So. I finally got sick of my fucking neighbor, after he had ANOTHER gathering today and got too drunk and started yelling at his friends like it was a Hmong telenova. Having decided at that point to keep my nose out of it, I merely listened and laughed.
And then it escalated, with him screaming drunkenly at his guests to fucking leave blah blah blah drunken pushy pushy come and get me - you know the drill. So they leave. Then he starts some shit in the back, ad nauseum.
THEN, he goes out in the front of his house, on the driveway and SCREAMS about money and blood and buying steaks and fuck them and this neighborhood. At that point, I laughed. Loudly. And the two panels that open up on my bay window were open. So he heard me. He then said he would whoop my ass. I yelled back from my front door, saying he needed help (he fucking DOES!) and it was a lot of yelling back and forth. When he again threatened me, I went back in the house and called the cops and told them what I just wrote. I called back to see if they wouldnāt come as things quieted down, but things were already in motion.
They got here, and I had the Raggedy Ann Iām mending in my hand, explaining without my mask up but six feet away what happened. When the one went next door to see what what up, the other asked about the doll, adding some humor to the sitch. The partner found out neighbor was passed out. I was told to call them again should my neighbor try anything, and not to goad him (Iām sorry, but I was SICK OF BEING BULLIED and had to speak up.)
No one else on the street did anything. Itās so fucked-up. They have KIDS there, fercrissakes!!! I worry about THEM, fuck the adults. But the kids had toāve seen and heard what was going on. And they deserve better.
North Carolina has reported its highest one-day spike in new COVID-19 cases, a development that comes a day after the state entered its second phase of re-opening.
āThis is a notable and concerning increase,ā said the departmentās secretary, Mandy Cohen. āAs we head into a holiday weekend, please practice the three Ws ā wear a face covering, wait six feet apart, and wash your hands frequently. When it comes to our health, we need to work together to protect our families, friends and neighbors.ā
I canāt find a clear statement about what they will or wonāt allow with allergens. Elsewhere, Iāve read theyāre only barring substitutions which introduce the 8 or 10 most common[ly tested for] allergens, which will leave out a lot of the rest of us.
Today I stopped by Fresh Start Marketplace in Brooklyn Heights to get some produce and coffee. Itās the kind of store that could be considered āgourmet.ā The kind of place that has a wide variety of peanut butters, but only in small jars.
As I was walking back on 3rd Avenue I passed the Whole Foods Market on 3rd Street. Outside was a line of people waiting to go inside. It was at least 30 people, all standing 6 feet apart.
Iāve heard reports of similar lines of people waiting to go into various Trader Joeās.
In spite of what it might say in future history books, at no time during this entire PAUSE order have I had to wait outside a grocery store. I donāt understand some peopleās desire to torture themselves in order to obtain over-priced food.
In honor of my newly-removed hair, I watched Seven Samurai over the weekend. And, so, I have decided to name my new 'do āthe Shimada.ā
My first thought right back at the beginning when I heard of the toilet paper panic and stores having shortages on things was to mention to my wife to try the local Indian shop, and any Asian shops around. They were, of course, fully-stocked with everything, as expected. All the panicky people hit the big chain stores.
Reminds me of going through a tourist-trap town. On the main strip, with all the theme restaurants and minigolf and go-kart places, you can stop to get a soda - for $5-$7. But if instead you take a left, drive 2 blocks to Bubbaās Corner Store, where the locals go, itās only 50Ā¢ for the exact same soda. Tourists just never think of that.
Seems like in an emergency, most people turn into tourists in their own hometowns. But maybe thatās just how weāre going as a society. Maybe even in normal times, too many people have become tourists in their own town. I donāt even know my neighbors, and thatās become the norm.
Iāve waited outside once. But at each of the local stores in my area, thereās an employee counting the people who go in and out. The limit is, some fraction of the legal maximum-- perhaps half. It is to be hoped that the employee who counts wears a mask.
(Speaking of masks, the produce employee who wore his mask as beard net now wears a smaller, cuter mask on his forehead.)
This article brings up something thatās really bothered me about coverage of this disease outbreak: how itās messaged as a war. How Trump has been described as a war ting president. This is the first Iāve seen about his this framing of the issue creates a problem for solving it.
I was going to buy some toilet paper at Target this Sunday. Their supply was low. A lot of vacant shelves. All they had were some 18-roll packages of their store brand and Charmin. I would have gotten one of the store brand, but I was buying other things I needed more. I had no extra capacity for transporting a large package of toilet paper. And I didnāt want to squeeze the Charmin into my bag. That would be wrong.
On Monday I went to the Walgreens up on 80th Street. After a hunt I finally found the āPaper Productsā section. It was in the back in a far corner across from the beef jerky. They had no paper products other than a few travel packages of Kleenex.
During lunch on Tuesday I stopped in the Rite Aid and Walgreens over on 3rd Avenue. In the Rite Aid I couldnāt even find a paper products section. In the Walgreens all they had were dozens of packages of store brand paper towels.
Less than a week before this Walgreens had a large supply of cheap, single-roll packages available. I was beginning to get confused and a little concerned.
On Tuesday afternoon I got a call from my manager. He wanted me to put together a special version of the companyās logo. The logo was to be āetchedā into āglassā panels that will separate the cubicles in the office.
This seems to imply that they want to open the office back up before there is a vaccine. I wouldnāt mind going to the office now, while the subway and the office are practically empty. But if all the offices re-open before there is a vaccine, it would not be safe to travel on the subway during rush hour. Masks or no masks.
On Tuesday evening I went to get groceries. There ā in its usual spot on a large shelf over the produce section ā they had a vast array of toilet paper. Many brands in many sizes. Thatās better.
Both sides are wrong there. Thereās no reason for proxy voting. But also no reason to force them to travel and assemble in person. While there are problems with mass anonymous electronic voting, this is a small, specific set of people who have the clout to set up a simple, secured system. The businesses that own the congressmen are videoconferencing and making decisions remotely, they are capable of doing that too.