Yeah—I saw some folks online be like "oh I'm scared to get on a plane (going from like, Tampa to North Carolina) this weekend" which I rolled my eyes at. But actual travel to China does seem like a risky prospect right now (even if you didn't get sick, all the chaos and restrictions that would probably be constantly changing would make being in another country far from home even harder!)

While this won't help to ND's workers or anyone who goes to China: the epidemiologists I know are not that worried. What I have in English is a few days old, but: [link] (TL;DR: Flu is way deadlier).

Another friend is furious about some headlines she saw and videos that had nothing to do with that virus and were spread only as clickbaits. To translate the relevant part of her post: "Panic does not help public health. The contrary is true. It makes people act irrationally in a way that increases the risk to their health."

Yes, I think Rosemary needs one of the call thingies. Sometimes I think I need one, because I live alone and if I fall down the stairs it is likely my phone will be upstair. That happened to me when I was 22 and it was so scary.

I will try the compresses, Beverly, and report back. I have been slathering myself with Vick Vaoprub and breathing steam, which is relieving, and I have the saline spray. I wish I could vaporous at work!

I know Rosemary's knees are bad, so I don't know how much she can actually =do=: I occasionally ask if she couldn't work with a physical therapist on getting up from chairs and getting up from the floor. I don't know if putting pressure on her knees will damage them further or if the pain is so bad that she can't grit her way through it when she has to.

She is extremely out of shape. Last year, with the heart valve replacement so very =needed= I thought that I'd been overestimating how much she could do -- but she's only grudgingly participated in post-surgical physical therapy -- about the only time it's been steady has been when PT actually came to the house, which they only did for a couple weeks.

She is very resistant to making changes and admitting that she needs help. I'm afraid that she's just going to get one of those call buttons and that's the only thing she will do about it -- get an object, declare that the problem is "fixed" instead of trying further steps to address it.

I am not panicking but I am concerned, moreso because China doesn't have a reputation for giving accurate information.

I wouldn't be afriad of air travel right now but I would be extremely cautious. It's spreading before symptoms show up and that is worrisome because people can be infected without realizing they are around someone sick.

And there are all the people who can't afford to go to the doctor or take time off from their jobs or people who don't feel they can. At work my supervisor had the flu and it was right before inventory and she was pressured to come in and finish some prep work. She was still contagious and 3 co workers she had contat with for sick. We have no way of knowing if customers got sick.

And then when I had chicken pox in my 20s. I have no idea how I contracted it and I didn't realize I was sick and went around scratching this weird bug bite and then touching things.

I'm just thinking of the one person who has it and is contagious and doesn't know and goes through the airport and then takes an Uber home and then maybe orders food and then maybe goes to work, out for lunch or drinks after work....then you can have someone infected who has no way od knowing they were effected.

I am home sick today. I am so glad I have that luxury, which I didn't in the service industry. But I can at least keep up with emails and meetings without infecting my immunocompromised coworkers, while in the service industry I was either there or not. But in both retail and theatre, I worked through some terrible stuff and couldn't go to the doctor because of money. Just a good argument for both universal healthcare and workers rights

After I face-planted onto a metal rail, I said to myself, "Oof, that's going to leave a mark". It was only after I touched my face and saw the blood on my hands that I realized I had to go get stitches.

Just saw this. When I had neck surgery some years ago, I planned to explain the scar by saying I'd been in a knife fight. Turned out the surgeon made the incision in one of the natural folds in my throat, and you can't really see the scar. So I turn that excuse over to you, should you have a use for it.

I met Zen for coffee! Be jealous! One more Buffistas met face 2 face! Woohoo!

Also? 3 HOURS TO BALTIMORE!!!!!

Woo! Go msbelle! Go Zen! Go coffee!

Hooray!

I walked into work this morning, didn't talk to any one, and no one has noticed me yet. I'm not looking forward to having to tell the same story umpteen times, and I'm feeling crappy enough about myself even before I get subjected to "good natured" ribbing from my coworkers.