There really isn't a way to keep the Corona Chronicles and the Grief Chronicles separate right now.
We are heading into the fifth month of living with the pandemic. The last time we lived any sort of normal schedule was the second week of March and even then it was starting to set in that we weren't really going to be seeing normal normal for awhile.
Things are starting to open up here in Oregon. Slowly. Places that opened quickly, or never really shut down, are experiencing skyrocketing cases. Emergency rooms in Houston are all full. The thing that staying at home was supposed to prevent is happening. But I sort of figured it would. People weren't really understanding what we were supposed to be doing. Flattening the curve didn't mean the virus was going to go away, it meant that we were giving hospitals a chance to catch up. And while we were mostly staying home they did.
Then the reopening started and people were really responsible and wore masks and kept their distance and....
Nah.
People rushed out and tried to recreate the "WAY BEFORE" as quickly as possible. We are not good neighbors. We being the US in general. The selfish vibe is super strong. People don't want to wear the mask, it's so uncomfortable, it's just the government trying to control you, you can't tell me what to do!
For fuck's sake...
I am rule averse. So rule averse it's a joke in my family that if you tell me what to do I will do the opposite just for spite even if what you are telling me what to do is something I really want to do.
I've talked about both of those things before in this series of blogs.
But I wear a mask. I keep my distance from people. I wash my hands more than I did before. I'm careful. I'm conscientious of others. Because if we don't all do our part in this it won't matter.
I said in May that I expect to get it at some point. I still feel that way. If I haven't already had it, I cannot believe that I will be lucky enough to dodge it until a vaccine is available. And I'm actively trying not to catch it.
There are people out there who don't wear masks and don't keep their distance and don't limit contacts and treat it all like it's not a big deal. They will get sick. They will spread it. That's just a fact. Ask Florida and Texas and Arizona if the virus gives a damn about your political belief and YOUR FREEDOM!
And about that economy....with the restrictions in place that are part of a responsible slow roll out a lot of businesses are figuring out they can't survive. The levels of unemployment claims are still increasing. We are going to have a massive issue here when the protections from evictions and bill collecting stop. People don't have money. And there is no "WE'RE DONE WITH THE VIRUS NOW!" switch to flip to make all of that go away.
I mean...there are a lot of switches that could be flipped at the local and federal government levels that would protect people but we don't do that because....umm...reasons.
Speaking of the government...Trump started holding rallies again this week. He just needed his YOU LOVE ME fix. It didn't quite work out, the first rally was a bit of a bust. I mean it still had a few thousand people there, like 6200, but he was expecting closer to 50K. Seems his campaign likes to post on Facebook and Twitter but doesn't actually pay attention to what is going on outside of his I LOVE YOU group...which sort of sums up his whole presidency. But anyway...a bunch of people signed up for tickets who had zero intention of attending. So they set up an overflow area and spent a ton of time posting about the MILLIONS who wanted to see him and then empty seats...rumor has it he was PISSED.
But he persevered and held another one in Arizona, remember when I mentioned them at the beginning? The place where Covid 19 cases are skyrocketing? So yeah, he held a rally there with people all crammed into a church, not wearing masks, and all believing the church has a miracle air filtration system that will save them. I know that sounds like a joke, but I'm not kidding. They posted a video about their system that would kill 99.9% of the virus, until the company that made the system said...yeah...no.
And then today Pence was on TV talking about how we are just crushing it with our response! So much better! Few cases! Few hospitalizations! SO MANY...well lies. I mean that's what he did. Which is the fucking standard right now. They lie. They've lied all along. They will continue to lie. They will continue to try and convince you that nothing is more important than the economy and getting that running along smoothly again.
And well....
My net worth will increase by a not insignificant amount over the next few months. We will sell the house and the car, both of which she owed less on than they are worth. We will sell all of her household belongings. We will withdraw the money in her bank account. Her investment we set up when Jack died will turn over to Brent. So there is another piece. We also won't be looking at the future expense we had been planning on either a move back to New Mexico as she aged, or buying a place with an Ohana or Casita. So all told we are significantly better off financially than we were on May 28th.
Do you think that makes it okay?
Wear your mask to protect others.
Wash your hands to protect yourself.
The economy will do what the economy will do, but the dead will not come back to life.
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