So you know you work for a good company when you are on a Facebook live/Zoom call when the person leading the call gets emotional about how to help your people and someone who is out doing their morning walk asks if we can all stop and let her pray for us.
Good Morning! It is still dark outside but today our temps are set to reach nearly 60 degrees! Must get out and about while we can for tomorrow brings a half foot of snow 😊
Kim as more drastic measures are taken by our government I do believe you are right. Panic, anxiety and fear creeps in with so many. I was on the phone with a precious older friend yesterday and listened while she cried. She is worried about her husband and these changes in their daily lives has caused her to be wrapped in fear. I prayed with her and continue to do so. I do believe the Lord will show us what purposes He has for us in the midst of all of this…
There is one thing that has struck me as wonderfully encouraging in all of this. That is, that whole governments and nations have shown themselves willing to stop the regular business of life in order to spare the weakest and most vulnerable among us. Sometimes, in the face of things such as medically assisted dying (as it is euphemistically called), I have wondered if our prosperous Western world had hit rock bottom. Ezekiel’s words concerning the sins of Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, abundance of idleness, and, finally, failing to strengthen the hands of the poor and needy, often seemed to come very close to the truth of what the West was. Many of our most vulnerable have been put away in nursing homes, away from the sight of the general population, and some cold hearted had not scrupled to suggest that they were a burden not worth bearing. But, when actually faced with a plague that mostly picks off the weakest (unlike the Spanish flu, which attacked the strongest, or the Black Death, which targeted all ages equally) whole countries shut themselves down, and have entreated that the strong defer to the weak. The Providence and grace of God are still at work. Perhaps this has been a test, to see whether our pursuit of wealth and the lusts of the flesh would outweigh our sense of responsibility to those who are weak among us.
So the ones telling us not to spread COVID-19 are spreading panic and fear and anxiety, making our immune systems weaker, meaning we’re more likely to get the virus we’re trying to avoid?
I have to say, our government has been very low key. No sense of panic, fear, or anxiety, just a sobriety of tone. The national media is also being fairly low key. Most of the sensational stuff I see on FB appears from certain friends/relations who seem to live on adrenaline rushes. One dear cousin has a penchant at the best of times for sharing the worst news, so he is a non-stop source of dark info right now, but I also have known him since childhood, and know his ADHD makes it harder for him to filter out what I would consider unnecessary noise.
I asked Carol last night if they were doing any testing at her facility, she said no, but I’m sure it’s not openly done, only with those experiencing symptoms. A staff member at one of the homes in one of our local beach cities tested positive, according to the county reports yesterday, which is a scary prospect.
Carol said they have limited elevator use to only 2 at a time — but, honestly, that’s about all that can fit in those tiny elevators anyway, especially if someone has a walker or wheelchair.
I wish and hope work could let up a bit for us, but I doubt it will. Our senior editor is very intense in these kinds of widespread news “events” and seems to think we’re single-handedly responsible for covering every ramification possible. Personally, I suspect people are growing a bit weary of reading and hearing so much about it, day in and day out. There are still important things that need to be reported, but covering every last little aspect, I think (but it is our job), perhaps is wearing readers out by this time.
Maybe I’m projecting, however. I know it’s all wearing me out writing about it constantly.
Then again, protocols and the situation in general keep changing, still, so rapidly. Every few hours, every news conference brings new restrictions and/or updated numbers.
And I’d say along with anxiety and fear there’s a bit of depression, surrender and even despair that will start to sink in for some people. Living under a quarantine comes with many physical, spiritual and psychological challenges that we’re not accustomed to — and we’re only a few days into it.
On a positive note, the prescription dog food is set for delivery today. Along with another shipment coming a few days after that, I should be in good shape for pet food going forward.
I noted last night, however, that there was an actual line of people waiting to get into the supermarket when I thought I could stop in for just an item or two. Guess that wasn’t going to happen.
Son in Colorado has been self quarantining for ten days, ever since a conference in Boston, where he picked up a cough. His wife and mom in law are also self quarantined. I thanked him.
Continuing to plow my way through the story of Christianity. It is interesting how our little discussions on her reflect and often copy similar discussions throughout Christian history. It is like humans constantly bring their own perspective to get in line with the Truth. God knows what He is doing! Some of the things they found to discuss…and some of the things they found worth killing each other over…and some of the things…
It will be interesting to see things when we are in the Presence (more clearly than we are today). Will we be able to hear how believers throughout history actually lived out their faith rather than just glimpses of the political workings? None of us are perfect but some of these books make it sound like most of our predecessors were as big of jerks as we are.
Well, Mumsee, Jesus did warn that not everyone who called him Lord was actually his, only those who did what he said. Whether it is the church leaders who sought political power by military might in the Renaissance, or the high profile megachurch pastor who is abusive in the 21st century, or any other person throughout claiming Christ but refusing to do the things he says, all can be known for who they really are by their fruits.
Can you get this on your computer, Chas–or anyone else?
We are able to “cast” our computer screen/videos to our television (which is 7 years old) via a “chrome cast.” Other products are fire sticks (Amazon), Apple TV (obvious), possibly Roku and others.
We turn on the video, “Cast” it to the television and sit back to watch. It’s very hand for those of us who do not have cable.
These are all the Bible Project videos in order–though the book overviews, which is what I like, are interspersed with their Biblical theme videos. The Bible Project is free, but the theme videos all include a pitch for a donation and an invitation to join them. That’s when we got up to get a drink, etc.
We watched three hours worth last night and got through Isaiah. It is really something to take in the sweep of the Bible one book overview after another.
Really, I couldn’t tear myself away, so amazed by how it all looked when presented in this way.
We’ve basically cancelled spring outdoor recreation this year as all schools are closed. This has been a large hit both financially for the camp but more importantly the inability to reach 1200 young people for Christ.
So far summer camp is still on, but obviously on a day to day basis as things evolve. Many of our spring seasonal staff attend Bible college and this job is how they help pay for their tuition.
Michelle, most desktops and laptops have an HDMI cable plugin, so they can be attached to most televisions via HDMI. The TV then projects the same display and sound as the computer.
Mumsee, Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the publican was directed, as the Gospel account says, at those who were satisfied with their own righteousness; it is not directed at those who were trusting in the righteousness of Christ and following his warnings about wolves in sheep’s clothing. In the parable, it was a Pharisee, a hypocritical religious leader, who looked at an obvious social outcast and felt self righteous, not a member of the flock who looked at a religious leader’s hypocrisy and realized they were a false leader.
Roscuro, there are many in the pews today as in yesteryear who think they are in but will learn they are not. Many of them are quite judgmental. I will be interested in learning howtrue believers have lived out their faith in the past two thousand years.The book I am reading is more focused on political swings and the evil man does.
