What's it like in your neck of the woods right now?

[Nanno]

With this coronavirus panic seizing the nation, I'm curious how everyone else is faring. When we left for Arizona last week Thursday everything was normal. When we came back the following Tuesday there was no toilet paper and no eggs left in the grocery store and all the restaurants were closed. There was still some whole milk on the shelves so I was able to get 2 gallons (milk is my one "essential" item and of course this year we lost our milk goat). I didn't need eggs or toilet paper. I'm still not 100% sure what the panic is about. Every description of this virus sounds exactly like what went through our area in January/February so I'm thinking this may just be a panic and they slammed the gate after the goats left the pasture. I'll say this... if what folks had this past winter wasn't COVID-19, then the flu shots everyone got last fall were absolutely worthless. 

Phil and I got laid up in mid-February by what he called a "cold" (due to the lack of nausea) and I called a "flu" (due to the fever, exhaustion, and extreme chills). Phil had a dry cough that didn't stop for almost three weeks. I only coughed for a week and it wasn't too bad, but it was different from any cough I've had before. It was not in my throat at all. It was the only cold/flu I've ever had that didn't start with an ominous tickle at the back of my throat. This cough was lower down and my throat never got sore. We didn't get runny noses either (weird!). I scoffed at Phil when he asked whether we could have gotten this new virus. But now that I'm reading reports about the symptoms I really think that's what we had. It felt very different but I can't say "worse". In fact, my sickness passed with fewer lingering effects than the usual cold. 

The thing I will never forget is how absolutely freezing cold and exhausted we were. For two days I sat huddled so close to the wood stove I thought I'd catch my pants on fire, but I was still shivering. Phil kept going to work (he works from home on his computer) but he wrapped himself in two blankets and sat in front of an electric heater and still thought he was going to die of hypothermia. Climbing stairs was exhausting. I'd start panting halfway up, and by the time I reached the top I had to stop a while to catch my breath before I could keep walking. I slept 10 hours the first night, then the following afternoon I collapsed on the couch and slept another 3 hours. I never sleep that much! When I woke up in time for chores on the second day I felt a lot better and the chills were mostly gone. Next day I was almost back to normal, but for those two days I felt like a human popsicle with a dry cough and no energy whatsoever. Was it coronavirus? Who knows. But I wouldn't be surprised if it was. There were an awful lot of people who had a "weird flu" after Christmas. I think this thing has been circulating for several months and we just didn't know it because we didn't have tests and it resembles other cold/flu symptoms in many ways. It would be nice if we were panicking over something that already happened, but who knows? 

What I do know is that if anyone is prepared for the Apocalypse, it's this goat packing crowd! 

So what's your story in all this mayhem?

[Charlie Horse]

My brother and his wife are coming to camp in their motorhome in my driveway for the next month or more of inevitable lockdown. They have to stay away from me for a few weeks though.

I've been on this since early December when I first heard about it. Early Jan and I was all over it. No shortages for me or family since I warned everyone in advance.

I also study economics for fun and the bad news is that the economy as you knew it is over. A debt-money system (yes all dollars are created via debt) eventually runs out of capital, and we have reached that point. I could go on but its not uplifting and most people avoid bad news.

I'm suspicious this'll be used to achieve something bigger than Corona. Some kind of system reset. Government upheaval. We'll have to see. Its hard to say whats worse-- that they have a plan for this or that they dont.

Local walmart is pretty full still, but the smaller local store was totally price gouging. $3.00 for a small can of chili when it should be 1.25 to 1.50. Be sure to get some extra stuff that is made overseas. Food is local but shoes and underwear and batteries and tires and stuff are about to become expensive and hard to find.

Meanwhile at my place, I dont notice the rest of the world burning.

[Sanhestar]

I'm still not 100% sure what the panic is about. Every description of this virus sounds exactly like what went through our area in January/February so I'm thinking this may just be a panic and they slammed the gate after the goats left the pasture. I'll say this... if what folks had this past winter wasn't COVID-19, then the flu shots everyone got last fall were absolutely worthless.

yes, there is panic and panic is never rational.

