Meara, the hard G is a plosive.

English plosives have three articulatory positions:

bilabial: p,b - pat, bat

alveolar: t,d - ten, den

velar: k,g - cap, gap

No one at work has mentioned coronavirus at all. I do hope the higher-ups are considering the implications. Shutting down public gatherings would be a Problem for us.

I've always made a habit of washing hands as soon as possible after getting off public transit so I'm not really changing anything there. I could probably pick up a few more shelf-stable food items but my storage space is somewhat limited.

Oh, that would be a Problem, aurelia!

We're seeing the effects in our supply chain but there's been no talk of how our actual offices and warehouses might react. Which is both comforting and worrying? Like, maybe I shouldn't worry if they aren't worried? But also, probably someone should be worried. But still probably not me. Well, we have our emergency notification in place and we know it works from last years' fires, so we've got that going for us, at least.

My company has a lot of remote workers, so in that sense is fine—they've shut down several of our offices for varying time periods (just added our Italy office to that list) but we also send people to hospitals and doctors offices (my old job) so that part is already getting a bit dicey in some places. But we are also probably working on vaccines right now too! (I don't know that for sure but fingers crossed—my old company did flu vaccine work yearly)

My Congressman is actually being very informative on FB, which is nice. I feel good about voting for him!

Now that would be worrying! I forget where he's in college, but if it's a less densely populated area than where you live, he's probably safer there.

Sadly, it's not. He's at UMass Lowell, in a six-man suite, in a big dorm. We're in a free-standing, single-family house, in a 25K-ish sized town, north of Boston, on the commuter rail line. If we were more isolated, I'd probably make him come home.

That is fascinating, meara. I think "sh" is probably the softest sound and "k" is the hardest.

I think so, too.

Oh, no -- GIF is a hard G forever and ever and I will die on this hill.

Word. The "I WILL FACE JOD AND WALK BACKWARDS INTO HELL" Tumblr post is me on this topic.

Oh, we are as one then, Tep and shrift. ("JOD" made me laugh out loud).

People who say GIF is supposed to be a soft g aren't really serious, are they? They're all just trolls.

The guy who created it says it's said "Jif" but since it's Graphic Interchange Format, not Juraffic Interchange Format, he's the biggest troll of them all.

I'm going to have to stock up over the weekend - the grocery workers' union in looking at striking starting next Wednesday, unless the big grocery chains can work out an agreement. I have limited space, but I think some non-unionized stores might stay open. And I usually try to get my fresh fruit and veggies from the Sunday farmers' market.

I've had the pneumonia vaccine twice ... and got sick (fever, feeling lousy, etc.) both times. Last time, the doctor nagged me into having it - never again.

On the lighter side, meet Eleanor the Echidna. And taste tests by Maya the Samoyed.

I work with nurses and they don't seem overly concerned. But maybe I need a food source beyond Bullion dudes if I run out of my weekly grocery thing. I now have the diabetes, so there are actually few things I can eat that are stock-up able, at least in my "reversed" state which basically means I only eat fresh meat and fresh vegetables!

I only eat fresh meat and fresh vegetables!

Can you do frozen in a pinch? I know that canned veggies are high in salt (although you can rinse them and that helps somewhat), but frozen veggies seem like they'd be okay. And I know you can buy frozen grilled chicken; I'm not sure about beef or pork. And definitely frozen fish.

I can do frozen! Maybe I need a freezer? In only have an apartment sized fridge, so my freezer capacity is tiny. I generally have just been buying enough to eat each couple of days to avoid hoarding as well, so this is weird. Maybe this weekend I will look into a small freezer.

Ironically I've been "self-isolating" for years and now that there's a pandemic threatening us, I'm about to get a roommate and possibly a job I have to leave my house for. But my spoon supply is so low I can't worry about Corvid-19. I'll wash my hands and avoid people as much as I can, which I do anyway.

I now have the diabetes, so there are actually few things I can eat that are stock-up able, at least in my "reversed" state which basically means I only eat fresh meat and fresh vegetables!

Same here, although I don't emphasize "fresh". Mainly because I hate to cook and I hate to shop. I was really strict the first few months after I was diagnosed, but I've relaxed my vigilance a little now. My A1C was 6.6 last month, and the meds seem to be working so well, if I don't eat some carbs I get to feeling bad.