate supervisor, strike wing commander Rear Adm. Stuart Baker.
They kind of select them for that mentality. You have to be major fucked in the head to take a bullet for someone.
I get that.
I still refuse to believe 100% of them are all in for the the orange idiot.
I can’t… nay, I WON’T allow myself to go down that road; I’m actively fighting against feeling hopeless and helpless, because once my downward spiral starts, it’s all bad…
So our city is on orders to shelter in place. No traveling. All but essential businesses shut down. Parks are closed. We can exercise outside.
I just found out today that one of my local supermarkets is planning to close for a week, starting April 6th. There are other places I can get food, and if necessary I can jump in the car… but it’s still chilling.
The owners are doing this to try to protect their workers and customers. I spoke a little to one of the bosses today (six feet apart, both of us in masks and gloves.) He’s been watching cable news, and he kept repeating how nobody knows what’s going on and nobody knows what’s going to happen. He’s worried about riots. I’m not sure how justified he is-- I don’t have cable and I’ve been getting my info from trusted internet sources instead of the TV. I really want to believe he’s wrong… but how can I blame him for being afraid? We’re all scared, with our state having the third highest numbers of infection.
So I’m going to try to stock up as much as I possibly can before they close, and check with other markets in the area to see what their plans are. And hope with everything in me that things work out as well as they can.
Journal of the Corona Year
4/02
Since the mass-firing event on Monday, I have been quite busy. Although the work has slowed down, I am now doing my own work as well as the work of the guy who’s job I stole.
Last night I wrapped work up around 6:30. After having spent all-day sitting in front of a computer, I was going to take a long walk and stop by the local Walgreens. As I was ready to leave my phone rang. It was my manager. He had an urgent project he needed me to work on that night.
He did not sound like his usual rock-steady self. He sounded tired and a little afraid. Apparently — in spite of being married, having two young kids and owning a house — he hadn’t been outside for the past two days. He spends his days at his desk and time seems to disappear. I have a feeling firing the four people on Monday was the most sickening thing he ever had to do.
The project he was calling about involved a custom webpage, a mass email, and I would be handling the PDF. He wanted to gets drafts done that night because it would be impressive. There was something about the way he used the vague term “impressive” that was troubling. Who he wanted to impress, I am not sure. Being impressive was not something we worried about before — we just generally were. I don’t know what he afraid of: losing his own job, or the entire company collapsing.
I assured him I would work on it, but I has to get some fresh air first.
During my walk under the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, I talked to another friend who worked at Macy’s. We talk on the phone. He was quarantining himself in his parents’ apartment in Hamilton Heights and was not budging. He was optimistic about the future of Macy’s. He expected to return to work there after the quarantine was over. Whether or not he would be paid for all that time, he was not so sure. He’s worked in the store for about 25 years, so he knows it well.
I had to wait outside the Walgreens. When one person left, another person went in. They had blue masking tape on the sidewalk marking-off six-foot spaces. Inside, the store was fully-stocked, except for cleaning supplies. The checkout line was also marked with blue masking tape. Walgreens had come up with plexiglass shields to separate the cashiers from the customers, but so far had only sent two.
When I got home I worked until about 9:30. Today followed a very similar schedule.
Not working for those of us who live and work in his state, but for the elite who sometimes reside here, because it’s profitable for them?