My understanding is we should be looking for falseness throughout the church, not just in leadership, We are all to be living in the Light, not just the leaders. But we are also to be careful about judging another’s servant or not allowing for other parts of the Body.
But I would be interested in how believers thought and acted during times like the crusades.
‘Some would dismiss all of this because, they would reason, only the most gullible of people could listen to these Elmer Gantry types, selling almost-literal snake oil. But this attitude fails to see, first of all, how many people, worldwide, actually do listen to these people. Moreover, this attitude is a kind of social Darwinism, thinking that people gullible enough to fall for such frauds deserve to do so. This is not the way of Christ.
‘We should see an example here of what has always been true. The prosperity gospel claims for itself the name and authority of Jesus Christ, while hawking a different Christ and a different gospel. Some so-called evangelicals are willing to accept all of that, sometimes because of the political power or mass appeal of these teachers. The prosperity gospel, though, is not Christianity, by any definition of the word. The prosperity gospel is a combination of ancient Canaanite fertility religion with a modern multilevel marketing pyramid scheme. And because these teachers are so media-savvy and attention-grabbing, many people associate their message with the message of Jesus.
‘These false teachers capitalize on the most vulnerable around the world—the poor, the lonely, the elderly, the sick—using their desperation as leverage to sell them something. As we can see in this crisis, this leverage can end up getting people sick, overwhelming the medical systems for others, and even killing people. More than that, the prosperity gospel leaves people not just exposed to physical disease, while promising them invulnerability, it also leaves people helpless to the even greater crises of sin and death and judgment.
‘Following the guidance issued in response to Covid-19 is not about fear but faith, faith in the one who calls us to consider the needs of others ahead of our own. Those of us who claim the gospel—the real, Christ-anchored, cross-focused gospel—should be the first to love our neighbors enough to keep them from illness and harm and to point them away from the wolves and toward a Good Shepherd.’
The fresh snow is here. Looks like it is almost done, but still beautiful. It surprised me as I thought that most of this storm was past.
Family is struggling with having a local coffee shop. They also sell in all of the grocery stores, but this is hard. Especially after all of the power outages this year.
Mumsee, there were undoubtedly evangelical movements before the Reformation, such as John Huss and the Moravians in the 1400s, John Wycliffe and the Lollards in the 1300s, and the Waldensians, who started in the late 1100s.
Roscuro, indeed. And that is some of the ones I would like to learn from. How was the Truth lived out in their daily lives. I am sure we have many similarities but also many differences. I think it would expand my view of what a Glorious God we serve.
My one neighbor, who cuts hair at a local salon, said everyone’s cancelling. She has one appointment at 5 p.m. Her 90-year-old mom is now back in Mexico and she indicated is well cared for by extended family there.
Her son also was laid off this morning when his burger restaurant closed down. He’s panicked.
These small businesses are just going to sink very quickly, I’m afraid.
My husband just finished reading a 5-volume history of the Middle Ages 400-1300 written in 1920, so before the moderns got mixed in. He bought it on his kindle for some cheap price–$5?– and it took him 9 months to read!
He noted it was written by historians and few, if any, had any grasp of Christianity, so they couldn’t put events into “proper” spiritual context. However, he was appalled, again and again, at how “carnal” the Christian leaders were–which would be either the Catholic or Orthodox Church.
He kept hunting for glimpses of anyone who understood the nature of grace and following the Ten Commandments, if nothing else. It was indeed the Dark Ages of history. We concluded your only hope might be as a peasant in some hidden spot–except they were always being taxes, downtrodden or killed.
He’s now moved on to the Reformation and while he has some quibbles with Yale professor Carlos Eire (whom I think is an excellent writer) and his Catholic lens, the man at least likes God.
Here in day one of “sheltering in place,” I asked our 20-year-old roomer if he didn’t want to take this window of time and move to his mother’s house in Lake County, about an hour away. It goes into lockdown at midnight and she’s a single mom with two young children.
“Naw. The internet is better here.”
I’ll have to ask him what board games he likes to play . . .
One more comment before I go to work. My husband has said about our three years of crises, the hardest part when you’re in the middle of it is how to deal with the incredulity factor. Can this really be happening?
Do I REALLY have to do this? Does this REALLY apply to ME?
Yesterday, I dropped off something at my son’s house after the big walk with 4/7 of the Adorables. We stood several feet apart on the driveway chatting. When I turned to leave, C said, “See you in three weeks, Mom.”
“What? But you’re my family!”
He shook his head. “You don’t live here, Mom. You can’t come over.”
I, Mrs. Rule Follower First Born who has been listening to lectures from Mr. Covid Task Force for two weeks, struggled to take it in.
Mumsee, the Waldensians, called the Valdois in French, very much resembled the later English Baptist and European Anabaptist movements in practicing believer’s baptism and rejecting the idea of transubstantiation in communion. They had intinerate preachers who sercretly shared copies of the Bible in the vernacular. The movement, always persecuted and underground, continued to the time of the Reformation, and joined the French Protestant movement. They were mostly in the south of France and North of Italy. They are often lumped in with the Huguenots, whom, sadly they joined in the religious wars, and it went as ill for the Valdois as it did for the Huguenots. The Valdois were forced into mountainous regions and suffered many trisld (after one plague, 11 of their 13 pastors died). But they survived and now in northern Italy, the Waldensians and Methodists have formed a coalition about 60,000 strong. Several years ago, the Pope formally apologized for the brutal massacres that were inflicted on them in the 1600s.
The Moravians were Bohemians (modern day Czech Republic) who were inspired by the work of the Bohemian John Huss. Their church gradually grew, and their leaders interacted with Martin Luther when he came on the scene. The Moravians were and still are dedicated missionaries, concentrating on the poor and vulnerable. There is an account of certain Moravian missionaries who actually sold themselves into slavery to the west Indies in order to bring the gospel to slaves. Moravian missionaries invented the syllabic writing system that is now used by the Inuit in Canada and Greenland while bringing the gospel to the Inuit in the mid-1700s. Other churches have often come and watered where it was first Moravians who planted.
Like the Waldensians, the Lollards were itinerate preachers sharing Wycliffe’s translation of the Bible into Middle English (Wycliffe was contemporary with Chaucer, author of the Canterbury Tales, and they both had the patronage of the powerful Duke of Gaunt, second son of Edward III). Like the Waldensians, after the death of Wycliffe, the Lollards were persecuted – it did not help that they were anti-establishment just at the time the Peasant’s Revolt occured in England. Wycliffe’s vision of allowing the common man to read the Bible for himself was caught up, 200 years later, by William Tyndale, whose quiet rebellion in translating the Scriptures under Henry VIII eventually led to the series of royal commissions of English Bibles in an Anglican England, the most famous being the one commissioned by James I. The Lollards essentially disappear from the record after that, though the non-Conformists, which include the Baptists, took up the torch after them.
