I do hope so, Cashmere. Our mental health systems are so deficient. He is lucky to have loving people fighting to help him. So many have no one to advocate for them.

Talked to my cousin who lives in Virginia and works at Costco. She says everyone is flipping out over the Coronavirus, wearing masks and are lined up all the way to the back of the store buying up all the bottled water and toilet paper. She wanted to know how California compares to their panic factor. I said we haven't seen anyone wearing face masks, but tomorrow I'll cruise by my local Costco to see if the parking lot is unusually full.

Good thing my earthquake preparation will be suitable to face a pandemic?

Wow, I was out shopping at both the grocery store and CVS, and everything was under control. The worst was that there were no 100-count bottles of Aleve Arthritis and I had to bring back a 40-count instead.

I prefer to think that MA is braver than other states, but it's probably more that we're saving up the panic for real emergencies.

We are blessedly free from panic in Wisconsin. As long as there is enough brandy for Old Fashioned and vodka for the Bloody Marys, we are solid. And it's fucking snowing. Again.

Long planning session on Dad with my Lawyer!Sister this morning in protection orders and power of attorney for Dad. Ooof.

I hope Super Tuesday is not a Super Dumpster Fire. Safe voting, Buffistas.

There's an article in the Washington Post today about the run on masks - people have stripped the stores, so people who need masks for work (painters, construction, etc.) can't get any. Seemingly, big companies that buy in bulk are now back ordered to April. I've seen a few people wearing masks, but not lots of them. I have a small box of dust masks that I bought about a year ago, but I'm not wearing one until there's some kind of advisory to do so.

In other news, the DC area grocery store workers - the unionized ones - are deciding tomorrow if they're going to go out on strike. They're in negotiations with Giant and Safeway management over some issues - primarily pensions, as I understand - and they'll decide on Wednesday. I'm pretty well stocked up, but there are limits on how much I can store, so I'm hoping for the best.

My aunt, who works in a large local hospital, said they were keeping their masks locked up. She said they weren't in panic because they have always had regular training on infectious disease. She's a Trumpster, but appalled at the disregard for the CDC warnings and the impact on the PNW. My doctors said they haven't been hearing too much concern from their patients.

My biggest concern is the lack of testing. We all know someone sick as a dog, but is it just a cold, or food poisoning, or the flu? My son has all the list of symptoms and stayed home from work, we assume something other than COVID-19, but there isn't a test option if it was a possibility.

That said, poor Nashville! Tornadoes are super scary to me. I've only seen water spouts safely off shore.

COVID is, like the flu, respiratory, so if your gastrointestinally sick, it's a different bug.

We have stocked up on some things - beans and rice, but not at the by-the-case-level -- but the most distressing thing so far was going to the drug store yesterday to try to get Advil and Tylenol for the kiddo and having that be sold out already. We have some, so we won't be entirely without if she gets sick, but jeesh.

I was in an argument with some in one of my FB groups who kept saying we should be wearing surgical masks to keep from touching our faces. She said she is a doctor but I don't know and she also said she didn't trust the CDC or the WHO but her own sources, which she wouldn't provide but based on previous posts are fringe alt medicine type things . She said she thinks we should all wear masks beowe are smart enough to know not to touch our faces and she didn't seem to care about the problems the shortage is causing for others.

Matthew's mom has been planning on buying a freezer and she finally did. It will be here Monday and then we will do our monthly Costco run for cat litter, paper towels and frozen stuff to fill the freezer. We have never looked at the cost breakdown to see if we are saving money but I know we spend less time at the grocery store and I end up taking lunch more which is nice.

she also said she didn't trust the CDC or the WHO

I have zero patience for people who don't trust actual experts in this shit.

I have to admit, every time I see "don't topuch your face" on those lists of tips I think "that ain't gonna happen". I can't avoid touching my face while I'm chopping jalapenos. It's just too far below conscious thought.

I haven't been to a store in the last week, but my mom said the drugstore was out of distilled water. We both figured that was an unrelated coincidence.

We did get an email from our Safety guy but I haven't actually read it yet. It didn't say "work from home if possible", I skimmed enough for that...