My coworker, in their 30s, and their roommate, also in their 30s are self-quarantined.

My coworker lives in West Seattle and already has a history of funky junk in their lungs and pulmonary embolism. They called their doctor, was told to stay home, but wasn't tested for covid-19 because there were no tests.

Their roommate works for a healthcare center in Kirkland. The roommate has been told to self-quarantine.

So there they are, stuck in their house for who knows how long. I didn't ask about their TP situation.

We're all working from home for at least next week unless we work in public contact.

My mail carrier was home sick for two days. When I saw them, they were looking kinda crappy. Did they get tested? Nope. No tests available. They were not told to self-quarantine. I told them that if I get the funky junk, I'm going to beat their ass. I'm pretty sure I can take them unless they swing their mail bag at me. There are a good number of seniors in my neighborhood. The mail carrier will try to get tested soon. They don't have any sick days left.

The governor and the biofolks came to town to tour an old high school as a potential site for housing people who might not have a place to self-quarantine. The community is not happy, but sometimes you have to deal with unpleasant things for the greater good.

I don't go to big-box stores because I'm the only human in my abode. Walmart is always a no-go because people drive like lunatics in the parking lot. Every. Single. Week. there's some sort of hit and run fender bender in the parking lot. Blows my mind.

A few days ago I went to the local supermarket. There was TP, but not a whole lot of it. There were a ton of diapers in the TP aisle. I didn't check aisle by aisle for H2O or anything else. The stuff I wanted was stocked well except for frozen peas. Now that I think about it, the amount of frozen veg was low. There was no huge panic in the market. I go to the store at odd hours (I'm not a fan of crowds), and the store didn't seem more crowded or less crowded than usual.

I'm feeling kinda punk but that's because I have crap allergies. I don't think I'll get super sick if I catch it. I don't want to spread it if I do. When the weather permits, I'm out in the yard planting stuff.

In other news, ducks are fine, cats are fine, dog ate her poop RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME and is faking looking guilty.

I think the water hoarding, as unreasonable as it is, probably comes from the irrational fear that the person in charge of The Big Spigot is going to get sick or break it or who knows. Basically it's a lack of trust that we will be protected by the people who keep the spigot open and the lights on.

I have a small generator because the Bonneville Dam transformer thing tends to act stupid in the summer. I fired up the generator and let it warm up. My thing about the generator is it's large enough to power my work computer and a space heater if needed. The problem is getting the stupid extension cord into the house.

I'm part of a permaculture community, so I'm not crazy worried about food or anything. I haven't hoarded TP - it's just me, and I think I can wipe my ass for at least a month.

Did you know that urine is an awesome addition to compost? Just saying.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2020 12:57PM by Beth.

> Did you know that urine is an awesome addition to
> compost? Just saying.

Thanks for that. I was just going to ask.

It is indeed - and that nitrogen then speeds up the composting process by nourishing the bacteria which do most of the actual composting... (or so I've been led to believe;-).

I love composting. It's almost like cooking. And it all goes back into my garden :-).

Tom actually just outside Paris when not at work, which allows me to have a garden:-D

I inherited one of those black plastic compost bins with the slide opening thing at the bottom. I also have red wrigglers in there. Sometimes I remove the sliding door thing and let the ducks have at it.

So, yeah. If we run out of TP, maybe I'll invest in one of those pee funnels and drip dry.

Thank you for sharing that.

You saying TP reminds me of the old days when my friends and I TP'd the neighbor down the streets house haha. Maybe everybody is just planning a night to prank someone and TP the front yard.

But on a serious note i am not too far from seattle. Just a state away. And one passenger last night seemed REALLY suspect of being super sick so after i dropped him off i disinfected my car and called it a night. So far i am not sick but i heard symptoms don't show up for a while. I hope i am not a carrier. D@mn virus is spreading across the globe like wildfire. I'm on edge around every person now(more than normal).

Anyways, glad the ducks are ok. I used to have ducks growing up. Love those little quackers.

I hear what you're saying, and I think it's natural to be anxious. If you're prone to anxiety on a good day, like I am, then it's only natural that this business is going to make you more anxious. I'm not going to apologize for feeling as I do. I don't blame you for being anxious. The anxiety will ebb and flow. Talk to your therapist about ways to reduce your anxiety. Deep breathing helps me. Distraction also helps. I read a lot when I'm anxious. After the sixth death was reported, I called out sick. I told my boss that I wasn't sick with the virus but I was having panic attacks. He was cool about it. The panic attacks have subsided a lot as I've adjusted to the fact that they only things I can do are wash my hands, not touch my face and so on.

