Life with the Chinese Coronavirus

A couple of weeks ago, on the 12th to be exact, I was telling Sheila and Kira that we'll have a better idea in four weeks as to what things are going to be like.  It's thirteen days later and now you can't find canned goods or soups in the grocery store.  The volume of people in the store has subsided per my observations and those of my snitch network, and water has returned to the shelves.

I was upset last Monday when I was in Safeway for the first time in over a week.  Almost all of what I went in there for was gone.  There's food available, it's just that you're likely going to have to come up with a plan B if you had something specific in mind for supper.

As for my work situation, I am still working.  For the time being I am "essential" and I'm coming in to help out with the testing and certification of satellite radios.  Half of my co-workers are teleworking, and I will likely be sometime next week when my test is complete.  I don't have to be physically present to write the test report; I can do that at home (and I'd be glad to).

This may surprise you, but I have all off a sudden started hearing from technical recruiters.  Last week and the week before I wasn't getting so much as the form email from whatever staffing agency trying to get me to apply for a position that I'm not a match for.  I've now been getting emails and phone calls, and I've been invited to webconnect to some hiring managers who I think are in Las Vegas (yeah, like I want to live there again).  The jobs of course are in those blue states with high taxes, high cost of living, and high rates of the Chinese Coronavirus.  I remarked to the gentemean who called me this afternoon about calls like his are a surprise, and he said there is a lot of hiring going on.

So.....the engineering firms have reason to believe that this will be behind us soon.  I tend to believe the same thing, but one question I will have to ask myself is, do I dare change companies before a Presidential election?  Odds are Trump is going to win this, and that Biden will be formally nominated and gaffe his way into a landslide loss reminiscent of Mondale and McGovern.

Anyway.....we have almost wrapped up week number two since my conversation of the 12th.  I'm optimistic that we, as a nation, will get thru this, in spite of the fatass politicians and Organized Media.

If Shakespeare were alive today, the quote might well have been "the first thing we do is let's kill all the journalists".  (The word "journalist" is being used very loosely here.)

The Panic Has Arrived

As I write this, a state of panic induced by and fed by Organized Media is sweeping the nation.  COVID-19, a/k/a the coronavirus, a/k/a the Wuhan virus, a/k/a the Chinese virus, is out there.  The first case in Pima County was reported yesterday (and that person has since recovered) but this was a few days behind the panic.

You can't find hand sanitizer or clean wipes anywhere.  Walmart was almost out of toilet paper when I stopped there yesterday for kitty litter.  At Safeway this morning, the toilet paper shelves were 1/3 empty, and I would not be surprised if they are now 1/3 full.

The Tucson Festival of Books for this coming weekend has been cancelled.  Spring training games up in Phoenix may go forward without fans in attendance.  Some music festivals out there have been cancelled outright or postponed.  Italy is on lockdown.  Israel may have finished locking down as I write this.

I'm not personally worried about getting this virus.  If I get it, I get it.  If I don't, I don't.  I didn't fear the bird flu, I didn't fear H1N1, and I don't fear the virus.  That said, I've been washing my hands every time I go to the can, but that's been my standard operating practice since I was in the fourth grade.  For several months I've used the store-provided sanitizing hand wipes to clean the shopping cart handles.

Organized Media, is of course, going to instill as much panic as possible, since in their own cretinous little minds, they think this will sink President Trump.  They're not going to let this go.  This is either the Lie of the Month or it's the Lie of the Year.  Either way, it may be a while before we hear the end of this.

Recent history has shown us that outbreaks of this nature are temporary and will fade.  My own personal opinion is that this will go the way of H1N1.

I suppose I should visit some of those websites that I mentioned last time, about how this time this is it, this is the end, and the Rapture will happen in a matter of weeks.

I think I'd rather read something else, like a ham radio magazine.