March 30

Been a good day so far. It is warm enough for a brief walk around the patio. I found a couple of shoots of peppermint trying to come up so I hope I won't need to buy more. The shoots of spearmint I found on stems that had grown long enough to rest under a pile of fallen leaves are doing nicely in a shallow dish of water. I will try to transplant them next week. I have never had anything that survived the winter on my patio. I hope the weather continues mild and we don't get a return of winter.

Under the lights in our "what not" room all of the seeds I earlier are sprouting except for the butterfly pea. This morning I planted garlic chives, sage, catnip, lavender and forget-me-not. I found one cell of chives on my plant tower coming back. I didn't clean out the garden containers as thoroughly as I usually do and I think that might have provided a bit of cover for the roots.

I spent a good bit of the morning yesterday winding floss onto bobbins. So this morning I started the cross-stitch tablecloth. I think it will be a nice, restful pattern--no French knots, no lazy daisy stitches. Only cross stitch and back stitch. The most intricate part will be the color changes on some of the leaves and the flowers. I like being able to switch off on projects. I found an intriguing crochet pattern on line yesterday done as a blanket in worsted weight yarn. I think I might try it with some of the lace weight yarn I have lying around and if I like it make a couple more place mats out of it. We'll see.

So #45 has extended the Federal "social distancing" guidelines through April 30. I don't know what it will mean for us since the state stay-at-home order enforcing it will run out April 7. I don't know what others might think but #45 looked and sounded decidedly unhealthy last night. He looked bloated and his breathing sounded like he had just run a hundred yard dash and lost.

William Astore writing at Tomdispatch this morning has a series of good suggestions for reforming the U.S. in the wake of the corona virus epidemic.

An interesting snippet on the morning news: hatcheries are reporting a surge in order for chicks exceeding what they normally see in preparation for Easter. Evidently some people are trying to ensure a continuous supply of eggs and/or meat. The report mirrors what I saw with various seed venders: an upsurge of orders that are running them out of stock or making it necessary for them to lengthen the time for orders to be filled and shipped. A gardening blogger I read earlier swore off veggie gardening because of less than adequate yields for three years running is rethinking the decision. I am also. I still won't put in tomatoes or peppers because devoting the room for them in a small space doesn't make sense. But perhaps lettuce, spinach and small cabbage? Grown inside that might be doable.

March 28

We got an e-mail early last week that one of the stores we shop at frequently are banning the use of their customers' reusable bags. We normally take our own in and were mildly bummed out but they cited the health of their workers and the fact that the reusable bags slow down the lines because their system is not designed to handle them so we figured we would go with the flow for the foreseeable future. However, this article makes me wonder how much of this is pushed by the fossil fuel industry.   Anything to make a buck!!!

A strain of argument in the coronavirus "discussions" now is being raised by politicians especially at the local level: nobody knew. Well, yes---and no. Back in January as we watched the news from China Mom and I were certain that the virus would quickly arrive here. We knew it was coming. What we didn't know was how bad it would be and how utterly inept the response at the Federal level would be. F-ed up probably describes it best.

Although so many people  have had their lives totally upended and are now "incarcerated" at home, if they have one, ours is little changed. Before this we went out to shop, pay our rent, for doctor's appointments, and, occasionally, to visit with family. We still do that. We are retired so no jobs on which our incomes are dependent. However, I have noticed one change. After years of trying to master a hot (though not physically violent) temper and making progress, I find myself out of sorts and short. One of the news shows this morning had a segment that might explain that and some of the blog posts I have been seeing lately. The guest claimed that we are anxious, short tempered, unusually emotional because of grief. We are grieving for the lives we once had and may never see again. So many of the assumptions we made about our lives, the "givens" we depended on shattered when the virus came. That makes a lot of sense.

There are some unexpected green (literally green) shoots: the yarrow and bee balm are thriving after the winter outside. And I found some new shoots on one of the spearmints also after being outside all winter. I have never had anything survive a winter in my container gardens before. It was, admittedly, a mild winter. I plan to take cuttings to root inside for next year. I also found some purple basil shoots emerging from the seeds started last week. I have six more pots ready to plant tomorrow.