For first time ever, they’re saying, entire Ligonier library and teaching materials are now free to stream.
Sheesh, just talked w/one of the la city council aides, a regular source, who’s of the “sky is falling” point of view right now — it’s all coming to an end, the economy, the medical system, everything as we know it is over. OVER. He’s in serious panic mode. I had no luck getting him to focus on how this is impacting local businesses right now as the world will shortly be coming to an end, “don’t you get it?” It’s over, it’s all over, for everyone.
Next in-house conference call, in an hour, for me is on how we cover a homeless announcement coming out later this evening from the mayor …
See, this is why my days are just crazy right now.
Roscuro, I am vaguely familiar with denomination life, but as now, many denominations have believers and non believers mixed. I was talking individual life with Christ and how that played out. In Hind’s Feet : the neighbor living out the truth while going about her day to day.
We attended a Waldensian Church a few times while in Italy. But it was all Italian to me. We also attended an English speaking church that met in the Waldensian church Neat people but we ended back at the International church.
Michelle, I think you should ask your boarder where he could serve the best and where he might be needed. Fast internet is not a reason to stay somewhere.
So, our government announced this morning it has agreed with the US to restrict border traffic with the US to essential trade. But there are Americans living on the border who work in Canada and vice versa who will be affected – in some towns, the border runs down the middle of the street, and there is a library that famously has the border running through the middle of it – I encountered several Americans who drive up from New York State every day to work at the university I attended. The Eldests, of course, live in the US; but as they are still citizens here and exceptions are being made for immediate family members, so it does not feel as if we are absolutely separated. Thankfully, they are all in good health, but we think of them a lot and they of us. Thankful for Skype.
Yes, MN has many who work in Canada and many who come from there. The closest person to us infected with Covid, that I have heard of, is in Canada.
My brother told me there are soldiers all over in the Philippines. He and his wife have had their temperatures taken on a road stop, at the airport and several other places. The soldiers are trying to keep Chinese from slipping into the country illegally, too.
Sixth son, is supposed to be in Canada now, headed to California. As you know (or probably don’t!) he works with the fire fighting helicopters that go world wide to help put out fires. I wonder how they will be impacted.
I am pleased to share that Wesley passed the defense of his dissertation with no revisions. PTL! It was done by Zoom . . . the new normal. He still graduates in May without a ceremony until August. I wish we could be there today, but if we were, we couldn’t even go out for a meal. I suppose we could go get the car stuck on the tracks again . . . Not!Again!Ever!
Of course prospects for job interviews are slim at the moment. The next hurdle.
Congratulations to your son, Janice. I remember when Eldest in law got his Ph.D. we pretty much forgot to celebrate, as we were all too busy trying to figure out what was going to happen to the Eldests as his student visa was going to end. They ended up coming back to live with us for six months (only Eldest Niece was born at that time), and he worked odd jobs, including in a factory, while he looked for permanent work in his field. He found it back in the US with a multinational firm, so they returned, with another little one on the way. He now works for a different multinational, and there are now five children in their family, all born in the US. The products he helps develop are produced in factories not just all over the US, but all over the world. I often wonder if his experience working in a factory has helped him, as he has traveled to those factories throughout the US and three other continents to help workers start productions of new materials. He is working from home right now.
“Update, March 18th 3:30PM ET: A group of Italian volunteers distributed 3D-printed versions of a vital medical device — but it’s unclear if the original manufacturer threatened a legal crackdown. As we reported earlier, Cristian Fracassi and Alessandro Romaioli used their 3D printer to create unofficial copies of a patented valve, which was in short supply at Italian hospitals. Business Insider Italia quoted Massimo Temporelli, the Italian professor who recruited the pair, saying that the device maker threatened them with an infringement claim.
But in an interview with The Verge, Romaioli denied they’d received threats. He said the company had simply refused to release design files, forcing them to reverse-engineer the valve. “I talked to an operator who told me he couldn’t give me the files, but after that we didn’t receive anything from the original company — so I can assure you we didn’t get any threat,” he said. “They said they couldn’t give us the file because it’s company property, but that’s all.” While earlier reporting said the original valve cost over $10,000, Fracassi also told Fast Company that this number was inaccurate.
Temporelli gave The Verge a more ambiguous account of the call, which he says he wasn’t directly involved in. “The group we asked for the files refused and said it was illegal” to copy the valves, he said. He stopped short of calling the statement a threat. “Let’s say the risk to be sued exists since they bypassed a patent, but that’s it.”
Neither Romaioli or Temporelli would name the manufacturer involved, but for now, it doesn’t seem to have taken action against the unofficial valve-makers. And they’ve emphasized that both devices serve a purpose: the official product is the better long-term solution, but for now, hospitals can use this cheap alternative to fulfill a sudden, drastic demand.
The original article follows below.
A medical device manufacturer has threatened to sue a group of volunteers in Italy that 3D printed a valve used for life-saving coronavirus treatments. The valve typically costs about $11,000 from the medical device manufacturer, but the volunteers were able to print replicas for about $1 (via Techdirt).
A hospital in Italy was in need of the valves after running out while treating patients for COVID-19. The hospital’s usual supplier said they could not make the valves in time to treat the patients, according to Metro. That launched a search for a way to 3D print a replica part, and Cristian Fracassi and Alessandro Romaioli, who work at Italian startup Isinnova, offered their company’s printer for the job, reports Business Insider.
However, when the pair asked the manufacturer of the valves for blueprints they could use to print replicas, the company declined and threatened to sue for patent infringement, according to Business Insider Italia. Fracassi and Romaioli moved ahead anyway by measuring the valves and 3D printing three different versions of them.
So far, the valves they made have worked on 10 patients as of March 14th, according to Massimo Temporelli, the founder of Italian manufacturing solutions company FabLab who helped recruit Fracassi and Romaioli to print the replica valves.
“[The patients] were people in danger of life, and we acted. Period,” said Fracassi in a Facebook post. He also said that “we have no intention of profit on this situation, we are not going to use the designs or product beyond the strict need for us forced to act, we are not going to spread the drawing.”
———
I’d like an explanation why they charge 11,000 dollars for something that costs a buck to make. Note also this is a socialist healthcare system in Italy that allows this.