I'm not being a hermit or anything. I have hand sanitizer in a cup holder in my car. It's really going to suck if two concerts I want to see are cancelled. I want to see RATM with Run the Jewels and Mudhoney. Maybe I can get RATM tix for a discount. ;)

Re: TPing houses. I've never TP'd a house, but when the Phillies won the world series in 1980, my best fried and I went on the roof of my apartment building and toilet papered the trees and maybe some cars and we might have thrown some eggs because eggs. We were 16, okay? :)

I egged a house once but we got caught haha. I was kind of a rebellious kid. You know how hard it is to get egg off of a brick house? D@mn near impossible. I'm kind of living like a hermit like a hermit crab. I had a habit of hiding in my room from my parents and that habit has been very hard to break. Instead of hiding from my parents, i am hiding from the world and a coronavirus haha. The world i am realizing slowly isn't so scary and will not force me to do things like go to church and do weird stuff which is awesome. Church is like my vietnam. Please don't make me go back to that place.

>>...dog ate her poop RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME and is faking looking guilty.

It's a good thing that we love the little fur balls. :)

I think my neighbor has decided to stay inside for awhile. She is in her 80s and on oxygen. She took her first grocery delivery today.

Those furballs can be very naughty. My room mates dog ran away when i let her out to go potty yesterday. I had to track her down for like half an hour. She knew she was planning an escape after she took a dump. She was just bidding her time for the right moment.

Man. I brush my dog's teeth - not as often as I should, and I let the cats lick some of the toothpaste. That's the closest I'm getting to even *attempting* to brush their teeth. I didn't know dog teeth brushing was even a thing. So, yeah. I do my best.

I didn't brush Joy's teeth after the poop incident, but I did let her lick some of the pet toothpaste and would not let her face near me. Yuck, man!

Oh! A new neighbor moved in around the corner, and some creep left the back gate open and the dog got out. We found her dog at my fence talking to my dog. They were probably making poop-related plans of some sort.

Those dogs make poop plans and run away plans trust me. They aren't as innocent as they pretend to be.

Isolation is lonely period. Being sick and isolated is worse. I hope I don't have to isolate myself. I'm about to see if I can get peas for those crap ducks.

This situation is quite serious. DW and I were planning on going to Europe at the end of April. I just canceled airline tickets this morning. KLM, a European company, gave full credit with no penalties for rebooking later with them or with Air France or Delta. I believe European laws protect consumers more than we experience in the US. Fear of being stranded was the main reason for cancelling.

Beth's story of not having test kits available is frightening. When test kits become available and used, such as in Italy, the number of confirmed cases mushrooms. The situation in the US is quite likely the same. We just don't know the facts yet. I have a flight on Weds to Florida and a bit anxious. Likely will not travel anymore after this next week.

I'm so sorry Eric. I agree with you about KLM and that consumer and privacy protections seem to be better in Europe than here.

I think you and DW are prudent to keep air travel to a minimum for now. We'll have a better idea of the nature, spread, and containment on this business in the near future, hopefully within the next month.

Be well.

ETA: Seattle Times reports that we've received hundreds of thousands of protective gear, meds, and supplies. I'm all for doing the best we can to keep it here as much as possible.

This is a link to my local rag - the article is from the Seattle Times: http://www.chronline.com/gov-inslee-says-mandatory-measures-under-consideration-to-combat-coronavirus/article_d3fce93a-6172-11ea-91a9-137d755b1c70.html



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2020 10:59AM by Beth.

The only reason I'd end up with it is because I'm still sick. Maybe I'm a carrier. I've been sick for 6 weeks. Slowly getting better. Cough gone. The people I used to work with at Sam's told me yesterday that it was bad last week, but the hoarding has halted.

Like I said, I have 5 gallons of hand sanitizer. My "husband" does work at the hospital and carries it with him all the time, but he never takes any from home after buying it several years ago. I'd give some to Nightingale if she lived close by.

I do have diabetes. I'm still not worried that I'll get it. I already work at home. Of course, my "husband" could bring it home. He DEFINITELY shouldn't get it. He has plenty of PTO to be able to stay at home. He has a worker who can run things if he has to take time off.

My daughter is concerned about the tourist industry up in Alaska--not just cruises. She is now in Fairbanks for 6 weeks.