Another common theme in some posts over the last couple of weeks: the failure of capitalism. Or rather, of capitalism as it has mutated in our modern world. I commented to Mom a couple of days ago that even if our political leaders had seen what we saw in January (that the virus would reach our shores) they had little time in which to institute measures that would have effectively mitigated the results. Developing tests to detect the virus, developing a vaccine, beefing up hospital capacity, increasing the stocks of protective gear, masks of all kinds and what ever all takes time and we had little if our political leaders hadn't been in denial for two months. But we also have to recognize the fact that the "just-in-time" mentality has infected our entire society far more pervasively than the virus itself will. Even hospitals (or more accurately nowadays, hospital chains) are infected with that mentality and kept enough stock for normal operation assuming that any emergency would be localized and new stocks would be available from unaffected areas and normal suppliers. As I have said before: assume makes an ASS out of U and ME. A commentator remarked that #45 was, as a former "businessman" (by a very liberal definition), was reluctant to interfere with normal market activities even though the situation was nowhere near normal. Comments about getting the economy going again by sending people back to work before the virus was contained has resulted in accusations, probably justified, that the government values profits over people. I have said before that government isn't business and shouldn't be run like a business. A business needs to generate a profit which is measurable by the usual standard--money. Governments don't have such an easily measured standard.

On happier notes: I have made a lot of progress on the to-be embroidered table cloth--the first corner motif is almost done. The virus pattern shawl in lace weight yarn is growing almost daily as is the reversible Tunisian crochet strip that will be joined to others to make...something. I don't know what yet. The last of the thread I needed to get to work on a cross-stitch tablecloth arrived so I will be winding a whole bunch of bobbins tomorrow and will probably start on it Monday.

For now I am going to go read something.

March 25

We went out yesterday to pay our rent. We could pay it electronically because our bank would cut the check and send it out without anyone coming into contact with us or us with them. But we like to chat with our landlords. We might have waited until Monday or Tuesday but our governor imposed a "stay at home" order effective today. I think the staff at the leasing office decided to take some measures early. We were met at the door, handed over our check, said hi and asked after everyone, and left. We certainly couldn't have a leisurely chat.

We decided to drive the long way back just to see what was happening. Traffic was very light. Most parking lots were very sparsely occupied. The two drugstores, Target, Walmart, and Menards (home improvement/construction) had the most cars. The Target and Walmart have extensive grocery sections and pharmacies so they are exempt from the business shut down that was announced a week ago. Last Saturday we talked to the people at the local dairy we patronize and they will stay open as along as they are allowed. Several other stores we shop at are offering a "curb-side" service: call in your order, they will call when it is ready, and deliver it to your car when you call and tell them you are at the curb.

I noted in my last post the old saying about the word "assume." Has anyone else noticed how much our federal government is assuming about the pandemic? The Idiot-In-Chief assumes the emergency will magically disappear soon enough to allow a "wonderful" Easter which he says is an important holiday for him. NONSENSE!! He assumes that we will all run out and assuage our urge to spend heroically driven by our "pent up demand." NONSENSE!! I don't know how many of us will really benefit from the "stimulus" bill but I would bet that most will simply be spent to keep our noses above water. A stimulus it isn't.

Ah, well--time to go to on to more positive things. I may not have to replace two plants in the gardens. I found green shoots from the yarrow and bee balm. I hope they survive the rest of the cold weather. Although the the equinox has passed and it is astronomically spring, winter isn't yet out the door. We had snow Sunday which has largely melted but they temps are still mostly very cool. And we have had heavy snows well into April. So far several of the seeds I started inside have sprouted. Hopefully the calendula, madder, dyers chamomile, indigo, and woad will continue to do well. Tomorrow I plan to fill another half dozen small pots for another set of seeds.

March 20

Some aspects of daily life here haven't changed at all and others have changed quite a bit. Because of the way our weather out here has gotten crazy over the last few years we plan on being able to stay in if a nasty storm comes through for as long as necessary. As we have gotten older we simply don't go out in those conditions for our own safety. Both of us are retired so we don't have to drive to a job no matter what is going on. None of that has changed.

