April 2nd: US Numbers Climb
Headlines:
US Coronavirus cases per NY Times: 234,483. Deaths: 5,708.
The CDC is expected to advise all Americans to wear cloth masks in public.
GA Governor is seriously behind the times. Claimed to NOT know Coronavirus could be spread by asymptomatic people. I’m truly worried for the people of the South.
After Threats, Anthony Fauci to Receive Enhanced Personal Security. You all know how this makes me feel.
Where America Didn’t Stay Home Even as the Virus Spread - Spoiler alert: This map may annoy you.
Most stunning headline so far: “Belarus’ president dismisses coronavirus risk, encourages citizens to drink vodka and visit saunas.”
Colorado, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin pursue shutting down defiant craft store “Holly Lobby.” I have no words.
Hal Wilkes of San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood, plays his bagpipes from his rooftop at sundown. I can’t think about this without tearing up. I wish I lived close enough to hear it.
Jared Kushner, First Son-in-Law, now helping with the Coronavirus . I’m unclear of the value add here.
As Forrest Gump said, “Life is like a box of chocolates…you never know what kind you’re gonna get.” Within an hour this morning, I saw emails rejecting me for the Idaho job and a friend asking for help with his new website. I should know more about the latter soon, and am excited to start a new project.
I ran to the coffee shop to score some caffeine and chat with David. Another regular popped in who works at the little grocery down the block. He reported that they are shedding employees very quickly - at least one to care for a parent, and some others who are simply too afraid to keep working. He seemed to have a very healthy attitude about it and said they may have to start operating only 6 days a week. As someone in the neighborhood, I’m interested to see how this plays out.
I mistimed my planned Whole Foods adventure and waited outside in line for about 25 minutes. Once inside, the aisles were pretty clear and we were able to keep far apart from each other with practically no lines at the registers. Naturally I spent $78 despite only intending to buy my oatmeal. If you’ve never seen “Its getting REAL in the Whole Foods Parking Lot!” please click HERE to remedy that IMMEDIATELY. I would like to note that this was partially filmed at the location I frequented when I lived in LA (what’s up Rose & Lincoln!).
I was able to chat with Nikki on the walk home and among topics such as work, her daughter’s newly self-cut bangs, and family drama, we also covered the conundrum of how to unpack/sterilize groceries. As we talked, I brought everything in and let the bags sit out while I Googled the amount of time the virus can live on plastic, cardboard, etc. I put aside all non-perishables in cardboard and plastic to be shelved in 3 days. The NIH website reads that the virus can live on plastic for 2-3 days and on cardboard for 24 hours.
For the the perishables in plastic (also maybe a great name for a band??), I took out my new Clorox wipes, and wiped down the outside of the containers. This felt slightly insane. I’m not a germaphobe - I’ve always been a bit the opposite. A defender of the three-second rule! A consumer of allegedly “expired” items, insistent on depending on the “sniff-test!” This has served me well my whole adult life. But time are changing and I must change with them. I look upon my Clorox wipes with tenderness as I prepare to make a sign reading “OK TO SHELVE SUNDAY NIGHT” to tape ti my small assortment of perishables. Is it all too much? We don’t really know.
I do want to give a shout-out to my germaphobe friends who may be feeling pretty smug right now. You know what guys, we can learn from you. Give us your best tips. Now is your time to shine.
For any hypochondriacs out there….this is rough time for you. Maybe it feels like this virus is justifying your whole life, or maybe you’re simply terrified 24/7. I truly don’t know. But hang in there, my friends. This sucks. Like the President, I know “lots of words…all the best words,” but I don’t know a classier way to sum up the situation right now.
Podcast Recommendations
Podcasts are free and a great way to pass the time. Some of my favorites:
The West Wing Weekly hosted by WW fan Hrishiekesh Hirway and Actor & WW Alum Josh Malina. They go through each episode of The West Wing each week and host pretty much the entire cast in the process as well as Aaron Sorkin, other showrunners, writers and department heads.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard and Monica Padman. This is super entertaining. They’re each about two hours long and have many well-known actors, but also people like Authors David Sedaris and Malcolm Gladwell, experts like CNN top Doc Sanjay Gupta, and Country star Dierks Bentley. There’s something for everyone.
How Did This Get Made? with June Diane Raphael, Paul Scheer, and Jason Mantzoukas. These three comedic actors take one film per episode and dissect it. While sometimes it’s a discussion of how something so terrible got made, it’s also often a love letter to zany movies that we’re really happy exist, i.e. the Fast & Furious franchise.