As for dogs eating their poop, my King Charles Spaniel who I had up until 9 years ago this month, ate his poop and any other poop when I first got him and he liked to chew on rocks. The vet told me to make sure he had a lot of balls. He had so many balls (and I've saved all the ones I could find) and he quit eating poop, BUT I was throwing the ball 24/7 and that is NO LIE. My boyfriend's German Shepherd likes to eat her poop, too. She was really bad about it for a while, but my boyfriend got her to stop for the most part (but she spends the day alone, so who knows). I thought it was so horrible when my King Charles did it, but I guess a lot of dogs eat their poop.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2020 02:33PM by cl2.

When my room mates dog first met me she started licking me and i said "well at least somebody likes me in this world" my room mate then said "well she does lick her own butt-hole". The end haha.

Does ChurchCo have enough TP for welfare clients?

MY BAD! it's no longer 'TP', it's 'BATH TISSUE'!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2020 08:55PM by GNPE.

dog ate her poop RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME and is faking looking guilty.

Beth,

Maybe she really IS feeling guilty, not just faking it? At the least, is she maybe a little bit embarrassed?

Our family dog would eat an entire stick of butter if we left one out. She always had the grace to look guilty about it, though. On a bright note, her coat was always shiny and glossy. :)

And yet we love them.

As I was about to head out, a neighbor from the retirement home came by. Part of his daily routine is window shopping at the Goodwill. I've caught him sneaking burgers to my dog, but meh. He has diabetes and had had above knee amputations of his legs. He zooms by on his motorized wheelchair - he's a good man.

We chatted some. Things at the retirement home are okay. No worries. It's boring there. :)

When I went to the market, I made a beeline for the frozen veg. On my way I saw a vet in a Marine Corps hat. We chatted a bit about Camp Pendleton blah blah, and then HE STUCK OUT HIS HAND. Ugh. I shook his hand and then he double-handed my hand, so I double handed *his* hands and thought "cheeky veteran." It was a nice handshake, though. :) My mantra until I got in the car was "Don't Touch Your Face."

I loaded up allllll of the frozen peas - store brand - my ducks don't rate Green Giant Petit Pois. I paid, got out of that store.

Next stop was the feed store. No issues except I shared a pen with someone. So strange to hesitate to do such normal things. I figured that after the double-handed hand shake, a pen was no big deal. I didn't touch my face. Easy peasy ;)

All is well. I accidentally bought 50 raspberry canes, and I got 25 into the ground yesterday. Hard work can take your mind off of everything but water. The soil is clay, so I have to truck over copious wheel barrows of wood chips that were near the trees that were limbed up last year, dig holes, wood chips in holes, canes in holes, topsoil in holes. I was too tired to worry about anything.

I'm ashamed. Sure ducks need niacin, but I don't need to feed them peas everyday. I like it when follow me around the yard Pied Piper like.

So dude and his family are in India celebrating his son's wedding. Cool. A couple of guys are running the joint until the owners return.

After pondering DtA's admonishment to go *back* to the God Will Decide Mini-Mart (GWDMM), we went.

We = Joy (my 90ish# lab/pitt mix)+me. Important: Joy is on a diet.

So, while I was in the GWDMM, Joy jumped out of the car window and sat by the front door. This behavior is new. She usually sits in the driver's seat like a boss. Now she was sitting at the front door, also like a boss, but c'mon.

One of the GWDMM employees decided to let her in. Sooooo I was calling her, and they started hollering her name. They were behind the counter. Who's she going to listen to? The guys near the chicken tenders waving jerky at her (not kidding) or me?

These guys couldn't stop laughing and were *still* calling her name, and jumping around. Joy started jumping around, and I was just like, "Egads!" I finally got a hold of her and put her back into the car.

GWD about COVID-19 and a poop-eating dog.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2020 03:35PM by Beth.

I was going to go visit my son in Kent, WA over the weekend, but decided to cancel. The EH&S dept. at my work said I might have to get tested before I came back to work since Seattle is a hotspot.

Totally bummed me out. I had good stuff to bring him....new meat grinder, knife sharpener, summer sausage casings, and yummy smoked treats....home cured and smoked bacon, smoked cheese, smoked SPAM, beef jerky.

And a major disappointment was not being able to stop at Mrs. Beesley's for a deluxe cheeseburger on the drive up from Oregon City.

And thanks for the compost tip. I live in very rural area and pee outside a lot. Now I'll have to pee on my compost piles too.

Let's see - I don't need a meat grinder, and I have a whetstone. I do love summer sausage, BACON, smoked cheese, and Scrapple.

Hint hint.

And yeah. Pee in that heap, especially if you hot compost.