What has changed is some of the planning because many of the stores we visit have changed their hours. Just this morning the supermarket we visited yesterday announced reduced hours. They no longer are open 24 hours. They also have dedicated hours for emergency personnel and seniors. Other places are totally closed. I just ordered the thread I was missing or short on for the new cross-stitch project--on line. I have two other sources--one I don't deal with because I don't like the owner's politics and the other has become more difficult to get to because of the new round-about between them and me, and I don't know what hours they might be open now. We have been using on-line sources more these last couple of years. I wonder how much retail will move entirely on line during and after this health emergency. I wonder how much of our local economy will be left.

I have thought for some time that globalization and the just-in-time philosophy of modern business had long exceeded it expiration date. Our current situation should under score both points. Just-in-time requires a smoothly functioning supply chain and assumes that nothing will upset that. There is an old saying that "assume makes an ASS out of U and ME." We should have learned that when Thailand suffered those devastating floods not many years ago and the auto industry seized up because the parts came from flooded Thai factories. We have been warned for years that too many of our pharmaceuticals either come from China or from India who gets the components from China. In order to make the respirators the news readers say are in short supply here we have to retool what industries we have because we don't make those here any more. You can go down a list of critical items and find most come from elsewhere. I don't know if our business and political "leaders" will learn from this but what I see doesn't inspire hope.

March 21

I put down the computer yesterday and forgot to come back and post. Oh, well.

Things keep ramping up on the COVID-19 front. Illinois is under a "stay at home" order for all but essential employees. I was amazed by a picture on the news of a long line of people entering a Costco in Chicago. I would have thought most people would have already stocked up but I guess not. California and New York are under the same condition. I suspect the politicians are slowly ratcheting up hoping they won't have to go to the more drastic measures Italy has instituted.

I had an amusing thought hearing one of the many reports on the shortage of medical masks of any kind. Maybe the Muslim niqab (face veil) will become a fashionable western accessory. I saw one woman with a scarf wrapped around her mouth and nose and another two with surgical masks like what Chinese have worn to combat heavy air pollution.

I just found a creative new (to me) appellation for #45: Anus Tangerinus. You can find it in the comments at Infidel753.

We were getting low on milk which we get from a small local dairy so we went out this morning. We also get our honey and maple syrup from that dairy and I just opened the last jars of each so it wasn't just milk. We were almost out of potatoes and onions as well and the store we go to for produce was on the way to the dairy. We were surprised at the number of customers at both sites. Usually the dairy has only one or two customers at the same time we arrive but today it had five. The grocery store was packed and opened two additional registers while we waited. They have also opened a "seniors" hour early in the morning.

John Mauldin has a long letter on his economics blog this morning which reflects many ideas that occurred to me on the COVID-19 epidemic. Interesting note in his blog--one of his sources informed him that several states' unemployment sites have crashed because of volumes they were not designed to handle. This NBC article from three days ago confirms that. Interesting since yesterday the Federal government asked states not to issue specific figures for unemployment until the Federal figures are released. Instead they are urged to use descriptors like "very high" etc instead of numbers. Those guys can't handle real numbers. Hell, they can't handle reality.

March 19

SARS--8000 cases/800 deaths worldwide
Swine flu--9079 U.S. cases/593 U.S. deaths
Coronavirus (COVID-19)--9000+ U.S. cases/150 U.S. deaths so far
1918 Spanish Flu--25% of U.S. population affected/ 500k-675k U.S. deaths

I keep hearing and reading comparisons of the COVID-19 pandemic to swine flu and SARS. COVID-19 as already infected more people in the U.S. alone though SARS was more deadly (so far). It has almost reached the number of cases swine flu caused and may have exceeded if the numbers I saw on the news this morning (9500) is right though it hasn't killed as many--again so far. And we are at the beginning of this outbreak.  The 1918 flu lasted 15 months to 2 years with two or three distinct waves of infections/deaths and the largest number of fatalities occurred in a 24 weak period--that is, 6 months. U.S. population at the time was about 105 million so an estimated 26 million people were affected. U.S. population now is 327 million. We had better hope the COVID-19 isn't nearly as dangerous as the 1918 flu.