The Real, medical manufacturers, like pharmaceuticals, are private companies, so public healthcare has to pay them for their products just like they pay pharmaceuticals for their products. Public healthcare is just a giant insurance company making payments for services rendered or products produced by private and independent agencies. Neither Canada’s hospitals nor its medical manufacturing companies are owned by the government. The government just pays them to do the work or for the product they produce – I work for a non-profit agency that has a contract to staff a nursing clinic for a local branch of the provincial (not federal) government. It is common knowledge among healthcare workers that medical manufacturers charge premium prices. When I trained in the operating room, more than once, I would be handed a stapler, used to reattach the intestine after a section with cancer was taken out, and be told not to drop it, because if I did, I would be dropping 50, 000 dollars (I never did drop one, thankfully). These staplers could only be used once, by the way. That is why surgery is so expensive – the surgeon is paid, yes, but the equipment to do the surgery costs far more than the surgeon does. The surgeons sometimes discussed it while operating, and they said that because the products they used were also used in the US and paid for there by private health insurance companies bidding against each other, that it actually drove up the prices of medical equipment for the public health insurance agencies.
We were told our day may be “upended” shortly. Or tomorrow. Some new announcement coming down, we’re told … maybe (but I don’t know) a stricter quarantine, a shelter-in-place order? Have no idea. Mayor tonight announcing a plan to get all encampment dwellers inside city facilities within 3 weeks, I’m covering that speech remotely with another reporter.
I keep thinking this will calm down but the panic is only growing. Heard there was a long line to buy guns and ammo yesterday at one of our outdoorsman stores, some longshoremen among them. What could go wrong? Welcome to The Purge, as one editor said.
My EMT said they planned to house all the homeless in hotels. That’s in LA. Here in Sonoma County, homeless have been advised to shelter in their tents–or report to the county for housing help. They are not restricted in their movements, which I find peculiar.
Meanwhile, all sorts of relatives are contacting me today–including one I’ve only heard from three times in my life. That’s the best part of a crisis, your family checks in on you!
One cousin and spouse are stuck in Sweden. My niece got home from DC seated in first-class for 1/2 the price of her round trip ticket 10 days ago. At the moment, everyone is safe where they belong.
College study boarder is going to help run our church food pantry. My husband volunteered him and he said, “of course.” Most of the people, maybe all, who run it are over 65 and therefore must stay home, so we’re putting the college and high school students into ministry. Mr. CTF’s idea.
What chaos. I feel like I’m a walking Drudge Report these days.
And Carol texted that they’re now all being confined to their rooms, no one can leave. That almost sounds like they may have had some suspected cases to me, but I don’t know. I’ll get more from Carol when I talk to her by phone tonight, but she’s not one to ask any questions and the administration is not a particularly transparent one based on past issues they’ve gone through.
Later news may involve some kind of a city- or county-wide curfew, but we don’t know just yet. Authorities seem ready to do just about anything right now.
Well, it won’t handle all the homeless, but the most vulnerable among them.
Talked to Carol she said there was no explanation of the mandatory room quarantine – but they did tell them if they had questions to let them know and they’d send someone up to talk to them.
Of course, Carol didn’t request this. I told her to do that first thing in the morning, I even suggested questions — what prompted the change in policy? for how long will this last (if they know) — indefinitely? again, why and who made this decision?
We’ll see. She probably won’t ask anyone any of that. I may call or email the administrator again to ask her what’s up.
I’m exhausted and the phone msgs continue to ding. The other reporter for now looks like she’s handling the editors demands. It’s 8 p.m. and tomorrow will arrive quickly.
Just finished listening to the BSF lecture online. The new normal.
Got an email from the folks in Cameroon who will have this house after me wondering what my plans are. My plans are very flexible. God is in charge and only He knows the plans for my life. I am certainly glad that I have been saving.
DJ, my daughter is a nurse at a nursing home, and residents now can’t have visitors (unless the resident is dying) and they have to eat in their rooms OR only one per table if they go to the cafeteria. If they had a case of the virus, she would have mentioned it to us. It’s a precaution in an era when one person in the nursing home getting sick can kill a large number of the people in it.
thanks, cheryl — yes, they’d cut off visitors several days ago which I could understand; just didn’t know if something specific had prompted the room quarantine. It may be guidelines that are simply being tightened up as we go.
For now, it sounds like dining room will be closed, everyone must eat in their rooms. Carol already took some meals in her room, especially dinner when her legs became too tired, so she’ll probably feel less restricted than many others who were used to cruising the hallways and hanging out in the family, activity and dining rooms to socialize.
Still, would be good for the staff to explain these changes to the residents.
I know these places are tinderboxes when it comes to this virus, they’re especially vulnerable. So I don’t oppose the added restrictions, just like to see some transparency and explanations provided to those who are affected.
I took the dogs out late tonight, around 10 p.m. — I usually aim much earlier, closer to 7-8 pm., 10 is really too late even for me to be out walking, but it was a long day. It’s very cold and blustery out there with a lot of wind (rain expected tomorrow, but more “showers” than actual rain).
It was eerily quiet out there, too, just the wind blowing through the trees. And dark, very dark. Strange days and nights.
Guy friend from the community called tonight, we’ve been trying to meet up for lunch since Christmas. He says “Well, I suppose you’re thinking I’ve now gone to great extremes to figure out how to avoid buying you that lunch.” Yes, orchestrating a pandemic, no less.
He’s a retired teacher who now has Parkinsons and lives alone, but also has a big, close Italian family, great adult kids who pamper him. He said the grocery shopping has proven the most difficult as even the regular markets he orders from now can’t promise deliveries much before May.
Wandering Views 
Good morning AJ, et. al.
Just checking in.
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The corona virus isn’t the only things that is contagious. So is fear, and panic, and anxiety.
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Good morning, All.
how is life with nothing to do? Said while holding morning baby…
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So you know you work for a good company when you are on a Facebook live/Zoom call when the person leading the call gets emotional about how to help your people and someone who is out doing their morning walk asks if we can all stop and let her pray for us.
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Good Morning! It is still dark outside but today our temps are set to reach nearly 60 degrees! Must get out and about while we can for tomorrow brings a half foot of snow 😊
Kim as more drastic measures are taken by our government I do believe you are right. Panic, anxiety and fear creeps in with so many. I was on the phone with a precious older friend yesterday and listened while she cried. She is worried about her husband and these changes in their daily lives has caused her to be wrapped in fear. I prayed with her and continue to do so. I do believe the Lord will show us what purposes He has for us in the midst of all of this…
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Good morning! God is on His throne and watching responses. Lord, help us each to prove faithful, and when we are weak, please be our strength.
My ladies group will meet at the park or by phone. My church is making great effort to reach out and stay connected. That helps in easing fears.
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A bit of perspective, if this works.
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/history-of-pandemics-deadliest/
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Re: Mumsee 8:53
Most, not all, of those are caused by people doing things they shouldn’t do.
