Pandummic

Nice sunrise

Part of a collection of nose cone art taken at a Hawaiian Air Force base during WW2 by a friend's father. How many of these planes were shot down?

baby bantam chicks at a farm supply store

My title is not original. It is a different spelling of a Daily Show skit which is a tape of outrageous, ignorant things Trump and Pence have spouted off during the last month denying the seriousness of the issue. Well they have finally seen the light much to the chagrin of some of their supporters who were so happy about the stock market and now have turned on him for finally doing the right thing..  Occasionally I watch the daily corona updates he gives. A lot of time patting himself on the back on what a 'tremendous' job he is doing. Meanwhile it is the local governors that are making the big decisions, ours especially though Trump had the nerve to criticize her for not doing enough.

When I last wrote in this, only a week ago. Michigan had only 3 known cases. This has now blossomed to 500. Somehow our Upper Peninsula has been spared though according to the map, 3 remote islands in Lake Michigan each have at least one case. Of course hardly anyone has been tested. Some think this virus was here 6 weeks ago disguised as the 'flu'. Half of the kids in Maya's class were absent. (her class has a very large Chinese-American population) despite having had flu shots. At the time we were told that this year's shot didn't cover the strain they were getting. One of Maya's classmates went to the doctors to be tested for various flu strands. All negative. If the CDC only had sufficient funding (need that wall!!)we'd have enough tests.

Who should be tested? Anyone involved in patient care regardless if they have symptoms. As it is. if you have symptoms which are not severe enough to require hospitalization, you are not tested and told just to isolate yourself. Now they are able to test a few of the people showing symptoms (thus the jump in numbers) but not the people who show no symptoms but are around vulnerable people. My mother-in-law's nursing home has not allowed visitors for a month (Seattle). Who comes and goes? The staff. A resident just was removed with the corona virus. Who gave it to her? Not enough tests to test the healthy appearing aides.

So a week ago was arranging care for Maya during the 3 weeks she was out of school so Naomi could work. Two days later, her job was gone though she has a paper saying she will be rehired. She spent 3 hours trying to connect to the Unemployment Server as it kept crashing due to high volume. Eventually she got through so she will have some income. All  of this will lead to a huge depression world wide.

My appointment at the airport with the TSA office so  I could get a Clear card enabling me to go through customs so much faster was canceled. We had planned to fly to Germany May 6 but I suspect that won't happen barring the miracle Trump says is going to happen. Germany is under strict quarantine. Maybe it will do the trick but still they could bar Americans from coming due to our health policies being so deficient.

Elective surgeries have been cancelled. There is a severe blood shortage. Routine dental care has been suspended though  just had mine in the nick of time. So far Michigan residents are not restricted to their houses as in the harder hit states. We are out in the country and fairly isolated. I am not allowed at Josh's house. Not sure if that is to protect me or them though Josh and I did take a walk together. I assume socializing outside is a bit safer than inside. No movie theaters, sporting events, concerts, eating in restaurants or bars..a whole new world.

It is spring though. My mini irises are in bloom. I ran very early this morning in shorts. Initially it was sunny and calm but when I was the farthest point from home, the sky turned black and it poured. The wind suddenly became very strong but at least it was on my back by that time. Sunny again by the time I got home. The temp will drop from 62 this morning to 20 tomorrow morning. I have been biking too. The peepers in the wetlands along my route are peeping; the tom turkeys are fanning their feathers to impress the females. I should have stopped to take his photo. Turkeys are normally very skittish but sometimes when they are infested with mating hormones, they won't back off and will face down if not attack a person.

Such strange times