On to more interesting things. Planted valerian, echinacea, Our Lady's bedstraw, calendula, and chamomile today. Will plant the butterfly pea and purple basil tomorrow. The pea needs to soak overnight so it is soaking now. The basil wasn't on the list but it came as a freebee so I decided to see how it does. I also found a packet of herb seeds and a packet of mixed greens so I will add them to my list. At the moment I don't know if my local garden shop is open or closed or if it will be selling the plants I want to add as transplants. Best to make alternate plans.

Mom had a case of cabin fever and we had a bit of a grocery list so we went out to the local Meijer store. I added herb seeds and 2 bags of potting soil so I can start more of my desired plants inside. I hope my garden shops will be open when I need transplants but I can't depend on it. We saw several empty shelves but the stockers were working hard to fill them up. Everything we got is something we were use and which we were out of or very low on and we didn't buy any more than usual. The store was crowded but that may be normal. We wouldn't know because we usually shop very early in the morning. Everyone was pleasant and no one was panicked.

Wednesday

The corona virus situation is moving with mind boggling rapidity--at least in some respects. We went to my brother's yesterday for dinner and to celebrate his son's birthday. Only nine people so under the recommended limits. Traffic was lighter than usual on major roads. The parking lots at the two supermarkets we passed were only half full. No cars at the one sit-down restaurant and only drive throughs active in the fast food outlets.

Yesterday our bank sent out e-mails announcing they are closing their lobbies and in-store locations from today with no projected reopening date. The local library is closed. The animal shelter is closed. Both for an indefinite period. As we were talking my sister-in-law got a text which cancelled one the local church dinner they usually attend. The church they normally attend and are active in also cancelled their weekly dinner for which they had already prepared a dish. Brother is bringing us a 2 day supply of that dish when he comes out here for a previously scheduled medical appointment. About the only businesses still open are restaurants with delivery and/or pick-up services, stores with grocery departments, and pharmacies. My relatives are totally bummed out because they are sure this virus is no worse than seasonal flu. I don't bother arguing with them because I could tell them the sun rises in the east and they would insist I am wrong.

I filled up another six pot for the next set of seeds I need to plant over the next two days. I originally planned a herb and dyers garden with flowers this year. I might expand that a bit but haven't decided yet. I might send in another order for some other veggie plants. A blogger who advocated veggie gardening in a big way decided to give up on it a couple of years ago after two or three years of disappointing results. I once did tomatoes and peppers and got enough for us for the whole year. But about five years ago those yields declined drastically. I garden in containers on a small fenced patio which is an oven in the summer (up to 20F more than official temp) and a deep freeze in the winter. Peppers and tomatoes don't set fruit when the temps exceed 95F. I did see a new tomato in the Burpee catalog which is supposed to be more heat tolerant. I might try it next year. On the schedule this week are valerian, butterfly pea, Our Lady's bedstraw, echinacea, calendula and dyer's chamomile. So far I have indigo, woad, and madder sprouting. The woodruff hasn't come up yet.

I wonder if the farm market will be open this year.

March 15

The corona virus situation is interesting and getting more so. We can (at least for now) simply look on. Some years ago, when the weather got strange, we started keeping about a week's supply of food and necessaries on hand. We have refined that somewhat and now only shop to replace what we have used. We did that on Tuesday. Then on Thursday, because of the declaration of "national emergency" decided to drop in at our local dairy and another supermarket for things the other store didn't carry even in more normal times. No place was crowded and all the shelves were  stocked except for the rubbing alcohol which had only three bottles left. It was on a 2 for 1 sale so we took two. I think the sale was more responsible for the scarcity than customers in a panic.

My brother went out yesterday to shop at two Aldi stores and reported a very changed situation. Both stores were crowded and were sold out of quite a bit, especially toilet paper and paper towels and some canned foods. It was almost as if a switch had been thrown.

Neither of #45's addresses were in any way calming, if we had needed calming which we didn't. Frankly, he bungled both. The Friday briefing showed exactly who will benefit from this epidemic: the big Pharma and health care companies. He seemed more concerned that the bill that we being developed in the House didn't provide further tax relief to big business than anything else. They got almost all the benefit from the last tax cut so I think it is past tine they "took one for the team." Now let's see if Moscow Mitch and the Senate sycophants can man up and pass it as well. Their Dear Leader has already said he would sign it.