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There is one thing that has struck me as wonderfully encouraging in all of this. That is, that whole governments and nations have shown themselves willing to stop the regular business of life in order to spare the weakest and most vulnerable among us. Sometimes, in the face of things such as medically assisted dying (as it is euphemistically called), I have wondered if our prosperous Western world had hit rock bottom. Ezekiel’s words concerning the sins of Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, abundance of idleness, and, finally, failing to strengthen the hands of the poor and needy, often seemed to come very close to the truth of what the West was. Many of our most vulnerable have been put away in nursing homes, away from the sight of the general population, and some cold hearted had not scrupled to suggest that they were a burden not worth bearing. But, when actually faced with a plague that mostly picks off the weakest (unlike the Spanish flu, which attacked the strongest, or the Black Death, which targeted all ages equally) whole countries shut themselves down, and have entreated that the strong defer to the weak. The Providence and grace of God are still at work. Perhaps this has been a test, to see whether our pursuit of wealth and the lusts of the flesh would outweigh our sense of responsibility to those who are weak among us.
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Yes, you do see those who really do look out for others in sacrificial ways.
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So the ones telling us not to spread COVID-19 are spreading panic and fear and anxiety, making our immune systems weaker, meaning we’re more likely to get the virus we’re trying to avoid?
Irony.
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The sun is up, the birds are singing, no sign of fresh snow, the daffodils are set to bloom.
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I have to say, our government has been very low key. No sense of panic, fear, or anxiety, just a sobriety of tone. The national media is also being fairly low key. Most of the sensational stuff I see on FB appears from certain friends/relations who seem to live on adrenaline rushes. One dear cousin has a penchant at the best of times for sharing the worst news, so he is a non-stop source of dark info right now, but I also have known him since childhood, and know his ADHD makes it harder for him to filter out what I would consider unnecessary noise.
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I asked Carol last night if they were doing any testing at her facility, she said no, but I’m sure it’s not openly done, only with those experiencing symptoms. A staff member at one of the homes in one of our local beach cities tested positive, according to the county reports yesterday, which is a scary prospect.
Carol said they have limited elevator use to only 2 at a time — but, honestly, that’s about all that can fit in those tiny elevators anyway, especially if someone has a walker or wheelchair.
I wish and hope work could let up a bit for us, but I doubt it will. Our senior editor is very intense in these kinds of widespread news “events” and seems to think we’re single-handedly responsible for covering every ramification possible. Personally, I suspect people are growing a bit weary of reading and hearing so much about it, day in and day out. There are still important things that need to be reported, but covering every last little aspect, I think (but it is our job), perhaps is wearing readers out by this time.
Maybe I’m projecting, however. I know it’s all wearing me out writing about it constantly.
Then again, protocols and the situation in general keep changing, still, so rapidly. Every few hours, every news conference brings new restrictions and/or updated numbers.
And I’d say along with anxiety and fear there’s a bit of depression, surrender and even despair that will start to sink in for some people. Living under a quarantine comes with many physical, spiritual and psychological challenges that we’re not accustomed to — and we’re only a few days into it.
On a positive note, the prescription dog food is set for delivery today. Along with another shipment coming a few days after that, I should be in good shape for pet food going forward.
I noted last night, however, that there was an actual line of people waiting to get into the supermarket when I thought I could stop in for just an item or two. Guess that wasn’t going to happen.
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Son in Colorado has been self quarantining for ten days, ever since a conference in Boston, where he picked up a cough. His wife and mom in law are also self quarantined. I thanked him.
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Looks like another worthwhile book out of Westminster
https://www.wtsbooks.com/products/the-wonderful-works-of-god-9781733627221
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Continuing to plow my way through the story of Christianity. It is interesting how our little discussions on her reflect and often copy similar discussions throughout Christian history. It is like humans constantly bring their own perspective to get in line with the Truth. God knows what He is doing! Some of the things they found to discuss…and some of the things they found worth killing each other over…and some of the things…
It will be interesting to see things when we are in the Presence (more clearly than we are today). Will we be able to hear how believers throughout history actually lived out their faith rather than just glimpses of the political workings? None of us are perfect but some of these books make it sound like most of our predecessors were as big of jerks as we are.
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Well, Mumsee, Jesus did warn that not everyone who called him Lord was actually his, only those who did what he said. Whether it is the church leaders who sought political power by military might in the Renaissance, or the high profile megachurch pastor who is abusive in the 21st century, or any other person throughout claiming Christ but refusing to do the things he says, all can be known for who they really are by their fruits.
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Can you get this on your computer, Chas–or anyone else?
We are able to “cast” our computer screen/videos to our television (which is 7 years old) via a “chrome cast.” Other products are fire sticks (Amazon), Apple TV (obvious), possibly Roku and others.
We turn on the video, “Cast” it to the television and sit back to watch. It’s very hand for those of us who do not have cable.
These are all the Bible Project videos in order–though the book overviews, which is what I like, are interspersed with their Biblical theme videos. The Bible Project is free, but the theme videos all include a pitch for a donation and an invitation to join them. That’s when we got up to get a drink, etc.
We watched three hours worth last night and got through Isaiah. It is really something to take in the sweep of the Bible one book overview after another.
Really, I couldn’t tear myself away, so amazed by how it all looked when presented in this way.
Much better than the Hallmark channel movies!
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We’ve basically cancelled spring outdoor recreation this year as all schools are closed. This has been a large hit both financially for the camp but more importantly the inability to reach 1200 young people for Christ.
So far summer camp is still on, but obviously on a day to day basis as things evolve. Many of our spring seasonal staff attend Bible college and this job is how they help pay for their tuition.
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Roscuro, or the individual in the pew or chair saying, “thank you God that I am not Like him.”
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Michelle, most desktops and laptops have an HDMI cable plugin, so they can be attached to most televisions via HDMI. The TV then projects the same display and sound as the computer.
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Mumsee, Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the publican was directed, as the Gospel account says, at those who were satisfied with their own righteousness; it is not directed at those who were trusting in the righteousness of Christ and following his warnings about wolves in sheep’s clothing. In the parable, it was a Pharisee, a hypocritical religious leader, who looked at an obvious social outcast and felt self righteous, not a member of the flock who looked at a religious leader’s hypocrisy and realized they were a false leader.
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Roscuro, there are many in the pews today as in yesteryear who think they are in but will learn they are not. Many of them are quite judgmental. I will be interested in learning howtrue believers have lived out their faith in the past two thousand years.The book I am reading is more focused on political swings and the evil man does.
My understanding is we should be looking for falseness throughout the church, not just in leadership, We are all to be living in the Light, not just the leaders. But we are also to be careful about judging another’s servant or not allowing for other parts of the Body.
But I would be interested in how believers thought and acted during times like the crusades.
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Russell Moore’s post published today has some wise words: https://www.russellmoore.com/2020/03/17/the-prosperity-gospel-in-a-time-of-plague/
‘Some would dismiss all of this because, they would reason, only the most gullible of people could listen to these Elmer Gantry types, selling almost-literal snake oil. But this attitude fails to see, first of all, how many people, worldwide, actually do listen to these people. Moreover, this attitude is a kind of social Darwinism, thinking that people gullible enough to fall for such frauds deserve to do so. This is not the way of Christ.