On the other hand - not sure how well news from Europe are transmitted to you - the situation in some countries is desperate. Italy is close to a complete collapse of the health system. In Bergamo - small Italian town - they drive at average 60 (!)  coffins per day (!) from the hospitals to make-shift mortuaries in schools and other public buildings.

Italy went from "zero" to (as of yesterday) over 47.000 positively tested in less than four weeks (Feb. 24th till March 19th) with over 4000 dead (more than in China at their worst phase), 600 died yesterday (Friday) alone.

It may be ok in the less populated areas of the US but the cities with people living in close quarters and your health system being what it is..... I don't want to be a New Yorker, right now.

http://opendatadpc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/...e38d4138b1

[blackie's maiden]

First time I have been nervous about any virus. Since Hubby and I are both in 70's, we are trying to hunker down but seems we are more on run than usual, things we can't get out of.

Fargo, my old TW horse, has come up lame. Our new vet is 80 miles one way, in Belton, TX, where they now have had a few cases. Was too muddy/rainy to get trailer out of pasture today so postponed trip till .Monday. Hoping beyond hope Fargo will pull himself out of this before then. And we don't have to go. This clinic is a very busy one, meaning lots people.

Luckily I still had 2 rolls TP left when we searched 3 towns and 7 stores for more. I was shocked at the empty shelves. Luckily I found out a supply truck was coming to one next day and barely made that one on time. My quest is now for eggs. So far, our tiny town has not been touched. As far asI know  but it is only a matter of time. I really don't even like going to the grocery store.

Robert did get sick a couple weeks ago. I drug him kicking and screaming to the doctor. Our doctor was not there. A physician's attendant was running the cli nic and seeing patients with no doctor in attendance. She concluded he had bronchitis, wrote a prescription and sent us on our way. She said she had no tests for corona anyway. I caught his crud a few days later of course. I guess it wasn't corona luckily because we both snapped out of reasonably quickly.

[Sanhestar]

sharing resources on homoeopathic/alternative possibilities of prevention, boosting the immune system, etc.

Read with care and consider what fits for you. In doubt, contact a physician or homoeopath, when available.

https://hpathy.com/homeopathy-papers/hom...oundation/

https://www.arhf.nl/coronavirus/

https://www.doctorbhatia.com/treatment/c...52f3c22ed6

[Nanno]

Its hard to say whats worse-- that they have a plan for this or that they dont.

HA! Ain't that the truth! 

I'm suspicious this'll be used to achieve something bigger than Corona. Some kind of system reset. Government upheaval. We'll have to see. 

Government never wastes a crisis. One party champions something as "necessary" while the other "reluctantly" goes along (because, "It was an emergency! What else could we do??"). Then later when the government is abusing that power, one party accuses the other of passing this terrible legislation while the other says, "Well OUR party would never have abused this power the way your party is abusing it!" 

Clown show. 

On the other hand - not sure how well news from Europe are transmitted to you - the situation in some countries is desperate. Italy is close to a complete collapse of the health system. In Bergamo - small Italian town - they drive at average 60 (!)  coffins per day (!) from the hospitals to make-shift mortuaries in schools and other public buildings.

We do know about Italy. It's what inspired our country to go into lockdown a week ago. Almost ten days ago they said we were about ten days behind Italy, which was in dire straits at the time. The dire straits have not hit us and I honestly do not think they will. Italy is not a good example because it has the oldest demographic of any country in Europe (much older than the U.S.) and they live very differently there than we do here. I don't think the experiences in one place always translate very well in others. 

I also think this virus hit a lot of areas, including the U.S., long before governments were even aware of it. There is so much traffic between China and the U.S. I don't think there's any possible way that this virus was not spreading here within 2-3 weeks of starting in China. How long was it already circulating before the Chinese discovered that they were dealing with a new thing? It closely resembles the flu so probably at least a month or two. That makes me think it was already spreading in the U.S. before anyone even discovered it in China. I'm not saying that taking precautions is foolish though. Every year tons of people die from "common" cold and flu because people don't take precautions about staying home when sick and washing hands regularly. Even in hospitals, doctors and nurses forgetting to wash hands is one of the #1 killers of patients (an estimated 400,000 people die from perfectly preventable hospital mistakes every year in the U.S. and nobody bats an eye). Currently, 10% of people who are hospitalized for the flu end up dying from it. The good news is that most people with the flu don't require hospitalization, and that seems to be the same for COVID-19. 