Most schools around here are going to employ distance learning until at least April 1. That changed almost overnight also. We get most of our news from Chicago where the school board was intending to keep schools open except for particular cases which would close only long enough for a deep cleaning. Then the governor ordered all K-12 schools to close until March 30.

I read one of my favorite prepper bloggers this morning who said she felt as if things weren't quite real and wondered if others were feeling the same. Well, yes it does feel somewhat surreal. We have kept tabs (as best anyone over here can) as the Chinese infections climbed, their death rate rose, and they instituted travel bans and finally locked down entire cities. We have watched (again from a distance) as Italy recorded its first case, quarantined villages in the north, then imposed a travel ban and locked down the northern third of the country and then finally on the entire country. We were certain the virus would reach our shores all the time #45 was insisting it was a hoax, that it was a Democrat plot against him, imposed travel bans from the first areas hit but the virus, repeatedly demonstrated his abysmal ignorance of the biology involved. What were we doing during all this? We were asking a question we have asked frequently over the last several years: What if? It seems to me most people are averse to asking such a question. And because they don't ask that question they are in panic mode now. The author whose blog I read today notes that all the rules we operate under seem to have gone up in smoke. We depended on the Federal government for honest information but now we see the Liar-in-Chief spouting misinformation and know we can't depend on them any more. We see governors saying aloud that they can't rely on the Feds for support and aid.

It will be interesting.

March 10

Ugo Bardi at Cassandra's Legacy has a post on the effects of the coronavirus in Florence, Italy. The city depends on tourists for a large part of the economy and tourism was drying up before the quarantine was imposed. He notes the even more drastic effects at the lower levels of the economic pyramid which have rarely been mentioned in our coverage of the epidemic. A story on broadcast news this morning noted the hit Chicago's hospitality industry is taking but focused on the restaurants and convention venues that are hurting without mentioning the employees who will not be able to pay rent or buy food. How nice #45 is talking to Repthuglicans in Congress and the Senate about payroll tax cuts. (That is sarcasm, in case you were wondering.) How much benefit will that be for people who have been laid off or whose hours have been cut? And if what ever comes out of the sausage grinder of lawmaking, I would bet, will follow #45's earlier and much trumpeted tax cuts which gave the benefits to the most flush groups and the big companies. How many of those benefits "trickled" down?

On this side of the globe we are bombarded by mixed messages from #45's administration while getting cautious and consistent messages from medical experts. Here we try to ignore the idiot in the White House and his sycophants though we did notice that five legislators who attended that "conservative" conference (including one who flew on Air Force One and the new Chief of Staff are "self-quarantining." I also saw that a number of the talking heads here and in Europe are suggesting that some kind of relief for those on the lower end of the economic ladder should be enacted. We'll see how far that goes with the Repthuglican Scrooges in D.C. Here is a prime example of the current situation.

Oh well, I think I will get back to something more productive than following the news. I just started a new crochet project--a "virus" pattern shawl in lace weight thread. That brings me up to four on the hook again; the reversible Tunisian crochet and the scrap buster piece, both in worsted weight yarns and the Bavarian stitch whatever (I haven't decided exactly what it will be) in lace weight yarn. I checked what floss the cross-stitch table cloth will need and, as usual no matter how much floss I have on hand, I need about a dozen of the two dozen colors. At least I now have the list of what I need and can order it over the next couple of weeks. It isn't a priority since I have several other things on the hoop or on the hook.

March 7

Well, here we are--on the eve of the time shift--my least favorite day of the year. Thankfully, I don't have to be anywhere so it doesn't affect me the way it once did and I recover more easily. The cats are another matter. It upsets their routine and they really don't like anything messing with that. One of these years the powers that be might get reasonable and simply choose how they want to set the goddam clocks and be done with it.

I got the first four seed varieties planted right on time. That doesn't happen often. I have to get six more pots ready for the next batch two weeks from now.

We had snow Thursday and Friday but today they expect sun (which is nice and bright right now) and springlike temps. Tomorrow should be even warmer.  I am ready for that.