‘We should see an example here of what has always been true. The prosperity gospel claims for itself the name and authority of Jesus Christ, while hawking a different Christ and a different gospel. Some so-called evangelicals are willing to accept all of that, sometimes because of the political power or mass appeal of these teachers. The prosperity gospel, though, is not Christianity, by any definition of the word. The prosperity gospel is a combination of ancient Canaanite fertility religion with a modern multilevel marketing pyramid scheme. And because these teachers are so media-savvy and attention-grabbing, many people associate their message with the message of Jesus.
‘These false teachers capitalize on the most vulnerable around the world—the poor, the lonely, the elderly, the sick—using their desperation as leverage to sell them something. As we can see in this crisis, this leverage can end up getting people sick, overwhelming the medical systems for others, and even killing people. More than that, the prosperity gospel leaves people not just exposed to physical disease, while promising them invulnerability, it also leaves people helpless to the even greater crises of sin and death and judgment.
‘Following the guidance issued in response to Covid-19 is not about fear but faith, faith in the one who calls us to consider the needs of others ahead of our own. Those of us who claim the gospel—the real, Christ-anchored, cross-focused gospel—should be the first to love our neighbors enough to keep them from illness and harm and to point them away from the wolves and toward a Good Shepherd.’
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The fresh snow is here. Looks like it is almost done, but still beautiful. It surprised me as I thought that most of this storm was past.
Family is struggling with having a local coffee shop. They also sell in all of the grocery stores, but this is hard. Especially after all of the power outages this year.
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Mumsee, there were undoubtedly evangelical movements before the Reformation, such as John Huss and the Moravians in the 1400s, John Wycliffe and the Lollards in the 1300s, and the Waldensians, who started in the late 1100s.
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Michelle: Yes
😦 You can get almost everything on-line except the data you’re looking for.
Bank interest information, specifically
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Roscuro, indeed. And that is some of the ones I would like to learn from. How was the Truth lived out in their daily lives. I am sure we have many similarities but also many differences. I think it would expand my view of what a Glorious God we serve.
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My one neighbor, who cuts hair at a local salon, said everyone’s cancelling. She has one appointment at 5 p.m. Her 90-year-old mom is now back in Mexico and she indicated is well cared for by extended family there.
Her son also was laid off this morning when his burger restaurant closed down. He’s panicked.
These small businesses are just going to sink very quickly, I’m afraid.
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My husband just finished reading a 5-volume history of the Middle Ages 400-1300 written in 1920, so before the moderns got mixed in. He bought it on his kindle for some cheap price–$5?– and it took him 9 months to read!
He noted it was written by historians and few, if any, had any grasp of Christianity, so they couldn’t put events into “proper” spiritual context. However, he was appalled, again and again, at how “carnal” the Christian leaders were–which would be either the Catholic or Orthodox Church.
He kept hunting for glimpses of anyone who understood the nature of grace and following the Ten Commandments, if nothing else. It was indeed the Dark Ages of history. We concluded your only hope might be as a peasant in some hidden spot–except they were always being taxes, downtrodden or killed.
He’s now moved on to the Reformation and while he has some quibbles with Yale professor Carlos Eire (whom I think is an excellent writer) and his Catholic lens, the man at least likes God.
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Here in day one of “sheltering in place,” I asked our 20-year-old roomer if he didn’t want to take this window of time and move to his mother’s house in Lake County, about an hour away. It goes into lockdown at midnight and she’s a single mom with two young children.
“Naw. The internet is better here.”
I’ll have to ask him what board games he likes to play . . .
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One more comment before I go to work. My husband has said about our three years of crises, the hardest part when you’re in the middle of it is how to deal with the incredulity factor. Can this really be happening?
Do I REALLY have to do this? Does this REALLY apply to ME?
Yesterday, I dropped off something at my son’s house after the big walk with 4/7 of the Adorables. We stood several feet apart on the driveway chatting. When I turned to leave, C said, “See you in three weeks, Mom.”
“What? But you’re my family!”
He shook his head. “You don’t live here, Mom. You can’t come over.”
I, Mrs. Rule Follower First Born who has been listening to lectures from Mr. Covid Task Force for two weeks, struggled to take it in.
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Michelle at 2:14: that is what I was trying to say.
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And Michelle at 2:28: what I have been talking to husband about. He could, potentially, be stuck down there in Boise for months.
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This one’s for Roscuro: https://www.cmuse.org/stradivarius-guitar-sabionari-1679/?fbclid=IwAR0HbWKe0oV1LgfLwbazuF1ok2zrayzjJDmpyUBCQHUYu7oOlW_I_3mGB5A
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I’m sorry, it’s a man playing the only known Stradivarius guitar still left.
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Mumsee, the Waldensians, called the Valdois in French, very much resembled the later English Baptist and European Anabaptist movements in practicing believer’s baptism and rejecting the idea of transubstantiation in communion. They had intinerate preachers who sercretly shared copies of the Bible in the vernacular. The movement, always persecuted and underground, continued to the time of the Reformation, and joined the French Protestant movement. They were mostly in the south of France and North of Italy. They are often lumped in with the Huguenots, whom, sadly they joined in the religious wars, and it went as ill for the Valdois as it did for the Huguenots. The Valdois were forced into mountainous regions and suffered many trisld (after one plague, 11 of their 13 pastors died). But they survived and now in northern Italy, the Waldensians and Methodists have formed a coalition about 60,000 strong. Several years ago, the Pope formally apologized for the brutal massacres that were inflicted on them in the 1600s.
The Moravians were Bohemians (modern day Czech Republic) who were inspired by the work of the Bohemian John Huss. Their church gradually grew, and their leaders interacted with Martin Luther when he came on the scene. The Moravians were and still are dedicated missionaries, concentrating on the poor and vulnerable. There is an account of certain Moravian missionaries who actually sold themselves into slavery to the west Indies in order to bring the gospel to slaves. Moravian missionaries invented the syllabic writing system that is now used by the Inuit in Canada and Greenland while bringing the gospel to the Inuit in the mid-1700s. Other churches have often come and watered where it was first Moravians who planted.
Like the Waldensians, the Lollards were itinerate preachers sharing Wycliffe’s translation of the Bible into Middle English (Wycliffe was contemporary with Chaucer, author of the Canterbury Tales, and they both had the patronage of the powerful Duke of Gaunt, second son of Edward III). Like the Waldensians, after the death of Wycliffe, the Lollards were persecuted – it did not help that they were anti-establishment just at the time the Peasant’s Revolt occured in England. Wycliffe’s vision of allowing the common man to read the Bible for himself was caught up, 200 years later, by William Tyndale, whose quiet rebellion in translating the Scriptures under Henry VIII eventually led to the series of royal commissions of English Bibles in an Anglican England, the most famous being the one commissioned by James I. The Lollards essentially disappear from the record after that, though the non-Conformists, which include the Baptists, took up the torch after them.