It remains to be seen what percentage of the population will actually become infected, what percentage of those infected end up developing serious symptoms, and what percentage of those end up dying from it. I think in the end both infection and death rates will generally be much lower than people are currently predicting. I think not knowing is what makes people afraid. That and watching the news, which thrives on whipping people into a frenzy. The scarier and more sensational the story, the more relevant the news stations become. Their revenue depends entirely upon "clickbait" so if the media can turn this thing into a train wreck that nobody can avert their eyes from, they win. I think if everybody turned off the news and spent more time outside in the fresh air and sunlight, it would help us all stay a lot healthier. I went out to ride my horse the other day and I was very pleased to see so many people walking around the lake.

[Nanno]

I'm not sure how everyone else has been doing with the lockdowns, etc. but I'm glad we're coming out of it even though it hasn't affected me personally all that much. We don't eat out of course, but not much else has changed. Church is better because it's held outdoors in the sunshine. I rode my horse to church until Butterfly's accident. Since we couldn't leave her at home unsupervised she came with us to church last week and today.

My saddle club held its first event of the season yesterday. We had an all-day team sorting clinic which probably broke all the lockdown rules, but we really don't care. It was outside in the fresh air and sunlight where people ought to be if there's a virus going around. Cases just keep going down in Colorado and I don't see any risk of flare-ups. Every doctor and nurse I know is currently out of work or on severely reduced hours, which is starting to get really hard on them, so I hope we open things up SOON! All the folks at the clinic acted like prisoners released from jail and there was a giddy atmosphere.

We were a bit worried about the sheriff coming down to break it up because several horse events in other parts of the state have recently had cops shut them down, but no one interfered. In fact, by the end of the day there wasn't even one nasty post on Facebook, so now we're looking forward to starting our gymkhana season on Tuesday without hassle. It's good to have events to look forward to and to be able to see friends. Our sorting event was packed full with 10 people on the waiting list. We've never had that much interest before, so I think folks are champing at the bit to get out and do something! The couple teaching the clinic was very grateful to finally have an event as well. All their clinics and competitions have been shut down for two months and ours was the first thing they've been to in a long time.

[Bob Jones]

Utah has been voluntary. I have a letter saying that I am a part of the Critical defense Infrastructure. I am not sure why, though with fluid in my lungs, bronchitis, asthma and allergies, I figure I was one of the test canaries before they had other ways of testing.

Our favorite Thai restaurant did their best to stay open, so we went more often than normal. My daughter finished her senior year at college online.. Performance Violin... go figure. We have a house guest from Indonesia who got trapped here. He could probably go home now, but he's not sure he could get back to finish school.

We have a new herd of hens.... some of them give me that side-eye like they want to butt heads, but they haven't tried it yet. Rather than cross buck saddles, I may try to get them to pull a surrey.

[Nanno]

I want pictures of the chicken surrey.

At least your daughter was studying violin! My hubby is taking violin lessons over Zoom right now. I have friend who is getting a degree in food safety or something like that and they have to learn how to do things like cut up a beef. I'm not sure how you're supposed to cut up a beef online...

I also question the quality of the surgeons graduating this semester.

[Bob Jones]

I want pictures of the chicken surrey.

At least your daughter was studying violin! My hubby is taking violin lessons over Zoom right now. I have friend who is getting a degree in food safety or something like that and they have to learn how to do things like cut up a beef. I'm not sure how you're supposed to cut up a beef online...

I also question the quality of the surgeons graduating this semester.

Video begins when a woman places a plate on the table. The food covers 3/4 of the plate with a very distinct line between the food and the empty part.

Flips to the national anthem being sung at a ball game.. the singer quits singing about 3/4 of the way through.

The surgeon looks befuddled while holding the heart in his hand.

The marathon runner stops 3/4 of the way there...

Pilot gets out of the seat while on landing approach.

Generation Covid...   Better than Millennials getting participation trophies for showing up.  They got degrees and certifications for doing 3/4 of it ....