March 8

Several pundits have wondered why Americans seem more concerned (even panicked) over the COVID-19 outbreak. They usually note the very different reactions to ebola, swine flue, bird flu, and SARS. I can think of several differences that most haven't mentioned. Interesting fact, SARS and its Middle Eastern cousin (MERS), and swine flu are also corona virus infections. This article is interesting. First, we didn't have very many (if any) cases within the U.S. Second, we didn't have a psychopathic narcissist in charge. Third, we didn't have a compulsive liar at the head of government who is more concerned with his image than the health and welfare of people (beyond his own narrow class). Fourth, we didn't see whole Chinese provinces and cities under quarantine. Fifth, we didn't see whole regions and cities of Italy under quarantine. Sixth, we didn't have two of the most populous states declaring a statewide emergency.

Found this Atlantic article that makes a couple of interesting points. First point the author makes is many of us live in quarantine for the most part now. We may work from home and hardly every leave. A statistic I heard on one of the talking-heads programs this morning is that some 29% of workers today work from home/online. I noticed the number because it surprised me. I don't remember if they cited their source. Many of us who are retired spend most of our time at home, though no one has mentioned that. And I notice that nursing homes and senior living arrangement have had clusters of both confirmed cases and deaths. Second, though a large number of us work from home and can have food delivered by Door Dash or Grub Hub, the workers who make the deliveries have no choice about staying home. This point has been increasingly mentioned by the pundits. One story I saw earlier quoted one respondent "I am afraid I'll lose my job and I'm afraid I'll die." A larger proportion of our work force has the unenviable choice: keep working and possibly contract the corona virus or stay home and not have a home after they can't make the rent. Or go hungry if they don't have enough money to buy food. A number of pundits have noted that a majority of Americans couldn't meet a $400 emergency.

March 5

Welcome to March. The weather has been very mild so far. North of us got snow yesterday but here it was simply rain and not much of that. I would love to put my winter coat away but won't just yet. The patio is getting more reflected light off the fence which will warm up the pots and get rid of the snow and ice remaining. I have pots set up for indigo, madder, woad, and woodruff seeds but haven't planted yet.

The corona virus (COVID-19) has certainly thrown a monkey wrench into our economy, politics, and society.The news this morning said a small European airline was going out of business and it may not be the last. The heads of the American majors are in DC pleading for financial help. The Senate is supposed to consider and vote on the $8+billion emergency funding package for the government to deal with the virus. Pundits this morning were critical of how long the politicians delayed such funding, how long government officials all the way up to #45 refused to acknowledge the situation, and of how little is earmarked for aide to small business to help them stay afloat for the three months (or more) this thing is supposed to last.

A couple of news items this morning and several bloggers I read mentioned stores running out of supplies--bleach, sanitizing wipes, toilet paper, paper towels, and food items. Evidently people in some areas have decided to stock up just in case. We did our usual shopping yesterday and didn't notice any scanty or bare shelves. We had to go out for some bleach this morning because we ran out doing our usual laundry and found plenty on the shelves. We didn't stock up--just replenished what we normally use but were out of.

The main problem with the COVID-19 is the same problem we had with SARS, Ebola, etc.,--it is "novel" (as the name Novel Corona Virus suggests) and we simply don't know enough about it. Among the questions are "how easily does it spread" (very easily evidently), "how wide spread is it" (no one really knows), "how lethal is it" (again no one really knows and we won't until we know how many actually have it).  I could go on but you get the idea. I  do wish we could rely on our government to provide them but #45, according to a story Mom was just reading, just asked why we can't simply use influenza vaccines against it. To say the man is intellectually challenged is to be kind to the moron. Unfortunately he has eviscerated all the agencies we once relied on to deal with this kind of situation.

The economic situation is going to be interesting. So much of the global economy runs through China and the lockdowns there will have world wide effects. A news story earlier this week said that the bridal industry it taking a big hit because so many bridal gowns come from China nowadays. The global slowdown in demand for oil spurred OPEC to cut production to try to keep prices high and we noticed that the station where we fill up was down to $2.01/gal--the lowest we have seen in ages. Italy has closed schools and universities. I wonder what parents are doing for child care and how much of a drain on family finances that will be. California evidently has declared a statewide emergency. I only caught the headline on that so I don't know the details.