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For first time ever, they’re saying, entire Ligonier library and teaching materials are now free to stream.
Sheesh, just talked w/one of the la city council aides, a regular source, who’s of the “sky is falling” point of view right now — it’s all coming to an end, the economy, the medical system, everything as we know it is over. OVER. He’s in serious panic mode. I had no luck getting him to focus on how this is impacting local businesses right now as the world will shortly be coming to an end, “don’t you get it?” It’s over, it’s all over, for everyone.
Next in-house conference call, in an hour, for me is on how we cover a homeless announcement coming out later this evening from the mayor …
See, this is why my days are just crazy right now.
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Thanks Michelle, that was beautiful.
I am slated to go back to work tomorrow, Lord willing.
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Roscuro, I am vaguely familiar with denomination life, but as now, many denominations have believers and non believers mixed. I was talking individual life with Christ and how that played out. In Hind’s Feet : the neighbor living out the truth while going about her day to day.
We attended a Waldensian Church a few times while in Italy. But it was all Italian to me. We also attended an English speaking church that met in the Waldensian church Neat people but we ended back at the International church.
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Michelle, I think you should ask your boarder where he could serve the best and where he might be needed. Fast internet is not a reason to stay somewhere.
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So, our government announced this morning it has agreed with the US to restrict border traffic with the US to essential trade. But there are Americans living on the border who work in Canada and vice versa who will be affected – in some towns, the border runs down the middle of the street, and there is a library that famously has the border running through the middle of it – I encountered several Americans who drive up from New York State every day to work at the university I attended. The Eldests, of course, live in the US; but as they are still citizens here and exceptions are being made for immediate family members, so it does not feel as if we are absolutely separated. Thankfully, they are all in good health, but we think of them a lot and they of us. Thankful for Skype.
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Yes, MN has many who work in Canada and many who come from there. The closest person to us infected with Covid, that I have heard of, is in Canada.
My brother told me there are soldiers all over in the Philippines. He and his wife have had their temperatures taken on a road stop, at the airport and several other places. The soldiers are trying to keep Chinese from slipping into the country illegally, too.
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Sixth son, is supposed to be in Canada now, headed to California. As you know (or probably don’t!) he works with the fire fighting helicopters that go world wide to help put out fires. I wonder how they will be impacted.
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I am pleased to share that Wesley passed the defense of his dissertation with no revisions. PTL! It was done by Zoom . . . the new normal. He still graduates in May without a ceremony until August. I wish we could be there today, but if we were, we couldn’t even go out for a meal. I suppose we could go get the car stuck on the tracks again . . . Not!Again!Ever!
Of course prospects for job interviews are slim at the moment. The next hurdle.
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Good to hear, Janice!
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Congratulations
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Congratulations to your son, Janice. I remember when Eldest in law got his Ph.D. we pretty much forgot to celebrate, as we were all too busy trying to figure out what was going to happen to the Eldests as his student visa was going to end. They ended up coming back to live with us for six months (only Eldest Niece was born at that time), and he worked odd jobs, including in a factory, while he looked for permanent work in his field. He found it back in the US with a multinational firm, so they returned, with another little one on the way. He now works for a different multinational, and there are now five children in their family, all born in the US. The products he helps develop are produced in factories not just all over the US, but all over the world. I often wonder if his experience working in a factory has helped him, as he has traveled to those factories throughout the US and three other continents to help workers start productions of new materials. He is working from home right now.
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Here’s a nice demonstration of modern ingenuity, and corporate greed. Not to mention a window into why medical costs are completely out of hand.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/17/21184308/coronavirus-italy-medical-company-threatens-sue-3d-print-valves-treatments
“Update, March 18th 3:30PM ET: A group of Italian volunteers distributed 3D-printed versions of a vital medical device — but it’s unclear if the original manufacturer threatened a legal crackdown. As we reported earlier, Cristian Fracassi and Alessandro Romaioli used their 3D printer to create unofficial copies of a patented valve, which was in short supply at Italian hospitals. Business Insider Italia quoted Massimo Temporelli, the Italian professor who recruited the pair, saying that the device maker threatened them with an infringement claim.
But in an interview with The Verge, Romaioli denied they’d received threats. He said the company had simply refused to release design files, forcing them to reverse-engineer the valve. “I talked to an operator who told me he couldn’t give me the files, but after that we didn’t receive anything from the original company — so I can assure you we didn’t get any threat,” he said. “They said they couldn’t give us the file because it’s company property, but that’s all.” While earlier reporting said the original valve cost over $10,000, Fracassi also told Fast Company that this number was inaccurate.
Temporelli gave The Verge a more ambiguous account of the call, which he says he wasn’t directly involved in. “The group we asked for the files refused and said it was illegal” to copy the valves, he said. He stopped short of calling the statement a threat. “Let’s say the risk to be sued exists since they bypassed a patent, but that’s it.”
Neither Romaioli or Temporelli would name the manufacturer involved, but for now, it doesn’t seem to have taken action against the unofficial valve-makers. And they’ve emphasized that both devices serve a purpose: the official product is the better long-term solution, but for now, hospitals can use this cheap alternative to fulfill a sudden, drastic demand.
The original article follows below.
A medical device manufacturer has threatened to sue a group of volunteers in Italy that 3D printed a valve used for life-saving coronavirus treatments. The valve typically costs about $11,000 from the medical device manufacturer, but the volunteers were able to print replicas for about $1 (via Techdirt).
A hospital in Italy was in need of the valves after running out while treating patients for COVID-19. The hospital’s usual supplier said they could not make the valves in time to treat the patients, according to Metro. That launched a search for a way to 3D print a replica part, and Cristian Fracassi and Alessandro Romaioli, who work at Italian startup Isinnova, offered their company’s printer for the job, reports Business Insider.
However, when the pair asked the manufacturer of the valves for blueprints they could use to print replicas, the company declined and threatened to sue for patent infringement, according to Business Insider Italia. Fracassi and Romaioli moved ahead anyway by measuring the valves and 3D printing three different versions of them.
So far, the valves they made have worked on 10 patients as of March 14th, according to Massimo Temporelli, the founder of Italian manufacturing solutions company FabLab who helped recruit Fracassi and Romaioli to print the replica valves.
“[The patients] were people in danger of life, and we acted. Period,” said Fracassi in a Facebook post. He also said that “we have no intention of profit on this situation, we are not going to use the designs or product beyond the strict need for us forced to act, we are not going to spread the drawing.”
———
I’d like an explanation why they charge 11,000 dollars for something that costs a buck to make. Note also this is a socialist healthcare system in Italy that allows this.
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Mumsee, the Lollards wrote Twelve Conclusions stating their objections to practices in the church. It was in Middle English, so its meaning is a bit obscure in sections, but it is an interesting document to peruse: http://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/special/varia/lollards/lollconc.htm
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The Real, medical manufacturers, like pharmaceuticals, are private companies, so public healthcare has to pay them for their products just like they pay pharmaceuticals for their products. Public healthcare is just a giant insurance company making payments for services rendered or products produced by private and independent agencies. Neither Canada’s hospitals nor its medical manufacturing companies are owned by the government. The government just pays them to do the work or for the product they produce – I work for a non-profit agency that has a contract to staff a nursing clinic for a local branch of the provincial (not federal) government. It is common knowledge among healthcare workers that medical manufacturers charge premium prices. When I trained in the operating room, more than once, I would be handed a stapler, used to reattach the intestine after a section with cancer was taken out, and be told not to drop it, because if I did, I would be dropping 50, 000 dollars (I never did drop one, thankfully). These staplers could only be used once, by the way. That is why surgery is so expensive – the surgeon is paid, yes, but the equipment to do the surgery costs far more than the surgeon does. The surgeons sometimes discussed it while operating, and they said that because the products they used were also used in the US and paid for there by private health insurance companies bidding against each other, that it actually drove up the prices of medical equipment for the public health insurance agencies.
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We were told our day may be “upended” shortly. Or tomorrow. Some new announcement coming down, we’re told … maybe (but I don’t know) a stricter quarantine, a shelter-in-place order? Have no idea. Mayor tonight announcing a plan to get all encampment dwellers inside city facilities within 3 weeks, I’m covering that speech remotely with another reporter.
I keep thinking this will calm down but the panic is only growing. Heard there was a long line to buy guns and ammo yesterday at one of our outdoorsman stores, some longshoremen among them. What could go wrong? Welcome to The Purge, as one editor said.
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hmm… I like the Lollards. Judas’ lips?
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My EMT said they planned to house all the homeless in hotels. That’s in LA. Here in Sonoma County, homeless have been advised to shelter in their tents–or report to the county for housing help. They are not restricted in their movements, which I find peculiar.
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Meanwhile, all sorts of relatives are contacting me today–including one I’ve only heard from three times in my life. That’s the best part of a crisis, your family checks in on you!
One cousin and spouse are stuck in Sweden. My niece got home from DC seated in first-class for 1/2 the price of her round trip ticket 10 days ago. At the moment, everyone is safe where they belong.
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College study boarder is going to help run our church food pantry. My husband volunteered him and he said, “of course.” Most of the people, maybe all, who run it are over 65 and therefore must stay home, so we’re putting the college and high school students into ministry. Mr. CTF’s idea.
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just posted the mayor’s remarks in our story — they’re planning to house 6,000 people within weeks at rec centers (and also using hotels/motels).
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What chaos. I feel like I’m a walking Drudge Report these days.
And Carol texted that they’re now all being confined to their rooms, no one can leave. That almost sounds like they may have had some suspected cases to me, but I don’t know. I’ll get more from Carol when I talk to her by phone tonight, but she’s not one to ask any questions and the administration is not a particularly transparent one based on past issues they’ve gone through.
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Later news may involve some kind of a city- or county-wide curfew, but we don’t know just yet. Authorities seem ready to do just about anything right now.
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And, of course, in the middle of the live-streamed news briefing, the cat decides to take a swim and knock my phone of the desk. Just because.
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What kind of zoo do you live in????
Good to hear they are putting an end to the homeless situation.
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Internment hotels? Mandatory?
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Well, it won’t handle all the homeless, but the most vulnerable among them.
Talked to Carol she said there was no explanation of the mandatory room quarantine – but they did tell them if they had questions to let them know and they’d send someone up to talk to them.
Of course, Carol didn’t request this. I told her to do that first thing in the morning, I even suggested questions — what prompted the change in policy? for how long will this last (if they know) — indefinitely? again, why and who made this decision?
We’ll see. She probably won’t ask anyone any of that. I may call or email the administrator again to ask her what’s up.
I’m exhausted and the phone msgs continue to ding. The other reporter for now looks like she’s handling the editors demands. It’s 8 p.m. and tomorrow will arrive quickly.
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And the cat took a “swing,” not a swim.
A world turned upside down
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Just finished listening to the BSF lecture online. The new normal.
Got an email from the folks in Cameroon who will have this house after me wondering what my plans are. My plans are very flexible. God is in charge and only He knows the plans for my life. I am certainly glad that I have been saving.
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DJ, my daughter is a nurse at a nursing home, and residents now can’t have visitors (unless the resident is dying) and they have to eat in their rooms OR only one per table if they go to the cafeteria. If they had a case of the virus, she would have mentioned it to us. It’s a precaution in an era when one person in the nursing home getting sick can kill a large number of the people in it.
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thanks, cheryl — yes, they’d cut off visitors several days ago which I could understand; just didn’t know if something specific had prompted the room quarantine. It may be guidelines that are simply being tightened up as we go.
For now, it sounds like dining room will be closed, everyone must eat in their rooms. Carol already took some meals in her room, especially dinner when her legs became too tired, so she’ll probably feel less restricted than many others who were used to cruising the hallways and hanging out in the family, activity and dining rooms to socialize.
Still, would be good for the staff to explain these changes to the residents.
I know these places are tinderboxes when it comes to this virus, they’re especially vulnerable. So I don’t oppose the added restrictions, just like to see some transparency and explanations provided to those who are affected.
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She will miss hanging out with her boyfriend, but they’ll survive.
Besides, she’s busy plotting how to spend all that government money that we’re supposed to be getting 🙂
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I took the dogs out late tonight, around 10 p.m. — I usually aim much earlier, closer to 7-8 pm., 10 is really too late even for me to be out walking, but it was a long day. It’s very cold and blustery out there with a lot of wind (rain expected tomorrow, but more “showers” than actual rain).
It was eerily quiet out there, too, just the wind blowing through the trees. And dark, very dark. Strange days and nights.
Guy friend from the community called tonight, we’ve been trying to meet up for lunch since Christmas. He says “Well, I suppose you’re thinking I’ve now gone to great extremes to figure out how to avoid buying you that lunch.” Yes, orchestrating a pandemic, no less.
He’s a retired teacher who now has Parkinsons and lives alone, but also has a big, close Italian family, great adult kids who pamper him. He said the grocery shopping has proven the most difficult as even the regular markets he orders from now can’t promise deliveries much before May.
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You west coast people chatter on into the night.
Grin
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